JP2002110762A - Loading port for open cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To load wafers by means of an open cassette with respect to a main frame which was designed for loading with wafers in FOUP method. SOLUTION: A load port 1, connected to a robot chamber 4, which is equipped with a manipulator 10 supplying wafers W to a main frame, receives the wafers W in an open cassette 6 which is carried into a clean room 2 and transfers the wafers W to a manipulator 10. The load port 1 is equipped with a holding board 7, placed in the clean room 2 to receive the open cassette 6 loaded with the wafers W and with an interface 5 which connects the holding board to the robot chamber 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for receiving an open cassette installed in a clean room and conveyed in the clean room, and supplying a wafer loaded in the open cassette to a main frame. And a load port for an open cassette delivered to a manipulator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of supplying a wafer to a main frame, there are a method using an open type open cassette and a method using a closed box type cassette. Conventionally, in Japan, a method using an open cassette has been mainly adopted as a method for supplying a 200 mm wafer to a main frame.

In this method, an open load port formed integrally with a robot room having a manipulator is used. That is, the robot room and the load port connected to the main frame via the load lock are integrally disposed in the clean room, so that the air cleanness around the wafer is kept high. When an open cassette carried by an automatic guided vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as an AGV) traveling in a clean room is delivered to a load port, a wafer is pulled out of the open cassette by the operation of the manipulator and supplied to the main frame. Was to be done.

On the other hand, the method using a box type cassette has recently become the mainstream overseas for supplying 300 mm wafers. This method accommodates a large number of wafers in a sealed box-type cassette and maintains the inside of the cassette with high cleanliness, and has become an industry standard overseas as the FOUP method.

In other words, the FOUP system uses a cassette which is kept highly clean by itself, connects the cassette to a robot room which is also kept highly air-clean, and then opens a partition between the two. This is a method in which a wafer in a cassette is taken out by a manipulator in a robot room.
According to this method, the cleanness of the air around the wafer is kept high by the sealed cassette, so that the environment for transporting the cassette does not need to be a clean room with high cleanliness. There is an advantage that an overhead traveling mechanism can be used.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, FOU
In the P method, since the inside of the cassette needs to be kept at a high degree of cleanliness, the mechanism for opening and closing the cassette is complicated and expensive, and dust is generated when the cassette is opened and closed. Is difficult.

In the FOUP system, as described above, since wafers are transported using a sealed cassette,
It is sufficient to maintain high air cleanliness after the robot room equipped with a manipulator for handling wafers. For this purpose, the components from the main frame to the robot room are provided as one unit.

However, in a Japanese company that has conventionally adopted an open cassette for supplying 200 mm wafers, a clean room has already been set up as an environment for transferring wafers.
In some cases, it is desirable to follow the method of supplying wafers using an open cassette even for 300 mm wafers.
In this case, it is necessary that the supply method using the open cassette can be adopted for the main frame provided as a unit up to the robot room.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides a load port capable of supplying a wafer using an open cassette to a main frame designed for a FOUP system. It is intended to be.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a wafer in an open cassette which is connected to a robot room having a manipulator for supplying a wafer to a main frame and has been transported in a clean room. An open cassette, which is provided in a clean room and receives and places an open cassette loaded with wafers, and an interface capable of connecting the mounting table to a robot chamber. We propose a load port.

In the above-mentioned load port, a downflow supply means for supplying a descending airflow may be provided around the open cassette mounted on the mounting table.
Further, the downward flow supply means may include a door that opens and closes the periphery of the mounting table.

[0012]

According to the load port for an open cassette according to the present invention, the mounting table connected to the robot room using the interface is arranged in the clean room, and the open cassette conveyed in the clean room is mounted on the mounting table. Thus, the manipulator in the robot chamber can take out the wafer from the open cassette mounted on the mounting table. As a result, it is possible to supply the wafer by the open cassette to the main frame provided as one unit to the robot room.

Further, since the descending air flow is supplied around the open cassette placed on the mounting table by the operation of the descending flow supply means, dust generated around the open cassette is moved downward by the air flow. The flow of the wafer and the dust attached thereto is prevented from being supplied into the robot chamber.

Further, the downflow supply means is provided with a door which opens and closes the periphery of the mounting table, so that the periphery of the mounting table is closed by the door to prevent the turbulence of the descending air flow and to more reliably ensure the wafer. It is possible to prevent dust from adhering.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a load port according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the load port 1 according to this embodiment is a box-shaped device including an interface unit 5 for connecting to a robot room 4 arranged so as to open on one wall surface 3 of a clean room 2. In the vicinity of the center in the height direction, there is provided a mounting table 7 for receiving the open cassette 6 loaded with the wafer W.

The mounting table 7 is disposed horizontally and provided with positioning means (not shown) such as a projection for positioning the open cassette 6 to be mounted. As shown in FIG. 2, only a rear wall portion 8 disposed on the robot room 4 side is arranged around the mounting table 7, and there is no side wall on the front surface and both side surfaces, and a wide opening 9 is secured. Have been.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear wall 8 is connected to the robot chamber 4 so that the manipulator 10 in the robot chamber 4 can take out the wafer W from the open cassette 6 on the mounting table 7. An access window 11 is formed. The rear door 1 is moved up and down from below the mounting table 7 to open and close the window 11.
2 are provided. Further, the interface unit 5
Is provided on the back surface of the rear wall portion 8.

A front door 13 is provided on the front surface and both side surfaces of the mounting table 7 to be moved up and down from below the mounting table 7 to open and close the periphery of the mounting table 7. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the front door 13 is a U-shaped door that opens and closes the front and both sides simultaneously, but may be a door that opens and closes the front and both sides separately.

Above the mounting table 7, a downward flow supply means 14 is arranged from the mounting table 7 with a space capable of accommodating the open cassette 6, and is supported by the upper end of the rear wall portion 8. . In the present embodiment, the descending flow supply unit 14 is, for example, a grid, and allows the descending air flow supplied from the ceiling of the clean room 2 to pass therethrough.
It can be supplied around the open cassette 6 mounted on the mounting table 7.

The front door 13 and the rear door 1
2 also constitutes a part of the downward flow supply means 14.
That is, by closing these doors 12 and 13, a flow path is defined around the open cassette 6 on the mounting table 7 so that the supplied downward flow is not disturbed around the open cassette 6. Can be.

The operation of the thus configured load port 1 according to the present embodiment will be described below. The load port 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
It is arranged in the clean room 2, and then connected to the robot room 4 which is opened and arranged on one wall surface 3 of the clean room 2 by using the interface section 5 of the wall section 8. As a result, the manipulator 10 in the robot room 4 is moved through the window 11 of the rear wall 8 through the mounting table 7 of the load port 1.
The wafer W in the open cassette 6 mounted on the mounting table 7 can be taken out and transferred to the fixed cassette 16 in the load lock 15.

In this state, the AGV 17 traveling in the clean room 2 transfers the open cassette 6 loaded with the wafer W onto the mounting table 7 of the load port 1. At this time, the front door 13 of the load port 1 is opened. Thereby, the front surface and both side surfaces of the mounting table 7 are widely opened,
Transfer arm (not shown) of AGV17 and load port 1
Interference is reduced. At this time, the rear door 12 of the window 11 of the rear wall 8 is closed. Therefore, interference between the transfer arm of the AGV 17 or the open cassette 6 during transfer and the manipulator 10 in the robot chamber 4 is avoided.

Next, the transfer by the AGV 17 is completed,
The front door 13 is closed while the transfer arm of the AGV 17 is separated from the mounting table 7. Thereby, the mounting table 7
Is closed over the entire circumference. By the operation of the descending flow supply means 14, the descending flow supplied from the ceiling of the clean room 2 is supplied around the open cassette 6 on the mounting table 7, and the dust attached to the open cassette 6 is removed from the mounting table. 7 is washed down.

In this case, the periphery of the mounting table 7 is closed by the front door 13 and the rear door 12 and the flow path is defined, so that the downward flow supplied by the downward flow supply means 14 is supplied to the open cassette. Disturbance around 6 is minimized. Therefore, the dust can flow below the mounting table 7 without staying around the open cassette 6.

Thereafter, by opening the rear door 12, the window 11 is opened, and the manipulator 10 in the robot chamber 4 can take out the wafer W from the open cassette 6. Before the rear door 12 is opened, the dust around the open cassette 6 is flowed by the downward flow, so that dust is prevented from entering the robot chamber 4.

At this time, the front door 13 is closed, so that the worker working in the clean room 2
It is possible to prevent an accident such as accidentally putting a hand on the mounting table 7 and coming into contact with the manipulator 10.

As described above, according to the load port 1 according to this embodiment, the main frame (not shown) integrally including the robot chamber 4 so as to conform to the FOUP system can be used. It is possible to supply the wafer W using the open cassette 6 by utilizing the existing clean room 2. Therefore, there is an advantage that the cost required for constructing new equipment in accordance with the FOUP method can be minimized.

Further, the opening / closing mechanism is complicated, cleaning is difficult, and dust is easily generated in the mechanism.
It is possible to avoid using a closed cassette which has many problems such as being expensive, and it is possible to prevent the above problems from occurring.

[0029]

As described above, according to the load port according to the present invention, it is possible to supply a wafer by an open cassette to a main frame provided for the FOUP system. As a result, the existing equipment, the clean room, can be used as it is, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. There is an advantage that it does not need to be used.

Further, by providing a door for opening and closing the periphery of the mounting table, when the door is opened, the open cassette and the wafer are transferred, and when the door is closed, a downward flow around the mounting table for the downward flow is performed. There is an effect that the flow path is defined, the turbulence of the downward flow is prevented, and the dust in the open cassette and its surroundings can be reliably pushed down.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing an installation state of a load port according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the load port of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 W wafer 1 load port 2 clean room 4 robot room 5 interface section (interface) 6 open cassette 7 mounting table 10 manipulator 12 rear door (door) 13 front door (door) 14 downward flow supply means

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Sasaki 14-3 Shinizumi, Narita-shi, Chiba Nogehira Industrial Park Inside Applied Materials Japan Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazutoshi Sawado 14-3 Shinizumi, Narita-shi, Chiba Pref. Applied Materials Japan Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5F031 CA02 DA01 FA01 FA03 FA09 FA15 GA02 NA02 NA07

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A load port connected to a robot room having a manipulator for supplying a wafer to a main frame and delivering a wafer in an open cassette conveyed in a clean room to the manipulator, wherein the load port is disposed in the clean room. And a loading table for receiving and placing an open cassette loaded with wafers, and an interface capable of connecting the loading table to the robot chamber. 2. The load port for an open cassette according to claim 1, further comprising a descending flow supply unit for supplying a descending air flow around the open cassette mounted on the mounting table. 3. The downflow supply means includes a door that opens and closes around the mounting table.
Load port for open cassette as described.