KR20210157054A - Stocker - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a stocker capable of loading various types of tact items and controlling driving condition of a tact robot, specifically, moving speed of the tact robot according to a type of conveyed material. It is intended to reduce costs by reducing the type and number of stockers required in a process environment, and to increase work efficiency by reducing tact time. The present invention comprises: a load port; a multiple shelves; a tact robot; and a discrimination unit.

Description

stocker {STOCKER}

The present invention relates to a stocker for transporting and loading wafers and the like.

In general, a semiconductor device manufacturing process is performed by repeatedly performing various unit processes, such as exposure, etching, diffusion, deposition, and metal processing, on a substrate or wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate). In each unit process, a substrate is moved using a carrier on which a plurality of substrates can be loaded, or the substrate is put into each process in a carrier state.

The carriers may be stored in a stocker. The stocker may include a plurality of shelves for accommodating the carriers, and a transport robot for transporting the carriers may be disposed inside the stocker. The transport robot can move horizontally and vertically, and transports carriers.

In general, since one stocker can load only one type of carrier, different stockers must be provided according to the type of carrier. Therefore, the number of stockers to be provided as much as the type of carrier required in the manufacturing process increases, and accordingly, there is a problem in that the production cost increases. In addition, since the speed of the robot for transporting the carrier inside the stocker operates at the same speed regardless of the type of carrier, there is a disadvantageous problem in terms of work efficiency.

Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-1277397 (2013.06.14)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to enable loading of various types of conveyed goods in one stocker.

In addition, the present invention is to reduce the transport time by providing a stocker that can control the driving conditions of the robot according to the type of transported object.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a stocker capable of controlling driving conditions according to the sensitivity of the conveyed object.

The object of the present invention is not limited to the above, and other objects and advantages of the present invention not mentioned can be understood by the following description.

The present invention is a load port in which the container loaded with the article is loaded or unloaded; a plurality of shelves for loading the containers; a transport robot including a robot arm for loading and transporting the container; It provides a stocker comprising; a determination unit capable of determining the type of the container mounted on the robot arm.

It may further include a control unit capable of controlling the driving conditions of the transport robot according to the type of the container determined by the determining unit.

The determination unit may include a weight sensor for measuring the weight of the container mounted on the robot arm.

Alternatively, the determining unit may include a displacement sensor for measuring the height of the container mounted on the robot arm.

In addition, the determination unit may determine the presence or absence of a container on the transport robot.

The container may be any one of a Front Open Unifies POD (FOUP), a Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB), a Multi Application Carrier (MAC), and a POD.

The control unit may control the speed of the transport robot based on a result determined by the determination unit.

In addition, the present invention is a determination step of determining the type of the object mounted on the transport robot;

a determination step of determining a driving condition of the transport robot based on a result received from the determination step; It provides a speed control method of a transport robot comprising a; a control step of controlling the driving of the transport robot according to the driving condition determined in the determining step.

The method for controlling the speed of the transport robot may further include determining whether an object is placed on the transport robot.

Only when it is determined that the object is placed on the transfer robot, the type of the object placed on the transfer robot may be determined.

The present invention can reduce costs by reducing the types of stockers required in a process environment by allowing various types of conveyed goods to be loaded on one stocker.

In addition, the present invention can control the driving conditions of the robot according to the type of conveyed object, thereby reducing the conveying time (tact time) to increase the efficiency of the operation.

In addition, it is possible to provide a stocker with high safety by controlling the driving conditions according to the sensitivity of the conveyed object.

It should be understood that the effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described effects, and include all effects that can be inferred from the configuration of the invention described in the detailed description or claims of the present invention.

1 is a schematic front view for explaining a stocker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic plan view for explaining a stocker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the transport robot shown in FIG. 2 .
4 is an enlarged side view of the transport robot shown in FIG. 2 .
5 is a flowchart for explaining a speed control method of a transport robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating specific steps of FIG. 5 .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In each of the following drawings, directions in the drawings are described using the XYZ coordinate system. In the XYZ coordinate system, the vertical direction is the Z direction, and the horizontal direction is the X direction and the Y direction.

In order to clearly describe the present invention, a detailed description thereof may be omitted for parts not related to the essence of the present invention, and the same reference numerals may be assigned to the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

In addition, in the referenced drawings, the size of the component, the thickness of the line, etc. may be slightly exaggerated or reduced for convenience of understanding.

In addition, when a part "includes" a certain component, this means that other components may be further included rather than excluding other components unless otherwise stated. The terminology used herein is only for referring to specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention, and unless otherwise defined in the present specification, is a concept understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. can be interpreted.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning unless explicitly defined in the present application. does not

1 to 4 , the stocker 100 includes a load port 110 , a plurality of shelves 120 , a transport robot 130 , a determining unit 140 , and a control unit 150 .

The load port 110 provides a space in which the container 10 accommodating a plurality of articles, such as wafers or reticles used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, is seated, and loads or unloads the container 10 . The load port 110 is for transferring the container 10 from the outside of the stocker 100 to the inner space of the stocker 100 or from the inner space of the stocker 100 to the outside of the stocker 100 . In this case, the reticle may be used in an immersion exposure apparatus or may be used in an EUV exposure apparatus. A plurality of wafers or reticles are mounted on the load port 110 while being accommodated in the container 10 . A plurality of alignment pins (not shown) may be provided on the seating surface of the load port 110 , and alignment grooves (not shown) may be provided on the lower surface of the container 10 . When the container 10 is seated on the load port 110 , the alignment pin (not shown) is inserted into the alignment groove (not shown), so that the container 10 can be accurately seated on the load port 110 .

A plurality of shelves 120 load the container (10). The shelf 120 may be arranged in a horizontal direction (X-axis direction, Y-axis direction) and a vertical direction (Z-axis direction) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Specifically, a plurality of rows and columns may be arranged side by side in a horizontal direction, and a plurality of stages may be arranged side by side in a vertical direction. For convenience of explanation, although the shelves 120 are arranged in 2 columns, 6 rows, and 5 columns in FIGS. 1 and 2 , they may be arranged in a different number of columns, rows, and columns. Alignment pins (not shown) may be provided on the bottom surface of each shelf 120 . When the container 10 is loaded on the shelf 120, the alignment pin (not shown) of the shelf 120 is inserted into the alignment groove (not shown) of the container 10, so that the container 10 is placed on each shelf ( 120) can be accurately loaded. In this case, the container loaded on the shelf 120 is not limited to one type by using the size of the shelf 120 as the maximum container size.

The transport robot 130 can transport the container 10 in each of the X-direction, Y-direction, and Z-direction, and between the load port 110 and the shelf 120 , and/or from the shelf 120 to another shelf ( 120), the container 10 can be transported. Specifically, the transport robot 130 may be provided to enable movement and rotational movement in the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction for the transport of the container 10 . Although not shown in detail, the transport robot 130 includes an X-axis driving unit (not shown) for moving the transport robot 130 in the X-axis direction, and a Z-axis driving unit (not shown) for moving the transport robot 130 in the Z-axis direction. city) and a rotation driving unit (not shown) for rotating the transport robot 130 may be provided.

In addition, the transfer robot 130 may include a robot arm 132 for transferring the container 10 , and the robot arm 132 may be configured to be movable toward the shelf 120 . The robot arm 132 supports and transports the lower surface of the container 10 . In this case, as a method of transporting the container 10 , a method of transporting the container 10 by holding the upper part of the container 10 , or holding and transporting the side of the container 10 may be used. The robot arm 132 may be configured to be movable in a Y-axis direction (front-back direction) perpendicular to the X-axis direction, and in this case, the transport robot 130 is a Y-axis driving unit (not shown) for driving the robot arm 132 . ) is provided. The robot arm 132 may be a multi-joint robot arm that can be extended and contracted.

For example, the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis driving units (not shown) and the rotation driving unit (not shown) may be configured using a motor and a power transmission device including a timing belt and pulleys, respectively. Accordingly, the transport robot 130 may seat the carrier 10 on the load port 110 or transport it from the load port 110 . In addition, the transfer robot 130 may load the container 10 on the shelf 120 or transfer the container 10 from the shelf 120 .

Meanwhile, a plurality of transport robots 130 may be provided to quickly transport the container 10 .

The determining unit 140 is included in the transport robot 130 . The determination unit 140 includes a sensor, and may determine the type of the container mounted on the robot arm 132 using the sensor. For example, the determining unit 140 may include a weight sensor 142 as shown in FIG. 3 . The weight sensor 142 may be installed on the robot arm 132 . The weight sensor 142 may detect the weight of the container 10 when the container 10 is mounted on the robot arm 132 .

As another example, the determination unit 140 may include a displacement sensor 144 as shown in FIG. 4 . The displacement sensor 144 may be installed on one side of the transport robot 130 . The displacement sensor 144 may detect the height of the container 10 when the container 10 is mounted on the robot arm 132 . The displacement sensor 144 for detecting the height of the upper surface of the container 10 from the upper surface of the robot arm 132 may be an infrared sensor for detecting the height by irradiating infrared rays. Alternatively, it may be an ultrasonic sensor. The displacement sensor 144 is not limited thereto, and any sensor capable of detecting the height of the container 10 may be used.

In addition, by using the determining unit 140 , it is possible to determine whether the transport robot 130 is placing the container 10 . When the weight is measured using the weight sensor 142 , if the measured weight is close to 0 , the transport robot 130 may determine that the container 10 is not placed. Alternatively, when the height is sensed using the displacement sensor 144, if the height sensed from the upper surface of the robot arm 132 is close to 0, the transfer robot 130 may determine that the container 10 is not placed. have.

In this case, the container 10 may be a FOUP (front open unifies POD), a front opening shipping box (FOSB), a MAC (Multi Application Carrier), a pod (POD), or a reticle pod for accommodating the substrate. . Each container 10 has a different weight and/or height depending on the type. For example, a poop weighs 8 kg and is 339 mm high, a Mac weighs 15 kg and a height of 217 mm, and a pod weighs 3 kg and is 101.5 mm high. In this way, since the weight and/or height of each type of container 10 is different, weight and/or height information including an error range for each container 10 is input in advance to the determination unit 140, so that the container 10 is types can be identified. In the embodiment of the present invention, only the case of the three containers will be described, but the type of the container is not limited thereto.

Alternatively, the type of the container 10 may be determined by attaching a different identifier for each type of the container 10 to the surface of the container 10 and applying a sensor capable of reading each identifier information to the determination unit 140 . .

The control unit 150 controls the driving conditions of the transport robot 130 by supplying a control command to a driving device (not shown) of the transport robot 130 according to the determination result of the discrimination unit 140 . Specifically, the controller 150 controls the speed pattern of the transport robot 130 . At this time, it is preferable to input control information according to the determination result of the type of the container 10 to the control unit 150 in advance.

The transport robot 130 moves while increasing or decreasing the speed according to the control of the controller 150 .

For example, when the determination unit 140 determines that the container 10 placed on the transfer robot 130 is poop, the control unit 150 sets the movement speed of the transfer robot 130 to v1 and reaches the movement speed. Acceleration is controlled by a1. When the placed container 10 is determined to be a pulse, the controller 150 controls the moving speed of the transport robot 130 as v2 and the acceleration to reach the moving speed as a2. The driving condition of the transport robot 130 is controlled by controlling a driving device (not shown) with a speed pattern corresponding to the type of the container 10 determined as described above. The heavier the container, the more it is necessary to reduce the load on the driving part by reducing the moving speed and acceleration. When the transport robot 130 does not place the container 10, the transport time can be reduced by setting it to have the maximum speed condition. In addition, the container 10 for loading a vibration-sensitive article can secure stability by setting the acceleration to a small value. Velocity and acceleration control values for other types of containers 10 not described above may be set.

The stocker 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a separate object detection sensor capable of determining whether the transfer robot 130 is placing the container 10 in the determination unit 140 . may be

At this time, the stocker may be configured to first detect the presence or absence of the container 10 using the object detection sensor and then determine the type of the container 10 only when the container 10 is present.

5 to 6 are flowcharts for explaining a method of controlling the moving speed of the transport robot according to the present invention.

First, the type of the target container mounted on the robot arm is determined (S1). The method of determining the type of container is by measuring the weight of the container as shown in (A) of FIG. 6 (S11A), and comparing the measurement result with weight information according to the type of container that has been input in advance (S12A). can be identified. At this time, if the measured weight is close to 0, it is determined that the robot arm is not placing the object. Alternatively, the type of container is determined by measuring the height of the container from the upper surface of the robot arm as shown in (B) of FIG. 6 (S11B), and comparing the measurement result with the height information according to the type of container that is input in advance (S12B) can do. At this time, if the measured height is close to 0, it is determined that the robot arm is not placing the object. In addition, various identification methods such as barcodes and QR codes may be used. At this time, the container 10 is a FOUP (Front Open Unifies POD), FOSB (Front Opening Shipping Box), MAC (MAC, Multi Application Carrier), pod (POD), various containers for loading goods, such as a reticle pod can be

Next, based on the determination result derived in the determination step (S1), a driving condition of the transport robot is determined (S2). For example, if the container is determined as FOUP, the movement speed of the transfer robot is v1, if the container is determined as MAC, the movement speed of the transfer robot is v2. The speed is to determine the driving condition with the corresponding speed according to the type entered in advance, such as v3. The moving speed of the transport robot is preferably set in consideration of the weight of the container and the sensitivity of the articles loaded in the container. For example, in general, the moving speed of the MAC, which is heavier than the FOUP, may be set to have a smaller value. It is desirable that the absolute values of the moving speed and acceleration of the container loaded with the transported material sensitive to shock or vibration have small values. It is preferable that v3 is the maximum value.

The last step is to control the moving speed of the transport robot by executing the determined driving condition as it is in the driving unit (S3). When the container is FOUP, the moving speed of the transport robot is controlled by v1. If the container is MAC, the moving speed of the transport robot is controlled by v2. Alternatively, if there is no container on the transport robot, the moving speed of the transport robot is controlled by v3.

As described above, the present invention can reduce costs by reducing the types of stockers required by allowing various types of conveyed goods to be loaded on one stocker.

In addition, the present invention can control the driving conditions of the robot according to the type of conveyed object, thereby reducing the conveying time (tact time) to increase the efficiency of the operation.

In addition, it is possible to provide a stocker with high safety by controlling the driving conditions according to the sensitivity of the conveyed object.

Meanwhile, the above-described control of the transport robot can be written as a program that can be executed on a computer, and can be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer that operates the program using a computer-readable recording medium.

Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains should understand that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential characteristics thereof, so the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. only do

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. .

10: courage
100: stalker
110: load port
120: shelf
130: transport robot 132: robot arm
140: determination unit 142: weight sensor
144: height sensor
150: control unit

Claims (10)

a load port into which a container loaded with articles is loaded or unloaded;
a plurality of shelves for loading the containers;
a transport robot including a robot arm for loading and transporting the container;
a determination unit capable of determining the type of container mounted on the robot arm;
A stalker that includes. According to claim 1,
The stocker further comprising a control unit capable of controlling the driving conditions of the transport robot according to the type of the container determined by the determination unit. According to claim 1, wherein the determining unit,
Stocker, characterized in that it comprises a weight sensor for measuring the weight of the container mounted on the robot arm. According to claim 1, wherein the determining unit,
Stocker, characterized in that it comprises a displacement sensor for measuring the height of the container mounted on the robot arm. According to claim 1,
The stocker, characterized in that the determination unit can determine the presence or absence of a container on the transport robot. According to claim 1,
The container is a FOUP (Front Open Unifies POD), FOSB (Front Opening Shipping Box), MAC (MAC, Multi Application Carrier), a stocker, characterized in that any one of the pod (POD). According to claim 2, wherein the control unit,
A stocker, characterized in that for controlling the speed of the transport robot based on the result determined by the determination unit. A determination step of determining the type of the object placed on the transport robot;
a determination step of determining a driving condition of the transport robot based on a result received from the determination step;
an execution step of executing driving of the transport robot according to the driving condition determined in the determining step;
A method of controlling the speed of a transport robot comprising a. 9. The method of claim 8,
determining whether an object is placed on the transport robot;
The speed control method of the transport robot, characterized in that it further comprises. 9. The method of claim 8,
The speed control method of the transport robot, characterized in that the type of the object placed on the transport robot is determined only when it is determined that the object is placed on the transport robot.

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