Substrate Guide with Movable Support for Vertical Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the manufacturing of liquid crystal displays, glass substrates often break or crack during vertical transfer in in-line sputtering apparatuses due to weight distribution, acceleration, and deceleration, leading to operational stoppages and reduced workability.
Innovation Solution
A substrate guide is integrated into the carrier frame, featuring a base, a movable substrate support, and coil springs that apply force to alleviate impact on the substrate's edge, allowing the support to move perpendicular to the substrate's surface, reducing friction and load on the substrate during transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a glass substrate is vertically transferred in an in-line sputtering apparatus, then the substrate can be efficiently moved between chambers, but the substrate is prone to breakage and cracking due to weight distribution and acceleration/deceleration forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by providing a substrate guide that contacts the end surface of the glass substrate before the substrate reaches the carrier. The guide includes a base with a cushioning portion that can elastically deform to absorb impact forces during vertical transfer, preventing breakage and cracking that would otherwise occur due to acceleration and deceleration forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate guide acts as an intermediary between the transfer mechanism and the glass substrate. It includes a base fixed to the carrier frame and a substrate support that can move vertically, mediating the transfer forces and distributing them away from the fragile end surface of the substrate through the cushioning portion.
2Reliability
If the substrate support is made movable to reduce impact, then breakage is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate guide is segmented into distinct functional portions: a base fixed to the carrier frame, a substrate support that can move vertically, and a cushioning portion that provides elastic deformation. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while keeping the overall structure manageable and not excessively complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate support's vertical position parameter is changed dynamically during substrate placement. The support moves from an initial position where it contacts the substrate end surface to a final position where it releases the substrate onto the carrier, allowing impact absorption through controlled movement rather than requiring a complex active control system.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The substrate guide effectively prevents breakage and cracking by distributing the load and reducing friction, ensuring the glass substrates are transferred without defects, thereby minimizing operational interruptions.
Implementation Method 1
coil springs that apply force to alleviate impact on the substrate's edge
Implementation Method 2
allowing the support to move perpendicular to the substrate's surface, reducing friction and load on the substrate during transfer
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate guide of the present invention is provided on a carrier frame of a carrier which holds a substrate substantially vertically so that a surface of the substrate is in a substantially vertical direction and supports the substrate by being in contact with at least a peripheral edge end surface portion of the substrate. The substrate guide includes a base attached to the carrier frame, a substrate support which comes into contact with the peripheral edge end surface portion of the substrate held by the carrier and is attached to the base to be movable in a normal direction of the peripheral edge end surface portion in a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate, and a force-applying member which applies a force to the substrate support toward the substrate with respect to the base.