JP4118922B2 - Bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus and bonded substrate manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus and a bonded substrate manufacturing method , and more particularly, a substrate in which two substrates such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) are bonded with a gap between them at a predetermined value. The present invention relates to a bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus and a bonded substrate manufacturing method suitable for use in manufacturing a (panel).

  In recent years, the area of a panel such as an LCD has increased with the expansion of the display area. In addition, the number of pixels per unit area is increasing for fine display. For this reason, there is a demand for an apparatus for manufacturing a panel for bonding substrates to be enlarged / thinned.

  In a liquid crystal display panel, for example, an array substrate in which a plurality of TFTs (thin film transistors) are formed in a matrix and a color filter substrate in which a color filter (red, green, blue), a light-shielding film, and the like are formed are extremely narrow ( The liquid crystal is sealed between the two glass substrates and manufactured. The light shielding film is used to increase the contrast and to shield the TFT and prevent the occurrence of light leakage current. The array substrate and the color filter substrate are bonded together with a sealing material (adhesive) containing a thermosetting resin.

  By the way, in a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing process, in a liquid crystal injection process in which liquid crystal is sealed between opposing glass substrates, for example, an array substrate on which TFTs are formed and a color filter substrate (counter substrate) are bonded together via a sealing material. After that, the sealing material is cured. Next, the liquid crystal is injected between the substrates by placing the bonded substrate and liquid crystal in a vacuum chamber and immersing the injection port opened in the sealing material in the liquid crystal and then returning the interior of the chamber to atmospheric pressure. A method of sealing (vacuum injection method) has been used.

  On the other hand, in recent years, for example, a prescribed amount of liquid crystal is dropped onto the substrate surface in the frame of the sealing material formed in a frame shape around the array substrate, and the array substrate and the color filter substrate are bonded together in a vacuum to enclose the liquid crystal Attention has been focused on the dropping injection method for carrying out the above. Compared with the vacuum injection method, this dripping injection method has advantages such as drastically reducing the amount of liquid crystal material used and shortening the liquid crystal injection time, which can reduce the manufacturing cost of the panel and improve the mass productivity. It has sex.

However, the conventional manufacturing apparatus using the dropping method has the following problems.
[1: Adsorption failure due to substrate bending]
Usually, substrate holding is performed using at least one of a vacuum chuck (suction adsorption) and an electrostatic chuck (electrostatic adsorption).

  In the substrate holding by the vacuum chuck, the back surface of the substrate is sucked and fixed to the suction surface of the holding plate arranged opposite to the parallel surface plate. With this holding method, for example, the array substrate is held, and an appropriate amount of liquid crystal is dropped by a dispenser or the like on the surface of the array substrate on which the sealing material is formed in a frame shape. Next, the color filter substrate is bonded to the array substrate in a vacuum atmosphere.

  Substrate holding by an electrostatic chuck applies a voltage between an electrode formed on a holding plate on a parallel surface plate and a conductive film formed on a glass substrate, and generates a Coulomb force between the glass and the electrode. To adsorb the glass substrate.

  In the above-described substrate holding by the vacuum chuck, the vacuum chuck does not function when the degree of vacuum increases to some extent. For this reason, the substrate is held by applying the electrostatic attraction force by the electrostatic chuck in a vacuum in which the suction attraction force by the vacuum chuck does not act.

  By the way, with the recent progress of enlargement and thinning of the substrate, in the substrate that is sucked and held by the holding plate on the upper side of the parallel surface plate, the bending due to its own weight has been remarkably increased. The substrate that is adsorbed to the upper holding plate when the substrates are bonded is held only by a part of the outer peripheral portion of the substrate bonding surface (the portion from the position where the sealing material is provided to the substrate end) by the transfer robot. Adsorption is performed. This is to prevent transfer and contamination of dust on the substrate bonding surface after substrate cleaning.

  For this reason, when the substrate is carried in by the transfer robot, the substrate held by the transfer robot is bent due to its own weight, and it is difficult to adsorb the substrate to the holding plate in a state where the bending occurs. . Further, if the substrate is adsorbed to the holding plate in a state where the substrate is bent, the remaining state of the substrate remains after the adsorption, so that the adsorbed state of the substrate becomes unstable. Therefore, in the process of depressurizing the inside of the processing chamber (chamber) from the atmospheric pressure when the substrates are bonded together, there is a possibility that the substrate is displaced or detached from the holding plate.

  Also, if the substrate is bent by electrostatic attraction, if the substrate is bent, glow discharge will occur in the middle of depressurizing the chamber from atmospheric pressure, causing damage to the circuit and TFT elements on the substrate. There is a problem that occurs. In addition, air may remain between the holding plate (electrostatic chuck) and the substrate, so that the substrate may be detached from the electrostatic chuck in the process of reducing the pressure from the atmospheric pressure.

[2: Defects at the time of bonding due to substrate bending]
In a bonding process in which pressure is applied while ensuring a stable cell thickness, maintaining parallelism between opposing substrates and equal load pressing are important management factors. However, if the substrate is bent as described above, the sealing material is not pressed evenly when the substrates are bonded together, but comes into contact with parts other than the sealing material, and in extreme cases, the dropped liquid crystal is pushed out of the frame of the sealing material. There was a case. In addition, when the pressing pressure is non-uniform in this way, there is a problem that the pressurizing force necessary for sealing between the substrates increases, so that the influence on the substrates becomes large. For this reason, it has a problem that it is difficult to produce a stable product.

[3: Adsorption failure due to dust]
The holding plate that holds each of the opposing substrates is used that has been processed into a flat surface with high precision, but if dust or glass fragments adhere to the suction surface, the dust is transferred to the substrate, There is a possibility that the above-mentioned positional deviation or separation of the substrate may occur. Moreover, such dust can cause defects such as electrostatic chucks and holding plates. However, fine dust is not easy to remove because it adheres due to electrostatic attraction.

[4: Defect due to variation in cell thickness (interval between substrates)]
The interval between the liquid crystal substrates is extremely narrow, and the amount of liquid crystal sealed between the substrates needs to be adjusted to an appropriate amount. For this reason, in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal substrate, in order to adjust the space | interval of the board | substrate to bond, the spacer which puts a spacer between board | substrates or regulates the space | interval of substrates is formed in any one board | substrate.

  By the way, the pillars formed on the substrate have a slight variation in height. The variation in the height of the pillars changes the distance between the substrates, resulting in excess or deficiency in the amount of liquid crystal to be sealed. As a result, there is a problem in that the cell thickness varies between the substrates after the substrates are bonded together. The variation in cell thickness is a factor that causes display unevenness of the liquid crystal panel.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus and a bonded substrate manufacturing method capable of reducing defective manufacturing of a bonded substrate. .

According to the invention described in 請 Motomeko 1,5, holds the lower substrate in the first holding portion having a first transfer arm, the upper substrate held by the second holding portion having a second The substrate after bonding was held by the third holding part. Thus, it is possible to carry out loading and unloading by holding the different substrates to each holding portion, the substrate transfer time is Ru is shortened. As a result, it is possible to shorten the idle time of equipment Ru good for transporting the substrate.
According to the second and fifth aspects of the invention, the first holding portion holds the outer surface of the lower substrate, and the second holding portion holds the outer surface of the upper substrate. Accordingly, the substrate can be adsorbed to the holding plate in a substantially flat state while preventing the substrate from being bent due to its own weight, so that the substrate is stably held. Accordingly, the displacement and dropping of the substrate are prevented.
According to the invention described in claim 3, the first holding plate and the second holding portion do not interfere with each other due to the groove.
According to the invention described in claim 4, the first holding plate sucks and holds the outer surface of the held substrate by the suction mechanism, and the suction and suction force and electrostatic force are held on the substrate held by the suction mechanism. At least one of the adsorption forces is applied to hold the substrate. According to this, since the substrate can be adsorbed to the holding plate in a substantially flat state while preventing the substrate from being bent by its own weight, the substrate is stably held. Accordingly, the displacement and dropping of the substrate are prevented.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus and the bonded substrate manufacturing method which can reduce the manufacture defect of a bonded substrate can be provided.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus that performs a liquid crystal injection and bonding process among liquid crystal display device manufacturing processes.

  The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 manufactures a liquid crystal display panel by sealing a liquid crystal between two types of supplied substrates W1 and W2. The liquid crystal display panel produced by the apparatus of this embodiment is, for example, an active matrix liquid crystal display panel, and the first substrate W1 is an array substrate (TFT substrate) on which TFTs are formed, a second substrate, and the like. W2 is a color filter substrate on which a color filter, a light shielding film and the like are formed. These substrates W1 and W2 are created and supplied by respective processes.

  The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 includes a control device 11, a seal drawing device 12 controlled by the control device 11, a liquid crystal dropping device 13 as a liquid dropping device, and a bonding device 14. The laminating device 14 includes a press device 15 and a curing device 16, and these devices 15 and 16 are controlled by the control device 11. In addition, each apparatus 11-13, 15, 16 is provided with two or more as needed.

  Moreover, the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 includes transport devices 17a to 17e that transport the supplied substrates W1 and W2. Specifically, the control device 11 controls the transfer robots (not shown in FIG. 1) as transfer means in the transfer devices 17a to 17e and the bonding device 14, and the substrates W1 and W2 and the bonded substrates manufactured thereby. Transport.

  The first and second substrates W1, W2 are transported to the seal drawing device 12 by the transport device 17a. The transport device 17a includes an ID reader 18 that can read identification information (hereinafter referred to as substrate ID) for distinguishing between the types of the substrates W1 and W2, and when the substrates W1 and W2 are supplied, control from the control device 11 is performed. After the substrate ID is read by the ID reader 18 in response to the signal, the substrates W1 and W2 are transported to the seal drawing device 12. Note that the control device 11 controls the dropping amount of liquid crystal, which will be described later, based on the substrate ID read by the ID reader 18.

  The seal drawing device 12 applies a seal material in a frame shape at a predetermined position along the periphery on the upper surface of one of the transported first and second substrates W1 and W2 (in this embodiment, the glass substrate W1). To do. As the sealing material, an adhesive containing at least a photo-curable adhesive is used. The substrates W1 and W2 are supplied to the transport device 17b, and the transport device 17b transports the substrates W1 and W2 to the liquid crystal dropping device 13 as a set.

  The liquid crystal dropping device 13 instills liquid crystal at a plurality of preset predetermined positions on the upper surface of the substrate W1 coated with the sealing material among the transported substrates W1 and W2. The substrate W1 and the substrate W2 onto which the liquid crystal has been dropped are transported to the laminating device 14 by the transport device 17c.

  The laminating device 14 includes a positioning device (not shown in FIG. 1), and the substrate W1 and the substrate W2 onto which the liquid crystal has been dropped are conveyed to the positioning device. In the laminating apparatus 14, the press apparatus 15 needs to precisely align the laminating positions of both the substrates W1, W2. The positioning device performs preliminary positioning for each of the substrates W1 and W2 before carrying the substrates W1 and W2 into the press device 15, thereby improving the alignment accuracy during substrate bonding. The substrates W1 and W2 positioned by the positioning device are transferred to the press device 15 by the transfer robot.

  The press device 15 includes a vacuum chamber as a processing chamber, and a chuck for holding each of the substrates W1 and W2 by suction is provided in the chamber. The pressing device 15 sucks and holds the simultaneously loaded substrates W1 and W2 on the lower chuck and the upper chuck, respectively, and then evacuates the chamber. Then, the press device 15 supplies a predetermined gas into the chamber. The supplied gas is a replacement gas including a reactive gas such as an excitation gas for a plasma display panel (PDP), an inert gas such as nitrogen gas, and clean dry air. With these gases, pretreatment is performed in which impurities and products adhering to the surface of the substrate and the display element are exposed to a reaction gas and a replacement gas for a certain period of time.

  This treatment maintains and stabilizes the properties of the bonding surface that cannot be opened after bonding. As for the 1st and 2nd board | substrates W1 and W2, films | membranes, such as an oxide film, generate | occur | produce on those surfaces, or the suspended | floating matter in air adheres, and the surface state changes. Since the change in this state is different for each substrate, a stable panel cannot be manufactured. Therefore, these processes suppress film formation and adhesion of impurities, and process the adhered impurities to suppress changes in the state of the substrate surface, thereby stabilizing the panel quality.

  Next, the press device 15 optically aligns both the substrates W1 and W2 using the alignment mark (without bringing the lower surface of the substrate W2 into contact with the sealing material and the liquid crystal on the upper surface of the substrate W1). Do. Thereafter, the pressing device 15 applies a predetermined pressure to both the substrates W1 and W2 and presses them to a predetermined cell thickness. Then, the press device 15 opens the inside of the vacuum chamber to the atmosphere.

  The control device 11 monitors the passage of time from the loading of the first and second substrates W1 and W2, and exposes the first and second substrates W1 and W2 to the gas supplied into the press device 15. (Time from loading to pasting) is controlled. Thereby, the property of the bonding surface which cannot be opened after bonding is maintained and stabilized.

  The transport device 17 d takes out the bonded liquid crystal panel from the press device 15 and transports it to the curing device 16. At this time, the control device 11 monitors the passage of time after the liquid crystal panel is pressed, and drives the transport device 17d to supply the substrate to the curing device 16 when a predetermined time has passed. The curing device 16 irradiates the transported liquid crystal panel with light having a predetermined wavelength to cure the sealing material.

  That is, the bonded liquid crystal panel is irradiated with light for curing the sealing material after a predetermined time has passed since the press. This predetermined time is obtained in advance by experiments based on the diffusion rate of the liquid crystal and the time required to release the stress remaining on the substrate by pressing.

  The liquid crystal sealed between the substrates W1 and W2 by the press device 15 is diffused by pressing and opening to the atmosphere. The diffusion of the liquid crystal is completed, that is, before the liquid crystal diffuses to the seal material, the seal material is cured.

  Further, the substrates W1 and W2 are deformed by pressurization or the like in a press. Since the liquid crystal panel being transported by the transport device 17d is not cured, the stress remaining on the substrates W1 and W2 is released. Accordingly, since the residual stress is small when the sealing material is cured, the positional deviation is suppressed.

  The liquid crystal panel on which the sealing material has been cured in this manner is transported to a device (such as an inspection device) for performing the next process by the transport device 17e. For example, in the inspection apparatus, a positional deviation or the like of the substrates W1 and W2 of the conveyed liquid crystal panel is measured, and correction is applied to the next alignment in the press apparatus 15 based on the measurement result.

Next, a configuration for adsorbing and fixing the substrates W1 and W2 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the suction mechanism of the press device 15.
The press device 15 includes a vacuum chamber 20 as a processing chamber. The vacuum chamber 20 is divided into upper and lower parts, and includes an upper container 20a and a lower container 20b.

  The upper container 20a is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction by a driving mechanism such as an actuator (not shown). A seal portion 21 is provided on the upper side of the lower container 20b. As shown in FIG. 3, when the upper container 20a is lowered to close the chamber 20, the inside of the chamber 20 is hermetically sealed by the seal portion 21.

  In the chamber 20, an upper flat plate 22a and a lower flat plate 22b are provided as first and second holding plates for adsorbing the substrates W1 and W2. The drawing shows a state in which the second substrate W2 is adsorbed on the upper flat plate 22a and the first substrate W1 is adsorbed on the lower flat plate 22b. The upper flat plate 22a is supported so as to be movable up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown). On the other hand, the lower flat plate 22b is supported by a drive mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable in the horizontal direction (XY axis direction) and supported so as to be capable of horizontal rotation (θ direction).

  The upper flat plate 22a includes an upper surface plate 23a and a pressure plate 24a as an electrostatic chuck portion attached to the lower surface of the upper surface plate 23a. Further, the upper flat plate 22a is formed with a suction conduit 25 for vacuum suction of the substrate W2. The suction pipe 25 is composed of a pipe that communicates a plurality of suction holes formed on the lower surface of the pressure plate 24a with suction holes formed in the upper surface plate 23a along the horizontal direction.

  The suction pipe 25 is connected to the first vacuum pump 27 through a pipe 26a, and a suction suction valve 28a is provided in the middle of the pipe 26a. The first vacuum pump 27 and the suction / adsorption valve 28a are connected to a control device (not shown), and the control device performs drive control of the vacuum pump 27 and open / close control of the valve 28a.

  Connected to the pipe 26a is a pipe 26b for communicating the inside of the pipe 26a with the inside of the chamber 20 so that the back pressure of the substrate W2 (pressure in the adsorption pipe 25) is substantially equal to the pressure in the chamber 20. Has been. A back pressure release valve 28b is provided in the middle of the pipe 26b, and the valve 28b is controlled to open and close by a control device (not shown).

  The pipe 26a is connected to a pipe 26c for releasing the atmosphere in the pipe 26a so that the back pressure of the substrate W2 is substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure. An air release valve 28c is provided in the middle of the pipe 26c, and the valve 28c is controlled to be opened and closed by a control device (not shown).

  Similarly, the lower flat plate 22b includes a lower surface plate 23b and a table 24b as an electrostatic chuck portion attached to the upper surface thereof. In the present embodiment, the suction suction mechanism for vacuum-sucking the substrate W1 to the lower flat plate 22b is not provided. However, the suction suction mechanism as described above may be provided.

  The chamber 20 is connected to a second vacuum pump 29 via a pipe 26d for evacuating the inside of the chamber 20, and an exhaust valve 28d is provided in the middle of the pipe 26d. The second vacuum pump 29 and the exhaust valve 28d are connected to a control device (not shown), and the control device performs drive control of the vacuum pump 29 and open / close control of the valve 28d.

  Further, a pipe 26 e for supplying a predetermined gas (inert gas or the like) into the chamber 20 is connected to the chamber 20. A gas introduction valve 28e is provided in the middle of the pipe 26e, and the valve 28e is controlled to be opened and closed by a control device (not shown).

  In the chamber 20 configured as described above, the control device drives the first vacuum pump 27 and opens the suction adsorption valve 28a, thereby evacuating the inside of the adsorption pipe line 25 and the pipe 26a, and removing the substrate W2. Vacuum adsorption. Further, the control device electrostatically attracts the substrates W2 and W1 by applying a voltage to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b as the electrostatic chuck portion to generate a Coulomb force.

  The control device switches and controls the vacuum suction and electrostatic suction of the substrate W2 according to the pressure (degree of vacuum) in the chamber 20. For example, when receiving the substrate W2 from the transfer robot when the substrate W2 described later is carried in, the control device adsorbs the substrate W2 by applying a suction adsorption force from the pressure plate 24a. When the pressure in the chamber 20 becomes lower than the pressure in the pipe 26a (and the adsorption pipe line 25) based on a signal from a pressure sensor (not shown) provided in the pipe 26a, the control device sucks the suction adsorption valve. After closing the vacuum source by closing 28a, electrostatic adsorption is performed by applying an electrostatic adsorption force from the pressure plate 24a to the substrate W2.

Next, the carrying-in of the substrates W1 and W2 into the press device 15 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, loading of the substrate W2 (substrate held on the pressure plate 24a: a color filter substrate) will be described.

  The substrate W2 is carried into the press apparatus 15 while being sucked and held by the transfer robot 31. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 2 shows a hand 31a as a transfer unit of a transfer robot 31 having a suction mechanism for the substrate W2 (details of the transfer robot 31 will be described later).

  The hand 31a of the transfer robot 31 has an outer peripheral portion (from the position where the sealing material is provided to the end of the substrate) on the inner surface of the substrate W2 (hereinafter, the side on which liquid crystal is sealed between the substrates W1 and W2 is referred to as the inner surface and the opposite side is referred to as the outer surface) Are provided with a plurality of suction pads 32. In each of the suction pads 32 and the hand 31a, a suction conduit 33 that communicates a plurality of suction holes for vacuum suction of the substrate W2 is formed. The suction pipe 33 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) for evacuating the pipe and the suction pipe 33 through a pipe (not shown).

  Further, one or a plurality of gas ejection nozzles 34 are formed in the hand 31a between the suction pads 32 that respectively hold the outer peripheral portions of the opposite sides of the substrate W2. The gas ejection nozzle 34 is connected to a gas supply source (not shown) through a gas supply line 34a formed in the hand 31a and a pipe (not shown), and the gas supplied from the gas supply source is a gas ejection nozzle. 34 is ejected toward the inner surface of the substrate W2.

That is, the transfer robot 31 blows gas toward the inner surface of the substrate W2 held on the suction pad 32 of the hand 31a.
The gas ejected at this time is sprayed onto the substrate W2 at a flow velocity at which a pressure corresponding to the weight per unit area of the substrate W2 is generated. The gas ejection amount is estimated by calculation from the area, thickness, specific gravity of the substrate W2, the pitch at which the gas ejection nozzle 34 is formed, the distance from the nozzle 34 to the inner surface of the substrate W2, etc. Is set. Due to the pressure generated by the gas ejection, the substrate W2 adsorbed and held by the transfer robot 31 is prevented from being bent by its own weight, and is maintained in a state substantially close to a flat surface.

  In addition, an inert gas such as the above-described reaction gas, nitrogen gas, or clean dry air is used as the gas blown onto the substrate W2. Therefore, by exposing the inner surface of the substrate W2 to these gases, it has an effect of removing impurities and products attached to the substrate W2.

  In this way, the transfer robot 31 sucks and holds the substrate W2 while blowing the gas to the inner surface of the substrate W2, and maintains the substrate W2 in a substantially flat state as shown in FIG. Close to. Then, in this state, the substrate W2 is held on the pressure plate 24a by applying at least one of the suction adsorption force and the electrostatic adsorption force to the substrate W2 from the pressure plate 24a.

Next, loading of the substrate W1 (substrate held on the table 24b: array substrate) will be described.
The substrate W1 is carried into the press device 15 while being sucked and held by another hand (not shown in FIG. 2) of the transport robot 31.

  The table 24b is provided with a known lift pin (not shown) supported so as to be movable up and down. The substrate W1 carried in by the transport robot 31 is received by a plurality of lift pins that are lifted, and the lift pins are lowered so that the substrate W1 is placed on the table 24b. In this state, the substrate W1 is held on the table 24b by applying an electrostatic adsorption force from the table 24b to the substrate W1.

Next, the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 4, on the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a, a plurality of suction grooves 25a that are not in communication with the suction conduit 25 in a state where the substrate W2 is held are formed at predetermined intervals. The plurality of suction grooves 25a are formed by cutting out sides so as to extend to the end face of the pressure plate 24a along a predetermined direction. 4B and 4C show side views of the pressure plate 24a.

  Thus, by forming a plurality of suction grooves 25a on the suction surface, the substrate W2 moves or drops due to bubbles remaining at the contact interface between the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a and the substrate W2 when the pressure in the chamber 20 is reduced. Can be prevented. That is, when the pressure is reduced, bubbles remaining between the suction surface and the substrate W2 move into the chamber 20 via the plurality of suction grooves 25a, so that the substrate W2 is easily brought into close contact with the pressure plate 24a in a planar state.

  The plurality of suction grooves 25a reduce the contact area between the suction surface and the substrate W2, and the position of the substrate W2 when the applied pressure is released by the stress accumulated during the pressurizing process of the substrate W2. It also has the effect of preventing displacement.

  Although not shown, a plurality of suction grooves are formed on the suction surface of the table 24b that holds the substrate W1 in the same manner as the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a, so that the substrate W1 is held in a flat state. This prevents the substrate W1 from moving and leaving.

Next, a method for bonding the substrates W1 and W2 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the bonding process of the substrates W1 and W2 by the press device 15.

  Now, the press apparatus 15 is in an initial state (step 41). Specifically, the press device 15 closes all the valves 28a to 28e, moves the upper container 20a of the chamber 20 to the upper end, and opens the chamber 20. The first and second vacuum pumps 27 and 29 are always driven.

  In this initial state, the substrates W <b> 1 and W <b> 2 are carried into the press device 15 by the transport robot 31. Incidentally, the substrate W1 is an array substrate (TFT substrate) in which a sealing material (adhesive) is applied in a frame shape and liquid crystal is dropped in the frame, and the substrate 2 is a color filter substrate.

  Specifically, as described above, the transfer robot 31 brings the adsorbed and held substrate W2 close to the pressure plate 24a while maintaining a substantially flat state. In this state, the press device 15 opens the suction suction valve 28a and holds the substrate W2 on the pressure plate 24a by vacuum suction (step 42). Subsequently, the transfer robot 31 places the suctioned and held substrate W1 on the table 24b. In this state, the press device 15 applies a predetermined voltage to the table 24b, and holds the substrate W1 on the table 24b by electrostatic attraction (step 43).

  Next, the press device 15 causes the upper container 20a of the chamber 20 to approach the lower container 20b, and closes the chamber 20 as shown in FIG. 3 (step 44). Thereby, the inside of the chamber 20 is hermetically sealed.

  Next, the press device 15 opens the back pressure release valve 28b (step 45). As a result, the adsorption pipe 25 and the pipe 26a communicate with the inside of the chamber 20 via the pipe 26b, and the back pressure of the substrate W2 (pressure in the adsorption pipe 25) and the chamber pressure become substantially equal.

  That is, by opening the back pressure release valve 28b, the pressure on the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the substrate W2 becomes substantially equal. Therefore, the local bending of the substrate W2 caused by the pressure difference between the front and back surfaces of the substrate W2 is eliminated, and the substrate W2 is stably held on the pressure plate 24a in a substantially planar state.

  Next, the press device 15 closes the suction adsorption valve 28a (step 46). As a result, the evacuation by the vacuum pump 27 is stopped, and the suction suction force acting on the substrate W2 is released. At this time, the substrate W2 does not immediately drop from the pressure plate 24a even after the suction adsorption force is released. This is because the outer surface of the substrate W2 and the adsorption surface of the pressure plate 24a are formed in a substantially flat surface, and moisture contained in the atmosphere is interposed between the pressure plate 24a and the substrate W2, so that the flat surfaces are in close contact with each other. This is thought to be due to the force acting.

  The press device 15 applies a voltage to the pressure plate 24a and holds the substrate W2 on the pressure plate 24a by electrostatic adsorption within a predetermined time during which the substrate W2 is fixed by the adhesion force (step 47).

Next, the press device 15 opens the exhaust valve 28d and the gas introduction valve 28e (step 48).
As a result, the inside of the chamber 20 is evacuated and decompressed by the vacuum pump 29 and is replaced by the supply of gas (inert gas). In the decompression process in the chamber 20, since the substrate W2 is electrostatically attracted to the pressure plate 24a in a substantially planar state, almost no bubbles remain on the contact surface between the substrate W2 and the pressure plate 24a. Accordingly, the occurrence of glow discharge is suppressed, and the displacement and dropping of the substrate W2 are prevented.

  In addition, since the back pressure release valve 28b is opened at the time of decompression, the pressure on the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the substrate W2 becomes substantially equal pressure, thereby preventing the displacement and dropping of the substrate W2.

  The press device 15 closes the gas introduction valve 28e after a predetermined time has elapsed to complete the replacement in the chamber 20 (step 49), and then optically aligns the substrates W1 and W2 using alignment marks. (Without bringing the lower surface of the substrate W2 into contact with the sealing material and the liquid crystal on the upper surface of the substrate W1). (Step 50).

  Thereafter, the pressing device 15 lowers the upper surface plate 23a, applies a predetermined pressure to both the substrates W1 and W2, and presses them to a predetermined cell thickness, that is, the substrates W1 and W2 are bonded together in a vacuum. (Step 51).

  After such bonding of both the substrates W1 and W2, the pressing device 15 stops the electrostatic adsorption of the pressure plate 24a (step 52), closes the exhaust valve 28d, and opens the air release valve 28c (step 53). ). As a result, the evacuation of the chamber 20 by the vacuum pump 29 is stopped, and the pressure inside the chamber 20 becomes atmospheric pressure.

  Next, the press device 15 stops the electrostatic adsorption of the table 24b and raises the upper surface plate 23a. Thereafter, the upper container 20a of the chamber 20 is moved to the upper end to open the chamber 20 (step 54).

  The transfer robot 31 takes out the bonded substrates W1 and W2 mounted on the table 24b and transfers them to a predetermined position for performing the next process (step 55). Then, after the two substrates W1 and W2 after being bonded are transported, the press device 15 returns to the initial state of Step 41 (Step 56).

  Therefore, in such a bonding method, the local deflection of the substrate W2 is corrected and held by the pressure plate 24a by electrostatic attraction in a substantially planar state. Is prevented.

In addition, you may change the bonding method of such board | substrates W1 and W2 as follows.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the bonding process of the substrates W1 and W2 by the press device 15.

  The press device 15 holds the substrate W2 on the pressure plate 24a and holds the substrate W1 on the table 24b from the initial state in the same manner as Steps 41 to 44 in FIG. The inside is sealed (steps 61 to 64).

  Next, the press device 15 opens the gas introduction valve 28e, introduces gas into the chamber 20, and raises the pressure in the chamber 20 (step 65). For example, in this embodiment, the chamber pressure is raised to atmospheric pressure + 2 KPa (kilopascal) by injecting this gas.

  Next, the press device 15 closes the suction adsorption valve 28a and stops the vacuum exhaust by the vacuum pump 27 (step 66). Thereafter, the atmosphere release valve 28c is opened to bring the inside of the pipe 26a and the adsorption pipe line 25 to atmospheric pressure (step 67).

  At this time, since the gas is injected into the chamber 20 and the chamber pressure> atmospheric pressure, the substrate W2 is fixed to the pressure plate 24a by the pressure difference. At this time, the pressure difference between the chamber pressure and the atmospheric pressure is controlled to be a necessary and sufficient pressure difference (for example, chamber pressure = atmospheric pressure + 2 KPa) that can hold the substrate W2 on the pressure plate 24a. Therefore, the occurrence of local bending in the substrate W2 as described above is suppressed, and the substrate W2 is stably fixed to the pressure plate 24a in a substantially planar state.

  The press device 15 applies a voltage to the pressure plate 24a while the substrate W2 is fixed by this pressure difference, and holds the substrate W2 on the pressure plate 24a by electrostatic adsorption (step 68). Thereafter, the atmosphere release valve 28c and the gas introduction valve 28e are closed, and the back pressure release valve 28b is opened (step 69). Opening the back pressure release valve 28b eliminates the local bending of the substrate W2 caused by the pressure difference between the front and back surfaces of the substrate W2 as in the above (step 45 in FIG. 5).

Next, the press device 15 opens the exhaust valve 28d and the gas introduction valve 28e (step 70).
As a result, the inside of the chamber 20 is evacuated and reduced in pressure by the vacuum pump 29 and replaced. At this time, as in the above-described (step 48 in FIG. 5), the substrate W2 is electrostatically adsorbed to the pressure plate 24a in a substantially flat state during the decompression process in the chamber 20, so the contact between the substrate W2 and the pressure plate 24a. Almost no bubbles remain on the surface. Accordingly, the occurrence of glow discharge is suppressed, and the displacement and dropping of the substrate W2 are prevented.

  In addition, since the back pressure release valve 28b is opened at the time of decompression, the pressure on the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the substrate W2 becomes substantially equal pressure, thereby preventing the displacement and dropping of the substrate W2.

Then, the press device 15 closes the gas introduction valve 28e after a predetermined time has elapsed to complete the replacement in the chamber 20 (step 71).
After that, after aligning both the substrates W1 and W2 in the same manner as in Steps 50 to 55 in FIG. 5, a predetermined pressure is applied to the substrates W1 and W2 to press them to a predetermined cell thickness. The bonded substrates W1 and W2 are transferred to a predetermined position for performing the next process by the transfer robot 31 (steps 72 to 77). Then, after the bonded substrates W1 and W2 are transported, the press device 15 returns to the initial state of step 51 (step 78).

  In the bonding method shown in FIG. 6, misalignment and dropping from the pressure plate 24 a due to the bending of the substrate W <b> 2 are prevented in the decompression process in the chamber 20 as in FIG. 5. In addition, after the vacuum suction is stopped (until the substrate W2 is held by electrostatic suction), the substrate W2 is pressed and fixed to the pressure plate 24a by gas (specifically, a pressure difference). Thereby, it is possible to fix the substrate W2 more stably. At the same time, this method can further enhance the effect of removing impurities in the chamber 20 and the inner surface of the substrate W2 by the gas.

Next, the local bending of the substrate W2 that occurs when the substrate W2 is fixed to the pressure plate 24a will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 7A, when the substrate W2 is fixed to the pressure plate 24a by suction and suction, as described above, local deflection occurs due to the pressure difference between the front and back surfaces of the substrate W2. This bending of the substrate W2 is significantly generated as the substrate W2 is thinned.

  As a means for preventing local bending generated in the substrate W2, as shown in FIG. 7B, for example, porous ceramic is provided in the suction groove 25a (see FIG. 4) formed on the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a. Alternatively, a porous member 80 having air permeability constituted by the above may be provided. By providing such a porous member 80 in the suction groove 25a, the surface of the suction groove 25a is flattened and the rigidity of the suction surface is improved, so that bending that occurs in the substrate W2 is prevented.

  Therefore, by using the pressure plate 24a provided with the porous member 80, in the bonding process of the substrates W1 and W2 described above, the effect of preventing the positional displacement and dropping from the pressure plate 24a due to the bending of the substrate W2 is further improved. The

  In order to prevent dust from accumulating inside the porous member 80 and thereby contaminating the substrate W2, it is desirable to periodically remove dust and the like by causing a gas (inert gas) to flow backward.

Next, a method for removing impurities adhering to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b (impurity removing means) will be described in detail.
Impurities such as dust and glass fragments of the substrates W1 and W2 may adhere to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b. Such impurities can cause damage to the suction surfaces of the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b during the suction of the substrates W1 and W2, and can cause displacement and separation of the substrates W1 and W2. For this reason, it is necessary to remove impurities adhering to them.

As shown in FIG. 8, the adhesive tape 81 is formed of a tape base material 82 and an adhesive 83 applied to both surfaces of the tape base material 82.
In order to remove impurities 84 such as dust and glass fragments adhering to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b using the adhesive tape 81, the adhesive tape 81 is first supplied into the press device 15 by a transport mechanism (not shown). , And is attached to the suction surface of the table 24b.

  Next, the press device 15 closes the chamber 20 and opens the exhaust valve 28 d to evacuate the chamber 20. Then, after reducing the pressure in the chamber 20 to a predetermined pressure (under vacuum), the upper surface plate 23a is lowered to a position where the pressure plate 24a and the adhesive tape 81 are in close contact with each other. Thereafter, the exhaust valve 28d is closed, the gas introduction valve 28e is opened, and the chamber pressure is set to be approximately equal to the atmospheric pressure. Then, the chamber 20 is opened to raise the upper surface plate 23a, and the table 24b is raised by the transport mechanism. Remove the top adhesive tape.

  In such a removing method, since the adhesive tape 81 is in close contact with the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b uniformly (without a gap) under vacuum, impurities 84 such as dust and glass fragments adhering to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b are attached to the adhesive 83. It is possible to effectively remove even fine dust that is taken in. Further, when the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b are brought into close contact with the adhesive tape 81, dust and the like can be removed without damaging the suction surfaces due to the elasticity of the tape base material 82.

  In this embodiment, in order to enhance the effect of removing impurities, the process is performed under vacuum. However, in order to shorten the time for reducing the pressure, a corresponding removal effect can be obtained even when the process is performed under atmospheric pressure. It is done.

  Further, although the adhesive tape 81 is sandwiched between the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b, the adhesive tape 81 may be peeled off after being attached thereto. Further, when the adhesive 83 is applied only to one side of the tape base material 82, impurities attached to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b are alternately removed in an arbitrary order, or the adhesive tape 81 is individually removed. You may make it stick.

  Further, when the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b are detachable from the press apparatus 15, impurities may be removed by the adhesive tape 81 outside the chamber 20 (outside the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10).

Next, the amount of liquid crystal sealed between the substrates W1 and W2 will be described in detail.
The distance (cell thickness) between the substrates W1 and W2 to be bonded is extremely small, and the amount of liquid crystal sealed between the substrates W1 and W2 needs to be adjusted to an appropriate amount.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9, one substrate W1 to be bonded (a substrate on which liquid crystal is dropped: an array substrate) has a liquid crystal LC according to the cell thickness by regulating the distance between the substrates W1 and W2. A plurality of pillars 85 for dropping the amount are formed. The figure shows a part of the liquid crystal panel after the substrates W1 and W2 are bonded together, and the liquid crystal panel has a frame shape on the inner periphery of the substrate W1 (specifically, a frame shape along the periphery of the pixel portion). ) And the liquid crystal LC is dropped into the frame of the sealing material 86, and then the substrates W1 and W2 are bonded together.

  Incidentally, the plurality of pillars 85 formed on the substrate W1 may vary in height (hereinafter referred to as pillar height). This variation in the column height changes the distance between the substrates W1 and W2 to be bonded, and changes the amount of liquid crystal LC sealed between them. For this reason, before bonding both the substrates W1 and W2, it is necessary to adjust the amount of liquid crystal LC to be dropped according to the column height.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram for explaining a method of controlling the amount of liquid crystal.
1 shows that the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 described in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of seal drawing apparatuses 12, a liquid crystal dropping apparatus 13, a pressing apparatus 15, and a curing apparatus 16. Including devices 17a-17e. As described above, the ID reader 18 is provided in the transport device 17a.

  The column height measuring device 87 is installed in a network connection with the bonded substrate manufacturing device 10. The column height measuring device 87 measures the height of the column 85 formed on one of the substrates W1 and W2 (the array substrate). The measuring device 87 includes an ID reader 88 that reads a substrate ID for distinguishing between the types of the substrates W1 and W2.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, the column height measuring device 87 reads the substrate ID of the substrate W1 by the ID reader 88 prior to the loading of the substrate W1 into the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 (step 91a). Next, the column height measuring device 87 measures the height of the column 85 formed on the substrate W1 (step 92a), and the measured column height data and the substrate ID are associated with each other in the illustration in the measuring device 87. It stores in the first storage device that does not (step 93a). The column height measuring device 87 performs these processes (steps 91a to 93a) before carrying the substrate W1 into the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 in advance.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11B, in the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10, when the substrates W1 and W2 are supplied to the transfer device 17a, the control device 11 (see FIG. 1) supplies the substrate ID of the substrate W1. Is read by the ID reader 18 (91b). That is, when the substrates W1 and W2 are supplied, the transport device 17a reads the substrate ID of the substrate W1 on which the column 85 is formed based on a command from the control device 11 with the ID reader 18, and then both The substrates W1 and W2 are transferred to the seal drawing device 12.

  The control device 11 reads the column height data stored in association with the substrate ID read by the ID reader 18 from the first storage device, and the column height data is not shown in the control device 11 in the first not shown. 2 (step 92b). Further, the control device 11 determines the liquid crystal dropping device 13 for dropping the liquid crystal LC based on the read column height data (step 93b). If only one type of liquid crystal dropping device 13 is installed, this step 93b is omitted. That is, the transport device 17b takes out the substrates W1 and W2 processed by the seal drawing device 12, and transports both the substrates W1 and W2 to a predetermined liquid crystal dropping device 13 based on a command from the control device 11.

  Next, the control device 11 calculates the drip amount of the liquid crystal LC by the liquid crystal dropping device 13 (step 94b). Specifically, based on column height data and a drip amount correction value set in advance according to the liquid crystal dropping device 13 (a value for correcting an error in drip amount caused by a machine difference between the liquid crystal dropping devices 13), An appropriate amount of the liquid crystal LC dropped on the substrate W1 is calculated. The correction amount of the drip amount of the liquid crystal LC and the drip amount set in the liquid crystal dropping device 13 with respect to the column height data is obtained in advance by experiments, and the control device 11 calculates an appropriate amount based on them.

  The control device 11 instructs the liquid crystal LC infusion amount calculated in this way to a dispenser device (not shown) of the liquid crystal dropping device 13 (step 95b), and the dispenser device uses the instilled amount of the liquid crystal LC. Is dropped onto the substrate W1 (step 96b).

  In such a control method, the liquid crystal LC is dropped in an optimal amount according to the column height of the column 85 formed on the substrate W1 and further according to the liquid crystal dropping device 13 that drops the liquid crystal LC. Thereby, reduction of the defect rate of the board | substrates W1 and W2 (liquid crystal panel) after bonding, and the waste of the usage-amount of liquid crystal LC can be eliminated.

In the present embodiment, machine data for distinguishing the type of the column height measuring device 87 that measures the column height may be added to the above-described substrate ID and column height data.
More specifically, a plurality of column height measuring devices 87 may be installed for mass productivity and stable operation. In such a case, similarly to the liquid crystal dropping device 13 described above, an error may occur in the measured value of the column height due to a machine difference between the column height measuring devices 87. For this reason, it is necessary to grasp which measuring device 87 measures the column height data of the substrate W1 carried into the liquid crystal dropping device 13. At this time, the liquid crystal LC drip corrected in consideration of the machine difference between the column height measuring device 87 and the liquid crystal dropping device 13 by adding the machine data of the column height measuring device 87 to the substrate ID and the column height data. The amount can be calculated.

  Further, a lot number may be given to the substrate ID and the column height data. The lot number is a number assigned to the substrate W1 for each processing unit in the liquid crystal dropping device 13 that drops the liquid crystal LC. In this method, the column height data of the substrate W1 having the same lot number can be acquired collectively, so the liquid crystal drip amount corresponding to them is calculated in advance before processing in the liquid crystal dropping device 13. I can keep it. As a result, a delay in response time in the control device 11 that may occur when the drip amount is calculated sequentially is prevented, and productivity can be improved.

Next, a transfer robot as a transfer unit will be described in detail.
The transfer robot described below has a different configuration from the transfer robot 31 (see FIG. 2) having the gas ejection mechanism described above.

  FIG. 12 shows a layout of the laminating apparatus 14 (the curing apparatus 16 is not shown). The transport robot 101 includes a positioning apparatus 102 that performs positioning for each of the substrates W1 and W2, and a press apparatus 15 that performs laminating. And the substrate payout position 103, and are provided so as to be pivotable to positions facing each other.

  The transfer robot 101 needs to transfer three substrates (substrate W1, substrate W2, and substrates W1 and W2 after bonding) in a single bonding process of the substrates W1 and W2 by the press device 15, and the liquid crystal substrate In this manufacturing process, there is a strong demand for shortening the transport time that does not directly contribute to production.

  The transfer robot 101 includes a rotation unit 104 and two first and second transfer arms 105 and 106. As shown in FIG. 13A, the rotation unit 104 is provided to be rotatable at about 360 degrees with the main body 104a as a rotation center and to be movable up and down along the axial direction (Z-axis direction). . The first and second transfer arms 105 and 106 can be individually expanded and contracted in the horizontal direction (XY axis direction) with respect to the rotating unit 104 and can be slightly moved up and down along the Z axis direction. .

  Accordingly, the transfer robot 101 turns to each of the positioning device 102, the press device 15, and the substrate payout position 103, and expands and contracts at least one of the first and second transfer arms 105 and 106, thereby W1 and W2 are transported.

  As shown in FIG. 13 (b), the first transfer arm 105 includes first and second hands 105a and 105b as transfer sections at the tip thereof. The first hand 105a has a plurality of suction pads 107 on its lower surface side, and holds the substrate W2 (color filter substrate) by the suction pads 107. Specifically, the outer surface of the substrate W2 is sucked and adsorbed by a vacuum source (not shown). Similarly, the second hand 105b has a plurality of suction pads 108 on its upper surface side, and sucks and holds the outer surface of the substrate W1 (array substrate) by the suction pads 108.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13C, the second transfer arm 106 is provided with a third hand 106a as a transfer unit at the tip. The third hand 106a has a plurality of suction pads 109 on the upper surface side, and sucks and holds the substrates W1 and W2 (liquid crystal panel) after bonding by the suction pads 109.

  The transport robot 101 configured in this manner first turns to a position facing the positioning device 102, and holds one of the substrates W1 and W2 with the bonding position positioned on the first hand 105a. And take it out. Next, the other substrate W1 positioned is held by the second hand 105b and taken out. The transfer robot 101 performs these operations while the press device 15 is bonding the previous substrates W1 and W2.

  Next, the transfer robot 101 turns to a position facing the press device 15. Then, when the pressing device 15 completes the pasting of the previous substrates W1 and W2, the first hand and the second substrate are taken out by holding the substrates to be carried out (the substrates W1 and W2 after the pasting) in the third hand 106a. The substrates W2 and W1 previously held in the second hands 105a and 105b are carried in. Thereafter, the transfer robot 101 turns to a position opposite to the substrate dispensing position 103 and dispenses the bonded substrates W1 and W2 held in the third hand 106a.

  As described above, the transfer robot 101 performs a single turning operation from the positioning device 102 and a loading / unloading process in the pressing device 15 when the substrates W1 and W2 are transferred to the pressing device 15 once. The first and second transfer arms 105 and 106 are expanded and contracted once (total of two times).

  By the way, conventionally, the transfer robot is configured to include one hand for each of the first and second transfer arms. That is, the first transfer arm includes a first hand, and the second transfer arm includes a second hand. For this reason, the conventional transfer robot performs the two swiveling operations from the positioning device 102 and the loading / unloading processing in the pressing device 15 when the substrates W1 and W2 are transferred to the pressing device 15 once. The first and second transfer arms need to be expanded and contracted three times in total.

  In contrast to such a conventional configuration, in the present embodiment, the number of turning and extending / contracting operations of the transfer robot 101 is reduced, so that the substrate transfer time is shortened, and consequently the operation stop time of the press device 15 is shortened. can do.

  The first hand 105a of the transfer robot 101 is configured to hold the outer surface of the substrate W2. However, when the substrate W2 is carried into the pressing device 15 by such a hand 105a (held on the pressure plate 24a). The configuration of the pressure plate 24a is partially changed as shown in FIG.

  More specifically, a groove 111a is formed in the pressure plate 111 at a predetermined location along the path of the first hand 105a. The first hand 105a moves below the pressure plate 111 while holding the outer surface of the substrate W2, and the substrate W2 approaches the suction surface of the pressure plate 111 as shown in FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b). Ascend to the position where At that time, the first hand 105 a is accommodated in the groove 111 a of the pressure plate 111, and thus does not interfere with the pressure plate 111. In this state, the substrate W2 is held by applying at least one of the suction adsorption force and the electrostatic adsorption force to the substrate W2 from the pressure plate 111. Thereafter, the first hand 105a stops sucking and sucking onto the substrate W2, rises slightly from the substrate W2, and contracts.

  Since the first hand 105a having such a configuration sucks and holds the outer surface of the substrate W2, even when the substrate W2 is large and thin, the first hand 105a prevents bending due to its own weight and holds the substrate W2 in a substantially planar state. Can be held. Therefore, it can be adsorbed on the adsorption surface of the pressure plate 111 in a substantially flat state.

  The transfer robot 101 is configured to include two hands on at least one of the first and second transfer arms 105 and 106, and two hands are attached to the second transfer arm 106. You may prepare.

  In addition, the transfer robot 101 may be configured to include the hand 31a shown in FIG. 2 instead of the first hand 105a. In this case, for example, the first transport arm 105 is provided with a hand 31a for transporting the substrate W2, and the second hand 105b for transporting the substrate W1 to the second transport arm 106 and the bonded substrates W1 and W2 are disposed. It comprises so that the 3rd hand 106a to convey may be provided.

Next, the positioning device 102 will be described in detail.
In the press device 15, when the substrates W1 and W2 are bonded, it is necessary to precisely align the bonding position between the opposing substrates W1 and W2.

  In general, the bonding accuracy between the substrates W1 and W2 requires high alignment accuracy on the order of several μm, and micron-sized alignment marks are formed on both the substrates W1 and W2. A lens with a long focal length is necessary to simultaneously capture the images of the alignment marks formed on the two separated substrates W1 and W2, respectively, but such a lens has a complicated structure and can be easily realized. Can not. For this reason, it is necessary to perform preliminary positioning for each of the substrates W1 and W2 before the substrates W1 and W2 are bonded by the press device 15.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the positioning device 102 includes a base plate 121, positioning pins 122 attached to the base plate 121, a support plate 123 that supports the substrate W2, and support pins 124 that support the substrate W1. , A suction mechanism 125, a positioning mechanism 126, and a linear actuator 127 are provided.

  The support plate 123 is provided so as to be movable along a linear guide 121a provided on the base plate 121 to a position for supporting the outer peripheral portion of the inner surface of the substrate W2 or a position away from the substrate W2. The support pin 124 is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the positioning mechanism 126 is provided so as to be movable in the front-rear direction (the arrow direction shown in FIG. 14A). The support plate 123, the support pin 124, and the positioning mechanism 126 are driven and controlled by a drive source such as a cylinder (not shown).

  The suction mechanism 125 can be moved in the vertical direction with respect to the base plate 121 by a linear actuator 127. The suction mechanism 125 includes an upper plate 128a, a lower plate 128b, a bearing 129 that supports the upper plate 128a so as to be movable in the horizontal direction (XY axis direction) with respect to the lower plate 128b, and the upper plate 128a with respect to the lower plate 128b. And a spring 130 urging to a reference position (position shown in FIG. 14A). A plurality of suction portions 131 are provided in parallel on the lower surface side of the upper plate 128a, and a plurality of suction pads 132 are provided on the suction portions 131 at predetermined intervals.

Hereinafter, a case where the substrates W1 and W2 are positioned by the positioning device 102 configured as described above will be described.
First, the case where the substrate W2 is positioned will be described.

  The substrate W2 is transported from the liquid crystal dropping device 13 by the transport device 17c (see FIG. 1) and supported by the support plate 123 (two-dot chain line shown in FIG. 14A). Note that when the substrate W2 is transported, the suction mechanism 125 is raised in advance and the support pin 124 is lowered.

  When the substrate W2 is placed on the support plate 123, the suction mechanism 125 is lowered, and the outer surface of the substrate W2 is sucked and sucked by the plurality of suction pads 132, and then lifted slightly. When the substrate W2 is held by the suction mechanism 125, the support plate 123 moves in a direction away from the substrate W2 to a position where it does not interfere with the substrate W2.

  Next, the positioning mechanism 126 advances toward the substrate W2, presses the end surface (corner) of the substrate W2, and presses the end surface (corner) opposite to the positioning pin 122, thereby positioning the substrate W2. At that time, the suction mechanism 125 moves in the horizontal direction along with the held substrate W2 by a corrected distance. At this time, since the substrate W2 is suspended and held by the suction mechanism 125, the movement of the substrate W2 by the positioning mechanism 126 is performed smoothly.

In this state, the transfer robot 101 described above extends the first transfer arm 105 and sucks and holds the upper surface (outer surface) of the substrate W2 by the first hand 105a.
When the substrate W <b> 2 is held by the transfer robot 101, the suction mechanism 125 stops suction suction from the suction pad 132 to the substrate W <b> 2 and is lifted by the linear actuator 127. The suction mechanism 125 that has stopped sucking the substrate W2 returns to the reference position by the biasing force of the spring 130.

  The substrate W1 is transported from the liquid crystal dropping device 13 by the transport device 17c (see FIG. 1) and supported by the rising support pins 124. Note that when the substrate W1 is transported, the suction mechanism 125 is raised in advance, and the support plate 123 is moved to a position where it does not interfere with the substrate W1. As described above, the positioning mechanism 126 performs positioning by pressing the end surface of the substrate W1. In this state, the transfer robot 101 described above extends the first transfer arm 105 and sucks and holds the lower surface (outer surface) of the substrate W1 by the second hand 105b.

  In such a positioning device 102, when the substrate W2 is positioned, the outer surface of the substrate W2 is sucked and held by the suction mechanism 125, so that the bending of the substrate W2 due to its own weight is suppressed, and the positioning mechanism 126 is in a substantially flat state. Is positioned by.

  Incidentally, the conventional positioning device does not include the suction mechanism 125. For this reason, when the substrate W2 is large or thin, the substrate W2 is bent by its own weight. If positioning is performed in a state where such bending occurs, there is a problem that the bending of the substrate W2 becomes larger and accurate positioning cannot be performed.

  In contrast to such a conventional configuration, in this embodiment, the position of the substrate W2 is corrected by the positioning mechanism 126 while the substrate W2 is held in a substantially planar state. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of the substrate W2 is improved, and as a result, the alignment accuracy in the press device 15 can be improved.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The substrate W2 is moved into the press device 15 by the transfer robot 31 that sucks and holds the outer periphery of the inner surface while jetting gas toward the inner surface of the substrate W2 or the transfer robot 101 that sucks and holds the outer surface of the substrate W2. It was carried in and held on the pressure plate 24a. According to this, even in the case of the substrate W2 having a large deflection due to its own weight, the substrate W2 can be reliably sucked and held on the pressure plate 24a while being kept in a substantially flat state. Therefore, since the substrate W2 can be stably held on the pressure plate 24a, it is possible to prevent the displacement and dropping of the substrate W2 from the pressure plate 24a due to the bending of the substrate W2. Further, since the substrate W2 is attracted to the pressure plate 24a in a substantially planar state, the occurrence of glow discharge during electrostatic attraction is also suppressed. As a result, the manufacturing yield of liquid crystal panels that are increased in size and thickness can be improved, and productivity can be improved.

  (2) When the pressure in the chamber 20 is reduced, the back pressure of the substrate W2 held on the pressure plate 24a is kept approximately equal to the chamber pressure. As a result, local deflection of the substrate W2 due to the pressure difference between the front and back surfaces of the substrate W2 is prevented, so that bubbles remaining on the contact surface between the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a and the substrate W2 during the decompression process in the chamber 20 can be prevented. It is possible to prevent the substrate W2 from moving or dropping.

  (3) On the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a, a plurality of suction grooves 25a are formed at predetermined intervals with the end face (side) of the pressure plate 24a cut away. Thus, even if bubbles remain at the contact interface between the substrate W2 and the pressure plate 24a during the decompression process in the chamber 20, the bubbles easily move into the chamber 20. Therefore, the movement and dropout of the substrate W2 due to the influence (expansion etc.) of the bubbles are also prevented.

  (4) The porous member 80 having air permeability is provided in the suction groove 25a of the pressure plate 24a. In such a configuration, when the substrate W2 is sucked and sucked, the occurrence of local bending due to the pressure difference between the front and back surfaces of the substrate W2 is reliably prevented. Therefore, the effect (2) described above can be further enhanced.

  (5) Impurities such as dust and glass fragments adhering to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b are removed by the adhesive tape 81. In this embodiment, since the adhesive tape 81 is uniformly adhered to the pressure plate 24a and the table 24b under vacuum, these impurities are effectively removed.

  (6) The column height measuring device 87 measures in advance the column height of the column 85 formed on the substrate W1. Then, the liquid crystal LC is dropped in an optimum amount according to the column height data and according to the liquid crystal dropping device 13 that drops the liquid crystal LC. Thereby, the defect rate of the substrates W1 and W2 after bonding is reduced, and waste of the usage amount of the liquid crystal LC can be eliminated. At that time, by adding the machine data and lot number of the measuring device 87 for measuring the column height to the column height data, the amount of liquid crystal can be calculated accurately and efficiently. In this manner, since the liquid crystal LC to be sealed can be controlled to an appropriate amount, the yield of the liquid crystal panel can be improved, and a product having a narrow substrate interval can be dealt with.

  (7) The transfer robot 101 includes the first transfer arm 105 including the first and second hands 105a and 105b, and the second transfer arm 106 includes the third hand 106a. As a result, since the two substrates W1 and W2 can be simultaneously loaded into the press device 15, the number of rotations and expansion / contraction operations of the transfer robot 101 is reduced. Therefore, the substrate transport time is shortened, and consequently the idle time of the press device 15 by the transport can be shortened, and the productivity can be improved.

  (8) The first and second hands 105a and 105b suck and hold the outer surfaces of the substrates W2 and W1, respectively. Accordingly, even when the substrates W2 and W1 are large and thin, they can be stably held in a substantially flat state by preventing bending due to their own weight. Therefore, since the interval between the first and second hands 105a and 105b attached to the first transfer arm 105 can be reduced, the press device 15 is not enlarged.

  (9) The positioning of the substrate W2 by the positioning device 102 is performed in a state where the substrate W2 is held in a substantially flat state by the suction mechanism 125. Thereby, the positioning accuracy is improved, and as a result, the alignment accuracy in the press device 15 can be improved. Further, since the positioning of the substrate W2 by the positioning device 102 can be performed quickly, the alignment time in the press device 15 can be shortened. Thereby, the manufacturing time of a bonded substrate board can be shortened.

(Second embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 16 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining an adsorption mechanism of the press device 141 according to the second embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the component similar to the structure demonstrated in FIG. 2 of 1st embodiment, and the detailed description is partially omitted.

  As shown in the figure, the press device 141 includes a pipe 26f that connects the pipe 26a and the pipe 26d. An exhaust valve 28f is provided in the middle of the pipe 26f, and the exhaust valve 28f is controlled to open and close by a control device (not shown). In other words, the press device 141 opens the pipe 26d to evacuate the chamber 20, and opens the pipe 26f to evacuate the pipe 26a and the suction pipe 25. A second exhaust valve 28f is provided.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining a bonding process of the substrates W1 and W2 using such a press device 141. The process described below is a process performed by changing a part of the method for reducing the pressure in the chamber 20 (step 48 shown in FIG. 5 or step 70 shown in FIG. 6), and the other processes are the same. To be done.

  More specifically, the press device 141 opens the first and second exhaust valves 28d and 28f when starting the replacement in the chamber 20 (at this time, as in the first embodiment, the gas introduction valve 28e). (Step 151).

  At this time, the opening degree of the exhaust valves 28d and 28f is slightly adjusted at the start of pressure reduction in order to prevent the pressure fluctuation accompanying the opening of the first and second exhaust valves 28d and 28f from increasing. Such pressure fluctuation adjustment may be performed by simultaneously adjusting the rotational speed of the vacuum pump 29 (gradually increasing the rotational speed).

  Then, the press device 141 gradually increases the opening degree of the first and second exhaust valves 28d and 28f so that the back pressure of the substrate W2 becomes substantially equal to or lower than the chamber pressure (step 152). When the chamber pressure and the back pressure of the substrate W2 reach a predetermined pressure, the openings of the exhaust valves 28d and 28f are fully opened (step 153).

Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, after the replacement in the chamber 20 is completed, the gas introduction valve 28e is closed, the substrates W1 and W2 are aligned, and then press processing is performed.
In this method, the conductance from the suction surface of the pressurizing plate 24a to the inside of the chamber 20 (adsorption pipe line 25, pipes 26a, 26b) is adjusted by adjusting the opening degree of the exhaust valves 28d, 28f (that is, accelerating / decelerating the exhaust speed). The back pressure of the substrate W2 can be adjusted to be approximately equal to or less than the chamber pressure even when the degree of vacuum in the path is small. That is, even when the path from the suction surface of the pressure plate 24a to the inside of the chamber 20 is narrow and difficult to be depressurized, the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above are obtained. In addition, the method of this embodiment has the same effect also in the case of the structure which does not provide the piping 26b and the back pressure release valve 28b.

(Third embodiment)
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram for explaining the suction mechanism of the present embodiment, in which the suction method to the pressure plate 24a of the first embodiment is partially changed.

  In the present embodiment, the upper flat plate 161 includes an upper surface plate 162 and a pressure plate 163, and a through path 164 that penetrates from the suction surface of the pressure plate 163 to the upper surface of the upper surface plate 162 is formed on the upper plate 161. Is formed.

  Further, the upper flat plate 161 includes a suction mechanism 165 that is loosely inserted into the through-path 164 and supported by the drive mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable up and down. More specifically, the suction mechanism 165 includes a top plate 165a, a plurality of suction portions 165b supported by the top plate 165a, and suction pads 165c provided at the tip (lower end) portion of each suction portion 165b. ing. The plurality of suction pads 165c are connected to a vacuum source via a path (not shown), and suck and hold the outer surface of the substrate W2 by the vacuum source.

  In the suction mechanism configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 18A, the transport robot 31 (FIG. 2) is in a state where the suction mechanism 165 is lowered from the suction surface of the pressure plate 163 to a position where the suction pad 165c protrudes. The substrate W2 carried in by reference) is sucked and held by the suction pad 165c.

  Next, the suction mechanism 165 moves up to a position where the held substrate W2 is close to the suction surface of the pressure plate 163, and in this state, a suction suction force or an electrostatic suction force is applied from the pressure plate 163 to the substrate W2. After holding the substrate W2 on 163, the adsorption action of the adsorption mechanism 165 is stopped as shown in FIG.

  In such a configuration, the substrate W2 is sucked and held on the pressure plate 163 in a state where the outer surface of the substrate W2 is sucked and sucked by the suction mechanism 165. Accordingly, as in the first embodiment, the substrate W2 can be held on the pressure plate 163 in a substantially flat state even when the substrate W2 is largely bent by its own weight. Dropping is prevented.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 18B, the outer surface of the substrate W2 adsorbed by the adsorption mechanism 165 with the substrate W2 held is opened to the inside of the chamber 20 (not shown in the drawing) through the through path 164. Has been. Accordingly, in the process of reducing the pressure in the chamber 20, the substrate W2 is prevented from dropping off due to the back pressure of the substrate W2 becoming higher than the chamber pressure. In the present embodiment, a plurality of suction portions 165b supported by the top plate 165a may be provided so as to be individually movable up and down. By comprising in this way, the adsorption | suction operation | movement with respect to the board | substrate W2 with a large bending can be performed smoothly.

In addition, you may implement each said embodiment in the following aspects.
In FIG. 2, only the case of transporting the substrate W2 held on the pressure plate 24a has been described. However, when the substrate W1 is transported, the substrate W1 may be transported while jetting gas from below the substrate W1.

In the bonding process of both the substrates W1 and W2 shown in FIG. 5, the timing for closing the chamber 20 may be after step 47.
When the substrate W2 is carried into the press apparatus 15 by the transfer robot 31, the gas blown onto the inner surface of the substrate W2 is not necessarily limited to the inert gas, and other gases that do not affect the substrate W2 It may be.

When there is a concern about dust generation on the substrate W2, a filter may be provided in front of the gas ejection nozzle 34.
When the size of the substrate W2 is large, the transfer robot 31 may be configured so that the outer surface of the substrate W2 can be sucked and held while blowing gas to the inner surface of the substrate W2.

  -You may make it provide the 1st and 2nd memory | storage device which memorize | stores board | substrate ID and column height data at the time of controlling the drip amount of liquid crystal LC in the server connected with the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus 10 by network.

  Of the three substrates, the substrate W1, the substrate W2, and the both substrates W1, W2 after being bonded, the types of the substrates respectively held by the first to third hands 105a, 105b, 106a are described in the embodiment. It is not limited to the type. That is, the substrate W1 is held and carried into the third hand 106a shown in FIG. 13C, and the two substrates W1 and W2 after being bonded are held and carried out from the press device 15 by the second hand 105b. It may be. As in the embodiment, when the substrates W2 and W1 are held and loaded in the first and second hands 105a and 105b of the first transfer arm 105, dust or the like is dropped on the substrate W1. Can be prevented.

The characteristics of the above embodiments are summarized as follows.
(Supplementary Note 1) A bonded substrate that includes a transfer means for transferring two substrates into the processing chamber, and bonds the substrates held by the first and second holding plates disposed opposite to each other in the processing chamber. In manufacturing equipment,
The conveying means adsorbs the upper substrate of the two substrates held by the first and second holding plates, and holds the adsorbed substrate in a horizontal direction while ejecting a predetermined gas from below. An apparatus for manufacturing a bonded substrate board comprising a holding unit.
(Additional remark 2) The bonding board | substrate which has the conveyance means which conveys two board | substrates into a processing chamber, and bonds both the board | substrates each hold | maintained at the 1st and 2nd holding plate arrange | positioned facing in the said processing chamber. In manufacturing equipment,
The transfer means includes a holding portion that selectively holds one of two substrates transferred into the processing chamber, and the holding portion sucks and holds the outer surface of the substrate in the horizontal direction. Bonded substrate manufacturing equipment.
(Additional remark 3) The said conveyance means is provided with the two conveyance arms which have the said holding | maintenance part, The said 2 board | substrate was hold | maintained simultaneously to at least one of these two conveyance arms. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to appendix 2.
(Supplementary Note 4) The first and second holding plates are configured to hold the substrate by applying at least one of a suction adsorption force and an electrostatic adsorption force to the substrate held by the holding unit. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary notes 1 to 3.
(Appendix 5) At least one of the first and second holding plates is provided so as to be movable up and down independently of the holding plate, and the outer surface of the substrate held by the holding portion is sucked and adsorbed And holding the substrate by holding at least one of a suction adsorption force and an electrostatic adsorption force on the substrate held by the adsorption mechanism. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 3.
(Additional remark 6) The said 1st and 2nd holding plate is formed with the several penetration path | pass which penetrates this holding board in an up-down direction, The said adsorption | suction mechanism can be moved up and down within the said several penetration path | route. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to appendix 5, further comprising an adsorption part.
(Additional remark 7) The said several adsorption | suction part is provided so that an up-and-down movement is independently possible for every said adsorption | suction part, and it can adsorb | suck to every said adsorption | suction part with respect to the said board | substrate individually. Bonded board manufacturing equipment.
(Supplementary Note 8) The at least one suction surface of the first and second holding plates is characterized in that a plurality of suction grooves are formed by cutting out sides so as to extend to an end surface of the suction surface. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 7.
(Additional remark 9) The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus of Additional remark 8 characterized by the porous member which has air permeability being provided in the said some adsorption groove in the state which planarizes the said adsorption groove.
(Additional remark 10) It is characterized by providing the impurity removal means for removing the impurity adhering to the said 1st and 2nd holding plate prior to carrying in of the said 2 board | substrate into the said process chamber. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary notes 1 to 9.
(Additional remark 11) The said impurity removal means adsorb | sucks the adhesive tape comprised from the tape base material which has elasticity, and the adhesive apply | coated to at least one side among this tape base material by the said 1st and 2nd holding plate The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to appendix 10, wherein the apparatus is a means for contacting a surface and removing impurities with the adhesive.
(Additional remark 12) The said adhesive tape is pinched | interposed with the said 1st and 2nd holding plate under the pressure reduction in the said process chamber, The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus of Additional remark 11 characterized by the above-mentioned.
(Supplementary Note 13) A liquid dropping device that drops the liquid sealed between the two substrates onto one of the two substrates;
A column height measuring device that measures the height of a column that is formed on at least one of the two substrates and regulates the interval between the two substrates;
The column height measuring device stores the identification information of the substrate on which the height of the column is measured and the column height data of the substrate in association with each other in the first storage device, and the liquid dropping device stores the identification information in the identification information. Any one of appendices 1 to 12, wherein an amount of liquid corresponding to the column height data extracted from the first storage device and a predetermined drip amount correction value is dropped on the substrate. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1.
(Supplementary Note 14) The column height data includes the machine number data of the column height measuring device for measuring the column height and the lot number given to the substrate for each processing unit in the liquid dropping device. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to appendix 13, wherein at least one of them is provided.
(Supplementary Note 15) A positioning device that positions the two substrates held by the first and second holding plates for each of the substrates prior to loading the two substrates into the processing chamber. Prepared,
The positioning device sucks the outer surface of the substrate and suspends it so that it can move in the horizontal direction, and pushes at least one of the sides and corners of the substrate suspended by the suction mechanism to perform positioning. The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 14, further comprising a positioning mechanism that performs the positioning.
(Supplementary Note 16) A bonded substrate that includes a transport unit that transports two substrates into the processing chamber, and bonds both substrates held on the first and second holding plates disposed facing each other in the processing chamber. In the manufacturing method,
At least one of the first and second holding plates holds the substrate by sucking and holding the substrate when the processing chamber is under atmospheric pressure, and stops sucking and sucking when the processing chamber is depressurized. A method for manufacturing a bonded substrate, comprising: electrostatically adsorbing and holding the substrate in a state where the back pressure of the substrate is set to be approximately equal to the pressure in the processing chamber later.
(Supplementary Note 17) A bonded substrate that includes a transport unit that transports two substrates into the processing chamber, and bonds both substrates held on the first and second holding plates disposed facing each other in the processing chamber. In the manufacturing method,
At least one of the first and second holding plates holds the substrate by sucking and holding the substrate when the processing chamber is under atmospheric pressure, and the pressure within the processing pressure is used when the processing chamber is depressurized. The substrate is electrostatically adsorbed and held after the suction adsorption is stopped by raising the pressure to a predetermined pressure with respect to the atmospheric pressure.
(Supplementary Note 18) A first exhaust valve for reducing the pressure inside the processing chamber based on driving of a vacuum pump, and a second exhaust valve for adjusting back pressure of the substrate based on driving of the vacuum pump Is provided,
Under reduced pressure in the processing chamber, the opening of the first and second exhaust valves and the rotation speed of the vacuum pump are set so that the back pressure of the substrate is substantially equal to or lower than that in the processing chamber. 18. A method for producing a bonded substrate according to appendix 16 or 17, wherein at least one of them is adjusted.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows a bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus. It is the schematic which shows the adsorption | suction mechanism of the press apparatus of 1st embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the adsorption | suction mechanism of a press apparatus. It is the schematic for demonstrating the adsorption surface of a pressurization board. It is a flowchart which shows a bonding process. It is a flowchart which shows another bonding process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the local bending of a board | substrate. It is explanatory drawing which shows the removal method of an impurity. It is explanatory drawing which shows the bonding board | substrate which enclosed the liquid crystal. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the control method of the amount of liquid crystals. It is a flowchart which shows the control method of the amount of liquid crystals. It is explanatory drawing which shows the layout of a bonding apparatus. It is the schematic which shows a conveyance robot. It is the schematic which shows a positioning device. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the pressurization board corresponding to the conveyance robot of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the adsorption | suction mechanism of the press apparatus of 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows a bonding process. It is a schematic block diagram for demonstrating the adsorption | suction mechanism of 3rd embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

W1, W2 Substrate 13 Liquid crystal dropping device as a liquid dropping device 20 Chambers 22a and 22b as processing chambers Upper and lower plates as first and second holding plates 25a Adsorption grooves 29 Vacuum pumps 31 and 101 As conveying means Transport robot 31a, 105a, 105b, 106a Hand as holding unit 80 Porous member 81 Adhesive tape 87 Column height measuring device 102 Positioning device

Claims (5)

In the bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate respectively held on the first and second holding plates arranged facing each other in the processing chamber,
A transfer robot having first and second transfer arms for transferring the upper substrate and the lower substrate into and out of the processing chamber;
The second transfer arm is provided below the first transfer arm,
The first transfer arm includes a first holding unit that holds the lower substrate,
The second transfer arm includes a second holding unit that holds the upper substrate, and a third holding unit that holds a substrate after bonding the two substrates.
A bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus characterized by   The first holding unit sucks the outer surface of the lower substrate and holds it in the horizontal direction,
  After adsorbing and holding the outer surface of the upper substrate in the second holding portion in the horizontal direction,
  The upper substrate is carried into the processing chamber by the second transfer arm, and the upper substrate is transferred to the first holding plate.
  While carrying out the substrate after the bonding by the second transfer arm,
  Carrying the lower substrate held by the first transfer arm into the processing chamber;
The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1.   The first holding plate includes a groove for receiving the second holding portion;
The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The first holding plate is provided with a suction mechanism that can be moved up and down independently of the holding plate and holds the outer surface of the upper substrate,
  The suction mechanism receives the upper substrate from the transfer robot;
  The first holding plate holds the upper substrate by applying at least one of a suction adsorption force and an electrostatic adsorption force to the upper substrate held by the adsorption mechanism;
The bonded substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   In the bonded substrate manufacturing method in which the upper substrate and the lower substrate held respectively in the first and second holding plates arranged facing each other in the processing chamber are bonded,
  A first transfer arm having a first holding unit that holds the lower substrate, a second holding unit that is provided below the first transfer arm and holds the upper substrate, and a substrate after bonding A transfer robot having a second holding arm having a third holding unit that holds the upper substrate and the lower substrate into the processing chamber,
  Bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate in the processing chamber,
  The first holding unit sucks and holds the outer surface of another lower substrate in a horizontal direction;
  After the second holding part sucks and holds the outer surface of the other upper substrate in the horizontal direction,
  The other upper substrate is carried into the processing chamber by the second transfer arm, and the other upper substrate is transferred to the first holding plate.
  While carrying out the substrate after the bonding by the second transfer arm,
  Carrying the other lower substrate held by the first transfer arm into the processing chamber;
A method for producing a bonded substrate, comprising:

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