Electrostatic attraction device and electrostatic adsorption method
The adsorptive power and load capacity of an electrostatic chuck is vastly improved by maintaining an optimal state for in-plane stress produced at the interface between an adsorption surface and an object. The electrostatic adsorption module of the invention comprises a tip member having a bipolar adsorption surface and a support member that supports the tip member, wherein the tip member as a whole can be elastically displaced in the near and far direction with respect to the object to be adsorbed, and the tip member and the support member are coupled via a freely rotatable joint. The electrostatic adsorption device is provided with multiple tip members with bipolar adsorption surfaces that can be elastically displaced in the near and far direction with respect to the object to be adsorbed, the support member supporting the tip members extending from a substrate and the substrate being deformable. Also provided is an electrostatic adsorption method wherein an electrostatic adsorption module or electrostatic adsorption device is used to adsorb and grip an object to be adsorbed.
1 . An electrostatic adsorption module comprising
a tip member having a bipolar adsorption surface and an opposite side portion,
a support member that supports the tip member and has an elastically displaceable mechanism, and
a freely rotatable joint having a rotation axis or center located on the opposite side portion of the tip member and between the tip member and the support member,
wherein the tip member as a whole body can be elastically displaced in the near and far direction with respect to the object to be adsorbed, the elastic displacement being enabled by the elastically displaceable mechanism of the support member, and
the bipolar adsorption surface of the tip member is freely rotatable around the rotation axis or center of the freely rotatable joint and has a free rotation movement around the rotation axis or center,
whereby due to the elastic displacement of the support member itself in the near and far direction with respect to the object to be adsorbed as well as the free rotation movement of the tip member around the rotation axis or center of the freely rotatable joint, the electrostatic adsorption surface of the tip member can adapt to changes in the shape of the surface of the object to be adsorbed when the electrostatic adsorption surface has moved or been pressed against the surface of the object to be adsorbed.
2 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , wherein the bipolar adsorption surface has a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an insulation region between them.
3 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , wherein the joint has two-dimensional or three-dimensional rotational freedom.
4 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , wherein the tip member is laminar and has the joint on the opposite end of the tip member from the electrostatic adsorption surface.
5 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , wherein the support member is constructed of multiple members that can be displaced in the depth direction, and an elastic member that joins the multiple members.
6 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , wherein the support member is constructed of an elastic member that can be displaced in the near and far direction.
7 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , which comprises multiple support members and multiple tip members, each of the multiple support members supporting each of the tip members, the multiple support members being fixed to a support substrate on the opposite end from the tip member, whereby the multiple tip members as a whole supported by the support substrate form a collected electrostatic adsorption surface.
8 . An electrostatic adsorption device comprising:
a robotic arm,
a support substrate,
multiple tip members each having a bipolar electrostatic adsorption surface and an opposite side portion, and
multiple support members extending from the support substrate and supporting the multiple tip members, each of the support members supporting each of the tip members and having an elastically displaceable mechanism,
wherein the multiple support members are able to elastically displace the multiple tip members as a whole body in the near and far direction with respect to the support substrate, and the elastic displacement being enabled by the elastically displaceable mechanism of the support members,
each of the tip members and each of the support members are coupled via a freely rotatable joint having a rotation axis or center, the freely rotatable joint being located on the opposite side portion of the tip member and between each of the tip members and each of the support members, by which the bipolar adsorption surface of the tip member is freely rotatable around the rotation axis or center and has a free rotation movement around the rotation axis or center,
due to the elastic displacement of the support member itself in the near and far direction with respect to the object to be adsorbed, as well as the free rotation movement of the tip member around the rotation axis or center of the freely rotatable joint, the electrostatic adsorption surface of the tip member can adapt to changes in the shape of the surface of the object to be adsorbed when the electrostatic adsorption surface has moved or been pressed against the surface of the object to be adsorbed,
the support substrate itself is deformable, and
the support substrate is operated by the robotic arm.
9 . The electrostatic adsorption device according to claim 8 , wherein the support substrate comprises multiple aligned laminar bodies, the multiple laminar bodies being connected together in an elastically bendable manner.
10 . The electrostatic adsorption device according to claim 9 , wherein each of the multiple laminar bodies supports multiple pairs of support members and tip members.
11 . An electrostatic adsorption method in which an object to be adsorbed that is flexible or has a curved surface is adsorbed and gripped using an electrostatic adsorption device according to claim 8 .
12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the object to be adsorbed is flexible.
13 . The method according to claim 11 , which comprises the electrostatic adsorption module or electrostatic adsorption device conveying and detaching the object to be adsorbed after the electrostatic adsorption module or electrostatic adsorption device has adsorbed and gripped the object to be adsorbed.
14 . The method according to claim 11 , which comprises using the electrostatic adsorption module or electrostatic adsorption device to adsorb and grip an object to be adsorbed which is flexible or has a curved surface, to convey the object to be adsorbed to a setting location having a curved surface and to adapt the object to be adsorbed to the curved surface of the setting location, and then detaching the object to be adsorbed from the electrostatic adsorption module or electrostatic adsorption device.
15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the detachment is carried out after the object to be adsorbed that is adapted to the curved surface of the setting location has been fixed to the curved surface.
16 . An electrostatic absorption method for adsorbing and gripping an object using an electrostatic adsorption device according to claim 8 , wherein:
the electrostatic adsorption device has multiple tip members arranged in rows from one end to the other end,
the multiple tip members are used to adsorb and grip the object wherein the object adsorbed is conveyed onto the setting base, after which
the voltage applied to the multiple tip members for adsorption and gripping is turned OFF in polarity reversal attenuation mode, and
the multiple tip members on the object on the setting base are separated so that the object at the other end recedes more quickly than the object at the one end, with respect to the surface of the setting base,
to detach the multiple tip members from the object on the setting base while the object is allowed to remain on the setting base.
17 . The electrostatic adsorption method according to claim 11 , wherein the object is an organic EL panel.
18 . The electrostatic adsorption method according to claim 16 , in which the object is flexible.
19 . The electrostatic adsorption method according to claim 16 , in which the object has a curved surface.
20 . The electrostatic adsorption module according to claim 1 , wherein when representing the maximum dimension of the electrostatic adsorption surface of the tip member as L and the height of the rotation axis or center of the joint in the direction away from the electrostatic adsorption surface as H, the relationship H≤L, is satisfied.
21 . The electrostatic adsorption device according to claim 9 , wherein when representing the maximum dimension of the electrostatic adsorption surface of the tip member as L and the height of the rotation axis or center of the joint in the direction away from the electrostatic adsorption surface as H, the relationship H≤L is satisfied.