1. An apparatus for drying a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
a spin chuck configured to support the substrate and rotate the substrate;
a drying chamber configured to receive the spin chuck, the drying chamber having an inlet through which a drying fluid is introduced into the drying chamber, an outlet through which the drying fluid is drained from the drying chamber, and a vortex exhaust through which a vortex of the drying fluid is drained; and
a drying fluid line connected to the inlet.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inlet and the outlet are disposed at opposite two surfaces of the drying chamber substantially perpendicular to a flowing direction of the drying fluid.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the inlet is disposed at an upper surface of the drying chamber, and the outlet is disposed at a lower surface of the drying chamber.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vortex exhaust is disposed at a surface of the drying chamber substantially parallel to a flowing direction of the drying fluid.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the vortex exhaust is disposed at a side surface of the drying chamber.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the vortex exhaust is downwardly slanted toward a central portion of the spin chuck.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drying fluid line comprises an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) line configured to supply IPA to the drying chamber, and wherein a collecting unit is configured to collect the IPA in the vortex and is connected to the vortex exhaust.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a guiding member disposed in the drying chamber, and wherein the guiding member is configured to concentrate the drying fluid on a central portion of the spin chuck.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the guiding member comprises a hopper shape and is disposed at an inner side surface of the drying chamber.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the guiding member has a lower end disposed relatively closer to the spin chuck than the vortex exhaust to prevent a portion of the drying fluid, which does not reach the substrate, from being drained through the vortex exhaust.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a fan filter unit configured to remove particles in the drying fluid.
12. A system for cleaning a substrate, the system comprising:
a spin chuck configured to support the substrate and rotate the substrate;
a cleaning chamber configured to receive the spin chuck, the cleaning chamber having an inlet through which a drying fluid is introduced into the drying chamber, an outlet through which the drying fluid is drained from the drying chamber, and a vortex exhaust through which a vortex of the drying fluid is drained;
a cleaning solution line configured to supply a cleaning solution to the cleaning chamber;
a rinsing solution line configured to supply a rinsing solution to the cleaning chamber; and
a drying fluid line connected to the inlet.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the inlet is disposed at an upper surface of the cleaning chamber, the outlet is disposed at a lower surface of the cleaning chamber, and the vortex exhaust is disposed at a side surface of the cleaning chamber and is downwardly slanted toward a central portion of the spin chuck.
14. The system of claim 12, further comprising a guiding member disposed in the cleaning chamber, and wherein the guiding member is configured to concentrate the drying fluid on a central portion of the spin chuck.
15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a fan filter unit configured to remove particles in the drying fluid.
16. The system of claim 12, further comprising a cleaning solution tank connected to the cleaning solution line and a rinsing solution tank connected to the rinsing solution line and wherein the cleaning solution line and the rinsing solution line are connected to opposite side surfaces of the cleaning chamber than each other.
17. An apparatus for drying a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
a drying chamber having an upper surface, a lower surface and a side surface disposed between the upper surface and the lower surface, wherein the drying chamber includes an inlet diposed at the upper surface of the drying chamber through which a drying fluid is introduced into the drying chamber, an outlet disposed at the lower surface of the drying chamber opposite to the inlet and through which the drying fluid is drained from the drying chamber, and a vortex exhaust disposed substantially perpendicular to the side surface of the drying chamber and downwardly slanted toward a central portion of the spin chuck and through which a vortex of the drying fluid is drained;
a spin chuck disposed on the lower surface of the drying chamber, wherein the spin chuck is configured to support and rotate the substrate on an upper surface thereof;
a drying fluid line connected to the inlet;
a drying fluid tank connected to the drying fluid line;
a guide disposed at a side of the spin chuck and configured to guide the drying fluid toward the outlet;
a fan filter disposed under the upper surface of the drying chamber, wherein the fan filter is configured to remove particles in the drying fluid and to move the drying fluid to the substrate disposed on the upper surface of the spin chuck; and
a guiding member including a first guide slantly extending from the side surface of the drying chamber in a downward direction and a second guide vertically extending from a lower end of the first guide in the downward direction, wherein the second guide has a lower end adjacent to the spin chuck and disposed under the vortex exhaust.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a vacuum pump connected to the outlet, wherein the vacuum pump is configured to provide a vacuum into the drying chamber.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) line configured to supply an IPA to the drying chamber, IPA tank connected to the IPA line and a collecting unit connected to the vortex exhaust and configured to collect the IPA in the vortex.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the drying fluid supplied by the drying fluid line includes nitrogen gas.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A sheet feeding apparatus comprising:
a conveying roller;
a separation member which presses against the conveying roller to form a separation nip portion that separates received sheets one by one;
a feeding member configured to feed a sheet towards the separation nip portion;
a nip guide member having a first guide portion configured to contact with a leading edge of the sheet fed by the feeding member and a second guide portion disposed at facing position to the conveying roller and configured to guide the sheet abutted with the first guide portion for the separation nip portion and
a biasing member configured to bias the nip guide member;
wherein the nip guide member is capable of rotating around a rotation shaft and the second guide portion is disposed at predetermined distance from the conveying roller and moves in a direction of separating from the conveying roller against biasing force by the biasing member.
2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a support member configured to movably support the nip guide member
3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a regulating portion configured to regulate a position of the nip guide member
4. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3,
wherein the nip guide member is rotatable with respect to the support member, and a rotation center of the nip guide member is provided in an area interposed between a first straight line extending opposite to the conveying roller and perpendicularly to a sloped guide surface of the guide portion and a second straight line that connects a rotation center of the conveying roller and a guide leading-end of the guide portion in an abutment portion where a leading end of a fed sheet abuts on the sloped guide surface when viewed in a direction parallel to a rotating axis direction of the nip guide member.
5. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet storing portion which is capable of loading a plurality of fed sheets and has a restricting wall surface that restricts a leading end of a loaded sheet in a feeding direction,
wherein the restricting wall surface is arranged closer to a sheet in the sheet storing portion relative to the nip guide member.