JP2000072247A - Work linear travelling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the generation of contaminants such as particle. SOLUTION: This work linear travelling device 10 is provided with a driving winding drum 14 and a driven winding drum 16 on the lower and upper sides of a work clamping unit 12. Driving belts 44, 46 are tightly-stretched between the winding drums 14, 16 and the work clamping unit 12. The circumferences of the driving winding drum 14 and the driven winding drum 16 are longer than the traveling distance of the work clamping unit 12 so that the driving belts 44, 46 wound by the winding drums 14, 16 may not overlap each other when the work clamping unit 12 moves to a lower limit or an upper limit. A synchronous belt 60 is wound and tightly-stretched between the driving winding drum 14 and the driven winding drum 16 in the opposite direction to the driving belts 44, 46. When the driving winding drum 14 rotates in such a direction that the driving belt 44 is unwound, the synchronous belt 60 wound around the driving winding drum 14 and rotates the driven winding drum 16 in the same direction as the driving winding drum 14 to wind the driving belt 46 around the driven winding drum 16, thus it is possible to move up the work clamping unit 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work linear moving device for moving a work linearly, and in particular, performs an etching process by irradiating an ion beam while raising and lowering a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate in a vacuum vessel. The present invention relates to a work linear moving device suitable for such applications.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a thin film is formed on a work such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate, or when a thin film is etched, the contaminants such as particles are small, and scattering of an ion beam can be prevented. Usually, processing is performed in a vacuum vessel. Conventionally, when processing is performed by linearly moving a work in a vacuum vessel, the work is generally arranged on a horizontal base, and the base is reciprocated in one direction and irradiated with an ion beam or the like. I was However, in recent years, the size of the work has increased, and a large space is required when the work is moved in the horizontal direction. In particular, since the size of the glass substrate is remarkably large, and a large installation space is required to move the glass substrate in a horizontal plane, the work is moved vertically to perform an etching process or the like. .

[0003]

However, a conventional apparatus for linearly moving a work in the vertical direction uses a cylinder or the like as a drive source, and contaminants such as dust (particles) are generated from a sliding portion. Work is contaminated,
Not only does the defect rate rise, but maintenance for smooth operation in vacuum is not easy. In addition, it is not easy to control the moving speed of the work to be constant, and the processing may vary.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and has as its object to reduce the generation of pollutants such as particles. Another object of the present invention is to facilitate maintenance.
It is a further object of the present invention to reduce variations in the moving speed of the workpiece.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a work linear moving device according to the present invention is characterized in that a work support portion and a plurality of winding drums are connected to each other by a belt in a vacuum vessel. The work support is moved linearly by being fixedly connected, winding the belt around the winding drum, and rewinding the belt.

[0006] Another belt can be provided between the winding cylinders in a direction in which tension is applied to the belt connecting each winding cylinder and the work supporting portion. In addition, it is preferable that a winding portion having a small radius of curvature and curved toward the rotation center is formed on a part of the peripheral surface of the winding drum, and the end of the belt is fixed to the winding portion.
It is desirable that the belt has a low elongation and generates little gas or particles, and a metal belt, particularly a stainless steel belt, is desirable.

[0007]

According to the present invention constructed as described above, for example, when the work is raised and lowered, the winding drums are arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the work supporting portion. When moving the work held by the work support unit upward, one side of the work support unit, for example, the lower winding drum is rotationally driven in the direction in which the belt is fed out (rewinded), and the upper winding drum is moved. The belt is driven in a winding direction. To lower the work, the lower winding drum is rotated in a direction in which the belt is wound, and the upper winding drum is rotated in a direction in which the belt is rewound.

In the present invention, since the belts operate in a state where there is no slip, there is almost no sliding portion.
Generation of contaminants such as particles can be extremely reduced. In addition, since the work supporting portion is moved by wrapping the belt around the winding drum, the structure can be simplified and maintenance can be facilitated. In addition, since the workpiece support that holds the workpiece is pulled by the belt and linearly moved, accurate speed control is possible, the variation in the moving speed of the workpiece can be reduced, uniform etching processing, etc. Becomes possible.

If another belt is provided between the winding cylinders in a direction in which tension is applied to the belt connecting the winding cylinder and the work supporting portion, the winding cylinder on which the belt is wound and the winding belt on which the belt is rewound are provided. The structure for controlling the synchronization with the drum can be simplified, the cost can be reduced, and the rotation of the winding drum on both sides of the work support can be easily and accurately synchronized. Then, a winding portion having a small radius of curvature is formed on the peripheral surface of the winding drum,
When the end of the belt is fixed to the winding portion, a part of the tension acting on the belt is absorbed by the frictional force between the belt and the winding portion, and the fixed end of the belt moves in the belt longitudinal direction to generate particles. Such inconveniences can be prevented.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a work linear moving device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view conceptually showing a work linear moving device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the work linear moving device according to the embodiment, and FIG.
It is sectional drawing along the A line. In these figures, the linear moving device 10 has a work gripping unit 12 which is a work support portion, which will be described in detail later, and a pair of drive winding drums 14 and 14 are provided below the work gripping unit 12. The driven winding cylinders 16, 16 corresponding to the driving winding cylinder 14 are disposed above the work holding unit 12. These work gripping unit 12 and drive winding drum 14,
The driven winding cylinder 16 is disposed inside the vacuum vessel 18 as shown in FIGS.

Each of the drive winding cylinders 14 is fixed to a drive shaft 20 so as to rotate integrally with the drive shaft 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the drive shaft 20
Both ends are rotatably supported by support members 21 provided in the vacuum vessel 18 via bearings. The drive shaft 20
Is one end protruding from the vacuum vessel 18 (the right end in FIG. 3)
Is connected via a coupling 22 to a servomotor 24 with a speed reducer, which is a driving unit. By rotating this servomotor 24 in the forward and reverse directions, it rotates in the forward and reverse directions to grip the workpiece. The unit 12 is moved up and down. Further, a magnetic fluid coupling 26 is provided at a portion where the drive shaft 20 of the vacuum container 18 protrudes, and shields the inside of the vacuum container 18 from the outside air.

Each of the drive winding cylinders 14 is a pair of belt wheels 28 and 30 that rotate integrally. Similarly to the drive winding cylinder 14, each of the driven winding drums 16 is a pair of belt wheels 32 and 34 that rotate integrally. These driven winding drums 16 are rotatably mounted on shafts 36 having both ends fixed to the vacuum vessel 18 via bearings 38 (see FIG. 3). And each belt wheel 2
8, 30, 32, and 34 are formed of metal (in the case of the embodiment, aluminum) in order to reduce generation of dust such as particles.

A drive belt 44 for moving the work gripping unit 12 up and down as indicated by arrows 40 and 42 is provided between the belt wheel 28 of the drive winding cylinder 14 and the belt wheel 32 of the driven winding cylinder 16 and the work gripping unit 12. , 46 are stretched. In the case of the embodiment, these drive belts 44 and 46 are made of stainless steel in order to suppress generation of particles such as particles. Then, the drive belts 44, 46
As shown in FIG. 3, one end of the workpiece holding unit 1
2 and the other end is fixed to belt wheels 28 and 32.

The attachment portions 48, 50 of the drive belts 44, 46 to the work gripping unit 12 are provided with tension adjusting mechanisms 52, 54 utilizing coil springs, leaf springs, etc., and driven by these tension adjusting mechanisms. The belts 44 and 46 are prevented from becoming loose, and the tension of the left and right drive belts can be adjusted to be equal. On the other hand, the belt wheels 28, 32 of the drive belts 44, 46
The fixing portion to the head is as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG.
A winding portion 58 having a small radius of curvature and curved toward the center of rotation is formed at a part of the portion, and the driving bell and the other end of the driving bell 46 are arranged along the winding portion 58 to form a winding portion. At the center side of the belt wheel 58, the belt wheel 32 is bolted or the like.
It is fixed to. As a result, a part of the tension acting on the drive belt 46 due to the frictional force between the belt wheel 32 and the drive belt 46 in the winding portion 58 is absorbed by the belt wheel 32 and the tension acting on the fixed portion of the drive belt 46 And the generation of particles due to the relative movement of the fixed portion with respect to the belt wheel 32 is prevented.

A synchronous belt 60 is stretched between the belt wheels 30, 34 inside the drive winding drum 14 and the driven winding drum 16. The fixing of the synchronous belt 60 to the pulleys 30 and 34 is the same as that of the drive belts 44 and 46. The synchronous belt 60 serves as a synchronous drive unit, and
4 and the driven winding drum 16 are wound around the driving belts 44 and 46 in the opposite direction. For this reason, when the drive winding drum 14 is rotated in the direction in which the drive belt 44 is fed out as indicated by an arrow 62 in FIG. 1, the synchronous belt 60 is pulled downward by the drive winding drum 14, and the driven winding drum 16 is moved in the direction indicated by an arrow 64. In this manner, the drive belt 46 is wound around the driven winding cylinder 16 by being rotated synchronously in the same direction as the driving winding cylinder 14 to prevent the drive belts 44 and 46 from becoming loose. Also, when the drive winding drum 14 rotates as indicated by an arrow 66, the drive winding drum 14 winds up the drive belt 44,
The driven winding drum 16 is rotated as indicated by an arrow 68 via the work holding unit 12 and the drive belt 46. This allows
The synchronous belt 60 is wound around the driven winding drum 16 to prevent the synchronous belt 60 from being loosened and to prevent the driven winding drum 16 from running idle.

As shown in FIG. 3, the work holding unit 12 has a base 72 on which a glass substrate 70 serving as a work is arranged. In addition, the work holding unit 12
The horizontal position of the base 72 shown by the solid line in FIG.
4 has a rotation mechanism and a positioning mechanism which can be rotated to take two positions, that is, a vertical position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. A plurality of workpiece grippers (not shown) operated by a gripper drive mechanism 76 are provided on the periphery of the base 72, and the glass grip 70 is gripped by the workpiece gripper to bring the base 72 into a vertical state. Even if this happens, the glass substrate 70 disposed on the base 72 is prevented from falling.

A rotating shaft 76 and a gripper driving mechanism 76 constituting a rotating mechanism for rotating the base 72 are connected to an operating section 80 provided outside the vacuum vessel 18 via a clutch 78. It has become. The operating section 80 has a cylinder 84 for moving the servo motor 82 forward and backward.
Can be connected to and disconnected from the clutch 78.

The vacuum vessel 18 has a beam incident window 8
2, an ion beam 88 is incident on the vacuum vessel 18 and the glass substrate 70 moving across the beam entrance window 86 is irradiated with the ion beam 88 as shown in FIG. Etching 70 can be performed. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a guide rail 90 is provided in the vacuum container 18 in a vertical direction. A slider 92 provided on the work holding unit 12 is fitted to the guide rail 90, and the work holding unit 1
2 can be moved linearly in the vertical direction without fail.
The transfer of the glass substrate 70 to the work holding unit 12 is performed by the carrying-in / out device 94 shown on the right side of FIG. 2 at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. And the vertical position.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above is as follows. The glass substrate 70 is arranged on a base 72 at a horizontal position of the work holding unit 12 stopped at a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 3, and a peripheral portion is held by a holding unit (not shown). After that, after the base 72 is rotated to the vertical position, the servo motor 24 is driven to rotate in the forward direction, and the drive bobbin 14 moves as shown by the arrow 62 in FIG.
The drive belt 44 rotates in a direction in which the drive belt 44 is extended. As a result, the synchronous belt 60 is wound on the drive winding drum 14, the driven winding drum 16 is rotated in the same direction in synchronization with the drive winding drum 14 as indicated by an arrow 64, and the drive belt 46 is wound on the driven winding drum 16. take. Therefore, the work holding unit 12 holding the glass substrate 70 moves up as indicated by an arrow 40 in FIG. At this time, since the slider 92 is guided by the guide rail 90, the work gripping unit 12 surely linearly moves upward along the guide rail 90. Then, when the work holding unit 12 rises and passes through the position facing the beam incident window 86, the glass substrate 70 is irradiated with the ion beam 88, and the glass substrate 70 is subjected to an etching process or the like. When the work gripping unit 12 reaches the upper limit position, it is detected by a sensor (not shown), and the control (not shown) drives the servo motor 24 to rotate in the reverse direction.

When the servo motor 24 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, the drive winding drum 14 moves the drive belt 4 as indicated by an arrow 66 in FIG.
4 rotates in the winding direction, and the auxiliary moving belt 60 is paid out. Therefore, the work gripping unit 12 moves linearly in the downward direction as indicated by the arrow 42, and the driven winding drum 16 rotates synchronously in the same direction as the driving winding drum 14 as shown by the arrow 68 to feed out the drive belt 46. . At this time, the synchronous belt 60
Is prevented from idling of the driven winding drum 16 and is wound around the belt wheel 34 of the driven winding drum 16, so that the driven winding drum 16 does not loosen. Then, when the glass substrate 70 held by the work holding unit 12 passes through a position corresponding to the beam incident window 86, the glass substrate 70 is irradiated with the ion beam 88 again.

When the work holding unit 12 reaches the lower limit position, a sensor (not shown) detects this, and the control device drives the servo motor 24 to rotate in the forward direction again, and raises the work holding unit 12 in the same manner as described above. . Hereinafter, similarly, the lifting operation of the work holding unit 12 is performed until the processing of the glass substrate 70 is completed. When the irradiation of the ion beam 88 onto the glass substrate 70 is completed a predetermined number of times, the control device stops the work holding unit 12 at the solid line position in FIG. The substrate 70 is held by the work holding unit 1
Remove from 2.

As described above, in the embodiment, one end is attached to the work holding unit 12 for holding the glass substrate 70, and the other end is fixed to the drive winding cylinder 14 and the driven winding cylinder 16 by the drive belts 44 and 46. Since the grip unit 12 is lowered or raised, there is almost no sliding portion, so that the generation of contaminants such as particles can be extremely reduced. Moreover,
Drive belts 44, 4 connected to the workpiece gripping unit 12
The work gripping unit 12 is moved linearly by winding the work 6 on the drive winding drum 14 and the driven winding drum 16, so that maintenance is easy and it can be operated for a long time without special maintenance. At the same time, the variation in the moving speed of the workpiece holding unit 12, that is, the glass substrate 70 can be reduced, and the glass substrate 70
Etching processing by the ion beam 88 can be performed uniformly. Further, in the embodiment, the driven winding drum 16 is synchronized with the driving winding drum 14 by a synchronous belt 60 wound around the driving winding drum 14 and the driven winding drum 16 in a direction opposite to the driving belts 44 and 46. Since the rotary driving is performed, a special driving device such as a servomotor for rotating the driven winding drum 16 and a synchronous control device are not required, the structure can be simplified, and the control of the synchronous driving is facilitated. Cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the case where the work gripping unit 12 is moved linearly in the vertical direction has been described, but it may be moved linearly in the horizontal direction or the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the synchronous drive unit is the synchronous bell and 60 has been described. However, a servomotor is also provided on the driven winding cylinder 16 side, and the control device controls the driven winding cylinder 14 in accordance with the driving winding cylinder 14. Sixteen synchronous drive controls may be performed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, one end is attached to the work support, the other end is fixed to the winding drum, the drive belt is wound on the winding drum, and the work support is moved linearly. Since there is little sliding portion, generation of contaminants such as particles can be extremely reduced. Here, if the moving distance of the work supporting portion is shorter than the circumferential length of the winding drum, the driving belt does not overlap on the winding drum, so that the wound belts do not rub at all, and the generation of particles and the like is further suppressed. There is a further effect. In addition, since the work supporting portion is moved by winding the drive belt around the winding drum, the structure can be simplified and maintenance can be facilitated. In addition, since the workpiece support that holds the workpiece is pulled by the belt and linearly moved, accurate speed control is possible, the variation in the moving speed of the workpiece can be reduced, uniform etching processing, etc. Becomes possible.

Further, in the present invention, since the synchronous belt is wound around the winding drum in the direction opposite to the drive belt as the synchronous drive section, the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. In addition, the rotation of the winding drums on both sides of the work supporting portion can be easily and accurately synchronized. Further, according to the present invention, a winding portion having a small radius of curvature is formed on the peripheral surface of the winding drum, and when the end of the belt is fixed to the winding portion, a part of the tension acting on the belt causes the belt and the winding portion to have a small tension. The fixed end of the belt moves in the longitudinal direction of the belt, thereby preventing inconvenience such as generation of particles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view conceptually showing a work linear moving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the work linear moving device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a detailed explanatory view of the embodiment showing a fixed state of the drive belt to the winding drum.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Linear movement apparatus 12 Work support part (work gripping unit) 14, 16 Winding drum (drive winding drum, driven winding drum) 18 Vacuum container 24 Drive part (servo motor) 44, 46 Drive belt 56 Peripheral surface 58 Rolling part 60 Synchronous drive unit (synchronous belt) 70 Workpiece (glass substrate) 72 Base 86 Beam entrance window 88 Ion beam 90 Guide rail 92 Slider

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Watanabe 3-1-1, Tamano, Tamano-shi, Okayama Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Tamano Works F-term (reference) 5F004 AA16 BA03 BA11 BB18 BB24 BC06 BD07 CA05 DB00 5F031 CA05 GA51 PA26 PA30

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a vacuum container, a work support portion and a plurality of winding drums are fixedly connected at their ends by a belt, and the belt is wound around the winding drum and unwound to rewind the work support. A linear movement device for a workpiece, wherein the unit is moved linearly. 2. The linear movement of a work according to claim 1, wherein another belt is provided between the winding cylinders in a direction in which tension is applied to the belt connecting each of the winding cylinders and the work supporting portion. apparatus. 3. The winding drum has a winding portion formed on a part of the peripheral surface and having a small radius of curvature and curved toward the center of rotation. An end of the belt is fixed to the winding portion. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is moved linearly.