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EP-4575033-B1 - DISPLAY APPARATUS MANUFACTURING APPARATUS AND DISPLAY APPARATUS MANUFACTURING METHOD

EP4575033B1EP 4575033 B1EP4575033 B1EP 4575033B1EP-4575033-B1

Inventors

  • HUCH, Sungmin

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241211

Claims (14)

  1. A display manufacturing apparatus comprising: a chamber (11); a susceptor (14) arranged in the chamber (11) and configured to support a display substrate; a head unit (19) arranged in the chamber (11) and configured to spray a cleaning gas into the chamber (11); a cleaning gas supply unit (22) configured to supply the cleaning gas to the head unit (19); a pressure adjusting unit (24) configured to adjust a pressure in the chamber (11); and a control unit configured to determine an end point of cleaning, wherein the pressure adjusting unit (24) comprises: a guide pipe (241) connected to the chamber (11) and comprising a pipe flow path (2411) communicating with an inside of the chamber (11); a pressure adjusting pump (242) connected to the guide pipe (241) and configured to apply a designated pressure to the pipe flow path (2411) such that a gas in the chamber (11) flows to an outside thereof; and a pressure adjusting valve (243) connected to the guide pipe (241) and configured to open or close the pipe flow path (2411) such that the pressure in the chamber (11) is within a designated range, wherein the control unit is configured to calculate an opening ratio that is a ratio of a cross-sectional area of a passage opening (OP2451) opened by the pressure adjusting valve (243) to a cross-sectional area of the pipe flow path (2411), , and wherein the control unit is configured to determine that the cleaning has ended when the opening ratio sequentially satisfies a first period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is positive, a second period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is negative, a third period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is positive, and a fourth period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is within a designated range.
  2. The display manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein when determining that the cleaning has ended, the control unit is configured to control the cleaning gas supply unit (22) to stop supplying the cleaning gas to the head unit (19).
  3. The display manufacturing apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein in the fourth period, the hourly variation of the opening ratio is below a threshold.
  4. The display manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein according to switching from the second period to the third period, the cleaning of the head unit (19) is completed.
  5. The display manufacturing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a process gas supply unit (21) configured to supply a process gas to the head unit (19), wherein the head unit (19) is configured to spray the process gas into the chamber (11), optionally wherein when determining that the cleaning has ended, the control unit is configured to control the process gas supply unit (21) to supply the process gas to the head unit (19).
  6. The display manufacturing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a sensing unit (25) arranged in the chamber (11) and configured to sense the pressure in the chamber (11), wherein the pressure adjusting valve (243) is configured to open or close the pipe flow path (2411) based on information sensed by the sensing unit (25).
  7. The display manufacturing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a mask (15) arranged in the chamber (11), the mask (15) including a deposition area configured to be arranged over the display substrate.
  8. A display manufacturing method comprising: carrying out (S1) a display substrate to an outside of a chamber (11) from a susceptor (14) arranged in the chamber (11); supplying (S2) a cleaning gas to a head unit (19) by a cleaning gas supply unit (22); spraying (S3) the cleaning gas into the chamber (11) by the head unit (19); conducting (S4) a pressure adjusting operation of adjusting a pressure in the chamber (11) by a pressure adjusting unit (24); and determining (S5) an end point of cleaning by a control unit, wherein the pressure adjusting operation comprises: applying (S41) a designated pressure to a pipe flow path (2411) by a pressure adjusting pump (242) arranged at a guide pipe (241) including the pipe flow path (2411) communicating with an inside of the chamber (11); and opening or closing (S42) the pipe flow path (2411) by a pressure adjusting valve (243) connected to the guide pipe (241) such that the pressure in the chamber (11) is within a designated range, wherein the control unit calculates an opening ratio that is a ratio of a cross-sectional area of a passage opening (OP2451) opened by the pressure adjusting valve (243) to a cross-sectional area of the pipe flow path (2411), and, and wherein the control unit determines that the cleaning has ended when the opening ratio sequentially satisfies a first period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is positive, a second period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is negative, a third period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is positive, and a fourth period in which the hourly variation of the opening ratio is within a designated range.
  9. The display manufacturing method of claim 8, wherein when determining (S5) that the cleaning has ended, the control unit controls the cleaning gas supply unit (22) to stop supplying the cleaning gas to the head unit (19).
  10. The display manufacturing method of claim 8 or 9, wherein in the fourth period, the hourly variation of the opening ratio is below a threshold.
  11. The display manufacturing method of claim 8, 9, or 10, wherein according to switching from the first period to the second period, a portion of the head unit (19) being cleaned gradually moves away from a central axis thereof, and/or wherein according to switching from the second period to the third period, the cleaning of the head unit (19) is completed.
  12. The display manufacturing method of any one of claims 8 to 11, further comprising: supplying (S6) a process gas to the head unit (19) by a process gas supply unit (21); and spraying (S7) the process gas into the chamber (11) by the head unit (19), optionally wherein when determining that the cleaning has ended the control unit controls the process gas supply unit (21) to supply the process gas to the head unit (19).
  13. The display manufacturing method of any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising a sensing unit (25), wherein the pressure adjusting valve (243) opens or closes the pipe flow path (2411) based on information sensed by a sensing unit (25) arranged in the chamber (11) to sense the pressure in the chamber (11).
  14. The display manufacturing method of any one of claims 8 to 13, further comprising providing a mask (15) arranged in the chamber (11), the mask (15) including a deposition area arranged over the display substrate

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Field The invention relates to an apparatus and a method, and more particularly, to a display apparatus manufacturing apparatus and a display apparatus manufacturing method. 2. Description of the Related Art Mobility-based electronic apparatuses have been widely used. In addition to small electronic apparatuses such as mobile phones, tablet personal computers (PC) have recently been widely used as mobile electronic apparatuses. Such mobile electronic apparatuses include a display apparatus to provide visual information such as images or videos to a user in order to support various functions. Recently, as other parts for driving a display apparatus have been miniaturized, the proportion of a display apparatus in an electronic apparatus has increased gradually and a structure capable of being bent from a flat state by a certain angle has also been developed. US 2021/032746 A1 discloses a system for determining when a cleaning process has completed. The system relies on an increase in the amount of gas in the processing chamber that occurs when the cleaning is complete. SUMMARY One or more embodiments include an apparatus and a method for improving the accuracy of determining the end point of cleaning in a chamber. The invention is set out in the appended set of claims BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display apparatus manufacturing apparatus, according to an embodiment;FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display apparatus manufacturing apparatus, according to an embodiment;FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display apparatus manufacturing apparatus, according to an embodiment;FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a pressure adjusting unit, according to an embodiment;FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a graph representing an opening ratio over time, according to an embodiment;FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a display apparatus manufacturing method, according to an embodiment;FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically illustrating a display apparatus, according to an embodiment;FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a display apparatus, according to an embodiment; andFIG. 9 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a pixel of a display apparatus, according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the invention may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, the embodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, to explain aspects of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Throughout the disclosure, the expression "at least one of a, b or c" indicates only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, all of a, b, and c, or variations thereof. The disclosure may include various embodiments and modifications, and particular embodiments thereof are illustrated in the drawings and will be described herein in detail. The effects and features of the invention and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the invention described below in detail together with the drawings. However, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and may be implemented in various forms. Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in the following description, like reference numerals will denote like elements and redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted for conciseness. It will be understood that although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms and these terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be understood that terms such as "comprise," "include," and "have" used herein specify the presence of stated features or elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features or elements. It will be understood that when a layer, region, or component is referred to as being "on" another layer, region, or component, it may be "directly on" the other layer, region, or component or may be "indirectly on" the other layer, region, or component with one or more intervening layers, regions, or components therebetween. Sizes of components in the drawi