JP2001015572A - Method and device for controlling transportation in process facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the total process treatment throughputs of process treatment chambers equal to each other by comparing the total process treatment throughputs of transportable process treatment chambers with each other, and transporting a material to the process treatment chamber having the minimum total process treatment throughput. SOLUTION: In the transportation control routine 3 of a computer 1, a material is placed on the transportation arm 9 of the transfer chamber 8 of a process facility 2 and whether the material can be transported from the chamber 8 to a process treatment chamber is discriminated. When it is discriminated that the material can be transported from the chamber 8, the process treatment chamber to which the material can be transported are searched from all process treatment chambers. When, for instance, second and third process treatment chambers 5 and 6 are found, the total process treatment throughputs of the chambers 5 and 6 are compared with each other and, when the throughput of the chamber 5 is smaller than that of the chamber 6, the chamber 5 is decided as the transporting destination of the material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer control method and apparatus in a process facility, and more particularly, to a process facility having a plurality of process processing chambers for performing the same process and a transfer means for transferring materials to the process processing chambers. The present invention relates to a transfer control method and apparatus in the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a process manufacturing facility for semiconductors and liquid crystals, it has been required to improve the operation rate of the facility in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of products. This type of process equipment has a plurality of process chambers. For example, the process equipment 2 shown in FIG. 2 includes a first process chamber 4, a second process chamber 5, a third process chamber 6, and a fourth process chamber 7. Further, a transfer chamber 8 for transferring the material to and from each process chamber, and a transfer arm 9 provided in the transfer chamber 8 and performing an actual material transfer operation to and from each process chamber. It has. The process equipment 2 is controlled by a computer 1.

[0005] The computer 1 is configured to execute the control of the transfer of the process equipment 2 by a transfer processing control routine 3. The transport processing control routine 3 in this case is specifically configured as shown in FIG. In (Step S31), it is determined whether or not there is a material on the transfer arm 9 of the transfer chamber 8 of the process equipment 2 and transfer from the transfer chamber 8 to the process chamber is possible. If the transfer is possible, all the process processing chambers that may be transferred in step S32 are searched. If there is one or more process processing chambers in which the transfer may be performed (Step S
In 33), the transfer destination is determined from the transfer conditions as shown in FIG. For example, if the process chambers that were transported last time to the first process chamber 4 and may be transported this time are the second process chamber 5 and the third process chamber 6, the condition shown in FIG. The transfer destination is determined to be the second processing chamber 5. Then, the carrying process is executed in (Step S34).

[0004]

In a process facility, it is necessary to maintain the processing chamber when the total processing amount exceeds a certain amount in the processing chamber, for example, when a certain cumulative plasma discharge time is exceeded. , Equipment must be shut down. For this reason, if the accumulated process throughput in all the processing chambers after the maintenance is uniform and at the same time exceeds a certain processing throughput, and the next maintenance can be performed simultaneously for all the processing chambers, the maintenance The downtime of equipment during operation is minimized, and the operating rate increases.

However, according to the conventional transfer control method, if the first process chamber 4 cannot be transported due to a failure or the like, the second process chamber 5, the third process chamber 6, the fourth process chamber, or the like. The processing is continued using the three chambers 7, and when the first processing chamber 4 is restored, the processing is performed again in the four chambers. Then, the processing amount of the first process chamber 4 becomes smaller than that of the other process chambers. Thereafter, even if the first process chamber 4 is not in the maintenance time, the other process chambers are not in the maintenance time. If this happens, the facility must be stopped, and there is a problem that the operation rate decreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to make the cumulative processing amount in each processing chamber uniform so as to increase the operation rate of the equipment.

[0007]

In order to solve this problem, according to the present invention, as a condition for determining a transfer destination, a total process amount of a process chamber capable of being transferred is compared, and the total process amount is minimized. Is transferred to the process chamber. As a result, the total amount of process processing can be made uniform.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 provides a method for transporting a material to a plurality of processing chambers for performing the same process by using a plurality of processing chambers which may be transported. The transfer is performed to the processing chamber where the accumulated processing amount is the minimum.

By repeating the transfer to the processing chambers having the smallest accumulated processing amount, the total amount of the processing amount in each processing chamber can be made uniform. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a material is conveyed to a plurality of processing chambers performing the same process by the conveying means, when the material can be conveyed from the conveying means to the processing chamber, the material is conveyed. A search is made for a process processing chamber which may perform the transfer, and a search is made for a process processing chamber having the smallest total process processing amount from among the plurality of process processing chambers which may perform the searched transfer. Is transferred to the process processing chamber having the minimum processing amount.

[0010] In this way, by repeating the transfer to the processing chambers having the smallest cumulative processing capacity, the total processing capacity in each processing chamber can be made uniform. According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of process chambers for performing the same process, a transport unit for transporting a material to each process chamber, and a transport unit capable of transporting the material from the transport unit to the process chamber are provided. Means for determining whether or not there is, a means for searching for a process processing chamber in which the transfer may be performed when the transfer becomes possible, and a plurality of process processing chambers in which the searched transfer may be performed. From among them, means for searching for a process processing chamber with the smallest total process processing amount up to that time and determining the process processing chamber with the smallest total process processing amount as the transfer destination is provided. .

With such a configuration, the transfer to the processing chambers with the smallest accumulated processing amount is repeated, whereby the total amount of processing in each processing chamber is made uniform. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 which is also used for describing a conventional technique.

FIG. 1 shows a transport processing control routine 3 of the computer 1 according to the present invention. In (Step S1), it is determined whether or not there is a material on the transfer arm 9 as a transfer means of the transfer chamber 8 of the process equipment 2 and transfer from the transfer chamber 8 to the process chamber is possible. If the transfer is possible, a search is made in step S2 for all the process chambers that may be transferred. If there is one or more process processing chambers in which the transfer may be performed, in step S3, the room having the smallest total process processing amount is selected from all the searched process processing chambers in which the transfer may be performed. Is searched, and a transfer destination is determined in this room. For example, the process chambers that can be transported are the second process chamber 5 and the third process chamber.
In the case of the processing chamber 6, the total processing capacity of the second processing chamber 5 and the total processing capacity of the third processing chamber 6 are compared with each other. If the amount is smaller than the total process amount of the processing chamber 6, the transfer destination is determined to be the second process chamber 5, and the transfer processing is executed in (Step S4).

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a material is conveyed to a plurality of process processing chambers for performing the same process by the transfer means, the transferable process processing chamber is used as a condition for determining a transfer destination. Compared to the total process throughput of this process, the total process throughput is transported to the process room with the minimum, so the total process throughput in the process chamber can be made uniform and the equipment operation rate increased. The advantageous effect that it can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control flowchart for implementing a transport control method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a process facility to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of a conventional transport control method.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing, in a table format, transfer conditions of a conventional transfer control method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 transfer processing routine 4 first process chamber 5 second process chamber 6 third process chamber 7 fourth process chamber 9 transfer arm

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Toizumi 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Term (reference) 3F022 AA08 CC02 KK01 MM15 MM44 5F031 FA12 GA50 MA04 PA03 5H301 AA02 AA09 BB05 KK03 KK04

Claims (3)

[Claims] When a material is conveyed to a plurality of processing chambers for performing the same processing by a conveying means, a process processing in which a cumulative amount of processing of the plurality of processing chambers which may be conveyed is the smallest. A transfer control method in a process facility, wherein the transfer is performed to a chamber. 2. When a material is conveyed to a plurality of processing chambers for performing the same process by the conveying means, if the material can be conveyed from the conveying means to the processing chamber, the material may be conveyed. A search is made for a good process processing chamber, and a search is made for a process processing chamber having the smallest total process processing amount from among the plurality of process processing chambers that may perform the searched transfer. Transfer method in a process facility, wherein the transfer is performed to a process processing chamber having the minimum number. 3. A plurality of process chambers for performing the same process, transport means for transporting a material to each process chamber, and whether or not transport from the transport means to the process chamber is possible. Means for determining, and means for searching for a processing chamber in which transfer may be performed when transfer becomes possible, and a plurality of process chambers in which the searched transfer may be performed. Means for searching for a process processing chamber having the smallest total process processing amount and determining the process processing chamber having the smallest total process processing amount as a transfer destination. .