Patent Application
20120048081
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of cutting a cover sheet which covers a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a cutting apparatus for sheet-like objects, an apparatus having the following arrangement has been provided. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-229883 discloses an apparatus which cuts roll paper by moving a disc blade along a fixed blade. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-025402 discloses an apparatus which trims a protective tape for a semiconductor wafer along the periphery of a semiconductor wafer. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-054926 also discloses an apparatus which cuts a sheet-like member by moving a disc blade along a guide member.
In some cases, a cover sheet covers a substrate such as a glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer to protect its surface. For example, a solar cell module substrate uses a cover sheet to protect the light-receiving surface and binds a plurality of members formed in a multilayer form which constitute the substrate. A portion of the cover sheet which protrudes from the periphery of the substrate is not necessary, and hence it is necessary to cut it. For a substrate having linear edges on four sides like a rectangular substrate, in particular, it is necessary to cut a cover sheet along the linear edges without causing damage such as crack to the linear edges.
It is an object of the present invention to cut a cover sheet along the linear edges of a substrate without damaging the edges of the substrate.
According to the present invention, it is provided a cutting apparatus comprising: a disc blade which trims a cover sheet covering a substrate along a linear edge of the substrate; a driving unit which supports the disc blade vertically with respect to a plane direction of the substrate and rotate the disc blade; a moving device which moves one of the driving unit and the substrate so as to move the disc blade along the linear edge with respect to the substrate; a pivot unit which pivots the disc blade about an axis perpendicular to a surface of the substrate for adjusting an angle between a plane which includes the linear edge and is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate and a plane formed by the disc blade, the pivot unit maintaining a pivot angle of the disc blade; and a controller which controls the moving device and the pivot unit.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).
<Holding Unit 40>
The holding unit 40 has an upper surface serving as a horizontal surface on which the substrate 1 is placed. The upper surface of the holding unit 40 may be provided with a fixing mechanism to releasably fix the substrate 1. This fixing mechanism includes, for example, a chucking mechanism which chucks the substrate 1. The fixing mechanism allows to a cover sheet (not shown in
The substrate 1 is, for example, a glass plate. In this embodiment, the substrate 1 is assumed to be a rectangular substrate with four sides each of which forms a linear edge 1a. The cutting apparatus A of the embodiment trims the cover sheet along the linear edges 1a. The cutting apparatus A can be applied to not only a substrate whose contour is constituted by only the linear edges 1a like the substrate 1 but also substrates having various shapes each including a linear edge as part of the contour.
A convey mechanism (not shown) conveys and places the substrate 1 onto the holding unit 40. In this case, the substrate 1 is positioned so as to make the respective sides parallel to the X and Y directions, and is placed on the upper surface of the holding unit 40 in a horizontal posture.
<Moving Device 30>
The moving device 30 roughly includes head unit moving units (rail portions 34 and driving sliders 35) which move the head units H, moving units (rail portions 31, driving sliders 32, and driven sliders 33) which move the head unit moving units. These components will be described in detail below.
The moving device 30 includes the pair of rail portions 31 which are spaced apart from each other in the X direction and extend in the Y direction. The rail portions 31 have guide grooves 31a formed in their upper surfaces so as to extend in the Y direction. One of the rail portions 31 is provided with the two driving sliders 32 which can move on the rail portions 31 while being guided by the guide grooves 31a. The other rail portion 31 is provided with the two driven sliders 33 which can move on the rail portions 31 while being guided by the guide grooves 31a. The driving sliders 32 and the driven sliders 33 are paired. In this embodiment, two pairs of the driving sliders 32 and the driven sliders 33 are provided.
Each driving slider 32 includes an independent driving source and independently travels by itself on the rail portion 31. As a mechanism for making the driving slider 32 travel by itself, for example, a ball screw mechanism can be used, which includes a ball screw provided on the rail portion 31 and a ball nut which threadably engages with the ball screw. Each driving slider 32 can include a ball nut and a rotation driving unit (for example, a hollow motor) which rotatably holds the ball nut and rotates it. Each driven slider 33 has no mechanism for making it travel by itself.
The rail portion 34 is laid across the driving slider 32 and driven slider 33 of each pair. The rail portion 34 extends in the X direction and translates in the Y direction as the driving slider 32 moves in the Y direction. The rail portion 34 has a guide groove 34a formed in its upper surface so as to extend in the X direction. Each rail portion 34 is provided with the driving slider 35 which can move on the rail portion 34 while being guided by the guide groove 34a. The driving slider 35 travels by itself on the rail portion 34 by using the same mechanism as that of the driving slider 32 described above.
The pivoting/lifting unit 20 is fixed to each driving slider 35. Moving the driving slider 35 can move the pivoting/lifting unit 20 and the cutting unit 10 in the X direction.
In this manner, this embodiment can move the head units H on an X-Y plane. The embodiment is configured to move the cutting units 10 with respect to the substrate 1. However, it is possible to move the substrate 1. That is, it is possible to move either the cutting units 10 or the substrate 1 as long as disc blades 14 can move with respect to the substrate 1 along the linear edges 1a.
Note that the moving device 30 includes sensor units (not shown) for detecting the positions of the cutting units 10 in the X-Y direction. Such sensors include, for example, sensor units for detecting the positions of the driving sliders 32 and 35. More specifically, if the driving sources for the driving sliders 32 and 35 are motors, such sensors include sensors (for example, encoders) which detect the amounts of rotation of the motors.
<Pivoting/Lifting Unit 20>
The pivoting/lifting unit 20 will be described with reference to
In this embodiment, the cutting unit 10 is coupled to the shaft body 21 so that rotating the shaft body 21 can make the cutting unit 10 pivot about the pivot center axis (the broken line L1 in
Making the cutting unit 10 pivot and maintaining its pivot angle can adjust the angle (intersection angle) between a plane (a vertical plane in the Z direction in this embodiment) perpendicular to the substrate surface of the substrate 1 including the linear edges 1a to be subjected to trimming and a plane (a vertical plane in the Z direction in the embodiment) formed by the disc blade 14. Adjusting and maintaining this angle can make the disc blade 14 abut against the edges of the substrate 1 at a preferred angle, thereby preventing the edges of the substrate 1 from being damaged at the time of cutting the cover sheet.
In addition, moving the cutting unit 10 up and down can adjust the cutting blade position (height position) of a blade tip 14b formed on the peripheral surface of the disc blade 14 (to be described later) with respect to a plane (a vertical plane in the Z direction in this embodiment) perpendicular to the substrate surface of the substrate 1 which includes the linear edge 1a subjected to trimming and a plane (a vertical plane in the Z direction in the embodiment) formed on the disc blade 14.
It is possible to adjust the direction and cutting blade position of the disc blade 14 in this manner. This makes it possible to cut a cover sheet along the linear edge 1a at an optimal inclination and cutting blade position in accordance with the type of cover sheet.
A known mechanism can be used as a mechanism which rotates and moves the shaft body 21 up and down. For example, a mechanism for rotating the shaft body 21 includes a combination of a driving source such as a motor and a mechanism such as a gear mechanism or a belt mechanism. As a mechanism for maintaining the rotational angle of the shaft body 21, if, for example, a servo motor is used as a driving source, the electromagnetic lock function of the servo motor can be used. Alternatively, it is possible to separately provide a lock mechanism for releasably restricting the rotation of the shaft body 21. A mechanism for moving the shaft body 21 up and down can include a combination of a driving source such as a motor and a mechanism such as a rack-pinion mechanism.
Note that each pivoting/lifting unit 20 includes a sensor unit (not shown) for detecting the pivot angle (pivot position) and Z-direction position of the cutting unit 10. If the driving source which rotates and moves the shaft body 21 up and down is a motor, such a sensor include a sensor (for example, an encoder) which detects the amount of rotation of the motor.
<Cutting Unit 10>
The cutting unit 10 will be described with reference to
The driving unit 13 includes a support portion (slider) 131 having an almost L-shaped cross-section which has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion. A driving unit 132 is attached to the rear surface side (opposite to the side on which the disc blade 14 is located) of the vertical portion of the support portion 131. The driving unit 132 includes a motor 132a as a driving source and a reduction gear 132b which decelerates the output of the motor 132a. A rear end portion 133b of a rotating shaft body 133 of the disc blade 14 is connected to the reduction gear 132b. As the motor 132a rotates, the rotating shaft body 133 rotates about its axis.
The rotating shaft body 133 has an attachment portion 133a, on its distal end portion, to which the disc blade 14 is attached. A collar-like disc blade abutment portion 133c is formed near the attachment portion 133a. The disc blade 14 with a key groove serving as a detent, a press member 135, and a stop member 134 are sequentially fitted on the attachment portion 133a. The stop member 134 is threadably engaged with the distal end of the attachment portion 133a. An elastic member 136 is inserted between the stop member 134 and the press member 135. In this embodiment, the elastic member 136 is a coil spring. The elastic member 136 biases the press member 135 toward the disc blade 14 to clamp the disc blade 14 between the disc blade abutment portion 133c and the press member 135, thereby suppressing the rotational vibration of the disc blade 14.
The rotating shaft body 133 extends in the horizontal direction. Attaching the disc blade 14 to the rotating shaft body 133 makes the plane formed by the disc blade 14 become perpendicular to a horizontal plane. The coupling position of the cutting unit 10 with respect to the pivoting/lifting unit 20 is adjusted such that the pivot center axis (the line L1 in
The rotating shaft body 133 is axially supported by a ball bearing 138a. The ball bearing 138a is fitted in an inner peripheral wall of a tubular support member 138 on the rear end side. A fixing member 138d fastened with bolts prevents removal of the ball bearing 138a. A fixing ring 133d is screwed to the rear end portion side of the rotating shaft body 133. A fixing tubular body 133e is provided between the fixing ring 133d and the ball bearing 138a. The position of the fixing ring 133d is fixed in the axial direction of the rotating shaft body 133 by threadably engaging the fixing ring 133d with the rotating shaft body 133 and threading the fixing ring 133d toward the distal end side. With this structure, when the elastic member 136 biases in the above manner, the rotating shaft body 133 is pulled to the distal end side to make the fixing ring 133d abut against the fixing tubular body 133e, thus making the fixing tubular body 133e abut against the ball bearing 138a. This relatively positions the rotating shaft body 133 in the axial direction of the support member 138.
A seal portion 138c is formed inside the distal end side of a small-diameter portion 138s formed on the support member 138. The inner circumferential surface of the seal portion 138c is in tight contact with the outer circumferential surface of a first diameter portion 133f continuously formed from the collar portion 133c of the rotating shaft body 133 to the rear end portion side. The seal portion 138c prevents cutting debris and the like of the cover sheet from entering the ball bearing 138a. In addition, an air path 138b is formed in the support member 138 so as to communicate with the gap between the disc blade abutment portion 133c and the support member 138. An air supply unit (not shown) supplies compressed air into the air path 138b. This compressed air is supplied to the space (gap) surrounded by the rotating shaft body 133, the support member 138, and the seal portion 138c. This increases the air pressure in the gap to generate an air current from the gap to the outside (atmospheric side), thereby further preventing the cutting debris and the like of the cover sheet from entering the ball bearing 138a.
A tubular body 137 is placed near the surface (rear surface) of the disc blade 14 on the rear end portion side with the disc blade 14 being a boundary, and surrounds the outer circumferential surface of the disc blade abutment portion 133c of the rotating shaft body 133. The tubular body 137 is free-rotatably fitted on the small-diameter portion of the outer circumferential surface of the distal end portion of the support member 138. The surface of the disc blade 14 on the rear end side and the stepped portion of the small-diameter portion formed on the outer circumferential portion of the distal end portion of the support member 138 define the movement of the rotating shaft body 133 of the tubular body 137 in the axis direction. A portion cut from the cover sheet by the disc blade 14 may tangle around the rotating shaft body 133 in the form of a belt. In this embodiment, since the tubular body 137 is free-rotatably provided on the rear surface portion of the disc blade 14, when a cut portion comes into contact with (rides on) the tubular body 137, the tubular body 137 freely rotates. This can prevent the cut portion from tangling around the tubular body 137.
The retracting mechanism of the driving unit 13 will be described next with reference to
The main support portion 11 is provided with stopper portions 112a and 112b. The stopper portion 112a abuts against a stopper portion 131b provided on the support portion 131, and the stopper portion 112b abuts against the rear surface of the support portion 131, thereby restricting the moving range of the driving unit 13, that is, the disc blade 14.
The lower surface of the main support portion 11 is provided with a biasing portion 113 which always biases the driving unit 13 in the direction to approach the substrate 1. The biasing portion 113 includes a transfer member 113a, a support shaft 113b, support portions 113c, an elastic member 113d, and a reception member 113e. The support shaft 113b extends parallel to the rail members 111. The two end portions of the support shaft 113b are supported by the support portions 113c. The transfer member 113a is an L-shaped member having a hole through which the support shaft 113b extends, and can move while being guided by the support shaft 113b. The support portion 131 of the driving unit 13 is coupled to the lower portion of the transfer member 113a.
The support shaft 113b extends through the reception member 113e. The elastic member 113d is interposed between the transfer member 113a and the reception member 113e while the support shaft 113b extends through the elastic member 113d. The elastic member 113d is a coil spring in this embodiment, which is a compression coil exerting a biasing force in the direction to separate the transfer member 113a and the reception member 113e from each other. The biasing force of the elastic member 113d is transferred to the support portion 131 via the transfer member 113a.
The elastic member 113d always biases the driving unit 13 (disc blade 14) coupled to the transfer member 113a in the direction to approach the substrate 1. This can make the disc blade 14 stably abut against the linear edge 1a of the substrate 1 at the time of cutting the cover sheet, thereby implementing smooth cutting of the cover sheet. It is also possible to cut the cover sheet while absorbing, if any, the difference between a predetermined cutting position and an actually positioned cutting position on the substrate as long as the difference falls within the biasing stroke range of the elastic member 113d. When the apparatus starts cutting the cover sheet from a midway position on the linear edge 1a of the substrate 1, even if the disc blade 14 abuts against the linear edge 1a, the disc blade 14 is pressed in a direction opposite to the direction to approach the substrate 1, and the elastic member 113d deflects to absorb the shock produced when the disc blade 14 abuts against the linear edge 1a.
<Disc Blade 14>
The arrangement of a blade tip portion 14a (the portion indicated by the broken line circle in
At the time of cutting the cover sheet 2, when the blade tip 14b abuts against the linear edge 1a, the blade tip 14b may damage the linear edge 1a and tend to wear. In this embodiment, therefore, an cross point P formed by the surfaces 143 and 144 is made to abut against the linear edge 1a to cut the cover sheet 2. This can further prevent the edges of the substrate 1 from being damaged.
A side surface located on the opposite side to the linear edge 1a at the time of cutting is constituted by a surface 146 formed from the blade tip 14b, a surface 147 which inclines toward the rotation center of the disc blade 14 with respect to the surface 146 and is continuous with the surface 146, and the surface 142. The surfaces 146 and 147 are continuously formed as downward inclined surfaces with different inclinations. The surfaces 141 and 142 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rotation axis line.
<Controller>
A controller 50 which controls the cutting apparatus A will be described next.
The processing unit 51 executes programs stored in the storage unit 52 and controls various types of actuators 57 based on the detection results obtained by various types of sensors 56. The various types of sensors 56 include sensors which detect the positions of the cutting units 10. The various types of actuators 57 include the motors 132a. An input unit 54 includes a keyboard and a mouse which accept instructions from an operator. A display unit 55 is an image display device which displays various kinds of information.
<Example of Operation>
Trimming operation by the cutting apparatus A for the cover sheet 2 will be described next. In this embodiment, two cutting units are in charge of the opposing linear edges 1a of the substrate 1, respectively, and trim the cover sheet 2 with respect to the four sides of the substrate 1. This embodiment is configured to cut the cover sheet 2 by making the cross point P between the surfaces 143 and 144 abut against the linear edge 1a, as described with reference to
As shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
As shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
Referring to
When completing trimming of the portion of the cover sheet 2 which protrudes from the left linear edge 1a, the apparatus completes trimming operation corresponding to one unit of operation. Thereafter, the apparatus repeatedly performs similar trimming operation for other substrates 1. Obviously, the apparatus is required to perform teaching processing only once for the substrates 1 having the same size and needs not perform teaching processing for each substrate 1. In addition, if one cutting unit 10 fails, it is possible to make the other cutting unit 10 cut all the four sides. This makes it possible to continue cutting processing.
<Other Operation Examples>
In the above operation example, each cutting start position is set at an end portion of the linear edge 1a. However, a cutting start position may be set on a midway portion (for example, a middle portion) of the linear edge 1a.
First of all, as shown in
The apparatus then moves the cutting units 10 to the midway portions of the linear edges 1a. FIG. 15B shows a state in which the cutting units 10 are being moved. In this embodiment, the apparatus moves the two cutting units 10 in the directions to be spaced apart from the substrate 1 in the Y direction. The apparatus then makes each cutting unit 10 pivot to the pivot angle (by the pivot amount) set by teaching or the like. Subsequently, the apparatus moves each cutting unit 10 to a midway portion (cutting start position) of the linear edge 1a. Thereafter, as shown in
In this manner, the apparatus can trim the cover sheet 2 concerning one linear edge 1a in two steps. In this operation example, the angle of the disc blade 14 is set in the above manner in the first and second partial cutting processes. In this embodiment, even when cutting the cover sheet 2 from midway portions, the pivoting/lifting units 20 can adjust and maintain the angles of the disc blades 14.
This makes it possible to suitably cut a cover sheet. It is possible to apply the method of setting each cutting start position on a midway portion of the linear edge 1a to only the first pair of linear edges 1a and then cut the second pair of linear edges 1a from end portions of the linear edges 1a. Alternatively, it is possible to apply this method to both the first pair of linear edges 1a and the second pair of linear edges 1a.
When starting cutting from a midway portion of the linear edge 1a in this manner, the positioning accuracy of the disc blade 14 for a cutting start position can be lower than that when starting cutting from an end portion. When starting cutting from an end portion of the linear edge 1a, since a cutting start position is at a corner portion of the substrate 1, it is necessary to prevent the disc blade 14 from colliding with the linear edge 1a adjacent to the linear edge 1a subjected to trimming and damaging the corner portion. When starting cutting from a midway portion of the linear edge 1a, such a problem does not arise. Therefore, the positioning accuracy need not be high.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-196056, filed Sep. 1, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-196056 | Sep 2010 | JP | national |
