Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a spray system and a use method thereof.
A developing apparatus and a cleaning apparatus are collectively known as a spray system. As shown in
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a spray system and a use method thereof, which can achieve fully automatically cleaning the spray system and improve the cleaning efficiency.
The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a spray system, which includes: a plurality of cascaded spray members provided with a plurality of spray heads; a spray liquid supply system; a spray liquid recovery system; a control system configured to control the spray liquid supply system to provide a spray liquid for substrates to be sprayed for spraying in the working stage of the spray system and control the spray liquid recovery system to recycle the spray liquid after the working stage of the spray system is over; a cleaning solution supply system configured to provide a cleaning solution for the spray heads of the spray members for cleaning under the control of the control system in the cleaning stage; and a liquid waste disposal system configured to discharge liquid waste after cleaning under the control of the control system after the cleaning stage is over.
The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a use method of the spray system, which includes: controlling the cleaning solution supply system to provide the cleaning solution for the spray heads of the spray members for cleaning in the cleaning stage; and controlling the spray liquid supply system to provide the spray liquid for the substrates to be sprayed for spraying in the working stage of the spray system.
Technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely as below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of embodiments of the present disclosure. It is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of but not all of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure, various other embodiments and variants can be obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor and those embodiments and variants shall fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Unless otherwise defined, all the technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. The terms, such as “first,” “second,” or the like, which are used in the description and the claims of the present application, are not intended to indicate any sequence, amount or importance, but for distinguishing various components. Also, the terms, such as “a/an,” “one,” or the like, are not intended to limit the amount, but for indicating the existence of at lease one. The terms, such as “comprise/comprising,” “include/including,” or the like are intended to specify that the elements or the objects stated before these terms encompass the elements or the objects and equivalents thereof listed after these terms, but not preclude other elements or objects. The terms, “on,” “under,” or the like are only used to indicate relative position relationship, and when the position of the object which is described is changed, the relative position relationship may be changed accordingly.
The inventors notice that for a cleaning apparatus in the spray system, in the working stage of the cleaning apparatus, since deionized water is utilized for a long time to clean substrates in spray members, particles and organic substance, such as a small amount of photoresist, on surfaces of the cleaned substrates are gradually accumulated in pipes and spray heads of the cleaning apparatus in the recycling process. The foreign matters seriously affect the cleaning ability of the cleaning apparatus and can result in abnormal quality of the substrates. Therefore, the removal of the foreign matters in the pipes and the spray heads is important to improve the yield of products and the maintenance of equipment. The typical method for removing the foreign matters in the pipes and the spray heads of the spray system is to manually disassemble the pipes and the spray heads and remove dirt by the soak cleaning of a cleaning solution. Although the method can remove the dirt, the operation procedure is complex and the task is heavy. In addition, the wear of equipment can be caused due to frequently disassembling of the pipes and the spray heads. Similarly, the developing apparatus also present the above problems.
Therefore, it is a technical problem to be solved by those skilled in the art to clean the pipes and the spray heads of the spray system without manual disassembling and hence improve the cleaning efficiency.
Detailed description will be given below to the embodiments of the spray system and the use method thereof, provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The size and the shape of the components in the accompanying drawings in the text do not reflect the true scale of the spray system and are only intended to illustrate the content of the present disclosure.
The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a spray system, as shown in
The spray system further includes: a cleaning solution supply system 23 configured to provide a cleaning solution for the spray heads of the spray members for cleaning under the control of the control system in the cleaning stage.
The spray system can further include a liquid waste disposal system 24 configured to discharge liquid waste after cleaning under the control of the control system after the cleaning stage is over.
In the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, as a cleaning solution supply system 23 and a liquid waste disposal system 24 are additionally arranged in the spray system, compared with a spray system without these two additionally added system, the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure not only does not affect the function of spraying the substrates in the spray members in the working stage of the spray system but also can achieve the function of fully automatically cleaning the spray system in the self-cleaning stage, effectively remove foreign matters in pipes and spray heads of the spray system, and improve the cleaning efficiency. As the method of manual disassembly is not used, manual work and the wear of the spray system are reduced.
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to achieve the function of automatically or full-automatically cyclically cleaning the spray system, as shown in
The cleaning solution circulatory pool 003 is configured to transfer the cleaning solution to the spray heads of the final spray member 001c through the inlet pipe 7 under the action of the power member P in the cleaning stage, and receive the liquid waste after cleaning.
In the cleaning stage, the spray liquid circulatory tank 002 disposed below a spray member except the first spray member 001a may also be configured to transfer the cleaning solution to spray heads of the last spray member under the action of the power member through the spray liquid inlet pipe 3 communicating the spray liquid circulatory tank 002 below the spray member and the spray heads of the last spray member.
The return pipeline 8 is configured to transfer the liquid waste after cleaning to the cleaning solution circulatory pool 003.
For instance, In an implementation, to allow the spray liquid or the cleaning solution to flow up from downward in the spray system, the inlet pipe is usually provided with the power member. The power member referred herein can be a pressure pump P. As shown in
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to discharge liquid waste after the cleaning process is over, as shown in
The drainage pipe 9 is configured to transfer the liquid waste obtained after cleaning to the liquid waste disposal device 400 after the cleaning process is over.
The liquid waste disposal device 400 is configured to perform a harmless treatment to the liquid waste.
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to allow the spray heads of the final spray member and the spray liquid circulatory tanks to simultaneously and quickly have the cleaning solution supplied by the cleaning solution supply device in the self-cleaning stage so as to improve the self-cleaning efficiency, as shown in
In the cleaning stage, the cleaning solution supply device 300 may also be configured to transfer the cleaning solution to the spray heads of the final spray member 001c through the straight supply pipeline 10 and transfer the cleaning solution to the spray liquid circulatory tanks 002 through the branched supply pipes 2.
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to allow the cleaning solution in the first spray member and the spray liquid circulatory tanks to simultaneously and quickly flow into the liquid waste disposal device 400 in the self-cleaning stage, drainage pipes 11 may be configured to allow the liquid waste collected by the spray liquid circulatory tanks 002 directly into the liquid waste disposal device 400.
A straight drainage pipe 11 is configured to transfer the liquid waste under the first spray member 001a to the liquid waste disposal device 400 after the cleaning stage is over.
Branched drainage pipes 11 may be configured to transfer the liquid waste collected by the spray liquid circulatory tanks 002 to the liquid waste disposal device 400.
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to save pipes in the spray system, as shown in
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to control the flow direction of the spray liquid and the cleaning solution in the spray system, control valves Vx may be respectively disposed on the return pipeline, the supply pipeline, the drainage pipe, the inlet pipe, the straight supply pipeline, the branched supply pipelines, the straight drainage pipe, the branched drainage pipes, the spray liquid inlet pipes, the spray liquid drainage pipe, the branched spray liquid drainage pipes, the spray liquid supply pipeline and the branched spray liquid supply pipelines, wherein x is 1 to n. As shown in
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, to monitor the liquid level of the cleaning solution in the cleaning solution circulatory pool 003 so as to supplement or discharge the cleaning solution in tome, as shown in
In an implementation, in the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the spray liquid may be developer solution or deionized water. If the spray system is a developing apparatus, the developer solution is selected as the spray liquid. If the spray system is a cleaning apparatus, the deionized water is selected as the spray liquid.
Based on the same invention concept, the embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a method of using the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. As the principle of the method to solve the problem is similar to that of the spray system, the implementations of the method may refer to the implementations of the spray system. Repeated description will be omitted.
In an implementation, as shown in
S601: controlling the cleaning solution supply system to provide the cleaning solution for the spray heads of the spray members for cleaning in the cleaning stage.
In an implementation, in the cleaning stage, at first, the cleaning solution is provided to the cleaning solution circulatory pool by the control system controlling the cleaning solution supply system; the cleaning solution in the cleaning solution circulatory pool flows into the spray heads of the final spray member through the inlet pipe under the action of the power member, flows into the spray liquid circulatory tank below the final spray member, flows into the spray heads of the last spray member through the spray liquid inlet pipe under the action of the power member, which is recycled, and finally flows into the spray heads of the first spray member. In this way, the spray heads of the spray members are cleaned; the cleaning solution returns to the cleaning solution circulatory pool through the return pipeline; the above steps are repeated; and hence the spray heads of the spray members are fully automatically and cyclically cleaned in a closed way. Moreover, after the cleaning process is over, the control system controls the liquid waste to flow into the liquid waste disposal device and discharge it.
S602: controlling the spray liquid supply system to provide the spray liquid for the substrates to be sprayed for spraying in the working stage of the spray system.
In the working stage of the spray system, at first, the spray liquid is provided for the spray heads of the final spray member by the control system controlling the spray liquid supply system; then, the spray liquid flows into the spray liquid circulatory tank below the final spray member, flows into the spray heads of the last spray member through the spray liquid inlet pipe under the action of the power member, which is recycled, and finally flows into the spray heads of the first spray member; and hence the substrates in the spray members are sprayed. Moreover, after the spraying process is over, the control system controls the spray liquid to flow into the spray liquid recovery device and discharge it. The power member can be a pressure pump, for example.
Detailed description will be given below to the use method of the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure with reference to an example. The use method may include two modes, for example.
1. Self-cleaning mode: as shown in
The fully automatic cleaning process of the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is completed through the above steps provided by the example.
2. Working mode of the spray system: as shown in
The use process of the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is completed through the above steps provided by the example.
In the spray system and the use method thereof, provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the spray system includes: a plurality of cascaded spray members provided with a plurality of spray heads, a spray liquid supply system 21, a spray liquid recovery system 22 and the control system 20, wherein the control system 20 is configured to control the spray liquid supply system to provide the spray liquid for the substrates to be sprayed for spraying in the working stage of the spray system and control the spray liquid recovery system 22 to recycle the spray liquid after the spraying process is over. The spray system further includes: a cleaning solution supply system 23 configured to provide a cleaning solution for the spray heads of the spray members for cleaning under the control of the control system 20 in the cleaning stage; and a liquid waste disposal system 24 configured to discharge the liquid waste obtained after cleaning under the control of the control system 20 after the cleaning stage is over. Compared with the conventional spray system, the spray system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is additionally provided with a cleaning solution supply system 23 and a liquid waste disposal system 24, which does not affect the function of spraying the substrates in the spray members in the working stage of the spray system and can achieve the function of fully automatically cleaning the spray system, effectively remove foreign matters in the pipes and the spray heads of the spray system, and improve the cleaning efficiency. As the method of manual disassembly is not used, manual work is reduced and the wear to the spray system is reduced.
It is understood that the above embodiments or implementations are merely exemplary implementations used only for the purpose of explaining the principle of the present disclosure, but the invention is not limited thereto. For a person of ordinary skill in the art, a variety of variants and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the disclosure. These variants and modifications shall fall in the scope of the present invention.
This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application No. 201410735183.1, entitled ‘a spray system and a use method thereof’, filed on Dec. 5, 2014, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201410735183.1 | Dec 2014 | CN | national |