JP2001112223A - Vacuum motor and carrier device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum motor that can improve the transfer efficiency of the magnetic power between a stator and a rotor, can increase driving power, and can save electric power, and a carrier device using the vacuum motor. SOLUTION: A vacuum motor 100 is equipped with a non-magnetic can seal 110 that separates vacuum atmosphere space from air atmosphere one, a first stator 130 that is provided at an air atmosphere side and is wound by a coil 120, a second stator 135 that is provided at a vacuum atmosphere side corresponding to the first stator, and a rotor 140 that is provided at the vacuum atmosphere side corresponding to the second stator and drives outside and inside rotary shafts 150 and 160 by transferring magnetic power from the second stator, thus reducing the spacing between the second stator where the magnetic power is transferred and the rotor as much as possible, and hence improving the transfer efficiency of the magnetic power between the stator and rotor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum motor using electromagnetic induction used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and a transfer device driven by the vacuum motor.

2. Description of the Related Art In a multi-chamber processing apparatus provided with a plurality of process chambers (processing chambers), a transfer for transferring a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a “wafer”) as a processing object between process chambers is performed. An arm is provided. The transfer arm is housed in a transfer chamber (common transfer chamber). The substrate holding section provided on the transfer arm is configured to be able to enter not only into the transfer chamber but also into various process chambers connected to the transfer chamber and into a vacuum spare chamber.

[0003] As the general transfer arms, there are a scalar type transfer arm and a frog-leg type transfer arm. In the SCARA type transfer arm, a substrate holding unit and a rotation shaft are connected by two or more arms, and a rotation mechanism is connected to the rotation shaft via a rotation belt and a pulley. With this configuration, when the rotation mechanism is operated, the arm moves in the horizontal direction, and the substrate holding unit moves to a predetermined position. On the other hand, the frog-leg-type transfer arm has a frog-leg arm formed by connecting a plurality of arms in a substantially frog-leg shape, and the frog-leg arm connects the substrate holding unit and the rotating shaft. With this configuration, when the rotation mechanism connected to the rotation shaft is operated, the frog leg arm expands and contracts in the radial direction from the rotation center of the transfer arm, and the substrate holding unit moves to a predetermined position.

[0004] Conventionally, a motor used in a vacuum processing chamber in the above-mentioned rotating mechanism has a rotating shaft including a coil and a magnetic body such as an iron core (hereinafter referred to as "stator") for obtaining mechanical power by electromagnetic induction. Together with a magnetic material (hereinafter, referred to as a "rotor") for driving the motor. However, if the coil and the stator are arranged in a vacuum atmosphere, it is inevitable that the generation of outgas, particles, and the like and the heat generation adversely affect the processing. Therefore, in recent semiconductor manufacturing processes, a vacuum motor is used in which the air atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere are separated by a nonmagnetic partition wall called a can seal, and a coil and a stator are arranged in the air atmosphere.

[0005] An example of the configuration of a vacuum motor in which the above-described coil and stator are arranged in the atmosphere will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum motor 300 includes a non-magnetic can seal 310 for isolating the air atmosphere from the vacuum atmosphere, and an outer rotary shaft 350 and an inner rotary shaft disposed on the can seal 310 via a bearing B. It has 360 rotation axes.

[0006] Further, the vacuum motor 300 is provided on the atmosphere side and is provided with the outer rotating shaft stator 330a around which the coil 320a is wound, and is provided on the vacuum atmosphere side in correspondence with the outer rotating shaft stator 330a. Magnetic power is transmitted from the rotating shaft stator 330a to the outer rotating shaft 3
And an outer rotating shaft rotor 340a for driving the rotating shaft 50. Similarly, the coil 3 is provided on the atmosphere side.
An inner rotating shaft stator 330b wound with 20b;
An inner rotating shaft rotor 340b is provided in the vacuum atmosphere corresponding to the inner rotating shaft stator 330b and drives the inner rotating shaft 360 by transmitting magnetic power from the inner rotating shaft stator 330b.

The outer rotating shaft stator 330a around which the coil 320a is wound and the outer rotating shaft rotor 340a are
As shown in FIG.
There are zero locations. Similarly, the inner rotating shaft stator 330b around which the coil 320b is wound and the inner rotating shaft rotor 340b are arranged so as to surround the inner rotating shaft 360.
It is provided in places. In addition, in FIG.
0 and the inner rotation shaft 360 are omitted from the drawing.

In the illustrated example, a vacuum processing chamber 390 is formed on the vacuum atmosphere side of the vacuum motor 300, and one side of the can seal 310 forms a part of a side wall of the vacuum processing chamber 390. The end of the can seal 310 is sealed with a sealing member O such as an O-ring to form a side wall 392 of the vacuum processing chamber 390.
And are airtightly connected. The outer rotation shaft 350 and the inner rotation shaft 360 drive a transfer device, for example, a transfer arm in the vacuum processing chamber 390, as described above.

Reference numeral 370a denotes an encoder for controlling the operation of the outer rotating shaft stator 330a and the outer rotating shaft rotor 340a.
Is an encoder for controlling the operation of the inner rotating shaft stator 330b and the inner rotating shaft rotor 340b. Reference numeral 380 denotes a cable for energizing the coils 320a and 320b and the encoders 370a and 370b. Each component described above is the motor case 3
95.

As described above, by separating the air atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere by the can seal 310 and disposing the stators 330a and 330b around which the coils are wound in the air atmosphere, outgassing and particles in the vacuum atmosphere can be achieved. It is possible to eliminate adverse effects on processing due to generation of heat and heat generation.

[0011]

By the way, in the vacuum motor 300 having the above structure, the can seal 310
Is an indispensable component in order to solve the trouble that occurs when the stators 330a and 330b around which the coils are wound are placed in a vacuum atmosphere.
When the motor is interposed between the stator and the rotor, the transmission efficiency of the magnetic power between the stator and the rotor deteriorates, causing another problem that the driving force of the vacuum motor is reduced and power saving is hindered. I was

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional vacuum motor, and a first object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of transmitting magnetic power between a stator and a rotor. Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved vacuum motor capable of improving driving force and saving power.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved transfer device driven by a vacuum motor having low power consumption and excellent driving force.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum motor having a non-magnetic material for isolating spaces having different atmospheres according to a first aspect of the present invention. And one or more first stators provided on the high-pressure atmosphere side and wound with coils, and one or more second stators provided on the low-pressure atmosphere side corresponding to the first stator. And one or more rotors provided on the low-pressure atmosphere side in correspondence with the second stator, the magnetic power being transmitted from the second stator to drive one or more rotating shafts. A vacuum motor is provided.

Here, the low-pressure atmosphere is a processing atmosphere required to avoid generation of outgas and particles, for example, a vacuum atmosphere, and the high-pressure atmosphere is, for example, an air atmosphere.

According to this configuration, since the partition separating the spaces having different atmospheres is interposed between the first stator and the second stator, the second stator and the rotor to which magnetic power is transmitted can be used. Can be made as small as possible, and the transmission efficiency of magnetic power between the second stator and the rotor can be improved. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the driving force of the vacuum motor and to achieve an excellent effect of saving power.

Further, the rotating shaft may be provided with a position detecting mechanism. According to this configuration, since the rotating shaft driven in the low-pressure atmosphere has the position detecting mechanism, it is possible to accurately control a device in the low-pressure atmosphere driven by the rotating shaft, for example, a transfer arm. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a non-magnetic partition wall for isolating spaces having different atmospheres is provided in the transfer device. One or more first stators provided on the high-pressure atmosphere side and wound with coils, and one or more second stators provided on the low-pressure atmosphere side corresponding to the first stator; One or more rotors provided on the low-pressure atmosphere side in correspondence with the second stator, the magnetic power being transmitted from the second stator to drive the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft; A holding unit for the transferred object, and an arm unit for converting the rotational power of the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft into linear power of the holding unit for the transferred object. A transfer device is provided.

Further, the arm portion has a first arm having one end connected to the first rotation shaft, and one end connected to the second rotation shaft. A second arm, one end of which is rotatably connected to the other end of the first arm and the other end of which is connected to the holding portion of the transported body; and one end of May be rotatably connected to the other end of the second arm, and a fourth arm whose other end is connected to the holding portion of the transported object.

According to this configuration, the transfer device can be driven by the vacuum motor having low power consumption and excellent driving force.

Further, the first rotating shaft and / or the second rotating shaft may be provided with a position detecting mechanism for the transported object. According to this configuration, since the first rotating shaft and / or the second rotating shaft include the position detecting mechanism of the transferred object, the transferred object, for example, a wafer, transferred by the transfer device can be accurately controlled. It is possible to

[0022]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
Preferred embodiments of the vacuum motor and the transfer device according to the present invention will be described in detail. In the specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum motor 100 is a non-magnetic can seal (partition) that separates a space having a different atmosphere, for example, a vacuum atmosphere space from an air atmosphere space.
110 of the outer rotary shaft 150 and the inner rotary shaft 160 disposed on the can seal 110 via the bearing B.
It has two rotating shafts. The transport device driven by the outer rotation shaft 150 and the inner rotation shaft 160 will be described later.

Further, the vacuum motor 100 is provided on the air atmosphere side, and corresponds to the first outer rotating shaft stator 130a on which the coil 120a is wound, and on the vacuum atmosphere side, the first outer rotating shaft stator 130a. The second provided
The outer rotating shaft 150 is provided corresponding to the outer rotating shaft stator 135a and the second outer rotating shaft stator 135a on the vacuum atmosphere side. Magnetic power is transmitted from the second outer rotating shaft stator 135a to the outer rotating shaft 150. And an outer rotating shaft rotor 140a for driving the rotating shaft.

Similarly, the vacuum motor 100 is provided on the atmosphere side, and the first inner rotating shaft stator 130b around which the coil 120b is wound, and the first motor 130 on the vacuum atmosphere side.
, A second inner rotating shaft stator 135b provided corresponding to the inner rotating shaft stator 130b and a second inner rotating shaft stator 135b provided on the vacuum atmosphere side corresponding to the second inner rotating shaft stator 135b. An inner rotating shaft rotor 140a that drives the inner rotating shaft 150 by transmitting magnetic power from the shaft stator 135a.

The outer rotating shaft stator 130a around which the coil 120a is wound and the outer rotating shaft rotor 140a are
As shown in FIG.
Similarly, the inner rotating shaft stator 130b and the inner rotating shaft rotor 140b, around which the coil 120b is wound, are provided with 10 coils so as to surround the inner rotating shaft 150.
Although provided in places, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The number of rotating shafts and the number and arrangement of stators and rotors can be appropriately changed in design. In FIG. 2, the outer rotation shaft 150 and the inner rotation shaft 160 are omitted from the drawing.

A vacuum processing chamber 190 is formed on the vacuum atmosphere side of the vacuum motor 100 in the illustrated example, and one side of the can seal 110 forms a part of a side wall of the vacuum processing chamber 190. The end of the can seal 110 is sealed with a side wall 192 of the vacuum processing chamber 190 by a sealing member O such as an O-ring.
And are airtightly connected. The outer rotation shaft 150 and the inner rotation shaft 160 drive a transfer device in the vacuum processing chamber 190, for example, a transfer arm.

Reference numeral 170a in the figure denotes an encoder for controlling the operation of the outer rotating shaft stator 130a and the outer rotating shaft rotor 140a.
Is an encoder for controlling the operation of the inner rotating shaft stator 130b and the inner rotating shaft rotor 140b. Reference numeral 180 denotes a cable for energizing the coils 120a and 120b and the encoders 170a and 170b. The components described above are the motor case 1
95.

The first stators 130a and 130b and the second stators 135a and 135b are made of a material having a high magnetic permeability, for example, an iron core formed by laminating a plurality of thin silicon steel plates. I do.
The vacuum motor 100 according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the can seal 110 is interposed between the first stators 130a and 130b and the second stators 135a and 135b.

The can seal 110 is provided on the first stator 13.
0a, 130b and second stators 135a, 135b
May be formed simultaneously in the manufacturing process.
That is, the first stators 130a, 130b and the second
In the step of laminating a plurality of thin silicon steel sheets for forming the stators 135a and 135b of
By laminating 10 at the same time, the first stators 130a and 130b, the can seal 110, and the second stators 135a and 135b can be manufactured integrally.

Alternatively, the can seal 110, the first stators 130a and 130b, and the second stator 135
a and 135b are separately manufactured in separate processes, respectively.
In a subsequent process, the first seal 130a, 130b and the second stator 135a, 135b
10 may be interposed and integrated.

The first stator 130a, 1 described above
30b, can seal 110, and second stator 135
The manufacturing process for integrally manufacturing a and 135b is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. The final configuration is the first stator 130a, 130b and the second stator 13
5a and 135b without attenuating the magnetic force between the first stator 130a and 130b and the second stator 13a.
5a, 135b, a can seal 110 is interposed,
Any structure may be used as long as the distance between the second stators 135a and 135b and the rotor 140 can be made as small as possible.
Further, the thickness, the ratio of the thickness, and the like of each of the first stators 130a, 130b and the second stators 135a, 135b are not limited to the illustrated example, and the design can be changed as appropriate.

Next, as an example of the transfer device driven by the vacuum motor 100, a frog-leg type transfer arm 200 will be described with reference to FIG. A general frog-leg type transfer arm has an arm portion formed by connecting a plurality of arms in a substantially frog-like shape, and the arm portion connects the substrate holding portion and the rotating shaft. In the present embodiment, an example in which the arm portion is configured by four arms (first arm 210, second arm 220, third arm 230, and fourth arm 240) will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer arm 200 has a first arm 210 and a second arm 22 having substantially the same length.
0. One end of the first arm 210 is connected to the outer rotating shaft 150 of the vacuum motor 100 and is supported on the base 205, and one end of the second arm 220 is connected to the vacuum motor 10.
0 and is supported on a base 205.

The other end of the first arm 210 has one end of a third arm 230 and the other end of the second arm 220 has a fourth end.
One ends of the arms 240 are rotatably connected to each other. The third arm 230 and the fourth arm 240 are also formed to have substantially the same length as the first arm 210 and the second arm 220. Further, the other ends of the third arm 230 and the fourth arm 240 are connected to a holding unit 2 for holding the wafer W.
50 is rotatably supported.

When the first arm 210 is rotated in the direction A and the second arm 220 is rotated in the direction B at the same speed, the third arm 230 is connected to the first arm 210. The fourth arm 240 rotates in the C direction about the portion, and the fourth arm 240 rotates in the D direction about the connection with the second arm 220. Thereby, the holding unit 250 can be linearly moved in the E direction.

When the first arm 210 is rotated at the same speed in the A 'direction and the second arm 220 is rotated at the same speed in the B' direction, the third arm 230 is moved around the connecting portion with the first arm 210 as a center. The fourth arm 240 rotates in the direction D ′ around the connection with the second arm 220. Thereby, the holding unit 250 can be linearly moved in the E ′ direction.

As described above, the rotational power of the inner rotating shaft 150 and the outer rotating shaft 160 of the vacuum motor 100 is
The power can be converted into linear power of the holding unit 250 of the transfer arm 200. In the present embodiment, as an example, a frog-leg type transfer arm 200 is used.
Has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The configuration of the transfer arm, in particular, the shape of the arm that connects the substrate holding unit and the rotating shaft may be any shape. Further, the transfer arm is not limited to the frog-leg type, but may be a scalar type transfer arm.

According to the vacuum motor 100 of the present embodiment, the can seal 110
The first and second stators 130a and 130b around which the coils are wound are arranged in the air atmosphere to isolate the air atmosphere from the vacuum atmosphere, thereby preventing the occurrence of outgassing or particles in the vacuum atmosphere and processing due to heat generation. The adverse effects can be eliminated.

Further, as a feature of the present embodiment which is not included in the conventional vacuum motor, the can seal 110 is composed of the first stators 130a and 130b and the second stator 135.
a, 135b and the second stators 135a, 135b and the rotor 14 to which magnetic power is transmitted.
The distances from 0a and 140b can be made as small as possible. Therefore, the second stators 135a, 135b
It is possible to improve the transmission efficiency of magnetic power between the motor and the rotors 140a and 140b. As described above, according to the vacuum motor 100, the driving force is improved, and further, the power saving is excellent.

According to the present embodiment, the transfer arm 200 can be driven by the vacuum motor 100 having low power consumption and excellent driving force.

While the preferred embodiments of the vacuum motor and the transfer device according to the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can conceive various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and those modifications naturally fall within the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood to belong.

For example, a position detecting mechanism can be provided on the rotating shaft. According to this configuration, the transfer device in a low-pressure atmosphere driven by the rotating shaft, such as the transfer arm in the above-described vacuum processing chamber, can be accurately controlled, and the transferred object transferred by the transfer device, for example, Wafers and the like can be controlled accurately.

In the above embodiment, the vacuum motor is a rotary motor, and an example of the transfer arm using the rotary motor has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The vacuum motor is a linear motor, and the present invention can be similarly applied to a transfer device using the linear motor.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to improve the transmission efficiency of the magnetic power of the vacuum motor, improve the driving force, and save power.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately control a device in a low-pressure atmosphere driven by a rotating shaft.

Further, according to the present invention, the transfer device can be driven by a vacuum motor having low power consumption and excellent driving force.

In particular, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately control the object to be conveyed by the conveying device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a vacuum motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'of the vacuum motor of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer arm operated by the vacuum motor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a conventional vacuum motor.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'of the vacuum motor of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 100 vacuum motor 110 can seal 120a, 120b coil 130a first stator (first outer rotating shaft stator) 130b first stator (first inner rotating shaft stator) 135a second stator (second outer rotating shaft) Shaft stator) 135b second stator (second inner rotating shaft stator) 140a outer rotating shaft rotor 140b inner rotating shaft rotor 150 outer rotating shaft 160 inner rotating shaft 170 encoder 180 cable 190 vacuum processing chamber 192 side wall 195 Motor case B Bearing O Seal member 200 Transfer arm 205 Base 210 First arm 220 Second arm 230 Third arm 240 Fourth arm 250 Holder W Wafer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H02K 5/12 H02K 5/12 F term (Reference) 3F060 AA01 AA07 AA08 EA01 EB12 EC12 GA00 GA05 GA13 GB31 GD07 GD11 HA28 5F031 GA44 GA47 LA07 5H605 BB00 BB05 CC01 CC02 CC03 CC10 DD01 DD37

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum motor: a nonmagnetic partition wall for isolating spaces having different atmospheres; one or more first stators provided on a high-pressure atmosphere side and wound with coils; and a low-pressure atmosphere side. One or two or more second stators provided corresponding to the first stator; provided on the low-pressure atmosphere side corresponding to the second stator, wherein magnetic power is provided by the second stator. And one or more rotors that are transmitted to drive one or more rotating shafts. 2. The vacuum motor according to claim 1, wherein the rotating shaft includes a position detecting mechanism. 3. A transfer device comprising: a nonmagnetic partition wall for isolating spaces having different atmospheres; one or more first stators provided on a high-pressure atmosphere side and wound with coils; and a low-pressure atmosphere side. And one or more second stators provided corresponding to the first stator, and a second stator provided on the low-pressure atmosphere side corresponding to the second stator, wherein magnetic power is provided by the second stator. It is driven by a vacuum motor having one or two or more rotors that are transmitted and drive the first rotation shaft and the second rotation shaft. An arm for converting the rotational power of the second rotating shaft into the linear power of the holding part of the transported body. 4. The arm part: a first arm having one end connected to the first rotation shaft; and one end being connected to the second arm.
A second arm connected to the rotating shaft of the first arm; one end is rotatably connected to the other end of the first arm, and the other end is connected to the holding portion of the transported object. A third arm; a fourth end having one end rotatably connected to the other end of the second arm and the other end connected to a holding portion of the transported object;
The transfer device according to claim 3, further comprising: an arm. 5. The first rotation axis and / or the second rotation axis.
The transport device according to claim 3, wherein the rotating shaft includes a mechanism for detecting a position of the transported object.