Patent Grant
10928130
This application is a Section 371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/CN2018/071592, filed on Jan. 5, 2018, entitled “DRYING SYSTEM AND DRYING METHOD FOR CLEANING SOLUTION ON MASK”, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201710347983.X filed on May 17, 2017 with CNIPA, incorporated herein by reference in entirety.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to, but are not limited to, the field of liquid crystal display technology, and in particular, to a drying system and a drying method for a cleaning solution on a mask.
In a fine metal mask mode, vapor deposition materials are vapor-deposited onto a back plate (for example, a low-temperature polysilicon back plate) by a manner of vapor deposition according to a predetermined procedure, and then red, green and blue organic substances are vapor-deposited to specified positions by means of a pattern on a high-precision metal mask.
The mask comprises a frame, supporting and shielding strips and mask strips, the supporting and shielding strips are of a non-ferromagnetic material, the mask strips are of a ferromagnetic material. The mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip intersect in space to form a spatial intersection region. There is a relatively small distance between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region (There is a narrow gap between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip), and it is difficult for a cleaning solution accumulated at the spatial intersection region to be cleaned during cleaning. Air knives are provided at both sides of the mask in the conventional drying system, and there are two air knives at each side (the air knives have the same air volume when they are symmetrically arranged at both sides). After the mask is cleaned with the cleaning solution, the wind cannot completely enter into the spatial intersection region between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip during the drying process. After the end of drying, the cleaning solution still remains in the spatial intersection region between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip on the mask. If the cleaning solution accumulates for a long time, it will deteriorate and crystallize, and eventually form particulate matter, which will adversely affect quality of the vapor-deposited product.
There is provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure a drying system, comprising:
a drying chamber having a first side wall and a second side wall arranged opposite to the first side wall;
a plurality of first air knives on the first side wall and the second side wall for air-drying a cleaned mask; and
a separation device for allowing a mask strip and a supporting and shielding strip to move away from each other at a spatial intersection region formed by the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to increase a spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region, when the plurality of first air knives are air-drying the cleaned mask.
As an example, the separation device comprises a magnetic adsorbing member.
As an example, the magnetic adsorbing member comprises a magnet or an electromagnet.
As an example, the separation device comprises second air knives disposed symmetrically on the first side wall and the second side wall, and the second air knife on the first side wall has a different air volume from the second air knife on the second side wall.
As an example, the separation device comprises second air knives disposed on the first side wall and the second side wall in a staggered manner.
As an example, the second air knife on the first side wall and the second air knife on the second side wall are staggered relative to each other in an up-down direction, and the second air knife on the first side wall has a same air volume as the second air knife on the second side wall.
As an example, the plurality of first air knives form a plurality of groups of first air knives arranged at intervals in an up-down direction, and any one group of the plurality of groups of first air knives has a same air volume, and the separation device is disposed between two adjacent groups of first air knives in the up-down direction.
There is further provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure a drying method for a cleaning solution on a mask, comprising:
making a mask strip and a supporting and shielding strip move away from each other by a separation device at a spatial intersection region formed by the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to increase a spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region, so that the cleaning solution in the spatial intersection region is blown away, when the plurality of first air knives are air-drying the cleaned mask.
As an example, the making the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip move away from each other by the separation device at the spatial intersection region formed by the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region comprises:
controlling symmetrically-disposed second air knives to blow the spatial intersection region with different air volumes, so that the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip are moved away from each other by a resulting pressure difference of wind at the spatial intersection region to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region.
As an example, the making the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip move away from each other by the separation device at the spatial intersection region formed by the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region comprises:
controlling second air knives disposed in a staggered manner to blow the spatial intersection region with a same air volume, so that the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip are moved away from each other by a resulting pressure difference of wind from each other at the spatial intersection region to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region.
As an example, the making the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip move away from each other by the separation device at the spatial intersection region formed by the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region comprises:
magnetically adsorbing by a magnetic adsorbing member the mask strip at the spatial intersection region, to bend and deform the mask strip at the spatial intersection region away from the supporting and shielding strip, so that the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip are moved away from each other at the spatial intersection region to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region.
Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be set forth in the following description, and they will be partially obvious in view of such a description or understood by those skilled in the art with reference to the embodiments of the present disclosure. Objectives and other advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be realized and obtained by the structures particularly pointed out in the specification, the claims and the accompanying drawings.
The drawings are used to provide a further understanding of technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and constitute a part of the specification, and they are provided to explain the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the embodiments of the present disclosure, but do not form a limitation to the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
In order to make objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present disclosure and the features in the embodiments may be arbitrarily combined with each other in case of no conflicts.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure, however, the present disclosure may be implemented otherwise than as described herein. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the following embodiments disclosed below.
There is provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure a drying system, by which a cleaning solution can be completely removed from a spatial intersection region when cleaning a mask, and the cleaning solution would not be accumulated in the spatial intersection region after performing the clean process, thereby effectively ensuring vapor deposition quality of the mask when it is applied to the subsequent vapor deposition.
A drying system and a drying method for a cleaning solution on a mask according to some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The drying system provided by embodiments of the present disclosure is shown in
According to the drying system provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the plurality of first air knives 2 air-dry the cleaned mask 4, the separation device allows the mask strip 41 and the supporting and shielding strip to move away from each other at the spatial intersection region, to increase the spacing between the mask strip 41 and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region. As a result, it allows a better air circulation at the spatial intersection region, so that the cleaning solution in the spatial intersection region is blown away, avoiding the cleaning solution from remaining on the mask 4.
In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
Herein, a tensile strength of the material of the mask strips 41 is less than a tensile strength of the material of the supporting and shielding strip.
In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
Herein, a tensile strength of the material of the mask strips 41 is less than a tensile strength of the material of the supporting and shielding strip.
Specifically, the second air knives 32 on the first side wall 11 and the second air knives 32 on the second side wall 12 are staggered relative to each other in an up-down direction, and the second air knives 32 on the first side wall 11 have a same air volume as the second air knives 32 on the second side wall 12; or, the second air knives 32 on the first side wall 11 and the second air knives 32 on the second side wall 12 are staggered relative to each other in a left-right direction, and the second air knives 32 on the first side wall 11 have a same air volume as the second air knives 32 on the second side wall 12, and so forth. The purpose of the present disclosure can be achieved by those designs, which do not deviate from the design idea of the present disclosure, and will not be described herein again, and those designs fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Herein, the stagger in the up-down direction refers to a stagger arrangement in a vertical direction at the time the drying system is in a working state when the mask is vertically arranged in the drying system, as the up-down direction shown in
In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
Further, the magnetic adsorbing member 31 is a magnet or an electromagnet, the supporting and shielding strip is made of stainless steel (for example, 304 stainless steel), and the mask strip 41 is made of iron-nickel alloy (for example, low-expansion iron-nickel alloy).
Specifically, the mask strip 41 is magnetically adsorbed by a magnetic adsorbing member 31 at the spatial intersection region, to bend and deform the mask strip 41 at the spatial intersection region away from the supporting and shielding strip, so that the mask strip 41 and the supporting and shielding strip are moved away from each other at the spatial intersection region to increase the spacing between the mask strip 41 and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region, ensuring that more wind can enter the spatial intersection region to dry the cleaning solution.
In the foregoing three specific embodiments of the present disclosure, the plurality of first air knives 2 form a plurality of groups of first air knives arranged at intervals in an up-down direction (e.g., two groups, three groups, four groups, etc., all of which can achieve the purpose of the present disclosure), and any one group of the plurality of groups of first air knives 2 has a same air volume, and the separation device is disposed between two adjacent groups of first air knives 2 in the up-down direction. Herein the first air knives on the first side wall 11 and the first air knives on the second side wall 12 on the substantially same spatial position (for example, a position in a vertical direction in
The plurality of groups of first air knives 2 limit the position of the mask 4 and protect the mask, and keep the mask 4 from being deformed, the separation device only makes the mask strip 41 and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region separate partially, the region where the mask strip 41 is separated from the supporting and shielding strip is relatively small relative to the entire mask 4, thereby the mask 4 can be prevented from being damaged.
With the drying method for the cleaning solution on the mask provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the plurality of first air knives air-dry the cleaned mask, the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip are driven by the separation device to move from each other at the spatial intersection region to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region, so that the cleaning solution in the spatial intersection region is blown away.
When the plurality of first air knives air-dry the cleaned mask, the separation device separates the mask strip from the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region, to open the spatial intersection region of the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to allow an air circulation, so that the cleaning solution in the spatial intersection region of the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip is blown-dry, avoiding the cleaning solution from remaining on the mask.
In the specific embodiment shown in
In the specific embodiment shown in
In the specific embodiment shown in
The above three specific embodiments can achieve the object of the present disclosure, that is, the spatial intersection region is opened to a greater extent, so that the internal cleaning solution is blown off. The purpose of these specific embodiments is not deviated from the design idea of the present disclosure, therefore they should fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
In summary, with the drying system provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the plurality of first air knives air-dry the cleaned mask, the separation device allows the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip to move away from each other at the spatial intersection region, to increase the spacing between the mask strip and the supporting and shielding strip at the spatial intersection region. As a result, it allows a better air circulation at the spatial intersection region, so that the cleaning solution in the spatial intersection region is blown away, avoiding the cleaning solution from remaining on the mask.
In the description of the present disclosure, the terms “install”, “connect”, “couple”, “fix”, etc., are to be understood broadly. For example, “connect” may be a fixed connection, or a detachable connection, or an integral connection, or they may be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate media. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure may be understood in accordance with specific conditions.
In the description of this specification, the terms “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “specific embodiments”, etc., mean that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments or examples are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In the present specification, the schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.
The embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure are as described above, but they are merely provided to facilitate the understanding of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art in terms of form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, but the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201710347983.X | May 2017 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2018/071592 | 1/5/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2018/209981 | 11/22/2018 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190316840 A1 | Oct 2019 | US |
