CN220400565U - Wafer transfer assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses a wafer transfer assembly, which is used for transferring wafers and comprises the following components: a substrate provided with a first through hole; the clamping arm assemblies are arranged on the substrate and distributed on the periphery of the first through hole; the clamping arm assembly at least comprises bearing blocks for supporting the wafer, and a plurality of bearing blocks of the clamping arm assembly are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the wafer and can move in a telescopic manner in the radial direction of the wafer; the supporting block is provided with a clamping state and a retraction state by telescopic movement, in the clamping state, the projection of the wafer in the direction from the wafer to the substrate is positioned in the first through hole, and the projection of the supporting block in the direction from the wafer to the substrate is at least partially positioned in the first through hole.

Description

Wafer transfer assembly

Technical Field

The utility model belongs to the technical field of electronic product carriers, and particularly relates to a wafer transfer assembly.

Background

A wafer is a silicon wafer used for manufacturing a silicon semiconductor integrated circuit, and is called a wafer because the wafer has a circular shape. The processing requirement of the wafer is high, and each processed wafer needs to be detected one by one so as to ensure the quality of the wafer.

When the wafer is detected, the wafer needs to be supported by a transfer component, so that the wafer is detected. In the prior art, during detection, the area at the edge of the wafer is always shielded by the transfer assembly due to the limitation of the transfer assembly, and the detection assembly cannot obtain the full view of the wafer at one time. When the first detection is finished, the position of the wafer relative to the transfer assembly needs to be changed, and the wafer is detected again, so that the defect of inconvenient operation exists. Accordingly, there is a need for an improvement over the prior art to overcome the deficiencies described in the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the utility model is to provide a wafer transfer assembly which is convenient for detection by a detection assembly.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present utility model provides a wafer transfer assembly for transferring wafers, comprising: a substrate provided with a first through hole; the clamping arm assemblies are arranged on the substrate and distributed on the periphery of the first through hole; the clamping arm assembly at least comprises bearing blocks for supporting the wafer, and a plurality of bearing blocks of the clamping arm assembly are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the wafer and can move in a telescopic manner in the radial direction of the wafer; the supporting block is provided with a clamping state and a retraction state by telescopic movement, in the clamping state, the projection of the wafer in the direction from the wafer to the substrate is positioned in the first through hole, and the projection of the supporting block in the direction from the wafer to the substrate is at least partially positioned in the first through hole.

Preferably, the distal end of the support block is formed with an "L" shaped support.

Preferably, the clamping arm assembly further comprises a ball guide shaft unit and an actuator for outputting linear reciprocating motion, the ball guide shaft unit comprises a guide shaft and a shaft sleeve, the shaft sleeve is sleeved on the guide shaft and fixedly arranged on the substrate, the far end of the guide shaft is connected with the bearing block, and the actuator acts on the guide shaft to drive the guide shaft to do linear reciprocating motion so that the bearing block is switched between a clamping state and a retraction state.

Preferably, the actuator has a motion output with a connection block, a motion damping unit being arranged between the connection block and the guide shaft, the motion damping unit being configured to provide an elastic damping force during the movement of the guide shaft towards the wafer.

Preferably, the connecting block is in sliding fit with the guide shaft, a first limiting part is fixedly arranged at the proximal end of the guide shaft, a second limiting part is fixedly arranged on the guide shaft, the second limiting part is positioned between the shaft sleeve and the first limiting part, and the first limiting part and the second limiting part are respectively positioned at two sides of the connecting block;

the motion buffering unit comprises a biasing member, the biasing member is sleeved on the guide shaft and is abutted between the connecting block and the second limiting member, and the connecting block is elastically abutted to the first limiting member under the action of the biasing member.

Preferably, the guide shaft penetrates through the connecting block, the connecting block is provided with a through hole for the guide shaft to penetrate through, and a linear bearing is arranged in the through hole.

Preferably, the clamp arm assembly further comprises a limit sensor unit configured to sense a clamped state and a retracted state of the bearing block.

Preferably, the limit sensor unit comprises a first photoelectric sensor and a second photoelectric sensor which are fixedly arranged on the substrate and distributed along the movement direction of the bearing block, and a sensing piece which moves synchronously with the bearing block, wherein the sensing piece is matched with the first photoelectric sensor and the second photoelectric sensor;

the first photoelectric sensor is distributed close to the first through hole compared with the second photoelectric sensor.

Preferably, a first partition plate and a second partition plate are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate, a second through hole opposite to the first through hole is formed in the first partition plate, and a third through hole opposite to the first through hole is formed in the second partition plate;

the first through holes, the second through holes and the third through holes are coaxially distributed, and the apertures of the second through holes and the third through holes are larger than or equal to the aperture of the first through holes.

Preferably, the number of the clamping arm assemblies is at least three, and a plurality of the clamping arm assemblies are symmetrically distributed on the substrate.

The technical scheme provided by the utility model has the following advantages:

the supporting blocks of the clamping arm assemblies can move in a telescopic mode in the radial direction of the wafer, the supporting blocks can be switched between the clamping state and the retraction state through the telescopic motion of the supporting blocks, in the embodiment, the supporting blocks of the clamping arm assemblies retract one by one, when a certain supporting block is in the retraction state, at the moment, the detection assembly can detect a partial area of the wafer, which is shielded by the certain supporting block, and therefore detection of the detection assembly is facilitated.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present utility model or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described, and it is obvious that the drawings in the description below are some embodiments of the present utility model, and other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a wafer transfer assembly according to the present utility model;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a wafer transfer assembly according to the present utility model with a wafer disposed thereon;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a structure of a substrate;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a clamp arm assembly in one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure of the clamp arm assembly;

fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a clamp arm assembly in another embodiment.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present utility model will be made apparent and fully in view of the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the utility model are shown. The utility model will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings in conjunction with embodiments. It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments of the present utility model and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and the claims of the present utility model and the above figures are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

In the present utility model, unless otherwise indicated, terms of orientation such as "upper, lower, top, bottom" are used generally with respect to the orientation shown in the drawings or with respect to the component itself in the vertical, upright or gravitational direction; also, for ease of understanding and description, "inner and outer" refers to inner and outer relative to the profile of each component itself, but the above-mentioned orientation terms are not intended to limit the present utility model.

The present utility model provides a wafer transfer assembly for transferring a wafer 100. In an application scenario, the wafer transfer assembly is matched with wafer testing equipment so that the wafer testing equipment can perform appearance test on the outer surface of the wafer. Of course, the application scenario of the wafer transfer assembly includes, but is not limited to, wafer testing equipment, and may also be loading and unloading equipment of the wafer, which are not described herein. The wafer transfer assembly is described below as being suitable for use in a wafer inspection apparatus, but the scope of the utility model is not limited thereto as will be appreciated from the foregoing.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, the wafer transfer assembly includes a substrate 200 having a first through hole 210, and a plurality of clamping arm assemblies 300 disposed on the substrate 200. The wafer 100 is placed at the first through hole 210, and detection components (camera components) can be arranged above and below the first through hole 210, and images of the upper end face and the bottom end face of the wafer 100 can be shot through the detection components, so that the quality of the outer surface of the wafer is detected. The first through hole 210 is formed with an opening 211 on one side edge of the substrate 200, and the opening 211 is a passage through which a gripper (not shown) enters and exits. The shape of the first through hole 210 may be circular, square, oval, or the like. Preferably, the first through hole 210 is circular in shape to facilitate alignment with the wafer.

The clamping arm assemblies 300 are distributed on the periphery of the first through hole 210 for supporting the wafer 100. The number of the clamping arm assemblies 300 affects the stability of the placement of the wafer 100, and generally the greater the number of the clamping arm assemblies 300, the better the stability of the placement of the wafer 100. However, in consideration of space and cost, the number of the clamping arm assemblies 300 is controlled to be within a certain number on the premise of satisfying the stable support of the wafer 100, so as to save space and reduce production cost.

In the present embodiment, the number of the clamping arm assemblies 300 is at least three, and the plurality of clamping arm assemblies 300 are symmetrically distributed on the substrate 200. The "symmetry" may be axisymmetric or may be centrosymmetric. Preferably, the number of clamp arm assemblies 300 is 6 to 10 groups, e.g., the number of clamp arm assemblies 300 is 6 groups, 7 groups, 8 groups, 9 groups, 10 groups, etc. More preferably, the number of clamp arm assemblies 300 is even, for example, the number of clamp arm assemblies 300 may be 6 sets, 8 sets, 10 sets, etc.

The number of the clamping arm assemblies 300 in fig. 3 is 8, and each 4 groups are symmetrically distributed on the substrate 200 as a unit. Therefore, the plurality of clamping arm assemblies 300 can provide stable and reliable support, and are beneficial to improving the detection precision of the detection assembly.

Referring to fig. 5, the clamping arm assembly 300 includes a ball guide shaft unit 320, an actuator 330 for outputting a linear reciprocating motion, and a support block 310 for supporting the wafer 100. The support blocks 310 of the plurality of clamping arm assemblies 300 are spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the wafer 100 and can move in a telescopic manner in the radial direction of the wafer 100, thereby clamping the wafer 100 or unclamping the wafer 100.

In this embodiment, the telescopic movement of the support block 310 causes the support block 310 to have a clamped state and a retracted state. When the supporting block 310 extends to clamp the wafer 100, the supporting block 310 is in a clamping state; when the holding block 310 is retracted to release the wafer 100, the holding block 310 is in a retracted state. In the clamped state, the projection of the wafer 100 in the direction from the wafer 100 to the substrate 200 is located in the first through hole 210, and the projection of the support block 310 in the direction from the wafer 100 to the substrate 200 is located at least partially in the first through hole 210.

Wherein, the distal end of the bearing block 310 is formed with an "L" shaped supporting portion 311. The contact area between the L-shaped supporting portion 311 and the wafer 100 is small, so that the wafer 100 can be well supported, and the friction between the supporting block 310 and the wafer 100 is small.

In this embodiment, the ball guiding shaft unit 320 includes a guiding shaft 321 and a shaft sleeve 322, wherein the shaft sleeve 322 is sleeved on the guiding shaft 321 and is fixed on the base plate 200, the shaft sleeve 322 is arranged on a sleeve seat 3221, and the sleeve seat 3221 is fixed on the base plate 200.

The inner ring of the shaft sleeve 322 is provided with balls (not shown) in a rolling manner, the outer circumferential surface of the guide shaft 321 is provided with a guide groove extending along the axial direction of the guide shaft, and the guide shaft 321 can be prevented from rotating in the circumferential direction of the guide shaft through the cooperation of the balls and the guide groove, so that the rotation of the supporting block 310 is avoided, and the motion precision of the supporting block 310 is improved. Of course, other ways of preventing the guide shaft 321 from rotating may be adopted, for example, the guide shaft 321 may be processed into a square shaft, and accordingly, the inner ring of the sleeve 322 may be also formed into a square shape.

The distal end of the guide shaft 321 is connected to the above-mentioned support block 310. The "distal end of the guiding shaft 321" refers to an end portion of the guiding shaft 321 near the wafer 100, and it is understood that the "proximal end of the guiding shaft 321" refers to another end portion of the guiding shaft 321 far from the wafer 100.

In the present embodiment, the actuator 330 is mounted on the substrate 200. The actuator 330 acts on the guide shaft 321 to drive the guide shaft 321 to reciprocate linearly so as to switch the support block 310 between the clamped state and the retracted state. The actuator 330 is preferably a linear motor with good motion accuracy, so as to obtain a precise clamping position, and prevent the wafer 100 from being damaged by the supporting block 310. Of course, the actuator 330 may be a cylinder, or may be other devices capable of providing linear reciprocating motion.

In operation, the support blocks 310 of the plurality of clamp arm assemblies 300 are retracted one by one. When a certain supporting block 310 is in a retracted state, the detection assembly can detect a partial area of the wafer 100 covered by the certain supporting block 310, which is beneficial to detection of the detection assembly.

In order to reduce the force of the support block 310 on the wafer 100 when clamping the wafer 100, a motion buffer unit is provided between the actuator 330 and the guide shaft 321. Specifically, the actuator 330 has a motion output end capable of outputting a linear reciprocating motion, the motion output end is provided with a connection block 331, and the motion buffer unit is located between the connection block 331 and the guide shaft 321. The motion buffer unit is used to provide elastic buffer force during the movement of the guide shaft 321 toward the wafer 100, so as to reduce the force of the support block 310 on the wafer 100 when clamping the wafer 100.

In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, the connection block 331 is slidably engaged with the guide shaft 321, the guide shaft 321 penetrates through the connection block 331, and the connection block 331 is provided with a through hole for the guide shaft 321 to penetrate through, wherein a linear bearing 326 is disposed in the through hole.

The through hole is a stepped hole, which is divided into a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion in the axial direction of the guide shaft 321, and the large diameter portion of the small diameter portion is distributed closer to the proximal end of the guide shaft 321. The large diameter portion accommodates the linear bearing 326, and a limit shoulder portion for limiting the linear bearing 326 is formed between the large diameter portion and the small diameter portion. The large diameter portion is formed with an opening on the side wall of the connection block 331, and the opening is blocked with a laminate 340. The laminate 340 is fixedly arranged on the connecting block 331 and provided with a connecting hole for the guide shaft 321 to penetrate. The plate 340 and the above-mentioned limit shoulder limit the linear bearing 326 in the axial direction of the guide shaft 321.

The guide shaft 321 is fixedly provided with a first limiting piece 323 and a second limiting piece 324, the first limiting piece 323 is arranged at the proximal end of the guide shaft 321, and the second limiting piece 324 is arranged between the shaft sleeve 322 and the first limiting piece 323. The first limiting piece 323 and the second limiting piece 324 are respectively located at two sides of the connecting block 331.

The motion damping unit includes a biasing member 325, and the biasing member 325 can provide an elastic damping force in an axial direction of the guide shaft 321. The biasing member 325 is sleeved on the guide shaft 321 and abuts between the connecting block 331 and the second limiting member 324. In this embodiment, the distal end of the biasing member 325 abuts the second stop 324 and the proximal end of the biasing member 325 abuts the deck 340 on the connection block 331. The connection block 331 is elastically abutted against the first limiting member 323 under the action of the biasing member 325.

When the actuator 330 drives the connection block 331 to move along the first direction, the connection block 331 is limited between the biasing member 325 and the first limiting member 323, and the connection block 331 can drive the guide shaft 321 to move towards the direction of the wafer 100 when moving. The biasing member 325 can absorb the force applied to the guide shaft 321 by the connection block 331 through its own deformation, thereby reducing the force applied to the wafer 100 by the support block 310 when clamping the wafer 100. In the above process, the connection blocks 331 of the plurality of clamping arm assemblies 300 are synchronously moved, thereby ensuring that the plurality of support blocks 310 are also synchronously moved, and ensuring that the wafer 100 can be accurately clamped.

When the actuator 330 drives the connection block 331 to move along the second direction, the second direction is opposite to the first direction, and the connection block 331 drives the guide shaft 321 to retract, so that the supporting block 310 releases the wafer.

In another embodiment, referring to fig. 7, the motion damping unit includes a biasing member 325, and the biasing member 325 is capable of providing a resilient damping force in an axial direction of the guide shaft 321. The connection block 331 is connected to the guide shaft 321 by a biasing member 325, wherein a distal end of the biasing member 325 is connected to a proximal end of the guide shaft 321, and a proximal end of the biasing member 325 is connected to the connection block 331.

In the present embodiment, please continue to refer to fig. 5, the connecting block 331 is in a zigzag shape, which can effectively utilize space and has the advantage of compact structure. The connecting block 331 comprises a first block body and a second block body which are perpendicular to the guide shaft 321, and a third block body which is parallel to the guide shaft 321, wherein the first block body and the second block body are respectively positioned at two end parts of the third block body and are distributed on two opposite sides of the third block body. The first block is connected to the motion output end of the actuator 330, and the second block is engaged with the guide shaft 321. Of course, the connection block 331 may have other shapes, such as a straight bar shape.

The clamp arm assembly 300 further includes a limit sensor unit for sensing the clamped state and the retracted state of the bearing block 310. The limit sensor unit comprises a first photoelectric sensor 327 and a second photoelectric sensor 328 which are fixedly arranged on the substrate 200 and distributed along the movement direction of the bearing block 310, and a sensing piece 329 which moves synchronously with the bearing block 310. The first photoelectric sensor 327 is distributed closer to the first through hole 210 than the second photoelectric sensor 328, and the sensing piece 329 is matched with the first photoelectric sensor 327 and the second photoelectric sensor 328.

When the sensing piece 329 is displaced into the sensing groove of the first photosensor 327, the wafer 100 is supported by the supporting block 310, and the supporting block 310 is in a state of clamping the wafer. When the sensing piece 329 is displaced into the sensing groove of the second photoelectric sensor 328, the supporting block 310 is retracted, the wafer 100 is not supported, and the supporting block 310 is in a retracted state.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, a first partition plate 400 and a second partition plate 500 are respectively disposed on the upper and lower sides of the substrate 200, a second through hole 410 opposite to the first through hole 210 is disposed on the first partition plate 400, and a third through hole 510 opposite to the first through hole 210 is disposed on the second partition plate 500, wherein the first through hole 210, the second through hole 410 and the third through hole 510 are coaxially distributed, and the apertures of the second through hole 410 and the third through hole 510 are larger than or equal to the aperture of the first through hole 210.

The first partition plate 400 is disposed above the substrate 200 through the first connection post 430; the second partition plate 500 is disposed under the substrate 200 through the second connection post. By providing the first partition plate 400 and the second partition plate 500, the components on the substrate 200 can be blocked, and the components include the clamping arm assembly 300, so that the components on the substrate 200 are prevented from affecting the detection assembly.

Further, the second through hole 410 is provided with a first anti-stray light member 420, and the third through hole 510 is provided with a second anti-stray light member 520. The first light blocking member 420 and the second light blocking member 520 are each in the shape of a ring. The outer surfaces of the first light blocking member 420 and the second light blocking member 520 are subjected to light blocking treatment, so that influence of stray light on the surfaces of peripheral components on the detection assembly can be reduced.

The inner diameters of the first and second light-blocking members 420 and 520 are equal to the outer diameter of the wafer 100, and the aperture of the first through hole 210 is larger than the inner diameters of the first and second light-blocking members 420 and 520 and smaller than the outer diameters of the first and second light-blocking members 420 and 520.

In this embodiment, the wafer transfer assembly further includes a carrier 600, and the carrier 600 is provided with a detection port 610, where the detection port 610 is larger than the first through hole 210. The carrier 600 is further provided with a pair of linear modules 620, and the linear modules 620 are distributed along the length direction of the carrier 600 and are distributed on two opposite sides of the detection port 610. The substrate 200 is connected to the linear module 620, and the linear module 620 drives the substrate 200 to perform linear reciprocating motion, so as to adjust the position of the substrate 200 relative to the detection port 610. In the inspection, the substrate 200 is moved to a position directly above the inspection port 610 by the linear module 620.

It will be apparent that the embodiments described above are merely some, but not all, embodiments of the utility model. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, those skilled in the art may make other different changes or modifications without making any creative effort, which shall fall within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims (10)

1. A wafer transfer assembly for transferring a wafer (100), comprising:

a substrate (200) provided with a first through hole (210);

a plurality of clamping arm assemblies (300) which are arranged on the base plate (200) and distributed on the periphery of the first through hole (210); the clamping arm assembly (300) at least comprises bearing blocks (310) for supporting the wafer (100), wherein the bearing blocks (310) of the clamping arm assembly (300) are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the wafer (100) and can move in a telescopic manner in the radial direction of the wafer (100);

the telescopic movement of the supporting block (310) enables the supporting block (310) to have a clamping state and a retraction state, in the clamping state, the projection of the wafer (100) along the direction from the wafer (100) to the substrate (200) is located in the first through hole (210), and the projection of the supporting block (310) along the direction from the wafer (100) to the substrate (200) is located at least partially in the first through hole (210).

2. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 1, wherein,

the far end of the bearing block (310) is provided with an L-shaped supporting part (311).

3. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 1, wherein,

the clamping arm assembly (300) further comprises a ball guide shaft unit (320) and an actuator (330) for outputting linear reciprocating motion, the ball guide shaft unit (320) comprises a guide shaft (321) and a shaft sleeve (322), the shaft sleeve (322) is sleeved on the guide shaft (321) and fixedly arranged on the base plate (200), the far end of the guide shaft (321) is connected with the bearing block (310), and the actuator acts on the guide shaft (321) to drive the guide shaft (321) to do linear reciprocating motion so that the bearing block (310) is switched between a clamping state and a retraction state.

4. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 3, wherein,

the actuator (330) has a motion output end provided with a connecting block (331), a motion buffer unit is arranged between the connecting block (331) and the guide shaft (321), and the motion buffer unit is configured to provide elastic buffer acting force in the process that the guide shaft (321) moves towards the wafer (100).

5. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 4, wherein,

the connecting block (331) is in sliding fit with the guide shaft (321), a first limiting piece (323) is fixedly arranged at the proximal end of the guide shaft (321), a second limiting piece (324) is fixedly arranged on the guide shaft (321), the second limiting piece (324) is positioned between the shaft sleeve (322) and the first limiting piece (323), and the first limiting piece (323) and the second limiting piece (324) are respectively positioned at two sides of the connecting block (331);

the motion buffering unit comprises a biasing member (325), wherein the biasing member (325) is sleeved on the guide shaft (321) and is abutted between the connecting block (331) and the second limiting member (324), and the connecting block (331) is elastically abutted to the first limiting member (323) under the action of the biasing member (325).

6. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 5, wherein,

the guide shaft (321) penetrates through the connecting block (331), the connecting block (331) is provided with a through hole for the guide shaft (321) to penetrate through, and a linear bearing (326) is arranged in the through hole.

7. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 1, wherein,

the clamp arm assembly (300) further includes a limit sensor unit configured to sense a clamped state and a retracted state of the bearing block (310).

8. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 7, wherein,

the limit sensor unit comprises a first photoelectric sensor (327) and a second photoelectric sensor (328) which are fixedly arranged on the substrate (200) and distributed along the movement direction of the bearing block (310), and a sensing piece (329) which moves synchronously with the bearing block (310), wherein the sensing piece (329) is matched with the first photoelectric sensor (327) and the second photoelectric sensor (328);

wherein the first photosensors (327) are distributed closer to the first through holes (210) than the second photosensors (328).

9. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 1, wherein,

a first partition plate (400) and a second partition plate (500) are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate (200), a second through hole (410) opposite to the first through hole (210) is formed in the first partition plate (400), and a third through hole (510) opposite to the first through hole (210) is formed in the second partition plate (500);

the first through holes (210), the second through holes (410) and the third through holes (510) are coaxially distributed, and the apertures of the second through holes (410) and the third through holes (510) are larger than or equal to the aperture of the first through holes (210).

10. The wafer transfer assembly of claim 1, wherein,

the number of the clamping arm assemblies (300) is at least three, and a plurality of the clamping arm assemblies (300) are symmetrically distributed on the substrate (200).