Apparatus for etching glass substrate

Details Apparatus for etching glass substrate Apparatus for etching glass substrate

2001-06-19

2003-10-07

Beck, Shrive P. (Department: 1763)

Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture

Differential fluid etching apparatus

For liquid etchant

C156S345110, C156S345210, C156S345230

Reexamination Certificate

active

06630052

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an etching apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for etching glass substrate uniformly.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
CRT (cathode ray tube) display devices applicable to television or personal computers, for example, have large size screens. Since a luminous material-coated screen should be spaced apart a predetermined distance from an electron gun, there is a problem that the total volume of the display device becomes large. Thus, such CRTs cannot be applied to small size and low power consumption electronics such as a wall-mounted television, portable television, and notebook computers.
For small size and low power consumption, flat panel display devices such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), ELD (Electroluminescent Display), and VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) have been introduced. In these flat panel display devices, the LCD has been most actively researched recently because of good picture quality and low power consumption in spite of various disadvantages. Although portable televisions and notebook computers having the LCD have been marketed, there are various problems yet to be solved. Because televisions and computers have become portable electronics, the reduction of the size and weight is one of the goals in the LCD research.
There are various methods to reduce the size and weight of the LCD. It is, however, difficult to reduce the number of the essential elements of the LCD. In addition, the weight and size of the essential elements are so small that the weight and size of the essential elements hardly can be reduced further. Fortunately, a glass substrate, which is one of the most basic element of the LCD, may be reduced in weight. Specifically, the weight reduction of the glass substrate is very important because it makes up a large portion of the total weight of the LCD.
To reduce the weight of the glass substrate, the substrate has to be thinner. The glass processing is, however, very difficult technically because the processed thin glass can be easily damaged and the surface becomes rough after the process if it is not properly done.
Conventionally, the most useful method of reducing the weight of the glass substrate is to etch the surface of the glass substrate by soaking the substrate in a container having an etchant. In this method, however, the substrate is often not etched uniformly because of the non-uniform surface of the substrate. Further, the impurities generated during the etching process are attached to the surface of the substrate, so that the surface becomes even rougher.
To solve the aforementioned problems, the substrate is set up in the container having the etchant and then bubbles are generated to the surface of the substrate through a porous plate to remove the impurities attached on the surface of the substrate and a fresh etchant is applied to the surface of the substrate. In this method, however, since the bubbles having different sizes are applied on the upper portion and lower portion of the substrate, there is a thickness difference between the upper portion and lower portion. As a result, the substrate is still easily damaged even by light force during the LCD process because of the non-uniformity of the substrate. Further, the substrate has to be soaked for a long period, for example, scores of minutes, to etch the substrate sufficiently. Thus, the processing cost is increased in this method.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for etching glass substrate that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for etching glass substrate having a thin thickness and uniform surface.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
In order to achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the apparatus for etching the glass substrate includes an outer bath, an inner bath containing etchant within the outer bath, at least one porous panel having a plurality of jet holes mounted in the inner bath in a line to jet etchant against the glass substrate, a container for storing the etchant, and a pump connected to the container and the porous panel to supply the etchant in the container to the porous panel. The glass substrate is set up beside the porous panel.
In another aspect, the apparatus for etching a glass substrate includes a first bath containing an etchant, at least one porous panel having a plurality of jet holes in the first bath, the porous panel containing the etchant to jet the etchant against the glass substrate, a container storing the etchant, and a pump supplying the etchant from the container to the porous panel, the pump being connected to the container and the porous panel.
In another aspect, the apparatus for etching a glass substrate includes a first bath containing an etchant, at least a pair of porous panels having a plurality of jet holes in the first bath, the porous panels moving in a longitudinal direction of the glass substrate and jetting the etchant in the porous panel against the glass substrate, a container storing the etchant, and a pump supplying the etchant in the container to the porous panel, the pump being connected to the container and the porous panel.
In another aspect, the apparatus for etching a glass substrate includes a bath containing an etchant, and at least one porous panel mounted in the bath, the porous panel having a plurality of jet holes jetting the etchant against the glass substrate.
In a further aspect, the apparatus for etching a glass substrate includes a bath containing an etchant, and a plurality of porous panels in the bath, the porous panels having a plurality of jet holes jetting the etchant against the glass substrate.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.


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