JP2002167036A - Device and method of carrying large board - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism and a method of delivering boards capable of carrying them in the standing position and the fallen position with the stabilized operation without generating the concentration of a load to a part of the board held by a board holding mechanism when standing and bringing down the board to the stabilized angle of inclination in a board delivery mechanism for a board delivery stage of a board carrying roller in a large board carrying device provided with a carriage for delivering the large boards at the board delivery stage outside a vacuum treatment chamber and the board holding mechanism for holding the board on the carriage. SOLUTION: In the large board carrying device provided with the carriage for delivering large boards at the board delivery stage outside of the vacuum treatment chamber and the board holding mechanism for holding the boards on the carriage, a folding type board delivery mechanism for standing a roller frame provided at the board delivery stage position of a board carrying roller to the stabilized angle of inclination separately from other board carrying roller parts to deliver the board to the board holding mechanism of the carriage is assembled in the carrying roller.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a plasma CV.
The present invention relates to a large-size substrate transfer device and a transfer method used for a large-size substrate vacuum processing apparatus for performing a process such as D, sputtering, or dry etching on a large-size substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for the purpose of manufacturing solar cells and the like,
There is an increasing need to uniformly, continuously, and mass-process large-sized substrates in a vacuum, such as plasma CVD, sputtering, and dry etching. The present inventors have applied for and disclosed a series of related art inventions so far, but there are many problems to be solved in each part of the vacuum processing apparatus,
In particular, one of the inventions was filed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-301271 for a substrate transfer apparatus for operating a substrate made of a large brittle material.

The main points of the prior application (unknown) will be described with reference to FIG.
At 01, the apparatus includes a vacuum processing chamber 110 for processing a substrate G under reduced pressure, and substrate transport carts 106A, 106B, 106C, and 1 for transferring substrates between the vacuum processing chamber.
06D, a substrate holding mechanism for supporting the substrate obliquely on the transport trolley, and an advance / retreat mechanism including a rail for allowing the substrate trolley to be moved into and out of the vacuum processing chamber 110 for operation. The substrate holding mechanism of the substrate carrier grasps the substrate G which has been conveyed by the rollers 103 by being tilted down on the substrate transfer stage 102 as shown in the figure, and stands up to an obliquely stable angle before proceeding to the vacuum processing chamber.

However, such a substrate transfer mechanism on the substrate transfer stage is made of a fragile thin material as the size of the substrate is increased. Therefore, when the holding mechanism on the side of the carrier is rotated and raised, the substrate is gripped. In some cases, the substrate may be damaged by the load concentrated on the portion where the substrate is formed, which affects the production yield and product quality.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier for transferring a large substrate to a substrate at a substrate transfer stage outside a vacuum processing chamber. In a large-sized substrate transfer device having a substrate holding mechanism for holding a substrate, in a substrate transfer mechanism of a substrate transfer stage of a substrate transfer roller, when the substrate is raised or tilted to a stable tilt angle, the substrate is held. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate delivery mechanism and a method capable of standing and falling down with stable operation without load being concentrated on a portion gripped by the mechanism.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a large-sized substrate having a carrier for transferring a large substrate on a substrate transfer stage outside a vacuum processing chamber, and a substrate holding mechanism for holding the substrate on the carrier. In the transfer device, the roller frame at the substrate transfer stage position of the substrate transfer roller separates from the other substrate transfer roller portions, stands up to a stable tilt angle, and transfers the substrate to the substrate holding mechanism of the transfer carriage. The transfer mechanism is incorporated in the transport roller.

[0007] That is, instead of the holding mechanism on the cart gripping and erecting the substrate as in the prior application, the present invention provides a substrate delivery stage in which a roller conveyor extends and is an end point. The roller frame itself at that portion stands up to the stable tilt angle together with the substrate, and incorporates a mechanism that approaches and approaches the receiving mechanism on the bogie side.

[0008] The present invention is further characterized in that the roller frame of the retractable substrate transfer mechanism is provided with a support means for supporting the lower end of the substrate on which the roller frame is loaded when the roller frame stands up to a stable tilt angle. I do. That is, a support for the substrate is provided on the roller frame at the lower end of the substrate so that the substrate does not slip down.

In the present invention, the roller frame of the retractable substrate delivery mechanism is advanced to the substrate holding mechanism of the carrier while the roller frame is standing up to the tilt stable angle, so that the roller frame is received and delivered at the time of delivery. An up-and-down mechanism that can be separated from the substrate holding mechanism in the upright state is provided.

That is, such an advance / retreat mechanism is provided as a mechanism for adjusting the positional relationship so that the retractable substrate transfer mechanism of the present invention can exchange a substrate with the substrate holding mechanism on the carriage side in a good cooperative relationship. Is preferred.

Further, according to the present invention, a large-sized substrate is received on a transfer trolley at a substrate transfer stage outside the vacuum processing chamber.
In a large-sized substrate transfer method for transferring a substrate while holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism on a transfer trolley, a roller frame on which the substrate transferred to the substrate transfer stage position of the substrate transfer roller is transferred to another substrate transfer device. It is characterized in that it is separated from the roller unit, rises up to a stable inclination angle, and is delivered to the substrate holding mechanism of the carrier.

Further, the present invention provides a large-size substrate transfer method for receiving a large-size substrate on a transfer trolley at a substrate processing position in a vacuum processing chamber, holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism on the transfer trolley, and transferring the substrate. Separating the roller frame at the substrate transfer stage position of the transfer roller from the other substrate transfer roller portions to stand up to a stable tilt angle, and receiving the substrate in the substrate holding mechanism of the transfer trolley from the substrate holding mechanism to the roller frame. It is characterized by.

[0013] That is, the present invention is characterized in that the folding substrate delivery method of the present invention can be applied to both loading and unloading on a cart.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the shapes, dimensions, materials, relative arrangements, and the like of the products described in the present embodiment are not intended to limit the present invention to them unless otherwise specified, but are merely illustrative examples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a large-sized substrate transfer device in which a folding substrate transfer mechanism is incorporated in a transfer roller.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a roller frame on a substrate transfer stage, 2 is a transport roller for horizontally transporting the substrate G, 3 is a device for adjusting the positional relationship between the roller frame and the substrate holding mechanism 4 and the like. , A substrate transport mechanism substrate holding mechanism on the substrate cart, 5 a vacuum processing chamber gate for the substrate cart to enter and exit the vacuum processing chamber, 6 a substrate from the substrate holding mechanism 4 on the board to the substrate G
A vacuum processing chamber in which the substrate G is vacuum-processed;
Is an LM guide, and 8 is a rotation axis which is the center of a rotation movement in which the roller frame jumps up and down.

The substrate G transported by the transport roller 2 stops and waits at the roller frame 1 at the substrate transfer stage. The roller frame 1 in the substrate transfer stage is separated from the entire roller conveyor, and is driven by a cylinder 10 to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 8.

The holding mechanism 4 of the substrate carriage has a mechanism capable of holding the substrate at a stable tilt angle, and when the roller frame 1 rotates about the rotation shaft 8 and stands up to the same angle and approaches, the substrate frame is held. A gripping mechanism (not shown) including gripping claws for touching and gripping G is also provided.

As described above, during the transfer operation, the entire frame on which the roller frame 1 is mounted faces the substrate carriage so that the distance between the upright roller frame 1 and the substrate carriage is at an optimum distance. LM guide 7 so as to be able to slide forward and backward.

Thus, the cart having received the substrate G enters the vacuum processing chamber 6 through the vacuum processing chamber gate 5 by means of a bogie advancing / retreating mechanism (not shown), and after vacuum processing, again receives the substrate in the vacuum processing chamber. Returning to the substrate transfer stage, the empty roller frame 1 stands up again and approaches the truck, and the truck delivers the substrate, and the roller frame 1 is transferred.
The substrate is placed diagonally on top, the roller frame 1 falls down to the horizontal position, and the substrate is transported by the transport roller 2 which is driven to rotate.

FIG. 2 shows one of the folding substrate transfer mechanisms of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mechanism for moving a roller frame 1 in a side view of the example.

In this example, a substrate supporting claw 12 is provided at the right end of the roller frame 1 on the substrate loading surface under the roller frame when it stands up, so that the substrate does not slip down. Further, a roller frame advance / retreat mechanism, specifically, an air cylinder is provided so that the roller frame 1 itself can advance / retreat to the carriage substrate holding mechanism.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, a large-sized carrier including a carrier for transferring a large substrate to a substrate transfer stage outside the vacuum processing chamber and a substrate holding mechanism for holding the substrate on the carrier. In the substrate transfer mechanism of the substrate transfer stage of the substrate transfer roller in the substrate transfer device, when the substrate is raised or tilted to a stable tilt angle, the load concentrates on a portion where the substrate is held by the substrate holding mechanism. It is possible to provide a mechanism for transferring a substrate that can stand upright and fall down with a stable operation without any troubles and improve the production yield.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a large-sized substrate transfer device in which a folding type substrate transfer mechanism is incorporated in a transfer roller.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a roller frame moving mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a trayless oblique substrate transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Roller frame 2 Transport roller 3 Transport conveyor main body moving device 4 Substrate transport trolley substrate holding mechanism 5 Vacuum processing chamber gate 6 Vacuum processing chamber 7 LM guide 10 Air cylinder 11 Roller frame advance / retreat mechanism 12 Substrate support claw 101 Trayless oblique substrate transport device 106A , B, C, D Carriage cart 108A Cart rail 110 Vacuum processing chamber G Substrate

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) H01L 21/68 H01L 21/302 B (72) Inventor Naoyuki Miyazono 1-1, Akunoura-cho, Nagasaki-shi Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Nagasaki Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. In-house F term (reference) 4K029 AA24 CA05 KA01 KA03 4K030 CA17 GA12 LA16 5F004 BC06 5F031 CA05 FA02 FA07 FA13 FA18 GA53 LA15 MA28 MA29 MA32 5F045 EN04

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A large-sized substrate transfer apparatus comprising: a transfer carriage for transferring a large substrate on a substrate transfer stage outside a vacuum processing chamber; and a substrate holding mechanism for holding the substrate on the transfer carriage. The roller frame at the substrate transfer stage position separates from the other substrate transfer roller sections and stands up to a stable tilt angle, and the transfer roller incorporates a retractable substrate transfer mechanism that transfers the substrate to the substrate holding mechanism of the transfer cart. A large substrate transfer device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a supporting means for supporting a lower end of the substrate on which the roller frame is loaded when the roller frame of the retractable substrate transfer mechanism stands up to a stable inclination angle. 2. The method for transferring a large-sized substrate according to 1. 3. The roller frame of the retractable substrate transfer mechanism is moved up and down facing the substrate holding mechanism of the carrier in a state in which the roller frame is raised up to a stable tilt angle, so that the roller frame is in the upright state when receiving and transferring. 5. The large-sized substrate transfer device according to claim 1, further comprising an advancing / retracting mechanism that can be separated from the substrate holding mechanism. 4. A large-sized substrate transfer method for receiving a substrate on a transfer trolley at a substrate transfer stage outside the vacuum processing chamber, holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism on the transfer trolley, and transferring the substrate. The roller frame on which the substrate transported to the substrate transfer stage position is placed is separated from the other substrate transport roller parts, and is erected to a tilt stable angle,
A large-sized substrate transfer method, wherein the transfer is performed to a substrate holding mechanism of a transfer trolley. 5. A large-sized substrate transfer method for receiving a large-sized substrate on a transfer trolley at a substrate processing position in a vacuum processing chamber, holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism on the transfer trolley, and transferring the substrate. The roller frame at the transfer stage position is separated from the other substrate transporting roller portions to stand up to a tilt stable angle, and the substrate in the substrate holding mechanism of the transport trolley is received by the roller frame from the substrate holding mechanism. Substrate transfer method.