JP2000031257A - Container of substrate for manufacturing semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a transfer arm to surely chuck a substrate when the substrate is transferred by the transfer arm, by a method wherein the substrate such as a mask is held in a state tilted by several degrees from the vertical direction, and the inclination of the mask is detected. SOLUTION: A plurality of substrate cases 20 are arranged in a substrate case pad 10 is a state tilted by angle of a few degrees with the vertical direction, whereby substrates 30 are held at a prescribed position as they are tilted at an angle of a few degrees with a vertical direction. Furthermore, detectors 51, 52, 53, and 54 which detect whether the substrates 30 housed in the substrate case 20 are located at prescribed positions or not are each provided to the substrate cases 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate storage apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, which detects a tilt state of a mask while holding a substrate such as a mask in a state of being tilted several degrees from a vertical direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a substrate storage device for manufacturing a semiconductor element, a substrate such as a mask is stored in a storage case such as a mask case before and after exposure processing or the like.

For example, in a mask storage device, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of mask cases 2 for respectively storing a plurality of masks 1 are provided side by side, and the plurality of mask cases 2 are not shown. It is designed to be stored in the case stand. Further, shelf members 3 and 4 are provided on the upper surface and the bottom surface in each mask case 2, respectively, and each mask 1 is supported by these shelf members 3 and 4.

A plurality of mask cases 2 are erected in the vertical direction and juxtaposed, so that the masks 1 supported by the shelf members 3 and 4 are also erected in the vertical direction.

[0005] In such a mask storage device, when the mask 1 is transferred, a transfer arm (not shown) is inserted into the mask case 2, and the mask 1 is suctioned by a vacuum suction member provided on the transfer arm. The mask 1 is carried out of the mask case 2.

[0006]

However, in the mask storage device described above, when the mask 1 is set up in the vertical direction, like the masks denoted by reference numerals a, b, and c, The mask is not always supported in contact with the shelf members 3 and 4, and may be unstable.

As described above, when the masks a, b, and c do not contact the shelf members 3 and 4 and are inclined from a predetermined vertical position, the mask is transferred by the transfer arm. In this case, interference between the mask and the mask case may occur or dust may be generated. In the worst case, the mask may be damaged due to interference between the mask and the transfer arm.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and detects a tilted state of a mask while holding a substrate such as a mask tilted several degrees from a vertical direction. When the substrate is transported by the transport arm, the transport arm can securely and safely attract the substrate, thereby preventing interference between the substrate such as a mask and the substrate case and generating dust. It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device manufacturing substrate storage device which prevents the damage of a substrate such as a mask.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object,
A substrate storage device for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present invention comprises first and second side surfaces, an upper surface and a bottom surface, and a front surface and a back surface, each of which stores a substrate, and the first and second side surfaces. A plurality of substrate cases for holding the substrate substantially in parallel with each other, and juxtaposing the plurality of substrate cases with the first and second side surfaces inclined several degrees from the vertical direction, and A substrate case base for holding the substrate at a predetermined position in an inclined state, and detecting means for detecting whether or not the substrate housed in the substrate case is at the predetermined position. Features.

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of board cases are juxtaposed in a board case base with the first and second side surfaces inclined several degrees from the vertical direction.
The substrate is held at a predetermined position inclined several degrees from the vertical direction. As described above, since the substrate is held in an inclined state using gravity, the substrate can be stably held at a predetermined position. Moreover, since the detection means detects whether or not the substrate accommodated in the substrate case is at a predetermined position inclined several degrees from the vertical direction, the inclination state of the substrate can be reliably grasped. Therefore, when the substrate is transported by the transport arm, the transport arm can reliably and safely suck the substrate, preventing interference between the substrate and the substrate case, and preventing generation of dust and the like. Thus, damage to the substrate can be prevented.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A mask storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a mask case base accommodating a plurality of mask cases according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 (a) is a front view of the mask case shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 (b) is a side view of FIG. 2 (a), and FIG. 2 (c) is FIG. FIG. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a mask case and a transfer arm shown in FIG.
FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating the operation of sucking the mask by the transfer arm.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mask housing apparatus according to the present embodiment has a mask case base in which a plurality of mask cases 20 are juxtaposed in a state of being inclined several degrees (for example, about 5 °) from a vertical direction. 10 are provided. The mask case base 10 is provided with holding means (not shown) for holding the plurality of mask cases 20 detachably in a tilted manner.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mask case 20
First and second side surfaces 2 for accommodating mask 30
1 and 22, an upper surface 23 and a bottom surface 24, and a front surface 25 and a back surface 26. The front surface 25 is freely openable and closable. The front surface 25 is opened so that a substrate transfer arm 40 described later can be freely inserted into and removed from the mask case 20. In addition, the mask 30 includes the first and second side surfaces 2.
1, 22 are arranged substantially in parallel.

Further, the upper surface 2 of each of the mask cases 20
The shelf members 27 and 2 for locking the mask 30 at a predetermined position inclined several degrees from the vertical direction are provided on the bottom 3 and the bottom surface 24.
8 are provided. However, these shelf members
At least one of the first and second side surfaces 21 and 22 may be provided so as to lock the mask at the predetermined position.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer arm 40 is inserted from the front surface 25 side of the mask case 20. At this time, the transfer arm 40 is
Is tilted in accordance with the tilt angle. The transfer arm 40 has two vacuum suction surfaces 41, 41 on its upper side.
Are provided below the two vacuum suction surfaces 42, 42.
Is provided.

The mask 3 is provided by such a transfer arm 40.
In the case of transferring 0, as shown in FIG. 4A, the transfer arm 40 is inserted so that the vacuum suction surfaces 41 and 42 thereof face the mask 30, and then, as shown in FIG. As shown by, the vacuum suction surfaces 41 and 42 are moved so as to approach the mask 30, and the mask 30 is sucked. afterwards,
The transfer arm 40 is pulled out of the mask case 20 to transfer the mask 30.

As described above, in the present embodiment, FIG.
As shown by an arrow B in FIG. 2B, the mask 30 is moved to the shelf member 2 in the mask case 20 by using the gravity of the mask 30.
7, 28, it is very stably and accurately held at a predetermined position in an inclined state. Therefore, when the vacuum suction surfaces 41, 42 of the transfer arm 40 suck the mask 30, all the vacuum suction surfaces 41, 42 can evenly contact the mask 30, and the mask 30 can be sucked securely and safely. Since the mask case 20 and the mask 30 have an inclination angle, the mask 30 is pressed against the vacuum suction surfaces 41 and 42 by the weight of the mask 30 without applying an external force.

However, as shown in FIG.
Although the mask 30 is inclined in the mask case 20, a case may occur in which the mask 30 is not accurately held at a predetermined position by the shelf members 27 and 28. In such a case,
When the vacuum suction surfaces 41 and 42 of the transfer arm 40 suction the mask 30, the vacuum suction surfaces 41 and 42 may not all contact the mask 30 uniformly, and the mask 30 may not be reliably and safely suctioned. Therefore, the vacuum suction surface 4
When the transfer arm 40 is pulled out of the mask case 20 in a state where the mask 30 is incorrectly sucked by the mask 30, the mask 3
Rubbing of the mask case 20 with 0 may cause dust to adhere to the mask 30 and may damage the mask 30.

From the above, in the present embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 6, a detecting means for detecting whether the mask 30 accommodated in the mask case 20 is at a predetermined position inclined several degrees from the vertical direction is provided in each mask case (20-
1, 20-2, 20-3).

The detecting means includes, for example, a mask case 2
0, two reflection-type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53, 54
It is. Note that these reflective photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 5
An opening (not shown) is provided at a position corresponding to the top surface 23 and the bottom surface 24 of the mask case 20 so that the masks 3 and 54 can detect the mask 30. Table 1 shows the states of the reflection-type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53, and 54 at this time and whether or not conveyance is possible.
Shown in

[0022]

[Table 1]

As described above, the reflection type photoelectric sensors 51, 5
2, 53, 54, it is detected whether or not the mask 30 is at a predetermined position in a state of being inclined several degrees from the vertical direction, so that the inclined state of the mask 30 can be grasped reliably and accurately. Therefore, when the vacuum suction surfaces 41 and 42 of the transfer arm 40 suction the mask 30, the vacuum suction surfaces 4 and 42
1 and 42 can contact the mask 30 evenly, and the mask 3
0 can be reliably and safely adsorbed. Thereby, interference between the mask 30 and the mask case 20 can be prevented beforehand, and generation of dust and the like can be prevented.
0 damage can be prevented.

The reflection type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 5
3 and 54 are provided on both the upper surface 23 and the lower surface 24 of the mask case 20 because the upper side of the mask d is displaced like the masks denoted by d and e in FIGS. In this case, the lower side of the mask e may be shifted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7A, in the state where the mask 30 is inclined, the shelf members 27, 2
8 (b), even if it is accurately held in FIG.
As shown in (2), a case may occur at the back side of the mask case 20-4 in which the shelves 27 and 28 do not hold the mask case accurately (in this case, the sensors and transportability are shown in Table 2).
Therefore, the reflection type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53, 54
It is preferable that two of the masks 20 are arranged on the top surface 23 and the bottom surface 24 of the mask case 20, respectively.

[0026]

[Table 2]

However, the detection area of the detection means is relatively large,
Even if it is arranged at the center of the length of the mask case 20 in the depth direction, if it is a sensor capable of detecting the position of the mask 30 in all the mask cases 20 described above, the mask case 2
It is only necessary to arrange one each on the top surface 23 and the bottom surface 24 of the zero. Therefore, it is sufficient that the detecting means is provided at least one of the top surface 23 and the bottom surface 24 at a distance.

The detecting means is a reflection type photoelectric sensor 5.
1, 52, 53, 54, the upper surface 2
Other sensors may be used as long as they are attached to the bottom 3 and the bottom surface 24 and can accurately detect the mask 30, for example, a contact-sensitive sensor.

Further, regarding the detection means, that is, control of the reflection type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53, 54, the transfer arm 40 and the reflection type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53, 5
A control unit (not shown) for controlling the control unit 4 is provided. The control unit causes the reflective photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53, and 54 to detect the state of the mask 30 in the mask case 20, and based on the detection results. , And is configured to control the transfer arm 40.

Further, the detecting means, that is, the reflection type photoelectric sensors 51, 52, 53 and 54 are provided for the purpose of reliably detecting the tilt state of the mask 30 in the mask case 20, May be used to detect the presence or absence of the mask. Thereby, before storing the mask 30 in the mask case 20, it can be reliably detected that the mask 30 is not present in the mask case 20 of the storage destination,
It is possible to prevent the mask 30 from being erroneously damaged.

Further, by detecting the inclination state of the mask 30 in the mask case 20 based on the output of the detecting means, whether the mask 30 can be transported when the mask case 20 is set on the mask case table 10 is determined. It can be detected whether or not the mask case 20 has a substrate.

The result of this detection is displayed, for example, by providing a display unit in the storage device or transmitted to a transfer device for transferring the mask case 20 to determine whether the mask 30 is ready to be transferred by the transfer arm. It is also conceivable that the information can be notified outside the storage device.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified.

[0034]

As described above, a plurality of board cases are juxtaposed in a board case base with their first and second side surfaces inclined several degrees from the vertical direction. And is held at a predetermined position inclined several degrees from the position. As described above, since the substrate is held in an inclined state using gravity, the substrate can be stably held at a predetermined position. Moreover, since the detection means detects whether or not the substrate accommodated in the substrate case is at a predetermined position inclined several degrees from the vertical direction, the inclination state of the substrate can be reliably grasped. Therefore, when the substrate is transported by the transport arm, the transport arm can reliably and safely suck the substrate, preventing interference between the substrate and the substrate case, and preventing generation of dust and the like. Thus, damage to the substrate can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a mask case base accommodating a plurality of mask cases according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 (a) is a front view of the mask case shown in FIG. 1, (b) is a side view of (a), and (c) is
It is a top view of (a).

FIG. 3 is a view showing a mask case and a transfer arm shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing an operation of sucking a mask by a transfer arm, and FIG. 4A is a diagram showing suction of a mask by a suction surface by inserting the transfer arm into a mask case; (B) shows a state in which the mask is being sucked by the suction surface.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing an operation of sucking a mask by a transfer arm when the mask is stored at a predetermined position, and FIG. Is shown just before the mask is sucked by the suction surface by inserting the mask into the mask case, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which the mask is sucked by the suction surface.

FIG. 6A is a front view of a mask case provided with a detecting unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3A is a side view of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is a plan view of FIG.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing an operation of sucking the mask by the transfer arm when the mask is stored at a position deviated from a predetermined position on the back side of the mask case, respectively. (a) is a front view of a mask case, (b)
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a mask case.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state where mask cases are juxtaposed in the vertical direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mask case stand (substrate case stand) 20 Mask case (substrate case) 21 1st side surface 22 2nd side surface 23 Top surface 24 Bottom surface 25 Front surface 26 Back surface 27, 28 Shelf member 30 Mask (substrate) 40 Transfer arm 41, 42 Vacuum suction substrate 51, 52, 53, 54 Reflection type photoelectric sensor (detection means)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. Each of the first and second side surfaces, a top surface and a bottom surface, and a front surface and a back surface for accommodating the substrate, and holding the substrate substantially parallel to the first and second side surfaces. A plurality of substrate cases, and the plurality of substrate cases are juxtaposed in a state where the first and second side surfaces are inclined several degrees from the vertical direction, and the substrate is disposed at a predetermined position in a state inclined several degrees from the vertical direction. A substrate case base for holding, and a detecting means for detecting whether or not the substrate housed in the substrate case is at the predetermined position, provided for each case, a substrate for manufacturing a semiconductor element. Storage device. 2. The substrate case according to claim 1, wherein said substrate case is detachably mounted on said substrate case base.
The substrate storage device for manufacturing a semiconductor element according to claim 1. 3. The substrate storage apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor element according to claim 1, wherein said detection means is a reflection type photoelectric sensor provided on each of an upper surface and a bottom surface of said substrate case. . 4. The substrate storage device for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3, wherein two of said reflection type photoelectric sensors are provided apart from at least one of said top and bottom surfaces. 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein at least two of the reflection-type photoelectric sensors are provided on the top surface and the bottom surface, respectively. 6. A shelf member for locking the substrate at the predetermined position is provided on at least one of the top and bottom surfaces, the first side surface, and the second side surface of the substrate case. 3. The substrate storage device according to claim 1, wherein said detection means comprises a contact-sensitive sensor provided on said shelf member. 7. The substrate case according to claim 1, wherein said front surface of each of said substrate cases is openable and closable, and said front surface is opened so that a substrate transfer arm can be freely taken in and out of said substrate case. The substrate storage device for manufacturing a semiconductor element according to any one of the above. 8. A control unit for controlling the substrate transfer arm and the detection unit, wherein the control unit detects a state of the substrate in the substrate case by the detection unit, and based on the detection result. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the substrate transfer arm is controlled.