JP2002246441A - Wafer transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer transfer device, where cleaning in the device can be improved. SOLUTION: The wafer transfer device 10 has an opener 20 and a loader 30. The opener 20 is provided with an elevating box 22. The elevating box 22 has a support stand 28 on which an SMIF pod 200 is placed. An exhaust fan 29 is arranged below the elevating box 22. The elevating box 22 forms a small space and air in the small space is discharged by the exhaust fan 29. Air cleaned by a cleaning fan 46 generates flow passing in the elevating box 22. Even if the elevating box 22 rises, capacity in the elevating box 22 does not change. Thus, the flow of cleaned air is generated in the elevating box 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a wafer transfer apparatus for transferring a wafer by transferring a wafer cassette of an SMIF pod.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a wafer is processed in a clean room in which dust causing element defects is controlled in order to improve the yield. But,
In today's high integration of elements and miniaturization of circuits,
The reality is that it is becoming technically and costly difficult to realize a clean room for managing small dust.

[0003] Therefore, as a method for improving the cleanliness of the clean room, there is a demand for a technical means for increasing the cleanliness only in a local space surrounding the wafer, and carrying and processing the wafer. As a means for that, an openable and closable SMI with a clean inside
F (Standard mechanical interface)
hanical InterFace) A wafer transfer device using a pod is provided.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the wafer transfer apparatus.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 27 is a layout view in the clean room 1000, FIG. 28 is a perspective view of the wafer transfer device, and FIG. 29 is a sectional view of the SMIF pod. As shown in FIG. 27, the wafer transfer device 100
An opener 110 for taking out or housing the wafer cassette 203 from the pod 200; and a loader for carrying the taken-out wafer cassette 203 to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300, and for carrying the wafer cassette 203 from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 to the opener 110. 120. Further, as shown in FIG. 27, the arrangement of the devices in each manufacturing process is such that the opener 110, the loader 120, and the semiconductor manufacturing device 300 are arranged in this order when viewed from the work passage side.

[0005] The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 is, for example, a semiconductor exposure apparatus, an etching processing apparatus, or a heat treatment apparatus. Then, as shown in FIG. 27, the wafer transfer device 100 and the semiconductor manufacturing device 300 are arranged in a clean room 1000 with a work passage secured between the devices.

As shown in FIG. 29A, the SMIF pod 200 has a cover 20 having an opening 201A on the lower side.
1, a bottom plate 202 for covering the opening, and this bottom plate 202
A plurality of wafers 20 are formed integrally and detachably on the
4 (φ200: 8 inches). This SMIF pod 200 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9B, the wafer cassette 203 placed on the bottom plate 202 is inserted from the opening 201A of the cover 201, and the opening 201A is covered with the bottom plate 202. As a result, the inside of the SMIF pod 200 is closed.

[0007] As shown in FIG.
The upper plate of the housing 112 is the mounting table 111. At a predetermined position of the mounting table 111, the SMIF pod 200
Is provided. Opener 110
Has a mechanism for moving the latch key of the bottom plate 202 of the SMIF pod 200 mounted on the mounting portion to open the opening 201A. Also, the opener 110
An elevating mechanism for taking out the wafer cassette 203 from the SMIF pod 200 through the opening 201A and lowering the same is provided.

[0008] The loader 120 receives the wafer cassette 203 taken out by the opener 110 and supplies the wafer cassette 203 to the cassette receiving portion of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 or the wafer cassette 203 from the cassette receiving section of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300. take out,
It has a mechanism for supplying to the opener 110.

[0009]

The opener 110 in the above-described conventional wafer transfer device 100 is
The wafer cassette 203 is lowered to clean room 10
00, the wafer cassette 203 is delivered to the loader 120 at a low position near the floor. Then, the loader 120 raises the wafer cassette 230 and supplies the wafer cassette 230 to the cassette receiving section of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Therefore, there is a risk that the wafer 204 supported by the wafer cassette 230 may come into contact with low-clean air near the floor of the clean room 1000, and that it takes time to raise and lower the wear cassette 203. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a wafer transfer apparatus capable of increasing the cleanliness of the apparatus and quickly moving a wafer cassette.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention comprises a bottom plate on which a wafer cassette supporting a wafer is placed, and a cover for covering the bottom plate and shielding the wafer cassette from the outside air. An opener for opening or housing the wafer cassette with respect to a cassette holding container comprising: a cassette holding container and a cassette receiving portion of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus when the cassette wafer is opened from the cassette holding container by the opener; A loader that transports the wafer cassette, the opener has a bottom plate fixing portion that fixes a bottom plate of the cassette holding container, a support table that supports the cassette holding container from below, and the cassette on an upper surface. A bottom plate passage opening through which the bottom plate of the holding container can pass and around the bottom plate passage opening A cover supporting portion for supporting the cover from below, a cassette passage opening on the side surface, a vertically movable box that can move up and down in a state surrounding the support table on which the wafer cassette is mounted, and An elevating box drive mechanism for moving the elevating box up and down, wherein the loader is driven up by the elevating box drive mechanism, and when the cassette passage opening reaches a predetermined take-out position, the loader is supported. A loading mechanism for transporting a wafer cassette between a table and the cassette receiving section is provided.

The above structure is characterized in that the lifting box drive mechanism is arranged in an opener.

In the above construction, an air supply means for supplying clean air to the inside of the loader housing is provided on the upper surface of the housing of the loader, and the air supply means is provided on the bottom surface of the lift box by the air supply means. And an exhaust means for exhausting the clean air supplied into the elevating box through the cassette passage opening to the outside of the elevating box.

In the above structure, the loader is disposed facing a front surface having a cassette receiving portion in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and the opener is disposed on a right side, a left side, or both right and left sides of the loader toward the front surface. It is characterized by being arranged.

In the above structure, the loading mechanism includes an arm mechanism for horizontally moving the gripped wafer cassette.

In the above-mentioned structure, a shielding plate for forming an air opening is provided between the opener and the loader in order to communicate the air passage of the opener with the air passage of the loader.

In the above structure, a shielding plate forming an air opening between the opener and the bottom plate fixing portion is provided below the air passage so as to communicate the air passage of the opener and the loader. Is on the lower side and the wafer cassette is covered by the cover,
When the air opening and the cassette passage opening communicate with each other, clean air flows from the loader side into the lift box through a lower air passage formed below the bottom plate fixing part, and the lift box When the wafer cassette is opened from the cover while moving upward, the lower air passage is formed by an upper air passage formed above the bottom plate fixing portion by the cassette passage opening. When clean air flows from the loader into the lift box, and the lift box moves upward and the cassette passage opening appears in the horizontal direction, the lower air passage is blocked and the upper air passage is blocked. Thus, clean air flows from the loader into the lifting box.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A. First, a wafer transfer device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows a clean room 1
000, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wafer transfer device, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a part of the opener 20 and the loader 30.

The wafer transfer device 10 includes a SMIF pod 2
00, an opener 20 for taking out or storing the wafer cassette 203, and a wafer cassette 2 taken out.
03 is the cassette receiving section 30 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300.
1 (see FIGS. 15 and 13) and a loader 30 for transporting the wafer cassette 203 taken out of the cassette receiving portion 301 to the opener 20. In each manufacturing process, as shown in FIG.
When viewed from the work passage side, the loader 30 is disposed in front of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300, and the opener 20 is disposed on the right side of the loader 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, the opener 20 has a lifting box 22 housed in a housing 21. The lifting box 22 includes an outer box 23A and an inner box 23.
B, and a small space is formed in the box main body 23. A cassette passage opening 23C that opens toward the loader 30 is formed on the opening side surface 23A1 of the outer box 23A. The upper plate of the lifting box 22 has a bottom plate passage opening 2 through which the bottom plate 202 of the SMIF pod 200 passes.
4 are formed, and the periphery of the bottom plate passage opening 24 is SM
The cover support portion 25 supports the cover 201 of the IF pod 200 from below. Loader 3 at the end of the upper plate
A tongue piece 26 is formed so as to overlap the inside of the side surface of the housing 31 via the opening 31A. A box elevating mechanism 27 (shown in FIG. 9) is provided outside the housing 21. The height of the housing 21 is determined by the operator using the SMIF pod 2.
The height dimension (for example, 45 cm) is lower than the height (for example, about 90 cm) at which 00 is easily placed. Further, among the surfaces of the inner box body 23B of the box main body 23, at least a side surface 23B1 facing the opening side surface 23A1 has an insertion hole 23E provided with a plurality of fins 23D facing downward as shown in FIG. Are provided in the width direction. These insertion holes 23E discharge the air in the inner box 23B into the space between the outer box 23B and the fins 23D.
Directs the flow of air downward.

Further, a support 28 is arranged in the housing 21. The support base 28 has a starting end fixed, and a front end extending toward the vicinity of the bottom plate passage opening 24.
And a bottom plate fixing portion 28B formed at the tip of the support 28A and fixing the bottom plate 202. This support 28
A guide groove 28C extending in the length direction is formed on the side surface of A. On the other hand, on the bottom plate of the lifting box 22, an exhaust fan 29 for discharging the air in the lifting box 22 into the housing 21 is provided. The elevating box 22 is moved up and down by the box elevating mechanism 27 while surrounding the support base 28.

Here, the structure of the box elevating mechanism 27 is as follows.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of the box elevating mechanism 27 in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view as seen from the direction of arrows EE in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a direction of arrows FF in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows arrangement | positioning of each part seen from FIG. The box elevating mechanism 27 includes a drive shaft 272, a drive motor 27
4 and an elevating unit 275. The drive shaft 272 is supported at both ends by bearings 271,271.
A male screw part 272A is engraved on the peripheral surface thereof, and a pulley 272B is fixed to the starting end side. As shown in FIG. 6, the drive motor 274 has a pulley 274A fixed to its rotating shaft 274A.
The V-belt 273 is wound between the pulley 274A and the pulley 272B of the drive shaft 272. As a result, the drive shaft 272 is connected to the rotation shaft 274A. Then, the rotation shaft 274A of the drive motor 274 transmits the rotation force to the drive shaft 272. The lifting unit 275 includes the lifting box 22
Is fixed between the outer box 23A and the inner box 23B,
A female screw part 275A screwed into the male screw part 272A of the drive shaft 272 is formed. Then, using the operation in which the male screw part 272A is screwed into the female screw part 275A when the drive shaft 272 rotates, the lift part 275 is raised and lowered by the rotation of the drive shaft 272A. Thus, the lifting box 2
2 will be raised and lowered. In order to reduce the frictional force between the male screw part 272A and the female screw part 275A, a circulation path in which a plurality of balls are arranged may be formed in the elevating part 275 to form a ball screw structure. Further, drive shaft 2
72 and the elevating unit 275 are not exposed to the outside,
It is covered with a sealing member (not shown). Guide part 276
Engages with the guide groove 28B of the column 28A of the support 28, thereby restricting the rotation of the lifting box 22 caused by the rotation of the drive shaft 272. This guide portion 276
Moves up and down while sliding in the guide groove 28B of the column 28 as the elevating box 22 moves up and down. Each part of the box elevating mechanism 27 is arranged in a dead space of the opener 20, as shown in FIG. In addition, the drive motor 274, the V-belt 273, the elevating unit 275, and the like are located outside the inner box 23B of the elevating box 22. For this reason, dust generated by these operations is generated by the inner box 23B.
To prevent the clean air from getting dirty.

Returning to FIG. 2, the loader 30 is
1 has a height dimension higher than that of the housing 21 of the opener 20, and an opening 31 </ b> A for the elevating box 22 to go up and down is formed on a side surface of the housing 31 on the opener 20 side. In the housing 31, the wafer cassette 203 placed on the support table 28 is gripped and supplied to the cassette receiving section 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300, or the wafer cassette 203 in the cassette receiving section 301 is placed in the opener 2.
There is provided a loading mechanism for supplying to zero. The loading mechanism includes an arm mechanism 32 (see FIG. 8) for moving the wafer cassette 203 taken out by the opener 20 in the front-rear, left-right, and horizontal directions, and an arm for moving the arm supporting portion 41 of the arm mechanism 32 in the up-down direction. The elevating mechanism 40, the arm mechanism 32 and the arm elevating mechanism 40 are connected in the longitudinal direction of the housing 31 (the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300).
Arm moving mechanism 4 for moving in the direction parallel to the front surface of the
5 (not shown in FIG. 8).

A purifying fan 46 is provided above the housing 31.
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the purifying fan 46 has a fan 46A and a filter 46B. The purifying fan 46A purifies the air in the clean room 1000 sucked into the housing 31 by the filter 46B, and purifies the air with high cleanliness. Air is supplied into the housing 31.

The arm lifting / lowering mechanism 40 moves the arm supporting portion 41 up and down along a column 42 (see FIG. 8),
The arm mechanism 32 is moved up and down. In the present embodiment, the grip portion 33 of the arm mechanism 32 reaches the cassette receiving section 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 in a state where the arm mechanism 32 is moved upward by the arm elevating mechanism 40. At this time, the height dimension of the cassette receiving portion 301 is, for example, 110 cm.

Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the arm mechanism 32 includes a holding portion 33 for holding the wafer cassette 203,
A lower arm 34 having a gripper 33 attached to a tip thereof;
5, an elbow joint 36 connecting the lower arm 34 and the upper arm 35,
And a shoulder joint 37 connecting the lower arm 34 to the arm support 41. The bending of the elbow joint 36 and the turning around the shoulder joint 37 are performed by a motor (not shown).
Here, the turning center of the shoulder joint 37 is referred to as a turning axis O of the arm mechanism 32. Also, in the gripping portion 33,
It is rotatably supported at the tip of the lower arm 34.

Further, between the opener 20 and the loader 30, as shown in FIG. 3, a shielding plate 47 forming an air opening 47A between the opener 20 and the bottom plate fixing portion 28B is provided extending from the lower side. ing. When the lifting box 22 is on the lower side, as shown in FIG. 3, the air opening 47A and the cassette passage opening 23C communicate with each other to connect the inside of the opener 20 and the loader 30 to the lower air passage. 48 is the bottom plate fixing portion 28
B is formed below B. In addition, when the lifting box 22 is in the ascending state, as shown in FIG. 25, the lower air passage 48 is formed above the bottom plate fixing portion 28B,
The upper air passage 49 is formed by the cassette passage opening 23C.
Are formed, and the inside of the opener 20 and the inside of the loader 30 are connected by these passages 48 and 49. Further, when the lifting box 22 is on the upper side, the inside of the opener 20 and the inside of the loader 30 are connected by the upper air passage 49 as shown in FIG.

Next, a control system of the wafer transfer apparatus 10 will be described with reference to a control block diagram of FIG.
The controller 50 is configured by a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like. The input side of the controller 50 is connected to a sensor 51 provided in each part and an input part 52 such as a keyboard for inputting the movement of each part. On the output side, a box elevating mechanism 27 of the opener 20, an arm mechanism 32 of the loader 30,
The arm lifting mechanism 40 and the arm moving mechanism 45 are connected. The ROM of the controller 50 is a read-only program memory, and the CPU is a ROM.
By executing the control program read out from the CPU, the box elevating mechanism 27, the arm mechanism 32, the arm elevating mechanism 40, and the arm moving mechanism 45 are controlled.

B. Operation of Embodiment Next, a transfer operation of the wafer cassette 203 by the wafer transfer device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 14 are cross-sectional views of a main part of the opener 20 and the loader 30 cut in the horizontal direction. FIGS. 15 and 16 are cross-sectional views of the loader 30 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 cut in the front-rear direction. 17 to 24.
6 is a plan view showing the movement of the arm mechanism 32. FIG. In addition,
For the sake of convenience, in each drawing, in order to emphasize the characteristic portion of each part, dimensions and the like are different from actual ones in each drawing.
b and c show the positions of the pivot axis O of the arm mechanism 32 moved by the arm moving mechanism 45, where the position a is the initial position and the position b is the gripper 33 and the wafer cassette 203
Is a cassette capture position at which the cassette is held, and a position c is a cassette transfer position. Further, in the present embodiment, the initial position a is the arm 3
The arm folding position for contracting the arms 4 and 35 and the cassette transfer position c are the arm extending positions for extending the arms 34 and 35.

First, as shown in FIG. 10, the worker places the SMIF pod 200 on the opener 20 and
2 is fixed to the bottom plate fixing portion 28B. Controller 50
Detects that the SMIF pod 200 is disposed on the bottom plate fixing portion 28B by the sensor 51, and starts the transport operation. At this time, as shown in FIG.
The pivot axis O of the arm mechanism 32 is at the initial position a, the lower arm 34 and the upper arm 35 are bent at the elbow joint 36, and the grip 33 is located on the center line between the pivot axis O and the wafer cassette 203.

The controller 50 causes the opening 201A of the SMIF pod 200 to be opened by the opener 20, and activates the box lifting mechanism 27 (drive motor 274) of the opener 20 to move the lifting box 22 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. To raise. At this time, since the opening 201A of the cover 201 is supported by the cover support 25 of the elevating box 22, only the cover 201 of the SMIF pod 200 rises together with the elevating box 22. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 11, the wafer cassette 203 and the bottom plate 202 are taken out from the cover 201, and the wafer cassette 203 and the bottom plate 202 are left on the bottom plate fixing portion 28B of the support base 28. And the box lifting mechanism 2
7 raises the lifting box 22 on which the cover 201 is placed to the box lifting position A. This box rise position A
Is a position where the wafer cassette 203 appears through the cassette passage opening 23C of the elevating box 22 when viewed from the gripping portion 33 of the arm mechanism 32.

Next, the controller 50 causes the arm moving mechanism 45 to move the arm mechanism 32 toward the opener 20 (lateral direction) as shown by arrows in FIGS. The cassette is moved to the cassette capturing position b (FIGS. 12 and 18). As a result, the lower arm 34 is connected to the opener 2 through the cassette passage opening 23C.
0, and the grip 33 is positioned above the wafer cassette 203. Then, the grip 33 of the arm mechanism 32
Captures the wafer cassette 203 by grasping the upper part of the wafer cassette 203.

The controller 50 moves the arm mechanism 32 with the gripper 33 capturing the wafer cassette 203 by the arm moving mechanism 45 of the loader 30 as shown by the arrows in FIGS. O is returned to the initial position a (FIGS. 13 and 19). As a result, the wafer cassette 203 is taken out from the bottom plate 202, pulled out in the horizontal direction, and housed in the loader 30.

After that, the controller 50 keeps the wafer cassette 203 held by the
As shown by the arrow, the arm mechanism 32 is raised by the arm raising / lowering mechanism 40 to adjust the wafer cassette 203 to the height of the cassette receiving portion 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300, and the arm mechanism 32 is moved to a predetermined arm raising position B.
(Fig. 14).

Next, the controller 50 starts the bending operation of the elbow joint 36 as shown by the arrow in FIG.
Then, as shown in FIG. 20, when the angle of the upper arm 35 reaches the predetermined angle θ, the operation proceeds to the next operation. Here, the predetermined angle θ
Is that even if the upper arm 35 is fixed and the lower arm 34 is swiveled about the elbow joint 36, the tip of the lower arm 34
The angle does not contact the wall of the housing 31. Also,
At the predetermined angle θ, the position of the elbow joint 36 extends beyond the depth width of the loader 30 and enters the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 side, but this position is a position where the part where the elbow joint 36 or the like enters does not hit. I have. As shown by the arrow in FIG. 20, the controller 50 performs a cooperative operation of bending the elbow joint 36 while rotating the shoulder joint 37 clockwise, thereby maintaining the angle of the upper arm 35 at the predetermined angle θ.
The lower arm 34 is folded with respect to the upper arm 35 to position the grip 33 on the pivot axis O (FIG. 21). Further, the controller 50 rotates the upper arm 35 and the lower arm 34 in the clockwise direction (the arrow in FIG. 21) about the shoulder joint 37 by the angle θ (FIGS. 15 and 22).

Next, the controller 50 moves the turning axis O from the initial position a to the cassette transfer position c by the arm moving mechanism 45 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 22 (FIG. 23).

Thereafter, the loader 30 extends the elbow joint 36 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 23, and pivots the upper arm 35 counterclockwise and the lower arm 34 clockwise. Thus, by extending the elbow joint 36, the grip portion 33 reaches the cassette receiving portion 301 on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 as shown in FIGS. As described above, the loader 30 of the wafer transfer apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is capable of moving the wafer cassette 203 accommodated in the opener 20 to approximately 90
It is supplied to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 at the position of the degree.

The operation of the wafer transfer apparatus 10 for supplying the wafer cassette 203 to the cassette receiving section 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 has been described.
When the cover 03 is housed in the cover 201 of the opener 20, the operation can be performed by performing the operation opposite to the above-described operation, and the description of the operation will be omitted.

C. Next, the flow of air in the opener 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 25, and 26. 3 shows a state in which the lifting box 22 is housed in the housing 21 without being raised, FIG. 25 shows a state in which the lifting box 22 is being raised,
FIG. 26 shows the flow of air when the lifting box 22 has reached the box lifting position A.

C-1. When the lifting box 22 is on the lower side As shown in FIG. 3, in the loader 30, the clean air from the purification fan 46 flows from the upper side to the lower side in the housing 31. In the opener 20, the elevating box 2 is moved by the exhaust fan 29 of the elevating box 22.
Since the air in the small space formed by the air outlet 2 is discharged to the outside (via the housing 21), the purified air on the loader 30 side is supplied to the air opening 47A and the cassette passage opening 2A.
It will be supplied into the opener 20 via the lower air passage 48 formed by 3C. Also, still SM
Since the cover 201 of the IF pod 200 is not detached,
SMIF pod 200 is in a sealed state.

C-2. Next, as shown in FIG. 25, when the elevating box 22 is raised by the box elevating mechanism 27, the cover 201 of the SMIF pod 200 is detached from the bottom plate 202, and the volume in the opener 20 is reduced. To increase. However, since the small space formed in the lifting box 22 does not change, the exhaust fan 29
Of air discharged from the loader 30 side. At this time, the air in the loader 30 is supplied into the opener 20 via a lower air passage 48 formed below the bottom plate fixing portion 28B and an upper air passage 49 formed above. As a result, the wafer cassette 203 placed on the support table 28 is stably exposed to the purified air.

C-3. When the lifting box 22 is raised Further, as shown in FIG. 26, when the lifting box 22 is raised to the box lifting position A, the volume in the lifting box 22 does not change as in FIG. On the other hand, the air opening 47A of the shielding plate 47A is shielded by the opening side surface 23A1 of the lifting box 22, and the upper air passage 49 formed by the cassette passage opening 23C.
Thereby, the inside of the opener 20 and the inside of the loader 30 are communicated. For this reason, the purified air from the loader 30 side is supplied into the lifting box 22 via the upper air passage 49. As a result, the wafer cassette 203 placed on the support table 28 is stably exposed to the purified air.

As described above, the purification fan 46 is provided above the loader 30, and the exhaust fan 2 is mounted on the bottom plate of the lifting box 22.
9 allows the clean air supplied from the loader 30 to pass through the lift box 22
The air is circulated to be exhausted from the bottom side. As a result, the inside of the elevating box 22 is always sufficiently filled with clean air having a constant pressure. In addition, the lifting box 22 moves upward and the SMIF pod 200
When the cover 201 is removed from the bottom plate 202, clean air can be positively supplied from the upper air passage 49 to the wafer cassette 203.
03 can be supplied with clean air having a high degree of cleanliness.

D. As described above, in the wafer transfer device 10 according to the present embodiment, the purification fan 46 that supplies clean air to the inside of the housing 31 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 31 of the loader 30, and the opening inside the housing 31 is opened. An exhaust fan 29 is provided below the elevating box 22 having a cassette passage opening 23C. The clean air on the loader 30 side positively flows into the elevating box 22 by the exhaust fan 29, so that the degree of cleanness in the elevating box 22 can be kept high regardless of the elevating position of the elevating box 22. As a result, the wafers 204 accommodated in the wafer cassette 203 are stably exposed to clean air having a high degree of cleanliness.

When the lifting box 22 moves upward, clean air is actively supplied into the lifting box 22 through the upper air passage 49 due to the shape of the lifting box 22 and the shielding plate 47. You. This allows the wafer cassette 203 to be constantly exposed to the air having a higher degree of cleanliness.

Further, the box elevating mechanism 27 for elevating the elevating box 22 is arranged in a dead space inside the opener 20 to prevent the box elevating mechanism 27 from jumping out of the opener 20 and to provide a working space for the operator. Can be secured. Further, a portion of the box elevating mechanism 27 where dust is likely to be generated due to mechanical operation is outside the inner box 23B, so that the inner box 23B
It is possible to prevent dust from entering the inside, and to secure a clean degree in the elevating box 22. Further, the drive shaft 27
By covering the elevating part 2 and the elevating part 275 with the sealing member, it is possible to prevent dust generated by a mechanical operation from entering the elevating box 23, and to maintain a higher degree of cleanness in the elevating box 23.

The opener 20 raises the elevating box 22 supporting the cover 201, and moves the wafer cassette 203 in the elevating box 22 to the cassette passage opening 2.
3C makes it possible to take out by taking out in the horizontal direction. As described above, the wafer transfer device 10
Wafer cassette 20 placed on bottom plate 202 of pod 200
Since the wafer cassette 3 is moved only in the horizontal direction and is taken out, the wafer cassette 203 does not have to be exposed to the air near the lower portion of the opener 20 which may be low in cleanliness.

The opener 20 according to the present embodiment is
The removal of the wafer cassette 203 is performed by pulling up the cover 201, and the opener according to the related art is performed by lowering the wafer cassette 203 with respect to the cover 201. For this reason, the distance by which the arm mechanism 32 capturing the wafer cassette 203 is raised to the wafer receiving portion 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 is much shorter in the present embodiment than in the related art, and the arm lifting mechanism 40 The operating distance becomes shorter. As a result, the transfer time of the wafer cassette 203 can be reduced. Moreover,
Since the wafer transfer device 10 in the opener 20 is disposed outside the elevating box 22, dust generated by a mechanical operation is reduced from entering the elevating box 22, and the cleanness in the elevating box 22 is improved. Can be enhanced.

Further, in the present embodiment, by arranging the opener 20 beside the loader 30, as shown in FIG. 1, the width of the wafer transfer device 10 can be reduced as compared with the prior art, and Occupied area is reduced. Further, a wide working path formed between the devices installed in the clean room 1000 can be secured.

Further, the arm mechanism 32 of the loader 30
Under the control of the controller 50, it is possible to carry the cartridge to the cassette receiving portion 301 at a different position.
Thus, even when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 has a plurality of cassette receiving sections 301, the wafer cassettes 203 sequentially taken out by one opener 20 can be transferred to different cassette receiving sections 301. . In this case, the controller 50 may make the cassette transfer position c correspond to the plurality of cassette receiving units 301 sequentially.

E. Modifications The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications as described below are possible.

(1) In the above embodiment, the case where the height position at which the wafer cassette 203 is taken out from the opener 20 by the loader 30 is set lower than the height position with respect to the cassette receiving portion 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 has been described. However, it is also possible to make the height positions equal, and in this case, the moving distance of the arm elevating mechanism 40 can be set to the minimum movement of lifting and lowering when taking out the cassette.

(2) In the wafer transfer device 10, the loader 3
Although the case where the opener 20 is disposed on the right side with respect to 0 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the opener 20 may be disposed on the left side or both right and left sides.

(3) In the above embodiment, the case where the lower arm 34 cannot be turned within the depth of the loader 30 when the lower arm 34 is folded about the elbow joint 36 has been exemplified. In such a case, it is not necessary to perform the coordinated control of the elbow joint 36 and the shoulder joint 37 so as to keep the upper arm 35 at the predetermined angle θ after moving the pivot axis O to the initial position a. Thus, by omitting the cooperative control, the wafer cassette 203 can be moved between the opener 20 and the cassette receiving portion 301 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 having a positional relationship of about 90 degrees.

(4) Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the position of the loader 30 is controlled by the controller 50, so that the arm mechanism 32 of the loader 30 can teach a plurality of arbitrary positions according to the situation. Or it can be programmed.

(5) The operation of moving the wafer cassette 203 in the loader 30 is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Even if the elbow joint 36 and the shoulder joint 37 of the arm mechanism 32 are simultaneously rotated, the arm elevating mechanism 40 can be used. The arm mechanism 32 may be operated while the arm mechanism 32 is being moved up and down. In short, the arms 34, 3 of the arm mechanism 32
When bending and extending 5, the elbow joint 36 may be operated by protruding toward the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 300 at a position where there is no obstruction.

(6) In the above embodiment, the box elevating mechanism 27 is arranged outside the elevating box 22 inside the opener 20, but the present invention is not limited to this.
It may be arranged outside. In this case, since a mechanism that causes dust to be generated is not arranged in the opener 20, the cleanliness in the lifting box 22 can be further increased.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A flow of clean air is generated from a cassette holding container accommodating a wafer cassette supporting wafers in an elevating box for lifting only the cover. Thereby, the degree of cleanness in the wafer transfer device is increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an arrangement view showing an arrangement in a clean room where a wafer transfer device and the like according to an embodiment of the present invention are arranged.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a part of the opener and the loader according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a D part in FIG. 3 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of the box elevating mechanism in FIG. 3 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view as seen from the direction of arrows EE in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a view as seen from the direction of arrows FF in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an arm mechanism used in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device following FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device following FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device following FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device following FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a partial sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device following FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a partial sectional view showing the operation of the wafer transfer device following FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a plan view following FIG. 17 showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a plan view following FIG. 18 showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a plan view following FIG. 19 illustrating the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a plan view showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the embodiment, following FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a plan view following FIG. 21 showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a plan view showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the embodiment, following FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a plan view following FIG. 23 showing the operation of the arm mechanism used in the wafer transfer device according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the lifting box is raised in the opener according to the embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the lifting box is raised to the box lifting position in the opener according to the embodiment.

FIG. 27 is an arrangement diagram showing an arrangement in a clean room in which a wafer transfer device and the like according to the related art are arranged.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a conventional wafer transfer device.

FIG. 29 shows a SMIF pod.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Wafer transfer apparatus 20 ... Opener 21, 31 ... Case 22 ... Elevating box 23 ... Cassette passage opening 24 ... Bottom plate passage opening 25 ... Cover support Part 27: Box elevating mechanism 272: Drive shaft 272A: Male screw part 274: Drive motor 275: Elevating part 275A: Female screw part 276: Guide part 28: Support base 28A · · · Support 28B · · · Bottom plate fixing part 28C · · · Guide groove 29 · · · Exhaust fan 30 · · · Loader 32 · · · Arm mechanism 33 · · · Holder 34 · · · Lower arm 35 · · · ·・ Upper arm 36 ・ ・ ・ Elbow joint 37 ・ ・ ・ Shoulder joint 40 ・ ・ ・ Arm raising / lowering mechanism 41 ・ ・ ・ Arm support part 45 ・ ・ ・ Arm moving mechanism 46 ・ ・ ・ Purification fan 50 ・ ・ ・ Controller

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuo Natsume 150, Motoyashiki, Miyamachi, Toyohashi-shi, Aichi Prefecture Shinko Electric Machinery Co., Ltd., Toyohashi Plant (72) Inventor Yasuyoshi Kitazawa 150, Yomiyashiki, Miyamachi, Toyohashi-shi, Aichi Prefecture Shinko 5F031 CA02 DA01 DA09 EA14 FA03 FA07 FA14 GA19 GA30 GA43 GA47 GA48 GA49 GA60 LA12 LA13 NA02 NA03 NA10 NA16 NA18 5F046 AA21 CD01 CD04 CD06

Claims (7)

[Claims] An opener for opening or storing a wafer cassette in a cassette holding container including a bottom plate on which a wafer cassette supporting a wafer is placed and a cover covering the bottom plate and shielding the wafer cassette from the outside air. A loader that transports the wafer cassette between the cassette housing container and a cassette receiving portion of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus when the cassette wafer is released from a cassette holding container by the opener; A support base having a bottom plate fixing portion for fixing the bottom plate of the holding container, and supporting the cassette holding container from below, a bottom plate passage opening through which the bottom plate of the cassette holding container can pass on the upper surface, and a bottom plate passage opening A cover supporting portion around the portion and supporting the cover from below, An elevating box having a cassette passage opening and capable of moving up and down while enclosing the support table on which the wafer cassette is mounted; and an elevating box drive mechanism for moving the elevating box up and down; A loading mechanism for transporting a wafer cassette between the support table and the cassette receiving portion when the lifting box is driven up by the lifting box drive mechanism and the cassette passage opening reaches a predetermined take-out position; A wafer transfer device, comprising: 2. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein said lifting box drive mechanism is disposed in an opener. 3. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein an air supply means for supplying clean air to the inside of the loader housing is provided on an upper surface of the housing of the loader, and a bottom surface of the elevating box is provided. Exhaust means for exhausting the clean air supplied into the housing by the air supply means and introduced into the elevating box through the cassette passage opening to the outside of the elevating box. Wafer transfer device. 4. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the loader is disposed to face a front surface having a cassette receiving portion in the semiconductor manufacturing device, and the opener is directed toward the front surface. A wafer transfer device, which is disposed on the right side, left side, or both right and left sides of the loader. 5. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein said loading mechanism includes an arm mechanism for moving a gripped wafer cassette in a horizontal direction. 6. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein an air opening is formed between the bottom plate fixing portion and the air passage of the opener so as to communicate with the air passage of the loader. A wafer transfer device comprising a plate. 7. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a shielding plate that forms an air opening between the opener and the bottom plate fixing portion is formed to communicate with an air passage of the opener and the loader. Provided below the passage, when the elevating box is on the lower side and the wafer cassette is covered by the cover, the opening for air and the opening for passing the cassette communicate with each other. The clean air flows from the loader side into the lift box by a lower air passage formed below the bottom plate fixing part, and the wafer cassette is opened from the cover in a state where the lift box moves upward. In the case, the lower air passage, the upper and lower boxes from the loader by an upper air passage formed above the bottom plate fixing portion by the cassette passage opening. When the elevating box moves upward and the cassette passage opening appears in the horizontal direction, the lower air passage is blocked and the lower air passage is lifted from the loader by the upper air passage. A wafer transfer device characterized by flowing clean air into a box.