Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-31
2001-02-27
Moore, Chris K. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S309200, C015S316100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192547
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED ART
This application claims priority of Korean Patent Application No. 98-32967 filed on Oct. 14, 1998, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air curtain system used in manufacturing a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (“TFT-LCD”), and more particularly, to an air curtain system for constantly spraying air or N
2
gas on an LCD substrate to remove a solution remaining after such solution is used for removing a photoresist, the photoresist being used for patterning an electrode of the LCD.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1
illustrates, in cross-section view, a portion of a glass substrate as it undergoes sequential processing steps for forming an electrode such as an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode thereon.
An electrode-forming layer
102
is first deposited on a glass substrate
101
, after which the glass substrate
101
is cleaned using a cleaning solution. Next, a photoresist
103
is deposited on the electrode-forming layer
102
, and exposed to a light using a photo mask
104
to obtain a desirably patterned photoresist
103
a
through a developing process.
Following the above steps, the electrode forming layer
102
is etched using the patterned photoresist
103
a
as a mask, then the patterned photoresist
103
a
is removed through a stripping process, thereby obtaining a desirably patterned electrode
112
.
In the stripping process, a photoresist may remain on the glass substrate
101
and the patterned electrode
112
, and is removed using a stripping solution which is sprayed at a high pressure on the glass substrate
101
.
After this step, to clean away the stripping solution, the substrate
101
is conveyed to an air curtain system.
FIGS. 2 and 3
show a conventional air curtain system.
An air curtain system
105
includes a front plate
105
a
and a rear plate
105
b
, between which a space
109
is defined. A slit
108
having a clearance of 0.1 mm extends downward from the space
109
. Two air suppliers
110
for supplying air to the space
109
are symetrically mounted on the front plate
105
a.
An air tube
107
is connected to the air supplier
110
. The air or N
2
gas is supplied from the air tube
107
to the space
109
through a passage
106
formed in the air supplier
110
. The air supplied to the space
109
is sprayed on the substrate
101
through the slit
108
in order to remove the remaining stripping solution.
At this point, the air sprayed through the slit
108
further functions as a curtain for blocking fumes which are generated during processing of a downstream substrate.
However, as shown in
FIG. 3
, since the air on N
2
gas supplied from the two air suppliers
108
is sprayed directly toward the substrate through the slit
108
without any obstruction, the air pressure difference may occur between three portions of the slit
108
corresponding to regions R
1
, R
2
and R
3
, respectively. Therefore, the air curtain system having the structure described above has a drawback in that, since the air pressure is not uniform throughout the slit
108
, the stripping solution remaining may not be completely removed. In addition, if the air pressure is increased to completely remove the remaining stripping solution, the substrate and the electrode may be damaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide an air curtain system which effectively removes a stripping solution which is used to remove a remaining photoresist material used in patterning an electrode of an LCD, while effectively blocking fumes generated during processing of a substrate in a downstream process.
According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, an air curtain system is constructed to form an air curtain which divides two processing spaces and sprays air onto a substrate to remove any impurities remaining on the substrate. The air curtain system preferably includes an air supplier, a main body having an air inlet passage for receiving air from the air supplier, an air flow space defined within the main body and communicating with the inlet passage, and a slit extending from the air flow space to spray the air on the substrate, an air distributing means supported within and across the gas flow space downstream from the gas inlet passage, the air distributing means distributing the gas to be sprayed uniformly toward the substrate through the slit; and an impurity removing means for primarily removing impurities from the substrate, the impurity removing means mounted on the main body and arranged before the slit, whereby the impurities on the substrate are sequentially removed by the impurity removing means and the gas sprayed from the slit of the main body.
The main body preferably includes a front plate and a rear plate which is coupled on a rear side of the front plate, the air inlet passage extending through the front plate, the air flow space and the slit being defined between the front and rear plates.
Preferably, the main body may include a clearance adjusting bolt for coupling the front and rear plates and adjusting the clearance of the slit.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the air regulator may include a substantially strip-shaped rectifying lattice fixed on the front and rear plates within the air flow space, the rectifying lattice being provided with a plurality of openings, each opening equidistantly spaced from the two adjacent opening.
Preferably, the air curtain system further includes a balance adjusting unit which is arranged to adjust a balance of the system. The balance adjusting unit preferably includes a pair of brackets mounted substantially symmetrically on a top of the main body and a pair of screws positioned on the brackets.
Preferably, the air curtain system further includes an impurity removing unit which is constructed and arranged to remove impurities from the substrate before the impurities on the substrate are removed by the air sprayed from the main body. The impurity removing unit is preferably mounted on the front plate.
The impurity removing unit preferably includes a supporting bar mounted on the front side of the air supplier and extending downward, a plate mounted on a lower end of the supporting bar, and a knife member integrally connected in a substantially perpendicular manner relative to a lower side of the plate and substantially parallel to the substrate to be treated.
Preferably, the supporting bar has a longitudinal hole to adjust a height of the knife member, the longitudinal hole being slidably coupled to a guide bolt which is integrally formed on a front surface of the air supplier.
Preferably, the knife member is provided at its extreme end with a solution-removing blade for effectively removing excessive solution which is remaining on the substrate.
Other elements, features, advantages and components of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings attached hereto.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2766720 (1956-10-01), Muller et al.
patent: 3849831 (1974-11-01), DeVerter et al.
patent: 3917888 (1975-11-01), Beam et al.
patent: 4120070 (1978-10-01), Severin
patent: 4281431 (1981-08-01), Nierlich et al.
LG. Philips LCD Co. Ltd.
Moore Chris K.
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