CN116772011B - Rotary joint and installation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a rotary joint and an installation method thereof, wherein the rotary joint can provide multiple paths of independent air supply for a platform with a rotating shaft, so that the follow-up independent application and control are convenient; the combined design of the upper cavity and the lower cavity realizes convenience in installation, maintenance and various operations, greatly reduces working difficulty and strength, and can be compatible for integrated use, thereby meeting the requirements of different customers on different application scenes to the greatest extent; according to the non-application, the rotary joint has strong expandability, can be expanded infinitely theoretically, and can be scaled according to actual situations by only adding the air tank module; the installation method of the rotary joint can connect the pipelines while installing the objective table, and can avoid misconnection or damage other devices when the installation space is limited, thereby reducing the design and manufacturing difficulty and greatly shortening the research and development period.

Description

Rotary joint and installation method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, in particular to a rotary joint and an installation method thereof.

Background

In the semiconductor and semiconductor fields, samples are generally fixed on a stage by vacuum adsorption, and because of the diversity of the samples, independent control demands are placed on the action area of the gases such as vacuum. The stage shown in fig. 1, which is divided into 4 areas, can be compatible with 4-12 inch wafers. The area A corresponds to a 4-inch wafer adsorption area; the A+B area corresponds to a 6-inch wafer adsorption area; the A+B+C area corresponds to an 8 inch wafer adsorption area; the a+b+c+d areas correspond to 12 inch wafer chucking areas.

From the above logic, it can be seen that when carrying a 4 inch wafer, he only needs to turn on vacuum in the a area and 6 inch wafer needs to turn on vacuum in both the a and B areas. When the vacuum is started only in the area A, the other areas are fully opened, but the area A is interrupted by the control of the electromagnetic valve, air leakage occurs, a vacuum cavity cannot be formed, and then the wafer cannot be adsorbed on the surface of the objective table, so that measurement failure is caused. However, for this example, 4 paths of gas are required to be supplied separately and controlled independently, so that the respective gas supply can be realized. But the objective table is installed on the platform, and most platforms can use the rotation axis when the wafer aligns, and multichannel air supply pipeline can cause the trachea winding and then cause the board to be down, equipment damage etc..

The mature integrated opposite-way rotary joint in the market is mostly used in the field of automation. The equipment has relatively simple structure, low requirements on space, size and the like, and is easy to install and maintain. However, in the semiconductor and general semiconductor industries, especially in the field of detection and measurement, consideration is given to the floor space (footprint) of the machine and the final height of the sample. The smaller the occupied area of the equipment is, the more pieces of equipment can be placed in the opposite area, and the equipment is an important assessment point for manufacturers; the lower the height of the motion platform, the lower the height of the wafer is, the better the dynamic performance of the equipment running, and the better the output can be run out at a higher speed.

In all the conventional stage and platform mounting interfaces of semiconductor devices, i.e., the rotating shaft, as shown in fig. 2, the rotating shaft 130 is generally hollow in order to compress the entire height, so that the rotating joint 110 and other parts can be placed in the limited space, but the design causes great inconvenience for installation and maintenance. Since the piping at the free end is a big problem regardless of whether the rotary joint 110 is turned on the moving platform end or the stage end, if the stage 120 is once placed on the rotation shaft 130 to completely cover the operation space, the piping installation cannot be completed. How to connect the respective pipes while mounting the stage 120 is a big problem in designing and manufacturing the two parts. Meanwhile, due to limited installation space, the operation is unchanged, and misconnection or other devices are easily damaged.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a rotary joint and a method for mounting the same, which solve the problem that it is difficult to mount the stage and connect the respective pipes at the same time when the mounting space is limited.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a rotary joint and a method for installing the same, which are used for solving the problem that it is difficult to install a stage while connecting respective pipes when the installation space is limited in the prior art.

To achieve the above and other related objects, the present invention provides a rotary joint comprising:

an upper cavity and a lower cavity positioned below the upper cavity;

the upper cavity is rotatably connected with the lower cavity through a rotary pin;

the upper cavity comprises an upper air guide hole;

the lower cavity comprises an air cavity wall, an air cavity body, an upper end cover, a lower end cover and a base, wherein the air cavity wall, the upper end cover, the lower end cover and the base form a hollow cavity;

the air cavity is characterized in that a lower air vent is arranged inside the air cavity, the lower air vent and the upper air vent are correspondingly arranged relatively to form a communicated air vent group, an air groove module is arranged at the edge of the air cavity, the air groove module comprises an air groove, the air groove is communicated with the lower air vent, and an air outlet port on the air cavity wall is communicated with the outside.

Optionally, the upper air vent and the lower air vent are correspondingly arranged and further comprise sealing rings.

Optionally, the air groove is a ring-shaped air groove surrounding the air cavity body.

Optionally, the air tank module further comprises a sealing groove arranged at the upper end and the lower end of the air tank, and sealing gaskets are arranged in the sealing grooves.

Optionally, the sealing gasket is a special-shaped sealing gasket provided with a hat brim.

Optionally, the number of the communicating air guide hole groups is at least 2.

Optionally, the number of the communicating air guide hole groups is 4.

Optionally, the number of the air grooves is the same as that of the communicated air guide hole group.

Optionally, the upper cavity is locked with the upper end cover of the lower cavity through a screw, so that the upper cavity and the lower cavity are integrated.

The invention also provides a use method of the rotary joint, which comprises the following steps:

s1: providing a rotary joint, a vacuum pump and a pipeline according to any one of the above;

s2: the communicated air guide hole group is arranged in the rotary joint according to the requirement, the air outlet port is connected with the vacuum pump through the pipeline, and the lower cavity is fixed on a platform;

s3: the upper cavity is fixed on an objective table, and the upper air guide hole is connected with an air inlet port of the objective table through the pipeline;

s4: and butting the upper air guide hole with the lower air guide hole to finish sealing.

As described above, the rotary joint and the method of installing the same of the present invention have the following advantageous effects:

the rotary joint can provide multiple paths of independent air supply for a platform with a rotating shaft, so that the follow-up independent application and control are convenient; the combined design of the upper cavity and the lower cavity realizes convenience in installation, maintenance and various operations, greatly reduces working difficulty and strength, and can be compatible for integrated use, thereby meeting the requirements of different customers on different application scenes to the greatest extent; according to the non-application, the rotary joint has strong expandability, can be expanded infinitely theoretically, and can be scaled according to actual situations by only adding the air tank module; the installation method of the rotary joint can connect the pipelines while installing the objective table, and can avoid misconnection or damage other devices when the installation space is limited, thereby reducing the design and manufacturing difficulty and greatly shortening the research and development period.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art wafer stage.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a stage and platform mounting interface of a prior art semiconductor device.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a rotary joint according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic cross-section of a rotary joint according to the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of the air cavity structure of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an air tank module according to the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart schematically showing a method of installing a rotary joint according to the present invention.

Description of element reference numerals

A4 inch wafer suction area

B6 inch wafer adsorption area

C8 inch wafer suction area

D12 inch wafer adsorption area

10. Upper cavity

11. Upper air guide hole

20. Lower cavity

30. Rotary pin

40. Air cavity wall

50. Air cavity

51. Lower air guide hole

52. Air tank

53. Sealing groove

54. Sealing gasket

55. Hat brim

56. Air outlet port

60. Upper end cover

70. Lower end cover

80. Base seat

90. Bearing

100. Sealing ring

110. Rotary joint

120. Object stage

130. Rotary shaft

S1 to S4 steps

Detailed Description

Other advantages and effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure, which describes the embodiments of the present invention with reference to specific examples. The invention may be practiced or carried out in other embodiments that depart from the specific details, and the details of the present description may be modified or varied from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As described in detail in the embodiments of the present invention, the cross-sectional view of the device structure is not partially enlarged to a general scale for convenience of explanation, and the schematic drawings are only examples, which should not limit the scope of the present invention.

For ease of description, spatially relative terms such as "under", "below", "beneath", "above", "upper" and the like may be used herein to describe one structure or feature's relationship to another structure or feature as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that these spatially relative terms are intended to encompass other orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. Furthermore, when a layer is referred to as being "between" two layers, it can be the only layer between the two layers or one or more intervening layers may also be present. As used herein, "between … …" is meant to include both endpoints.

In the context of this application, a structure described as a first feature being "on" a second feature may include embodiments where the first and second features are formed in direct contact, as well as embodiments where additional features are formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact.

Please refer to fig. 1 to 7. It should be noted that, the illustrations provided in the present embodiment merely illustrate the basic concept of the present invention by way of illustration, and only the components related to the present invention are shown in the drawings rather than the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation, and the form, number and proportion of each component in actual implementation may be arbitrarily changed, and the layout of the components may be more complex.

Example 1

As shown in fig. 3 to 6, the present embodiment proposes a rotary joint including:

an upper cavity 10 and a lower cavity 20 located below the upper cavity 10;

the upper cavity 10 is fixed on a rotatable object stage, the lower cavity 20 is fixed on a platform, and the upper cavity 10 is rotatably connected with the lower cavity 20 through a rotary pin 30;

the upper cavity 10 comprises an upper air guide hole 11;

the lower cavity 20 includes an air cavity wall 40, an air cavity 50, an upper end cover 60, a lower end cover 70 and a base 80, wherein the air cavity wall 40, the upper end cover 60, the lower end cover 70 and the base 80 form a hollow cavity, the air cavity 50 is located in the cavity, and the air cavity 50 is respectively connected with the upper end cover 60, the lower end cover 70 and the base 80 through bearings 90 and can rotate in the cavity along with the rotation of the upper cavity 10;

the air cavity 50 is internally provided with a lower air vent 51, the lower air vent 51 and the upper air vent 11 are correspondingly arranged to form a communicated air vent group, the edge of the air cavity 50 is provided with an air groove module, the air groove module comprises an air groove 52, the air groove 52 is communicated with the lower air vent 51, and the air groove module is communicated with the outside through an air outlet port 56 on the air cavity wall 40.

The rotary joint of the embodiment can provide multiple paths of independent air supply for a platform with a rotating shaft, so that the follow-up independent application and control are convenient; the combined design of the upper cavity 10 and the lower cavity 20 realizes convenience in installation, maintenance and various operations by a split structure, greatly reduces working difficulty and strength, and can be compatible for integrated use, so that the requirements of different customers on different application scenes are met to the greatest extent; according to the application, the rotary joint has strong expandability, can be expanded infinitely theoretically, and only needs to add the air tank module, and scales each corresponding size according to the actual situation.

In this embodiment, the upper cavity 10 is fixed on a rotatable stage, the lower cavity 20 is fixed on a platform, the upper air guide hole 11 in the upper cavity 10 is L-shaped, one end is connected with the outside from the side edge of the upper cavity 10, and can be matched and connected with a corresponding pipeline according to the number of the air inlet port of the stage, then the stage is connected, the other end is connected with one end of the lower air guide hole 21 of the lower cavity 20, the other end of the lower air guide hole 22 is communicated with the outside through the air groove 52 and the air outlet port 56, and can also be matched with a corresponding pipeline, and then connected with a vacuum pump to form an air supply loop, so that the wafer on the stage is adsorbed.

As an example, the upper air vent 11 and the lower air vent 21 are disposed opposite to each other and further include a sealing ring 100.

When the upper air vent 11 and the lower air vent 21 are connected relatively, the sealing ring 100 is arranged, after the objective table is installed, the sealing of the upper cavity 10 and the lower cavity 20 is automatically completed through tolerance control, the sealing ring 100 is arranged, the air tightness of the communicating air vent group is increased, and the air leakage phenomenon caused by the error of the connection of the upper air vent 11 and the lower air vent 21 is avoided. Specifically, the cross-sectional dimensions of the upper air vent 11 and the lower air vent 21 may be set according to practical situations, and are not limited herein, and it should be noted that, within a tolerance control range, the cross-sectional dimensions of the upper air vent 11 and the lower air vent 21 are the same.

As shown in fig. 3 to 5, the air groove 52 is, as an example, a ring-shaped air groove surrounding the air cavity 50 for one circle.

In this embodiment, the air cavity wall 40 is cylindrical, the air cavity 50 is cylindrical, and the air groove 52 is disposed at an edge of the air cavity 50 and is a circular air groove 53. The arrangement is such that when the air cavity 50 rotates, the circular air groove is formed on the air cavity, so that the air outlet port 56 of the air cavity wall 40 and the air groove 52 are always in a communication state at any angle, and the corresponding air inlet port on the object stage is communicated with the air outlet port 56, so as to form a closed air supply loop in a working state.

As shown in fig. 4 to 6, the air tank module further includes a sealing groove 53 disposed at the upper and lower ends of the air tank 52, and sealing gaskets 54 are disposed in the sealing grooves 53; the gasket 54 is a special-shaped gasket provided with a cap peak 55.

The seal grooves 53 are arranged at the upper end and the lower end of the air groove 52, and special-shaped sealing gaskets with the cap peak 55 are placed in the seal grooves, and gap sealing is optimized through the sealing gaskets 54, so that air leakage is reduced to the minimum, and better air tightness is achieved. When in operation, the cap peak 55 is deformed by compression, so that the gasket 54 can be more adhered to the air chamber wall 40, thereby achieving better air tightness.

As an example, the number of the communicating air guide hole groups is at least 2.

The rotary joint of the embodiment is used for solving the problem of multi-path gas supply, the number of the communicated gas guide hole groups is at least 2, namely at least 2 gas supply loops, and according to the design theory, the rotary joint can be further expanded and led into 8, 16 or more gas supply loops, and only the corresponding structural dimensions and the corresponding processing technologies with different degrees are changed. In this embodiment, the number of paths is preferably 4, and the paths are symmetrically arranged.

As an example, the number of air grooves 52 is the same as the set of communicating air guide holes. Each air groove 52 corresponds to one group of the communicating air guide hole groups so as to form an air supply loop.

As an example, the upper chamber 10 is locked to the upper end cap 60 of the lower chamber 20 by a screw, and the upper chamber 10 is integrated with the lower chamber 20.

When the installation space is large enough, the upper cavity 10 and the lower cavity 20 of the rotary joint can be locked into a whole, the respective pipelines are connected while the object stage is installed, and misconnection or other devices are not damaged.

Example two

As shown in fig. 7, the present embodiment provides a method for mounting a rotary joint, the method comprising:

s1: providing a rotary joint, a vacuum pump and a pipeline according to any one of the first embodiment;

s2: the communicated air guide hole group is arranged in the rotary joint according to the requirement, the air outlet port 56 is connected with the vacuum pump through the pipeline, and the lower cavity 20 is fixed on a platform;

s3: fixing the upper cavity 10 on a stage, and connecting the upper air guide hole 11 with an air inlet port 56 of the stage through the pipeline;

s4: the upper air vent 11 and the lower air vent 21 are abutted to complete sealing.

The installation method of the rotary joint can be used for installing the objective table and connecting the respective pipelines, and when the installation space is limited, the operation is unchanged, and also the erroneous connection or the damage to other devices can be avoided, the design and manufacturing difficulty is reduced, and the research and development period is greatly shortened.

In summary, the present invention provides a rotary joint and an installation method thereof, the rotary joint includes: an upper cavity and a lower cavity positioned below the upper cavity; the upper cavity is rotatably connected with the lower cavity through a rotary pin; the upper cavity comprises an upper air guide hole; the lower cavity comprises an air cavity wall, an air cavity body, an upper end cover, a lower end cover and a base, wherein the air cavity wall, the upper end cover, the lower end cover and the base form a hollow cavity; the air cavity is characterized in that a lower air vent is arranged inside the air cavity, the lower air vent and the upper air vent are correspondingly arranged relatively to form a communicated air vent group, an air groove module is arranged at the edge of the air cavity, the air groove module comprises an air groove, the air groove is communicated with the lower air vent, and an air outlet port on the air cavity wall is communicated with the outside. The rotary joint can provide multiple paths of independent air supply for a platform with a rotating shaft, so that the follow-up independent application and control are convenient; the combined design of the upper cavity and the lower cavity realizes convenience in installation, maintenance and various operations, greatly reduces working difficulty and strength, and can be compatible for integrated use, thereby meeting the requirements of different customers on different application scenes to the greatest extent; according to the non-application, the rotary joint has strong expandability, can be expanded infinitely theoretically, and can be scaled according to actual situations by only adding the air tank module; the installation method of the rotary joint can connect the pipelines while installing the objective table, and can avoid misconnection or damage other devices when the installation space is limited, thereby reducing the design and manufacturing difficulty and greatly shortening the research and development period. Therefore, the invention effectively overcomes various defects in the prior art and has high industrial utilization value.

The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention and its effectiveness, and are not intended to limit the invention. Modifications and variations may be made to the above-described embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that all equivalent modifications and variations of the invention be covered by the claims, which are within the ordinary skill of the art, be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (10)

1. A rotary joint, characterized in that it comprises:

an upper cavity and a lower cavity positioned below the upper cavity; the upper cavity is fixed on the rotatable objective table; the lower cavity is fixed on the platform;

the upper cavity is rotatably connected with the lower cavity through a rotary pin and is used for simultaneously connecting respective pipelines when the objective table is installed;

the upper cavity comprises an upper air guide hole;

the lower cavity comprises an air cavity wall, an air cavity body, an upper end cover, a lower end cover and a base, wherein the air cavity wall, the upper end cover, the lower end cover and the base form a hollow cavity;

the air cavity is characterized in that a lower air vent is arranged inside the air cavity, the lower air vent and the upper air vent are correspondingly arranged relatively to form a communicated air vent group, an air groove module is arranged at the edge of the air cavity, the air groove module comprises an air groove, the air groove is communicated with the lower air vent, and an air outlet port on the air cavity wall is communicated with the outside.

2. A swivel joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: the upper air guide hole and the lower air guide hole are correspondingly arranged and also comprise sealing rings.

3. A swivel joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: the air groove is a ring-shaped air groove surrounding the air cavity body.

4. A swivel joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: the air tank module further comprises sealing grooves arranged at the upper end and the lower end of the air tank, and sealing gaskets are arranged in the sealing grooves.

5. The rotary joint according to claim 4, wherein: the sealing gasket is a special-shaped sealing gasket provided with a hat brim.

6. A swivel joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: the number of the communicated air guide hole groups is at least 2.

7. The rotary joint according to claim 6, wherein: the number of the communicated air guide hole groups is 4.

8. A swivel joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: the number of the air grooves is the same as that of the communicated air guide hole groups.

9. A swivel joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: the upper cavity is locked with the upper end cover of the lower cavity through a screw, so that the upper cavity and the lower cavity are integrated.

10. A method of installing a rotary joint, the method comprising:

s1: providing a rotary joint, a vacuum pump and a pipeline according to any one of claims 1 to 9;

s2: the communicated air guide hole group is arranged in the rotary joint according to the requirement, the air outlet port is connected with the vacuum pump through the pipeline, and the lower cavity is fixed on a platform;

s3: the upper cavity is fixed on an objective table, and the upper air guide hole is connected with an air inlet port of the objective table through the pipeline;

s4: and butting the upper air guide hole with the lower air guide hole to finish sealing.