JP2000335741A - Delivery mechanism and preliminary positioning mechanism as well as delivery method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a delivery mechanism and a delivery method as well as a preliminary positioning mechanism for ensuring delivery of boards to a carrying means and offering applicability to the boards, if thin. SOLUTION: A delivery mechanism for delivering boards W to a carrying means 20 for carrying to the next process includes a feeding roller 6a disposed under a moving passage of the carrying means for placing the boards thereon, a placement plate 2 having a through-hole 2a from which at least the upper end of the feeding roller can be protruded, and a lifting mechanism 5 for lifting and moving the placement plate, receiving the boards on the feeding roller onto the placement plate and delivering the boards on the placement plate to the carrying means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a delivery mechanism and a delivery method for delivering a substrate, such as a printed circuit board or a liquid crystal substrate, on which a predetermined pattern is formed by an exposure operation to a transporting means, and to preliminarily position the substrate. In particular, the present invention relates to a delivery mechanism, a delivery method, and a preliminary positioning mechanism capable of performing an appropriate delivery operation and a preliminary positioning operation when a substrate is a thin plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a predetermined pattern is formed on a substrate by an exposure operation, an exposure apparatus having stages such as a carry-in stage, an alignment stage, an exposure stage, and a carry-out stage is used. In order to transfer a substrate to each stage, a handler as a transfer unit is generally used. Further, the carry-in stage is provided with a feed roller for receiving the substrate. Therefore, when receiving the substrate to the loading stage and transferring the substrate to the handler, first, the substrate is guided to a predetermined position by rotation of the feed roller. When the substrate is sent to a predetermined position of the feed roller and stopped, the handler descends to the vicinity of the feed roller, abuts the suction pad against the substrate, vacuum-sucks the substrate, and rises in that state, thereby moving the substrate to the feed roller. Is passed to the handler. The handler moves horizontally along the guide frame while holding the substrate, and transports the substrate to the next stage (such as an alignment stage).

[0003] When the preliminary positioning mechanism is provided at the position of the feed roller, the pressing portion is disposed at four sides of the substrate on the feed roller. The pressing portion is configured to move between the feed rollers and to be able to move in and out by a vertical movement mechanism. Therefore, the following operation is performed when preliminarily positioning the substrate. That is, when the substrate is placed at a predetermined position on the feed roller, the pushing portions arranged near the four sides of the substrate protrude from the upper end of the feed roller by the vertical movement mechanism. Then, the pushing mechanism pushes the end face of the substrate by the moving mechanism, and moves so that the substrate is preliminarily positioned at the reference position. When the pre-positioning operation of the substrate is completed, the handler descends, vacuum-adsorbs the substrate, raises it, and conveys it to the next stage.

[0004]

However, there are the following problems in the structure of the conventional substrate delivery mechanism and the preliminary positioning mechanism. That is, since the handler serving as the transport unit moves down or rises and holds the substrate on the feed roller by suction, when the handler holding the substrate by suction rises, the air resistance against the substrate increases and the substrate drops. A case has occurred. Further, as the substrate becomes thinner, it tends to be affected by air resistance when the handler is held up and rises, causing fluttering and causing the substrate to drop or deform. And it is difficult to maintain the parallel flatness when the substrate becomes thin,
In some cases, the substrate is deformed when being transferred to the handler, and a transfer mechanism that can appropriately transfer the substrate to the handler even when the substrate is deformed has been desired.

It is also conceivable to increase the suction force of the handler in order to reduce the cause of the substrate falling. However, when the substrate is thin, a large suction force may cause the substrate to be deformed and deteriorated. It was not possible to respond simply by increasing the suction power of the handler. When the thickness of the substrate is particularly equal to or less than 1 mm, the dimensions of the substrate are deformed due to deformation, which adversely affects the positional accuracy of the pattern formed on the substrate.

Further, since the conventional preliminary positioning mechanism is configured to push the substrates on the feed rollers arranged at a constant interval in a plurality of rows by a pushing portion, the substrate is moved so as to straddle the feed rollers. In this case, the end of the substrate was caught by the feed roller, and a proper preliminary positioning operation could not be performed. This was remarkable when the substrate was thin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a delivery mechanism, a delivery method, and a spare which can surely transfer a substrate to a transfer means and can cope with a thin substrate. It is an object to provide a positioning mechanism.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a delivery mechanism for transferring a substrate formed by exposing a predetermined pattern to a transporting device for transporting the substrate to a next step, and A feed roller disposed below the path, for moving the substrate, a mounting plate having a through hole through which at least the upper end of the feed roller can protrude, and raising and lowering the mounting plate, the substrate on the feed roller And a lifting mechanism for receiving the substrate on the mounting plate and transferring the substrate on the mounting plate to the transfer means.

With this configuration, when the substrate is delivered to the transporting means, the mounting plate on which the substrate is placed rises, and the substrate is delivered to the transporting means. It does not fall due to air resistance.

The lifting mechanism includes a support leg for supporting the mounting plate, a buffer provided along the moving direction of the support leg, and a stop for stopping the mounting plate at a predetermined position level. It is convenient to provide a drive mechanism for moving the support leg up and down.

With this configuration, when the substrate is transferred to the transfer means, the shock force generated when the mounting plate rises and comes into contact with the transfer means is reduced by the buffer provided on the support leg. Therefore, the substrate does not deteriorate.

Further, the preliminary positioning mechanism is constituted as follows. That is, a feed roller for mounting a substrate formed by exposing a predetermined pattern, and a feed plate having a through hole from which the upper end of the feed roller protrudes, and a mounting plate having a long through hole for preliminary positioning, A moving mechanism having a pushing portion that moves along the through-hole, and an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the mounting plate, wherein when pre-positioning the substrate, the mounting plate is moved by the feed roller. Raised from the upper end, supports the substrate by its mounting plate, moves the pushing portion along the through-hole via the moving mechanism, pushes the end face of the substrate, and preliminarily positions it at the reference position. It was configured to perform.

With this configuration, the substrate carried and supported on the feed roller is placed on the mounting plate as the mounting plate is raised. Then, the pushing portion protrudes from the through-hole and moves along the through-hole by the moving mechanism to preliminarily position the end face of the substrate at the reference position. At this time, since the substrate is on the mounting plate, even if the substrate is thin, the substrate can be smoothly moved by the pushing portion, and an appropriate preliminary positioning operation can be performed.

Further, as a method of transferring the substrate, a first step of receiving a substrate formed by exposing a predetermined pattern on a feed roller protruding from the through hole of the mounting plate having a through hole and a long through hole; A second step of raising the mounting plate via the lifting mechanism and mounting the substrate on the mounting plate from a feed roller, and projecting the end surface of the substrate on the mounting plate from the through-hole. A third step of preliminarily positioning the substrate at the reference position by being pushed by the pushed pushing portion, and a fourth step of further elevating the mounting plate via the elevating mechanism and delivering the same to the standby transporting means. And the process.

With this configuration, even if the substrate is thin, the substrate can be transferred to the transporting unit after the preliminary positioning is performed and the cause of the drop is eliminated.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the delivery mechanism without a feed roller, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a mounting plate of the delivery mechanism, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a moving mechanism of a preliminary positioning mechanism, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a delivery operation and a preliminary positioning operation of a substrate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the delivery mechanism 1
A mounting plate 2 having a feed roller 6a for mounting a substrate W thereon, a through hole 2a protruding from the upper end of the feed roller 6a, and a through hole 2b for preliminary positioning described later; And an elevating mechanism 5 for elevating and lowering. The pre-positioning mechanism 10 for pre-positioning the substrate W includes a feed roller 6a, the mounting plate 2,
It comprises a lifting mechanism 5 and moving mechanisms 11, 12, 13, and 14 for pushing and moving the end face of the substrate W.

As shown in FIG. 2, the feed rollers 6a are arranged in a plurality of rows, supported by a rotating shaft 6b, and connected to an endless belt 6c which extends over pulleys 6d attached to both ends of the rotating shaft 6b. It is configured to rotate at a predetermined speed by a drive motor (not shown).

The mounting plate 2 has a through hole 2a which does not hinder the rotation of the feed roller 6a, and
The upper end of “a” is configured to protrude at least above the mounting plate 2. The through-hole 2b for preliminary positioning is formed at a predetermined position according to the configuration of the substrate W to be placed. In the drawing, the substrate W is preliminarily positioned at the reference position (the pushing portions 11a, 11a) on the left side of the drawing, so that a plurality of (three in the drawing) penetrate vertically in the feed direction of the feed roller 6a. In the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the feed roller 6a, a plurality of slots (2 in the drawing)
) Are formed. A plurality of (three in the drawing) concave portions 2d are formed at the left end of the reference mounting plate 2. Openings 2c (four locations in the drawing) for vacuum suction are formed at positions of the mounting plate 2 where the substrate W is mounted.

The through hole 2a and the long through hole 2b are
As shown in FIG. 2, each opening is formed so as to chamfer the peripheral edge thereof, and is configured so that the substrate W on the mounting plate 2 can move smoothly. The chamfering of the through-hole 2a and the through-hole 2b is important when the substrate W is a thin plate, and when the substrate W is to be smoothly moved during pre-positioning, the edge of the substrate W is It is prevented from being caught in the through-hole 2b, and the movement is smooth.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lifting mechanism 5
Are supporting legs 3 (five in the drawing) for supporting the mounting plate 2 in a detachable manner, a buffer 4 provided on the upper part of the supporting legs 3, and a driving mechanism 5A for holding the supporting legs 3 vertically movable. It is composed of

The buffer portion 4 includes a cylindrical contact portion 4a connected to the mounting plate 2 and a support rod 4c provided on the contact portion 4a.
And a coil spring 4b which is an elastic member wound around the support rod 4c. The support ring 3a attached to the upper end of the support leg 3 supports the lower end of the coil spring 4b, and the support rod 4c is slidable along the inside of the support leg 3. Therefore, when the substrate W on the mounting plate 2 comes into contact with a handler 20 as a transport unit described later, the coil spring 4b contracts, and the support ring 3a and the support leg 3 slide toward the support rod 4c. Thus, it is configured to absorb a shock.

The driving mechanism 5A is provided below the installation plate 30. A holding portion 5h for holding the lower end of the support leg 3 disposed through the installation plate 30;
5g, a moving block 5d provided on the fixing plate 5g, a feed screw 5c for moving the moving block 5d, and a drive for rotating the feed screw 5c via the transmission belt 5b. It comprises a motor 5a and a guide frame 5f which is arranged in parallel to the feed screw 5c and guides the movement of the moving block 5d via a sliding portion 5e attached to a fixed plate 5g.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the preliminary positioning mechanism 10 includes a feed roller 6a, the placing plate 2, the elevating mechanism 5, and the mounting plate 30 on all sides of the substrate W. Moving mechanism 11, 12, 13, 1
4 is provided. The moving mechanism 11 is disposed on the reference position side, and includes pushing portions 11a, 11a and the pushing portions 11a.
a, 11a, and guides 11c, 1 provided along the moving direction of the support frame 11b.
1c and the support frame 1 along the guides 11c, 11c.
And a drive motor 11d for moving the first motor 1b. Further, the moving mechanism 12 is provided along pushing directions 12a, 12a for pushing the end face of the substrate W, a supporting frame 12b for supporting the pushing segments 12a, 12a, and a moving direction of the supporting frame 12b. It comprises a guide 12c and a drive unit 12d such as a drive motor and a moving belt for moving the support frame 12b along the guide 12c.

Further, the moving mechanisms 13 and 14 are arranged at positions facing each other, and respective pushing portions 13a, 13a, 14a and 14a for pushing the ends of the substrate W, and the pushing portions 13a.
a, 13a, 14a, and 14a, respectively, support frames 13b and 14b, guides 13c and 14c provided along the moving direction of the support frames 13b and 14b, and the support frames 13b and 14b are moved along the guides. A driving unit 13d such as a driving motor and a driving belt (moving mechanism 1)
3, 14 shared).

The supporting skeletons 11b to 14b are configured to support one or more pushing portions 11a to 14a in accordance with the size of the substrate W and a reference position for preliminary positioning. In FIG. 2, three through-holes 2b formed in the feed direction of the feed roller 6a are formed three by one, but the pushing portions 13a and 14a are arranged at two places. Then, at the base ends of the pushing parts 11a to 14a, when the base parts W come into contact with the end face of the substrate W, the impact is absorbed.
Elastic members (not shown) are provided so that the direction of expansion and contraction of the elastic members and the direction of movement of the pressing portions 11a to 14a are along.

Also, when the substrate W is carried into the feed roller 6a, the pushing portions (here, pushing portions 13a and 14a) at predetermined locations are moved up and down so as not to be in the way. Up and down drive unit 13e so that it can come and go from plate 2
(See FIG. 1). In the drawing, the pushers 11a and 12a are configured to retract to the left and right and do not move up and down because the pushers 11a and 12a do not become obstacles in carrying in the substrate W shown in this example.

As shown in FIG. 4, above the delivery mechanism 1, a handler 20 as a transporting means is arranged so as to be able to move in a horizontal direction along a guide rail (transport path). The handler 20 includes suction pads 21, 21 (at least four or more) for sucking the substrate W, a holding plate 22 for supporting the suction pads 21, 21, and a buffer unit for vertically supporting the holding plate 22. 23, and a support frame 24 that supports the buffer portion 23.

Next, the operation of the delivery mechanism 1 and the operation of the preliminary positioning mechanism 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4A, the delivery mechanism 1 places the substrate W on the feed roller 6a.
Is received, the feed roller 6a is rotated to move the substrate W to a predetermined position and stop. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), when the substrate W is supported on the feed roller 6a, the support leg 3 is moved upward via the drive mechanism 5A to raise the mounting plate 2, and the feed roller 6a The substrate W is supported on the mounting plate 2 without the upper end of the substrate W contacting the substrate W. Next,
As shown in FIGS. 4B and 2, the moving mechanisms 11, 1
2, 13, 14 are operated to push the end face of the substrate W
a, 13a, 14a, the push-moving portions 11a, which are reference positions,
The substrate W is pushed to the side of 11a to perform a preliminary positioning operation of the substrate W.

When the substrate W is preliminarily positioned, the mounting plate 2
The opening 2c for vacuum suction so that the upper substrate W does not move.
The suction operation is performed from (see FIG. 2) to suck and support the substrate W. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 (c), the mounting plate 2 is raised by moving the support leg 3 upward by the drive mechanism 5A, and the substrate W is delivered to the handler 20 which is on standby.

When the substrate W comes into contact with the suction pad 21 of the handler 20, the surface of the substrate W receives an impact, but the buffer 4 provided on the support leg 3 (and the buffer 2 of the handler 20).
Since the shock is absorbed by 4), the shock received by the substrate W can be minimized. Further, since the impact of the substrate W is reduced, the mounting plate 2 can be raised at a high speed.

When the substrate W comes into contact with the suction pad 21 of the handler 20, the handler 20 performs a suction operation to suck the substrate W on the suction pad 21. At this time, the suction operation of the mounting plate 2 which has been sucking and supporting the substrate W until now is stopped, or air is injected from the opening 2c (see FIG. 2) so that the mounting plate 2 and the substrate W Operate so as to be easily separated. The mounting plate 2 that has transferred the substrate W to the handler 20 is
4 (c) to the position shown in FIG. 4 (a), and waits for loading of the next substrate W.

It should be noted that the substrate W can be handled even if the thickness of the substrate W is 0.1 mm or less, and can be handled even if the thickness of the substrate W is thinner than 0.06 mm, as long as it is the delivery mechanism 1 described above. .

Further, the mounting plate 2 is shown in FIGS.
By controlling in advance to move to the position level (substrate loading position, substrate mounting position, substrate delivery position) shown in (c), and by providing the buffer 4 (23), the substrate W is adversely affected. It is possible to speed up the operation without exerting any influence.

Further, the feed roller 6a may be configured to rotate via an independent drive source (drive motor) for each row or for each predetermined position. When the drive source of the feed roller 6a is made different, a configuration may be adopted in which a driven feed roller (not shown) that is driven and rotated without providing a drive source is provided for the feed roller 6a at a predetermined position.

Furthermore, in the pre-positioning of the substrate W, the position of the pushing portions 11a, 11a of the moving mechanism 11 has been described as the reference position.
It differs depending on the configuration of the substrate W, and can be set at the center of the substrate W or at any position on the mounting plate 2. Since the mounting plate on which the substrate is mounted has through holes, etc., when the substrate is transferred to a transfer means such as a handler, the mounting plate and the substrate do not adhere to each other to prevent a mistake in transferring the substrate. can do.

Although the drive mechanism 5A has been described using the feed screw mechanism, the drive mechanism 5A may be configured to move the mounting plate up and down by a cylinder mechanism or a rack and pinion.
Further, as the elastic member of the buffer portion, a rubber cylinder or a leaf spring may be used, or an air cushion may be used. Further, the delivery mechanism may be used as a mechanism for receiving a substrate (a mechanism for unloading the exposure apparatus).

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are exhibited. When receiving a substrate, the substrate transfer mechanism receives and supports the substrate by a feed roller. Then, when transferring the substrate to the transfer means, the mounting plate is raised, the substrate is mounted on the mounting plate from the feed roller, and further raised by a lifting mechanism to receive the substrate on the mounting plate to the transfer means. It is configured to pass. Therefore, when the substrate is lifted, the substrate is never bent, deformed, or dropped even if there is air resistance. Further, when the transfer means receives the substrate, the mounting plate is lifted, so that the substrate can be easily received. further,
Compared to the configuration in which the transport means descends and receives the substrate,
It is possible to improve the transfer speed of the substrate. In particular, when the substrate is thin, it is possible to perform a delivery operation to an appropriate transport unit. In addition, since the mounting plate is provided with a structure such as a through hole for preventing close contact with the substrate, there is no mistake in delivery.

In the substrate transfer mechanism, a buffer is provided on a support leg of the lifting mechanism that moves the mounting plate up and down. Therefore, regardless of the thickness of the substrate, when the substrate is transferred to the transfer means, even if the substrate contacts the transfer means, the impact can be reduced and the mechanical damage to the substrate can be minimized. Becomes Further, by adopting a configuration in which the substrate is mounted on the mounting plate and ascending, and having the buffer portion, it is possible to further improve the delivery speed.

In the method of transferring the substrate, the substrate is received on a feed roller, and at the time of preliminary positioning, the substrate is placed on a mounting plate, and the preliminary positioning is performed by a moving mechanism.
At the time of delivery of the transfer means, the mounting plate is raised via the lifting mechanism, and the base end supported by the mounting plate is transferred to the transfer means. For this reason, it is possible to quickly transfer the substrate, which has been appropriately pre-positioned regardless of the thickness of the substrate, to the transporting means.

The pre-positioning mechanism is configured to perform a pre-positioning operation by the pushing portion of the moving mechanism while the substrate received on the feed roller is mounted on the mounting plate.
Therefore, when moving the substrate to the preliminary positioning position,
Since the operation is performed on the mounting plate, the substrate can be smoothly moved, and the preliminary positioning operation can be performed regardless of the thickness of the substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a delivery mechanism according to the present invention, in which a feed roller is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a mounting plate of the delivery mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a moving mechanism of a preliminary positioning mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a delivery operation and a preliminary positioning operation of a substrate according to the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1 Delivery mechanism 2 Placement plate 3 Support leg 4 Buffer unit 5 Elevating mechanism 5A Drive mechanism 6a Feed roller 10 Pre-positioning mechanism 11 Moving mechanism 11a Pushing unit 12 Moving mechanism 12a Pushing unit 13 Moving mechanism 13a Pushing Moving part 14 Moving mechanism 14a Pushing part 20 Handler (transporting means) W Substrate

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate formed by exposing a predetermined pattern to a transfer means for transferring the substrate to each step, wherein the feed roller is disposed below a movement path of the transfer means and moves the substrate. A mounting plate having a through-hole through which at least the upper end of the feed roller can protrude, raising and lowering the mounting plate, receiving the substrate on the feed roller on the mounting plate, and placing the substrate on the transfer means. A delivery mechanism comprising a lifting mechanism for delivering a substrate on a board. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism includes a support leg for supporting the mounting plate, a buffer provided along a moving direction of the support leg, and a stopper for stopping the mounting plate at a predetermined position level. The delivery mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a drive mechanism that moves the support leg up and down. 3. A mounting plate having a feed roller for mounting a substrate to be formed by exposing a predetermined pattern, a through hole from which the upper end of the feed roller projects, and a long through hole for preliminary positioning. And a moving mechanism having a pushing portion that moves along the through-hole, and an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the mounting plate, wherein when pre-positioning the substrate, the mounting plate is Raised from the upper end of the feed roller, supports the substrate by its mounting plate, moves the pushing portion along the through-hole through the moving mechanism, and pushes the end surface of the substrate to the reference position. A pre-positioning mechanism for performing pre-positioning on a surface. 4. A first step of receiving a substrate formed by exposing a predetermined pattern on a feed roller protruding from the through hole of a mounting plate having a through hole and a through slot, A second step of raising the substrate via a lifting mechanism and mounting the substrate on a mounting plate from a feed roller, and a pressing portion that protrudes an end surface of the substrate on the mounting plate from the through-hole. A third step of pushing the substrate and preliminarily positioning the substrate at a reference position; and a fourth step of further raising the mounting plate via the elevating mechanism and transferring the mounting plate to a standby transport unit. Characteristic delivery method.