JP2002353290A - Method and system for transferring cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and system for transferring a cassette which can effectively utilize an installation area of a clean room 100 constructed in a plant by controlling equipment costs and a running cost of the clean room 100, suppressing an increase of weight and size of a transfer vehicle even though a substrate 41 becomes large-sized and its weight increases, withholding the cost at the transfer vehicle, and making the width of a passage narrow. SOLUTION: The method and system for transferring the cassette consist of a process of loading the sealed cassette 60 on the down-loading type transfer vehicle 50, a process of moving the down-loading type carrier truck 50 into a truck-storing type cassette stage 70 and loading the sealed cassette 60 on a vehicle-storing type cassette stage 70, a process of closely locating the sealed cassette 60 in a sealing type robot storing clean room 80, and a process in which a substrate carry in/out robot 110 transfers the substrate between the sealed cassette 60 and a substrate treatment apparatus 102.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and a system suitable for transporting a liquid crystal substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate) in a clean room of a factory, for example, in a process of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a process of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, there is a process of performing a substrate process such as a thin film forming process, a cleaning process, and a resist coating on a substrate. FIG. 2 is a layout plan of the substrate processing process equipment showing an example of the equipment in the substrate processing process. For example, in the facility installation clean room 100, a substrate processing apparatus 102 that performs substrate processing on a substrate, a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 for loading a substrate into or removing a substrate from the substrate processing apparatus 102, Substrate loading / unloading robot 11
Open robot storage clean room 30 where 0 is installed
And a cassette table 20 on which an open cassette 40 containing substrates is placed. Further, an open cassette 40 in which substrates are stored is placed in a cassette stock location 101 in the facility installation clean room 100. Then, the open cassette 40 is moved to the open cassette stocking location 1 by the closed container-integrated transfer cart 10 moving in the passage in the facility installation clean room 100.
01, etc., to the cassette table 20, or from the cassette table 20 to another place.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a prior art open-type robot storage clean room 30 in which an open cassette 40 and a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 are mounted on a cassette table 20 from a closed-vessel-integrated transfer carriage 10. FIG. 4 shows a fan filter unit (FFU) 11
FIG. 2 is a view showing a hermetically sealed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 in which a closed container 12 having a shutter 15 and a transport vehicle 16 having a link arm 13 and an elevating mechanism 14 are integrally formed.

[0004] The hermetic container-integrated carrier 10 has a hermetic container 12 provided with a fan filter unit (hereinafter referred to as FFU) 11 and a shutter 15 for maintaining the cleanness of the inside, a link arm 13 and a lifting mechanism 14. The transfer arm 16 is formed integrally with the link arm 1 and the open cassette 40 is located in the closed container 12.
3 can be mounted. The rough positioning is performed by the concave and convex portions formed on the bottom surface of the open cassette 40 and the link arm 13. Then, the open cassette 40 can be transferred from the inside of the closed container 12 to another place or can be transferred from the other place to the inside of the closed container 12 by the link arm 13 and the lifting mechanism 14. The link arm 13 and the elevating mechanism 14 are the same mechanism as a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 described later, and the link arm 13 corresponds to an arm mechanism 113 of the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 in FIG. 14 corresponds to the lifting mechanism 112 of the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 in FIG. When the open cassette 40 is transferred, the shutter 15 provided in the closed container 12 is opened and closed, so that the open cassette 40 can be transferred.

The cassette table 20 is disposed at a position adjacent to the open robot storage clean room 30, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 allows the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 to mount the substrate 41 in the open cassette 40.
This is a device capable of fixing the open cassette 40 at a position suitable for carrying in and out of the cassette. FIG. 3 shows a device in which the open cassette 40 is placed on the cassette table 20 and the open cassette 40 is fixed by the clamp mechanism 21.

An open type robot storage clean room 30
Is arranged at a position adjacent to the substrate processing apparatus 102,
An FFU 31 for installing the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 inside and maintaining the internal cleanliness is provided. In addition, it has an opening 32 for the substrate processing apparatus which communicates with the substrate processing apparatus 102. Further, in the open robot storage clean room 30, a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 is provided.
A mechanism for moving the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 in the Y direction of FIG. 2 is provided, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 is placed at a position suitable for transporting the substrate (usually, at the position of the open cassette 40 or the substrate entrance or exit of the substrate processing apparatus 102). It can be moved as appropriate. In addition, the open robot storage clean room 30
May have a mechanism for moving the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 in a direction other than the Y direction in FIG.

In the prior art described above, when the sealed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 moves in the equipment-installed clean room 100 and stops in front of the cassette table 20, the shutter 15 provided in the sealed container 12 opens and the link is opened. The open cassette 40 is transferred from the inside of the closed container to the cassette table 20 by the arm 13 and the elevating mechanism 14. Then, when the open cassette 40 is transferred onto the cassette table 20, the clamp mechanism 2 provided on the cassette table 20
1, the open cassette 40 is fixed. When the open cassette 40 is placed on the cassette table 20 in this manner, the substrate 41 stored in the open cassette 40 can be carried out by the substrate carry-in / out robot 110.

In the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal substrate, generally,
At the time of filing of the present invention, a clean room 1
Cleanliness within 00 (hereinafter referred to as "all area cleanliness")
Is set so as to be within a predetermined range of cleanliness within class 10 to 100 (hereinafter referred to as a set cleanliness level).
Equipment installed Clean equipment that cleans the entire area (hereinafter referred to as “all area clean equipment”) is operating.
However, since there is an environment in which the set cleanliness in the facility installation clean room 100 may be partially reduced, furthermore, the open type robot storage is required so as not to be affected by the set cleanliness lowering during the transfer of the substrate. The clean room 30 and the transport trolley 10 integrated with a sealed container are also provided with an FFU to maintain the inside of each of them at a set cleanliness.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the open cassette 40 and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 when the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 transports the substrate 41 from the open cassette 40. The substrate loading / unloading robot 110 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a base mechanism 111, an elevating mechanism 112, a pair of arm mechanisms 113, and a hand member 114 pivotally supported at the tip of the arm mechanism.

The base mechanism 111 includes a plurality of motors (not shown) therein, and can raise and lower the elevating mechanism 112 and rotate the elevating mechanism 111 about the Z axis. The arm mechanism 113 is a mechanism in which the first arm 113a, the second arm 113b, and the hand member 114, which are pivotally supported by the elevating mechanism, are connected, and the hand member 114 is moved at least in the X direction. The arm mechanism 113 is also driven by a motor provided in the base mechanism 111.

The hand member 114 can be fixed by placing the substrate 41 on the upper surface of the hand member 114 by means such as vacuum suction (not shown). In the example shown in FIG. 5, the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 includes one set of arm mechanisms 113. However, the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 including a plurality of sets of arm mechanisms may be used. In this specification,
A robot capable of loading and unloading the substrate 41 without limiting the form is referred to as a substrate loading and unloading robot 110.

The open cassette 40 is, for example, a cassette provided with a plurality of slots and arranged so as to accommodate a plurality of substrates 41, as shown in FIG. Also, since the open cassette 40 is not sealed,
The substrate 41 stored in the cassette touches the atmosphere around the cassette and is affected by a decrease in cleanliness around the cassette. The cassette table 20 is provided with the substrate loading / unloading robot 11 as described above.
Reference numeral 0 denotes an apparatus for fixing the open cassette 40 at a position suitable for loading and unloading the substrate 41 in the open cassette 40.

In FIG. 5, only one open cassette 40 and one cassette table 20 are shown for simplicity of explanation, and the open cassette 40 and the cassette table 20 are provided in the open robot storage clean room 30 shown in FIG. Illustration of the moving mechanism and the like is omitted.

A procedure for carrying out the substrate 41 from the cassette by using the substrate carrying robot 110 will be described. First, the hand member 114 is moved in the X1 direction, and the hand member 114 is inserted into the open cassette 40 so that the hand member 114 is disposed below the target substrate 41. afterwards,
The hand member 114 is raised, and the target substrate 41 is placed on the upper surface of the hand member 114 and fixed. Then, by moving the hand member 114 in the X2 direction, the substrate 41 can be carried out of the open cassette 40. When carrying the substrate 41 into the open cassette 40, the procedure is the reverse of the above.

When the substrate 41 is carried into or out of the substrate processing apparatus 102, the hand member 114 may be similarly moved in the X direction or the Z direction.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation sequence of the equipment such as the prior art closed container-integrated transfer carriage 10 and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 shown in FIG. 3, and the equipment described above with reference to FIGS. 6 and 4. The procedure from the transfer of the open cassette 40 from the carrier to the cassette table 20 until the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 is ready to carry out the substrate will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the closed-carriage-integrated carrier 10 on which the open cassette 40 is placed is moved in the direction of the target cassette table 20. As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the closed trolley integrated transfer truck 1
When 0 stops in front of the cassette table 20, the shutter 15 provided on the closed-container-integrated carrier 10 opens (not shown). As shown in FIG. 6C, the link arm 13 and the elevating mechanism 14 of the above-described integrated container-integrated carrier 10 shown in FIG.
The closed container 1 of the transfer container 10 integrated with the closed container by moving the
The open cassette 40 in 2 is transferred to the cassette table 20. At this time, the open cassette 4 is opened by the clamp mechanism 21 provided on the cassette table 20 shown in FIG.
0 is fixed to the cassette table 20. As shown in FIG. 6 (d), the hermetic container integrated transfer trolley 1
The zero link arm 13 and the lifting mechanism 14 are returned to their original positions, and the shutter 15 is closed. As shown in FIG. 6 (e), the hermetic container-integrated transport vehicle 1
0 is moved from the front of the cassette table 20 to another position. It should be noted that the transfer container 10 integrated with the closed container is provided with all the substrates 41.
Until the processing is completed, it may be stopped in front of the cassette table 20, but is usually moved to another position so as not to hinder the passage of the other closed container-integrated transport vehicle 10. When the processing of all the substrates 41 is completed, the open cassette 40 containing the substrates 41 is placed on the cassette table 20.
From the transfer container 10 into the closed-container-integrated transfer vehicle 10 and transferred to another location. The work at this time is open cassette 4
0 to the cassette table 20
The procedure is the reverse of that for transferring to.

[0018]

(1) At the time of filing the present invention, the cleanliness required for the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal substrate is within a predetermined cleanliness range of class 10 to 100 (set cleanliness). Depending on the conditions of the manufacturing process, the set cleanliness may be set to class 10 or may be set to class 100.

Here, the equipment installation clean room 100
Has operated all-area clean equipment so that the entire area of the equipment-installed clean room 100 has the set cleanliness because the spaces of all areas are connected. This entire area clean equipment generally has a clean room 1
A method of flowing air of a set cleanness level from the upper part of the 00 to the lower part is adopted.

However, in spite of the fact that all-area clean equipment is operating so as to achieve the set cleanliness in all areas within the equipment-installed clean room 100, in the prior art,
The open cassette 40 is conveyed by the closed container integrated conveyance trolley 10 provided with the FFU 11. The reason is that, due to the structure of the clean room 100 where the equipment is installed, there is a portion in the clean room 100 where the equipment is installed where the cleanness is lower than the set cleanness. When transported as it is, the substrate 4 in the open cassette 40 is
This is because there is a possibility that dust may adhere to the first.

In the open type robot storage clean room 30, one surface on the cassette table 20 side is open, but the other side surface and upper surface are often covered with a wall in relation to the substrate processing apparatus. However, if the entire area clean facility is operated only, the open robot storage clean room 30 may be lower than the set cleanness. for that reason,
FFU1 in open robot storage clean room 30
1 to maintain the set cleanliness.

As described above, in the prior art, it is necessary to transport the open cassette 40 in the clean room 100 where the equipment is installed and also in the closed container integrated transport trolley 10 with the FFU 11 provided therein to maintain the inside at a preset cleanness. There is.

However, not only is the entire-area clean facility expensive, but also the running costs such as electricity costs and maintenance due to clogging of the filter of the FFU 11 are excessive. In addition, the construction cost and the running cost of the whole area clean equipment increase as the required cleanliness increases, and the cleanliness required for the liquid crystal substrate manufacturing process is cl.
An enormous cost is required to achieve the range of ass10 to 100.

Further, since the sealed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 also needs to be provided with the FFU 11 and the battery for driving the FFU, the equipment cost and the running cost increase accordingly.

(2) In recent years, the size of the substrate 41 has been increasing year by year, and its weight has also increased. Accordingly, the size of the open cassette 40 accommodating the substrates 41 has been increased and the weight thereof has been increasing. As a result, the following problems have occurred. In addition, it is reference data.
mx 900mm (1.1t thickness), 1000mm x 12
A substrate 41 of 00 mm (thickness 1.1 t) is being produced. Here, since the specific gravity of the glass is 2.78, the substrate 41
Weighs 700 (mm) × 900 (mm) × 1.1 (t) × 2.78 / 1000/1000 ≒ 1.9 [k
gf] (20 sheets, about 38 kgf) 1000 (mm) × 1200 (mm) × 1.1 (t) × 2.78 / 1000/1000 ≒ 3.7
[Kgf] (20 sheets, about 73 kgf), so if such a substrate is stored in, for example, a 20-sheet cassette, the weight of the cassette itself becomes considerably heavy.
Incidentally, in the case of a semiconductor wafer, the specific gravity is 2.33, and even a semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 300 mm has a weight of 1 mm.
Since it is 24 gf (about 2.5 kgf for 20 sheets), the substrate 41
Is considerably heavier than the semiconductor wafer.

In the related art, as shown in FIG. 4, since the open cassette 40 is placed on the link arm 13, as the distal end of the link arm 13 is separated from the closed container-integrated carrier 10, Since the center of gravity of the trolley shifts toward the open cassette 40, the trolley becomes unstable and may fall. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the weight of the main body of the closed-carriage-integrated carrier 10 in accordance with the weight of the open cassette 40 in which the substrates 41 are stored. However, the equipment installation clean room 100
However, due to the structure of the equipment, the weight capacity of the floor is not sufficiently large. Then, when the weight of the closed container-integrated carrier 10 becomes heavy,
Since the tolerance of the floor weight of the floor of the facility installation clean room 100 is reduced or exceeds the weight resistance, it is not possible to use the closed-vessel-integrated transport vehicle 10 having such an increased weight. In addition, increasing the weight of the integrated trolley 10 with a closed container means that the trolley becomes large, the passage of the trolley increases, the clean room 10
0, which leads to an increase in capital investment.

In order to transfer the heavy open cassette 40, the link arm 13 and the elevating mechanism 14 need to be replaced with a link arm 13 and an elevating mechanism 14 that can handle heavy weight, which increases equipment costs. Further, the link arm 13 and the lifting mechanism 1
4 increases in size. In addition, the hermetic container-integrated carrier 10 itself also becomes large. Furthermore, the closed-container-integrated transport vehicle 10 has a rechargeable battery therein, and moves using the charged power. for that reason,
If a large output motor is required as the size of the substrate 41 increases, the required electric power increases. Therefore, the size of the battery built in the closed container-integrated carrier 10 and the weight increase. As a result, the size of the sealed-container-integrated transport vehicle 10 increases, and equipment costs increase.

In addition, when the size of the sealed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 increases, the passage width increases, so that not only the installation area of the facility installation clean room 100 cannot be effectively used, but also the facility installation clean room 100 needs to be increased. Sometimes it happens.

(3) The transfer container 10 integrated with the closed container is moved by the electric power of a rechargeable battery provided therein.
3 and drive of the elevating mechanism 14, so that it was moved to the charging facility installed in the facility-installed clean room 100 and charged. However, such a method requires a space for installing the charging carrier in the equipment-installed clean room 100, so that the installation area of the equipment-installed clean room 100 cannot be effectively used.

(4) FIG. 7 shows another closed container 1 while the closed container integrated transfer vehicle 10 for transferring the open cassette 40 from the conventional closed container integrated transfer vehicle 10 to the cassette table 20 is stopped in the passage. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a moving method when the body transport vehicle 10 moves in the same path. As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the cassette table 2
When the open cassette 40 is transferred to the container 0, the closed container integrated transport vehicle 10b moving in the same passage is closed because the passage is closed.
It was necessary to stop until the transfer of the open cassette 40 from the “a” to the cassette table 20 was completed. Further, in order to increase the transfer efficiency, it is necessary to secure a passage width for two widths of the closed container-integrated transfer vehicle so that the closed container-integrated transfer vehicle 10c moving from the opposite side of the passage can pass through. Was.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the moving container 10a integrated with the closed container is
It is also possible to avoid the closed container-integrated carrier 10a that is transferring 0 and continue moving. But in this case,
It is necessary to secure a passage width for three closed container-integrated transport vehicles between the closed closed container-integrated transport vehicle 10a and two closed container-integrated integrated transport vehicles (10b, 10c) that pass each other.

As described above, since the width of the passage is conventionally widened, a large area is required for the clean room 100 in which the equipment is installed. However, all-area clean equipment is very expensive, and equipment cost increases as the area of the clean room increases. Therefore, in the case of the equipment as in the related art, there has been a problem in that the entire area clean equipment cost and the running cost for making the equipment installation clean room a set cleanness increase.

The present invention is directed to a clean room 1 in which equipment is installed.
Reduce the cleanliness class of 00, and reduce the total area clean equipment cost and running cost, or reduce the cleanliness level of the cleanroom 100 where the equipment is installed.
Even if the substrate 41 is enlarged and the weight is increased, it is possible to suppress the increase in the weight and the size of the transport vehicle, reduce the equipment cost of the transport vehicle, and prevent the increase in the passage width. Further, the width of the passage is reduced more aggressively to effectively use the installation area of the clean room 100 where the equipment is installed.
An object of the present invention is to reduce the equipment cost and the width of the aisle of the transport trolley in conjunction with the reduction of the lass.

[0034]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1) and FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), a cassette accommodating a substrate is mounted on a carrier trolley. FIG. 10 shows a cassette transfer method in which a substrate loading / unloading robot transports a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after the substrate is transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. The substrate 41 is placed on a sealed cassette 60 which is formed by a cassette main body 62 having an opening on one side surface and a sealing lid 61 for sealing the opening of the cassette main body 62, and the sealing lid 61 is detachable from the cassette main body 62. The process of storing and closing the closed lid 61, the process of mounting the sealed cassette 60 shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 16 on the transport trolleys (50, 55), and the process of transporting the transport trolleys (50, 55). The closed cassette 60 mounted on the
Is transferred to the cassette table (70, 75) such that the closed lid 61 faces the cassette opening 82 provided in the closed robot storage clean room 80, and the closed lid is transferred to the closed robot storage clean room 80. The process of bringing the cassette 60 into close contact, the process of opening the opening / closing plate 91 closing the cassette opening 82 and the process of opening the sealing lid 61, and the process in which the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 moves the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 between the sealing cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102. A process of loading and unloading the substrate, a process of closing the sealing lid 61 and closing the opening / closing plate 91 after the loading and unloading of the substrate, and a process of moving the sealing cassette 60 from the cassette table (70, 75) to the transport carriage (5).
(0, 55).

The invention of claim 2 at the time of filing is the invention of claim 1 at the time of filing, which is the invention of FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1). In a cassette transfer method in which a substrate transfer robot transfers a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after transferring the substrate to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which an unloading robot is installed, an opening on one side shown in FIG. A closed cassette 60 formed by a cassette main body 62 having an opening and a sealing lid 61 for sealing the opening of the cassette main body 62, and the sealing lid 61 is detachably attached to the cassette main body 62.
Next, the process of storing the substrate 41 and closing the closed lid 61, the process of mounting the sealed cassette 60 shown in FIG. 8 on the front transfer type transport vehicle 55, and the process of mounting the closed cassette 60 on the front transfer type transport vehicle 55 The process of transferring the closed cassette 60 to the cassette table 75 with a close contact mechanism so that the closed lid 61 faces the cassette opening 82 provided in the closed robot storage clean room 80, and The process of bringing the closed cassette 60 into close contact, and the opening / closing plate 91 closing the cassette opening 82.
And the process of opening the sealing lid 61, the process of the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 loading and unloading the substrate between the sealing cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102, and the process of opening and closing the sealing lid 61 after the loading and unloading of the substrate. Close and open / close plate 91
And a step of transferring the closed cassette 60 from the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism to the front transfer type transfer cart 55.

In the invention of claim 3 at the time of filing, the invention of claim 1 at the time of filing is the invention of FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2). In a cassette transfer method in which a substrate transfer robot transfers a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after transferring the substrate to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which an unloading robot is installed, an opening on one side shown in FIG. A closed cassette 6 formed by a cassette main body 62 having an opening and a sealing lid 61 for sealing an opening of the cassette main body 62, and the sealing lid 61 is detachable from the cassette main body 62.
0, the process of storing the substrate 41 and closing the hermetic lid 61, the process of mounting the hermetically-sealed cassette 60 shown in FIG. The sealed cassette 60 thus obtained is placed in the closed lid 6.
1. The process of transferring the cassette 1 to the trolley-mounted cassette table 70 so as to face the cassette opening 82 provided in the closed-type robot storage clean room 80, and the process of bringing the closed cassette 60 into close contact with the closed-type robot storage clean room 80. The process of opening the opening / closing plate 91 closing the cassette opening 82 and opening the sealing lid 61, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 loading and unloading substrates between the sealing cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102. A process of closing the sealing lid 61 and closing the opening / closing plate 91 after the completion of the loading and unloading of the substrate, and a process of transferring the sealing cassette 60 from the carriage storage type cassette table 70 to the downward transfer type transporting carriage 50. Is a cassette carrying method comprising:

As shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2) and FIG. 20 (Embodiment 3), the invention of claim 4 at the time of filing applies a substrate loading / unloading robot by mounting a cassette containing substrates on a carrier. Is transferred to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate is installed, and then the substrate transfer robot transfers a substrate between the cassette and the substrate processing apparatus by a substrate transfer robot.
Storing the cassette (40, 60) on the downward transfer type transporting vehicle 50;
(0, 60) and the process of moving the lower transfer carrier 50 to the inside of the carriage storage cassette table 70, and the above-described cassette (40, 60) mounted on the lower transfer carrier 50.
Transferring 60) to the carriage storage type cassette table 70;
The substrate loading / unloading robot 110 operates the cassette (40, 6).
0) and a process of loading and unloading a substrate between the substrate processing apparatus 102 and a process of transferring the cassette (40, 60) from the carriage storage type cassette table 70 to the downward transfer type transfer carriage 50. This is a cassette transport method.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), a cassette accommodating a substrate is mounted on a transport trolley and adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. In a cassette transport method in which a substrate loading / unloading robot transports a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after transporting the substrate to a cassette table,
A closed cassette 60 which is formed by a cassette main body 62 having an opening on one side surface and a sealing lid 61 for sealing the opening of the cassette main body 62 as shown in FIG. The process of storing the substrate 41 and closing the hermetic lid 61, the process of mounting the hermetic cassette 60 on the descending transfer type transport vehicle 50, and the process of storing the hermetic cassette 60 with the descending transfer type transport vehicle 50. The process of moving to the inside of the mold cassette table 70, and the process of moving the closed cassette 60
Transferring the closed cassette to the carriage storage cassette table 70 so that the closed lid 61 faces the cassette opening 82 provided in the closed robot storage clean room 80, and transferring the closed cassette to the closed robot storage clean room 80. 60, the opening / closing plate 91 closing the cassette opening 82 and the opening of the sealing lid 61, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 moving the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 between the sealing cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102. The process of loading and unloading the substrate, the process of closing the sealing lid 61 and closing the open / close plate 91 after the loading and unloading of the substrate is completed, and the process of transferring the sealed cassette 60 from the cassette table 70 to the downwardly-transferable transfer carriage 50. And a cassette transport method.

As shown in FIG. 20 (Embodiment 3), the invention according to claim 6 at the time of filing the application is to mount a cassette containing substrates on a transfer trolley and to be adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. In a cassette transport method in which a substrate loading / unloading robot loads and unloads a substrate between the cassette and the substrate processing apparatus after transferring the substrate 41 to the cassette table, a process of storing the substrate 41 in the open cassette 40 and lowering the open cassette 40 The process of mounting on the transfer-type transport vehicle 50, the process of moving the descending-transfer-type transport vehicle 50 on which the open cassette 40 is mounted to the inside of the truck-housing-type cassette table 70, The process of transferring the mounted open cassette 40 to the carriage-contained cassette table 70, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 The cassette transport method includes a process of loading and unloading a substrate between the substrate processing apparatus 102 and the substrate processing apparatus 102, and a process of transferring the open cassette 40 from the carriage storage type cassette table 70 to the downward transfer type transport carriage 50. is there.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 and the first and second embodiments, the invention of claim 7 at the time of filing is the seal of claim 1 or claim 2 or claim 3 or claim 5. Type Robot Storage Clean Room 80 (FIGS. 12 and 1)
The process of opening the opening / closing plate 91 that closes the cassette opening 82 provided in 6) and opening the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 is a cassette conveyance method that is simultaneously performed by the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 and the first and second embodiments, the invention of claim 8 at the time of filing is the seal of claim 1 or claim 2 or claim 3 or claim 5. The process of closing the sealing lid 61 of the cassette 60 and closing the opening / closing plate 91 is a cassette transport method performed simultaneously by the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90.

As shown in FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1), the invention according to claim 9 at the time of filing applies a closed cassette 60 to the closed robot storage clean room 80 described in claim 1 or 2.
Is a process of pressing the closed cassette 60 against the closed-type robot storage clean room 80 with a slide mechanism 78 while fixing with a clamp mechanism 76 provided on a cassette base 75 with a close-contact mechanism. is there.

According to the tenth invention at the time of filing, as shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the closed cassette 60 is placed in the closed robot storage clean room 80 according to the first, third, or fifth aspect. The process of bringing the cassette into close contact is a cassette transporting method in which the closed cassette 60 is pressed against the closed robot storage clean room 80 by the slide mechanism 73 while being fixed by the clamp mechanism 71 provided on the carriage storage type cassette table 70. .

As shown in FIG. 22 (Embodiment 4), the invention according to claim 11 at the time of filing is a descending transfer type transport vehicle 50 according to claim 3 or claim 4 or claim 5 or claim 6. Is moved to the inside of the carriage storage type cassette table 70 and stopped,
Charging mechanism 7 provided in the above-mentioned carriage-contained cassette table 70
This is a cassette transfer method for charging the transfer carriage 50 descending from 4.

As shown in FIG. 23 (Embodiment 5), the invention of claim 12 at the time of filing is a descending transfer type transport vehicle 50 according to claim 3 or claim 4 or claim 5 or claim 6. Is moved to the inside of the carriage storage type cassette table 70 and stopped,
This is a cassette transfer method in which another downward transfer type transfer carriage 50 passes through a passage adjacent to the above-mentioned carriage storage type cassette stand 70.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 8 (Embodiment 1) and FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), a substrate loading / unloading robot is provided by mounting a cassette containing substrates on a carrier. In a cassette transfer system in which a substrate loading / unloading robot transfers a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after transferring the substrate to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a robot is installed, an opening is provided on one side surface shown in FIG. A sealed cassette 6 formed by a cassette main body 62 and a sealing lid 61 for sealing the opening of the cassette main body 62, and the sealing lid 61 is detachable from the cassette main body 62.
0, a transport trolley (50, 55) on which the above-mentioned closed cassette 60 accommodating the substrate 41 shown in FIG.
Cassette table (70, 75) on which the sealed cassette 60 is placed
And a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 for loading / unloading the substrate 41
A sealing lid attachment / detachment device 90 for attaching / detaching the sealing lid 61 to / from the cassette main body 62, the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 and the sealing lid attachment / detachment device 90 installed therein, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 A closed robot storage clean room 80 which is covered with a partition having a cassette opening 82 for loading and unloading a cassette from the cassette and a substrate processing apparatus opening 81 communicating with the substrate processing apparatus 102, and which has an FFU 83; An opening / closing plate 91 for opening and closing the cassette 82 is provided.
5), the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 detaches the sealing lid 61 from the cassette main body 62 through the cassette opening 82, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 allows the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 to pass through the cassette opening 82 to close the sealing cassette 60. This is a cassette transport system for loading and unloading the substrate 41 stored in the cassette.

According to the invention of claim 14 at the time of filing, as shown in FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1), the carrier of claim 13 is a forward transfer type carrier 55, and the cassette platform is a cassette platform with a close contact mechanism. 75 is a cassette transport system.

According to the invention of claim 15 at the time of filing, as shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the transport vehicle of claim 13 is a descending transfer type transport vehicle 50, and the cassette platform is a truck storage type cassette platform. 70 is a cassette transport system.

As shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2) and FIG. 20 (Embodiment 3), a robot for loading and unloading a substrate by mounting a cassette containing substrates on a carrier cart as shown in FIG. In a cassette transport system in which a substrate loading / unloading robot transports a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after transporting the substrate to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which the substrate 41 is installed, a cassette (40, 60) for storing the substrate 41 is provided. ), A downwardly-transferring type transport vehicle 50 on which a cassette (40, 60) containing the substrate 41 is mounted;
A carriage storage type cassette table 70 that forms a space for moving the descending transfer type transporting carriage 50 to the inside, a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 for loading / unloading the substrate 41, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 are installed inside, FFU (31, 83)
And a robot transfer clean room (30, 80).

In the invention of claim 17 at the time of filing, as shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the cassette of claim 16 is a sealed cassette 60, and the robot storage clean room has a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 installed therein. Further, the cassette transfer system is a closed robot storage clean room 80 having an FFU 83.

In the invention of claim 18 at the time of filing, as shown in FIG. 20 (embodiment 3), the cassette of claim 16 is an open cassette 40, and the robot storage clean room has a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 installed therein. And FFU31
This is a cassette transfer system that is an open robot storage clean room 30 having the following.

As shown in FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1) and FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the invention of claim 19 at the time of filing
3 is a cassette transport system that supports an opening / closing plate 91 that opens and closes a cassette opening 82 of a sealed robot storage clean room 80.

As shown in FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1) and FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the invention of Claim 20 at the time of filing is as follows.
3 is a cassette transport system that opens and closes the cassette opening 82 of the closed type robot storage clean room 80 and simultaneously attaches and detaches the closed lid 61 from the cassette body 62.

As shown in FIG. 8 (Embodiment 1) and FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the invention of Claim 21 at the time of filing
3. The cassette table (70, 75) described in (3) includes a clamp mechanism (71, 76) for fixing the sealed cassette 60 and a slide mechanism (73, 76) for sliding the sealed cassette 60.
78).

According to the invention of claim 22 at the time of filing, as shown in FIG. 22 (Embodiment 4), the charging mechanism for the downwardly-transferring type transport vehicle 50 is mounted on the truck-contained cassette table 70 according to claim 16. 74 is a cassette transport system provided.

[0056]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram that best illustrates the features of the invention according to the present application. Since FIG. 1 is the same as FIG. 16 described later, the description will be given later with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 16 (Embodiment 2), the embodiment of the method of the present invention corresponds to the invention of the cassette carrying method of claim 5 at the time of filing. In a cassette transport method in which a substrate loading / unloading robot carries a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus after transporting the substrate to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room where the substrate loading / unloading robot is mounted on a transport trolley, The substrate 41 is placed on a sealed cassette 60 which is formed by a cassette main body 62 having an opening on one side surface and a sealing lid 61 for sealing the opening of the cassette main body 62, and the sealing lid 61 is detachable from the cassette main body 62. The process of storing and closing the hermetic lid 61, the process of mounting the hermetic cassette 60 on the descending transfer type transport vehicle 50, and the process of mounting the hermetic cassette 60 A process in which Fuutsu mounting type transport carriage 50 is moved to the inside of the truck-storing cassette base 70, the closed cassette 60 mounted to the downward transfer type transport carriage 50
Transferring the closed cassette to the carriage storage cassette table 70 so that the closed lid 61 faces the cassette opening 82 provided in the closed robot storage clean room 80, and transferring the closed cassette to the closed robot storage clean room 80. 60, the opening / closing plate 91 closing the cassette opening 82 and the opening of the sealing lid 61, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 moving the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 between the sealing cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102. A process of loading and unloading the substrate, a process of closing the sealing lid 61 after the loading and unloading of the substrate, and a process of closing the cassette opening 82 with an opening / closing plate 91;
A transfer process from zero to a lower transfer carrier 50.

The embodiment of the system of the present invention is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 16 (second embodiment), claim 15
After loading a cassette containing substrates onto a transport trolley and transporting it to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room where a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed, the substrate loading / unloading robot In a cassette transport system for loading and unloading substrates between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus, a cassette body 62 having an opening on one side and a sealing lid 61 for sealing the opening of the cassette body 62 are formed. Is a cassette cassette 62 which is detachable from the cassette body 62, a descending transfer carrier 50 on which the closed cassette 60 containing the substrate 41 is mounted, and a trolley-mounted cassette table 70 on which the sealed cassette 60 is mounted. The substrate loading / unloading robot 110 for loading / unloading the substrate 41 and the sealing lid 61 are attached / detached from / to the cassette body 62. A closing / mounting device 90, a substrate opening / closing robot 110, and a cassette opening 82 for installing / closing the substrate 41 from the cassette with the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 by setting the substrate loading / unloading device 90 therein; The closed type robot storage clean room 80, which is covered with a partition having an opening 81 for a substrate processing apparatus communicating with the substrate processing apparatus 102 and has an FFU 83, and an opening / closing plate 91 for opening and closing the cassette opening 82, is provided. The lid 61 is placed on the trolley storage cassette table 70 so as to face the cassette opening 82 of the closed robot storage clean room 80, and the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 closes the closed cassette 60 through the cassette opening 82. The lid 61 is attached to and detached from the cassette body 62, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 A cassette transport system for loading and unloading the substrate 41 housed in the sealed cassette 60 through the mouth 82.

[0059]

(Embodiment 1) In Embodiment 1 described below, the front transfer type transport vehicle 55 shown in FIG. 8 on which the sealed cassette 60 shown in FIG. 10 is mounted is moved to a cassette table 75 with a close contact mechanism. Then, the closed cassette 60 was transferred to the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism at the front by the link arm 56 and the elevating mechanism 57 of the above-mentioned transfer carrier 55, and the closed cassette 60 was brought into close contact with the closed robot storage clean room 80. Later, the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 and the cassette opening 82 of the clean room 80 for storing the sealed robot are stored.
The opening and closing plate 91 is closed, and the substrate carrying-in / out robot 110 carries out the cassette carrying method and the cassette carrying system for carrying the substrate 41 stored in the closed cassette 60 between the closed cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102. It is an example and claims 1, 2 and 7 at the time of filing
Claim 8 and Claim 9 and Claim 13 and Claim 1
The present invention corresponds to the inventions of claims 4, 19, 20, and 21.

[0060]
FIG. 8 is a front transfer type transport vehicle 55 on which a sealed cassette 60 according to the present invention is mounted, a cassette table 75 with a close contact mechanism provided with a slide mechanism 78, and a substrate loading / unloading robot 11.
FIG. 9 is a view showing a closed type robot storage clean room 80 to which the present invention is applied, in which a zero and the like are installed. FIG. 9 is a front transfer type transfer according to the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a view showing a carriage 55, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a sealed cassette 60 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, the closed cassette 60 is a cassette for accommodating a substrate 41 formed by a cassette body 62 having an opening on one side and a sealing lid 61 for closing the opening of the cassette body 62. The sealing lid 61 is detachable from the cassette body 62. Inside the cassette main body 62, a plurality of slots are provided similarly to the open cassette 40, and a plurality of substrates 41 are provided.
Can be stored. In addition, the closed cassette 6
0 indicates that the inside of the closed cassette 60 can be kept airtight when the closed lid 61 is attached. Therefore,
In an environment in which the set cleanness is maintained, the sealing lid 61 is removed, the substrate 41 is stored in the cassette main body 62, and then, if the sealing lid 61 is attached, the FFU is not provided as in the sealed container 12 of FIG. However, the closed cassette 6
The substrate 41 can be stored while maintaining the inside of 0 at the set cleanness.

The front transfer type transporting vehicle 55 shown in FIG. 9 is different from the closed container integrated type transporting vehicle 10 shown in FIG.
And a transport trolley having a structure in which the closed container 12 provided with the shutter 15 is removed, and the closed cassette 60 can be placed on the link arm 56 and fixed. Then, the sealed cassette 60 can be transferred to another place by the link arm 56 and the elevating mechanism 57.
The link arm 56 and the elevating mechanism 57 are connected to the link arm 13 and the elevating mechanism 1 of the hermetic container-integrated carrier 10.
Same as 4. Further, the front transfer type transport cart 55 can be placed not only in the closed cassette 60 but also in the open cassette 40. The rough positioning is performed by the unevenness formed on the bottom surface of the open cassette 40 and the link arm 56, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 8, the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism has a cassette mounting table 77 on which the closed cassette 60 and the like are mounted, and a closed cassette provided on the cassette mount table 77. This is a cassette table provided with a clamp mechanism 76 for fixing 60 and the like, and a slide mechanism 78 for sliding the cassette mounting table 77. By the above-mentioned mechanism, the closed cassette 60 is moved to the cassette mounting table 7.
7 and the closed cassette 6 by the clamp mechanism 76.
After fixing “0”, the cassette mounting table 77 is slid by the slide mechanism 78 to bring the closed cassette 60 into close contact with the closed robot storage clean room 80.

Sealed Robot Storage Clean Room 80
As shown in FIG. 8, is disposed at a position adjacent to the substrate processing apparatus 102 to install the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 and the sealing lid attaching / detaching apparatus 90 inside and to maintain the inside at a set cleanness. FFU 83 is provided. Further, a moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 in the Y direction or the like in FIG. 2 is also provided. The substrate loading / unloading robot 110 is the same as the conventional one.

This closed type robot storage clean room 8
0, as shown in FIG.
Is covered with a partition wall 84 having a cassette opening 82 for loading and unloading the substrate 41 from the sealed cassette 60 placed on the substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate processing apparatus opening 81 communicating with the substrate processing apparatus. The opening and closing of the cassette opening 82 is performed using an opening / closing plate 91. Specifically, the opening / closing plate 91 is connected to the cassette opening 8.
When the cassettes 2 are brought into close contact with each other, the cassette opening 82 is closed. When the opening / closing plate 91 moves to another position, the cassette opening 82 opens. Since the open / close plate 91 is supported by the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 as described later,
The operation of the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 causes the cassette opening 8 to be opened.
2 can be opened and closed. Further, the opening / closing plate 91 may be operated by another device. Further, a mechanism for opening and closing the cassette opening 82 may be provided in the closed type robot storage clean room 80. In this specification, a mechanism that opens and closes the cassette opening 82 is referred to as an opening / closing plate 91 without any limitation.

As described above, since the closed type robot storage clean room 80 has the partition wall 84 and the interior is maintained at the set cleanliness by the FFU 83, when the cassette opening 82 is closed, the closed type robot storage clean room 80 Become an independent clean room. Therefore,
The inside of the closed type robot storage clean room 80 can be maintained at a different set cleanness regardless of the cleanness outside.

The sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 installed in the closed type robot storage clean room 80 includes a closed cassette 60.
This is a device having a function of attaching and detaching the sealing lid 61, and supporting the opening / closing plate 91 to open and close the cassette opening 82 of the closed type robot storage clean room 80. As described above, the opening / closing plate 91 may not be supported by the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 but may be operated by another device. The description of the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a key mechanism of the sealed cassette 60 of FIG. 10, and FIG. 11A is a view showing a state of the key mechanism when the sealing lid 61 is attached to the cassette body 62. FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating a state of the key mechanism when the sealing lid 61 is detached from the cassette main body 62.
In addition, each figure is a plan view with a part thereof omitted (keyhole 6).
3 is shown), a bottom view with a part omitted, and 2
It consists of two side views. With reference to FIG. 11, attachment and detachment of the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 will be described. The connecting rod 65 is attached to the keyhole rotating plate 64 connected to the keyhole 63.
Are connected to each other, and the other end of the connecting rod 65 is connected to the key plate 66. Therefore, when the key is inserted into the keyhole 63 and rotated, the keyhole rotating plate 64 rotates about the rotation center 64a, and the rotation is performed by the connecting rod 65 to provide the keyplate 66 having the arc portion 66b and the flat portion 66c. , The key board 66 rotates around the rotation center 66a. Due to this rotation, the positions of the arc portion 66b and the flat portion 66c are displaced.

As shown in FIG. 11A, the arc portion 66
When b is located at the end of the sealing lid 61, the circular arc portion 66
b protrudes from the end of the sealing lid 61 and the cassette body 62
The sealing lid 61 can be attached to the cassette main body 62 because it enters a concave portion (not shown) provided in the cassette body 62. As shown in FIG. 11B, the flat portion 66c is
, The flat portion 66c does not protrude from the end of the lid, so that the sealing lid 61 can be removed from the cassette body 62. Therefore, when removing the sealing lid 61, the key may be inserted into the keyhole 63 and rotated so that the flat portion 66c is located at the end of the sealing lid 61. Conversely, when attaching the sealing lid 61, the key may be inserted into the keyhole 63 and rotated so that the arc portion 66b is located at the end of the sealing lid 61.

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining the sealing lid attaching / detaching operation sequence of the closed cassette 60 placed on the cassette base 75 with the close contact mechanism shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG. . With reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, a procedure for removing the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 by the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 12 (a) and 13 (a), the cassette lid 75 with the close contact mechanism is placed so that the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 faces the cassette opening 82 of the sealed robot storage clean room 80. Once placed, the closed cassette 6 is clamped by the clamp mechanism 76 (FIG. 8).
0 is fixed.

As shown in FIGS. 12B and 13B, the cassette main body 62 of the closed cassette 60 is stored in the closed robot by the slide mechanism 78 (FIG. 8) provided on the cassette base 75 with the close contact mechanism. Clean room 8
Slide to the position where it comes into close contact with the 0 partition wall 84 (FIG. 8). At this time, the sealing lid 61 is sucked by the suction mechanism 95 of the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90, and is sucked by the opening / closing plate 91. The key mechanism 94 provided in the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 is inserted into the key hole 63 (FIG. 11) of the sealing lid 61.
From the cassette body 62.

As shown in FIGS. 12C and 13C, the X-direction slide mechanism 92 of the hermetic lid attaching / detaching device 90
The sealing lid 61 is removed from the cassette main body 62 by moving the sealing lid 61 in the X direction with the sealing lid 61 being sucked to the opening / closing plate 91. The cassette opening 82
Since the size of the sealing lid 61 is smaller than that of the sealing lid 61, the sealing lid 61 can pass through the cassette opening 82. At this time, the cassette opening 82 of the closed type robot storage clean room 80 is in a state where the cassette opening 82 is not closed because the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 is separated from the cassette opening 82. Are kept in close contact with each other, so that the inside of the closed type robot storage clean room 80 is maintained at the set cleanness. That is, as described above, the inside of the sealed robot storage clean room 80 and the inside of the sealed cassette 60 are maintained at the set cleanliness level, so that the substrate 41 is not affected by the external atmosphere.

As shown in FIGS. 12D and 13D, when the open / close plate 91 of the sealing lid attaching / detaching device 90 is moved downward by the vertical slide mechanism 93, the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 loads the substrate 41. Ready to go out.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of mounting the O-ring 85. As shown in FIG.
5 and the like, and a partition 84 and an opening / closing plate 91 are attached.
And the gap between the partition wall 84 and the cassette main body 62 are closed, the airtightness is further increased. The seal member such as an O-ring may be attached to the opening / closing plate 91 and the cassette main body 62, or may be attached to both the partition wall 84, the opening / closing plate 91 and the cassette main body 62.

FIG. 15 is a front transfer type transport vehicle 5 according to the present invention.
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the operation sequence of the equipment using the cassette table 5 with the close mechanism 5 and the cassette table 75 with the close mechanism in the equipment described above with reference to FIG. A procedure until the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 can carry out the substrate after the loading is described.

As shown in FIG. 15A, the front transfer-type transport vehicle 55 on which the sealed cassette 60 is mounted is moved in the direction of the intended cassette platform 75 with a close contact mechanism. As shown in FIG. 15 (b), the front transfer-type transport vehicle 5
5 moves to the front of the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism. As shown in FIG. 15 (c), the forward transfer type transport vehicle 5
By moving the link arm 56 and the elevating mechanism 57 of FIG. 5 (FIG. 9), the sealed cassette 60 is transferred from the front transfer-type transfer cart 55 to the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism. At this time,
The closed cassette 60 is fixed to the cassette base 75 with a close contact mechanism by a clamp mechanism 76 (FIG. 8) provided on the cassette base 75 with a close contact mechanism. As shown in FIG. 15 (d), the forward transfer type transport vehicle 5
The fifth link arm 56 and the lifting mechanism 57 (FIG. 9) are returned to their original positions.

As shown in FIG. 15E, when the sealed cassette 60 is placed on the cassette base 75 with a close contact mechanism, the cassette body 62 of the sealed cassette 60 is moved by the slide mechanism 78 (FIG. 8) as described above. The robot is slid to a position where it comes into close contact with the wall of the closed type robot storage clean room 80. Then, according to the procedure shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 is removed, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 makes the substrate unloadable. In addition, the front transfer type transport vehicle 55 is moved to another position from the front of the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism. It should be noted that the front transfer-type carriage 55 may be stopped in front of the cassette table 75 with a close contact mechanism until the processing of all the substrates 41 is completed. Therefore, usually, it is moved to another position. Then, after the processing of all the substrates 41 is completed, the sealed cassette 60 containing the substrates 41 is transferred from the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism to the front transfer type transfer cart 55, and transferred to another location. The operation at this time is the reverse of the procedure when the sealed cassette 60 is transferred from the front transfer type transfer carriage 55 to the cassette base 75 with the close contact mechanism.

(Embodiment 2) Embodiment 2 described below
The descending transfer carrier 50 shown in FIG. 16 on which the sealed cassette 60 shown in FIG. 10 is mounted is moved to the inside of the carriage storage cassette table 70, and the closed cassette is moved by the elevating mechanism 51 of the descending transfer carrier 50. After the cassette 60 is transferred to the trolley-mounted cassette stand 70 and the sealed cassette 60 is brought into close contact with the sealed robot storage clean room 80, the sealing lid 61 of the sealed cassette 60 and the cassette opening 82 of the sealed robot storage clean room 80 are separated. This embodiment relates to a cassette transport method and a cassette transport system in which the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 transports the substrate 41 stored in the closed cassette 60 between the closed cassette 60 and the substrate processing apparatus 102 by opening. Claim 1, Claim 3, Claim 4, Claim 5, Claim 7, Claim 8, Claim 10, and Claim 1. And claim 15 and claim 16 and claim 17 and claim 19 and claim 20 and claim 2
This corresponds to the first invention.

FIG. 16 shows a sealed cassette 60 according to the present invention.
The present invention is applied to the present invention in which a lower transfer carrier 50 having a substrate mounted thereon, a carriage storage cassette 70 having a space in which the lower transfer carrier 50 can be moved to the inside, a substrate loading / unloading robot 110, and the like are installed. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a lowered transfer type transport vehicle 50 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 16 without a link arm and an FFU, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the downward transfer type transport cart 50 on which the sealed cassette 60 is placed has moved into a space formed in the cart storage cassette stand 70.

As shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, the descending transfer type transporting vehicle 50 has an elevating mechanism 51, and the hermetic cassette 60 can be mounted on the upper part of the elevating mechanism 51. Thus, the closed cassette 60 and the like can be moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 51. In addition,
Approximate positioning is performed by unevenness formed on the bottom surface of the sealed cassette 60 and the upper portion of the elevating mechanism 51, respectively. Further, the lower transfer carrier 50 can be placed not only in the closed cassette 60 but also in the open cassette 40.
Further, unlike the prior art transporting vehicle 10 integrated with a closed container, it does not include a link arm.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 18, the trolley storage type cassette table 70 is a cassette table which forms a space in which the downward transfer type transport trolley 50 on which the closed cassette 60 is mounted can be moved to the inside. A cassette mounting table 72 for mounting the sealed cassette 60 and the like on the upper part of the mold cassette table 70, a clamp mechanism 71 for fixing the sealed cassette 60 and the like provided on the cassette mounting table 72, and a slide mechanism 73 for sliding the cassette mounting table 72; It has. Therefore, after the sealed cassette 60 and the like are mounted on the cassette mounting table 72 and the closed cassette 60 and the like are fixed by the clamp mechanism 71, the cassette mounting table 72 is
To bring the closed cassette 60 into close contact with the closed robot storage clean room 80.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, since the width of the elevating mechanism 51 is smaller than the width of the sealed cassette 60, it does not interfere with the cassette mounting table 72 of the carriage storing cassette table 70, and 70 can be moved into the space formed. Therefore, when the elevating mechanism of the trolley-mounted cassette table 70 is lowered, the sealed cassette 60 can be transferred onto the cassette mounting table 72 of the trolley-mounted cassette table 70.

The closed-type robot storage clean room 80 and the closed lid attaching / detaching device 90 shown in FIG. 16 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

The operation of attaching and detaching the hermetically sealed lid of the hermetically sealed cassette 60 mounted on the carriage-contained cassette base 70 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a lower transfer carrier 5 according to the present invention.
FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of the equipment operation sequence using the cassette carriage 70 and the carriage storage type cassette table 70. In the equipment described above with reference to FIG. 19, the closed cassette 60 is moved from the downward transfer type transportation carriage 50 to the carriage storage type cassette table 70. A procedure until the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 can carry out the substrate after the loading is described.

As shown in FIG. 19 (a), the downwardly-transferring transporting carriage 50 on which the sealed cassette 60 is placed is moved in the direction of the intended carriage-holding cassette table 70.

As shown in FIG. 19B, the descending transfer type transporting carriage 50 moves to the front of the carriage storing type cassette table 70.

As shown in FIG. 19 (c), while the closed cassette 60 is mounted, the lower transfer carrier 50 is moved into the space formed in the storage cassette 70. At this time, the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 is positioned in the direction of the sealed robot storage clean room 80. Thereafter, the elevating mechanism 51 (FIG. 17) of the descending transfer type transport vehicle 50 is lowered, and the sealed cassette 60 is placed on the truck storage type cassette table 70, and the sealed cassette 60 is moved by the clamp mechanism 71 (FIG. 16). Fix it.

As shown in FIG. 19D, the downward transfer type transporting carriage 50 is moved from the carriage storing type cassette table 70 to another position. Note that the descending transfer type transporting cart 50 may be stopped in the space formed in the cart containing cassette stand 70 until all the substrates 41 stored in the closed cassette 60 have been processed, Is moved to another position to convey another sealed cassette 60.

As shown in FIG. 19 (e), when the sealed cassette 60 is placed on the trolley-mounted cassette table 70,
As described above, the cassette main body 62 of the sealed cassette 60 is slid by the slide mechanism 73 (FIG. 16) to a position where the cassette body 62 comes into close contact with the wall of the closed robot storage clean room 80. Then, according to the procedure shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the sealing lid 61 of the sealing cassette 60 is removed, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 makes the substrate unloadable.

(Embodiment 3) Embodiment 3 described below is
As shown in FIG. 20, which will be described later, the downwardly-transferring type transport vehicle 50 on which the open cassette 40 (not the closed cassette 60) is mounted is moved to the inside of the bogie-housing type cassette stage 70, and The open cassette 40 is transferred to the trolley-mounted cassette table 70 by the elevating mechanism 51 at 50, and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 installed in the open-robot storage clean room 30 is
This is an embodiment relating to a cassette transport method and a cassette transport system for transporting the substrate 41 stored in the open cassette 40 between the open cassette 40 and the substrate processing apparatus 102, and claims 4 to 6 at the time of filing. This corresponds to the invention of claim 18.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a lower transfer carrier 50 having an open cassette 40 according to the present invention mounted thereon, and a carriage storage cassette 70 having a space in which the lower transport carrier 50 can be moved. And substrate loading / unloading robot 110
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an open type robot storage clean room 30 to which the present invention is applied.

The open robot storage clean room 30,
The lower transfer carrier 50 and the like are the same as those in the first and second embodiments. It is not necessary to bring the open cassette 40 into close contact with the open robot storage clean room 30 as in the first embodiment.
Slide mechanism 7 for sliding open cassette 40
3 need not be provided. However, when it is easier for the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 to load and unload the substrate 41 by slightly sliding the position of the open cassette 40, a slide mechanism 73 may be provided.

As described above, the open cassette 40 can be transported by using the downwardly-transferring transport carriage 50. In this case, when it is possible to maintain the entire cleanliness of the facility installation clean room 100 at the set cleanliness, the cassette is transferred from the carrier to the cassette table by the elevating mechanism 51 without using the link arm. 41
Even when the size of the substrate is increased and the weight of the substrate 41 is increased, the center of gravity of the transport vehicle is not shifted and the transport vehicle does not become unstable as in the related art.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the lower transfer carrier 5 according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the equipment operation sequence when the open cassette 40 is transported using the cassette cassette 70 and the carriage storage type cassette table 70;
In the equipment described above with reference to FIG. 21, after the open cassette 40 is transferred from the descending transfer type transfer carriage 50 to the carriage storage type cassette table 70, the substrate loading / unloading robot 110
A procedure until the substrate can be unloaded will be described.

As shown in FIG. 21A, the downwardly-transferring transfer carriage 50 on which the open cassette 40 is placed is moved in the direction of the intended carriage storage cassette table 70.

As shown in FIG. 21 (b), the downward transfer type transfer carriage 50 moves to the front of the carriage storage type cassette table 70.

As shown in FIG. 21 (c), the downward transfer type transporting carriage 50 moves into the space formed in the carriage storing type cassette table 70 with the open cassette 40 mounted. Then, the elevating mechanism 5 of the descending transfer type transport vehicle 50
1 (FIG. 20) is lowered, and the open cassette 40 is transferred to the carriage-contained cassette table 70, and the clamp mechanism 71 is moved.
The open cassette 40 is fixed by (FIG. 20).

As shown in FIG. 21D, the descending transfer type transporting carriage 50 is moved from the carriage storing type cassette table 70 to another position. Note that the descending transfer type transporting carriage 50 may be stopped in the space formed in the carriage storing type cassette table 70 until processing of all the substrates 41 stored in the open cassette 40 is completed. Is moved to another position to convey another open cassette 40.

(Embodiment 4) Embodiment 4 described below with reference to FIG. 22 corresponds to the inventions of claims 11 and 22 at the time of filing.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a trolley-mounted cassette table 70 provided with a charging mechanism 74 and a descending transfer type transport trolley 50 that can be charged from the charging mechanism 74. As shown in FIG. 22, the carriage storage type cassette table 7
0 is provided with a charging mechanism 74, and the descending transfer carrier 50 is provided with a charging port 52 at a position corresponding to the charging mechanism 74. At this time, for example, if a plug is provided in the charging mechanism 74 and a socket is provided in the charging port 52, charging can be performed by inserting the plug into the socket. Therefore, the downward transfer type transport vehicle 50 is moved to the open cassette 40 or the closed cassette 6.
In order to transfer 0 to the trolley-contained cassette table 70, charging can be performed when it is moved into the space formed in the trolley-contained cassette table 70.

Even if the open cassette 40 or the closed cassette 60 is not conveyed, it can be charged if it is moved into the space formed in the carriage-contained cassette table 70. Note that the positions of the charging mechanism 74 and the charging port 52 are not limited to the positions shown in FIG. 22, and may be provided at other positions. Further, the type of the rechargeable battery is not limited.

(Embodiment 5) Embodiment 5 described below with reference to FIG. 23 corresponds to the invention of claim 12 at the time of filing.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the lower transfer carrier 5 according to the present invention.
Open cassette 4 from 0 to the trolley storage type cassette table 70
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a moving method when another lower transfer carrier 50 moves along the same passage while the 0 or sealed cassette 60 is being transferred. As shown in FIG. 23 (a), when the open cassette 40 or the closed cassette 60 is transferred from the descending transfer type transfer cart 50a to the cart storage type cassette table 70, the descending transfer type transfer cart 50a is used as the cart storage type. Since it is stored in the space formed in the cassette table 70, the passage is not blocked by the downwardly-transferring type transport vehicle 50a during the transfer.

Further, since the descending transfer type transporting carriage 50b moving in the passage can be evacuated in the space formed in the carriage accommodating cassette table 70, as shown in FIG. The downward transfer carrier 50c moving from the side can move along the path. Therefore, even if the width of the passage is such that only one lower transfer carrier 50 can pass, a plurality of lower transfer carriers 50 can move in the same passage.

As shown in FIG. 23 (c), the passage width may be equal to the width of two descending transfer type transport vehicles. Also in this case, not only is the passage not blocked by the descending transfer carrier 50a during the transfer, but also the passage is moved from the side opposite to the descending transfer carrier 50b during the passage. Since the descending transfer carrier 50c can move in the path at the same time, the transport efficiency can be improved.

[0108]

(1) If the substrate 41 is stored in the closed cassette 60, the substrate 41 stored in the closed cassette 60 can be installed by the transport vehicle without the FFU regardless of the cleanliness of the facility installation clean room 100. It can be transported in the installation clean room 100. Further, since the closed type robot storage clean room 80 has a partition and has an FFU for maintaining the inside thereof at the set cleanliness, it is an independent clean room maintaining the set cleanliness. . Therefore, the sealed cassette 60 is moved to the closed robot storage clean room 8.
0, the sealing lid 61 is removed, and the cassette opening 8 of the closed type robot storage clean room 80 is closed.
By opening 2, the substrate stored in the closed cassette 60 can be carried into the closed robot storage clean room 80 regardless of the cleanliness of the facility installation clean room 100.

Therefore, the clean room 10 where the equipment is installed is provided.
Since the total area cleanliness of 0 can be reduced,
The equipment cost of the equipment installation clean room 100 can be reduced. Also, running costs can be reduced. Further, since there is no need to provide the transport trolley with the FFU, the equipment cost and the running cost can be reduced accordingly.

That is, in the prior art, the entire area clean facility is operated so that the entire area clean degree becomes a predetermined set clean degree of class 10 to 100. However, in the present invention, the entire area clean degree is set to, for example, , Class1
Reduce 0 to 100 or change class100 to 100
It can also be reduced to zero.

This effect can be obtained even in a facility using the front transfer type transport vehicle 55 and the cassette table 75 with the close contact mechanism as shown in the first embodiment, in the downward transfer type transport as shown in the second embodiment. It can also be obtained with equipment using the trolley 50 and the trolley storage type cassette table 70.

(2) The transport carriage 50 is a downward transfer transport carriage 50 on which a cassette is mounted, and the cassette table 70 is connected to the downward transfer transport carriage 50 on which the cassette is mounted. In the case of the cassette transfer system in which the carriage storage type cassette table 70 has a space capable of being housed therein, the link arm is moved after the descending transfer type transportation carriage 50 moves to the inside of the carriage storage type cassette table 70. The lifting mechanism of the transport trolley without using,
The cassette placed on the downward transfer type transfer carriage 50 can be transferred to the carriage storage type cassette table 70.

Therefore, the link arm of the transporting cart, which has been required conventionally, becomes unnecessary, and the related motors and the like become unnecessary, and the structure of the transporting cart becomes simple, so that the weight can be reduced and the size can be reduced. Accordingly, the equipment cost of the transport vehicle is reduced accordingly.

Further, since the cassette is transferred from the carrier to the cassette table only by the elevating mechanism without using the link arm, even if the substrate 41 becomes large and the weight of the substrate 41 increases, as in the conventional case, When the cassette is transferred, the center of gravity of the transport vehicle shifts and the transport vehicle does not become unstable.

Further, even if the substrate 41 is enlarged and the weight of the substrate 41 is increased, the center of gravity of the transport vehicle does not shift when the cassette is transferred as in the conventional case. Since the weight of the carrier need not be increased, the transport trolley 50 can be used even in the facility-installed clean room 100 where the floor weight is low.

Further, since the down-transfer type transporting carrier 50 according to the present invention can be reduced in size, it can be smaller than the passage width of the conventional transporting carrier, and the equipment installation clean room 1 can be reduced.
00 installation area can be used effectively. Therefore, even when the size of the substrate 41 is increased, the descending transfer type transport carrier 50 according to the present invention can pass with the conventional passage width as described later in (5).

(3) After the closed cassette 60 is brought into close contact with the closed robot storage clean room 80, the closed lid 61 is closed.
, And open the cassette opening 82 of the closed type robot storage clean room 80 to open the closed cassette 60
Equipment for loading and unloading the substrate 41 stored in the cassette, a descent transfer type carriage 50 for mounting a cassette on the upper part, and a dolly forming a space for moving the descent transfer type carriage 50 for mounting the cassette to the inside When combined with the storage type cassette table 70, together with the reduction of the cleanliness of the entire area of the facility installation clean room 100, as described later in the section (5), (a) the substrate of the conventional size The cost and the width of the passage can be reduced,
(B) Even when the size of the substrate 41 is increased, it is possible to pass with the conventional width of the passage, so that it is not necessary to add the facility installation clean room 100.

(4) If the carriage storage cassette 70 is provided with a charging mechanism 74 for the downwardly-transferring transporting carriage 50, the downwardly-transferring transporting carriage 50 can be extended to the inside of the carriage-receiving cassette 70. When moved, the downwardly-transferring type transport vehicle 5
0 can be charged.
It is not necessary to provide a space for installing the transporting cart during charging. As a result, the equipment installation clean room 10
0 installation area can be used effectively. Further, even when the substrate 41 is enlarged, the space for installing the conventional transporting cart during charging can be utilized for the space that increases due to the enlargement of the substrate 41. No additional installation is required.

(5) The descending transfer carrier 50 moves to the inside of the carriage storage cassette table 70 and is stopped or moved to the inside to be evacuated, and the other lower transfer carrier 50 is retracted.
Can pass through the passage, so that the passage is not blocked by the descending transfer type transporting cart 50 that is stopped or retracted,
The transport efficiency can be increased, and the width of the passage can be reduced as compared with the related art. Also, the passage width of the three conventional vehicles shown in FIG. 7B is changed to 2 using the present invention shown in FIG.
Since the width of the passage is equal to the width of the unit, even if the substrate 41 becomes large, it is possible to pass with the conventional width of the passage, so that it is not necessary to add the equipment installation clean room 100.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram that best illustrates the features of the invention according to the present application.

FIG. 2 is a layout diagram of a substrate processing process facility showing an example of a substrate processing process facility.

FIG. 3 shows a prior art open-type robot storage clean room 30 in which an open cassette 40 and a substrate loading / unloading robot 110 placed on a cassette table 20 from a closed-vessel-integrated transfer carriage 10 of the prior art are installed. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a fan filter unit (FFU).
FIG. 2 is a view showing a hermetically-sealed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 in which a closed container 12 having a shutter 11 and a shutter 15 and a transport vehicle 16 having a link arm 13 and an elevating mechanism 14 are integrally formed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the open cassette 40 and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 when the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 transports the substrate 41 from the open cassette 40.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the operation sequence of the equipment such as the closed container-integrated carrier 10 and the substrate loading / unloading robot 110 shown in FIG. 3 according to the prior art.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional closed-container-integrated transfer cart 10;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a moving method when another closed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 moves in the same path while the closed container-integrated transport vehicle 10 that transfers the open cassette 40 to the cassette table 20 is stopped in the passage.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a book provided with a front transfer type transport vehicle 55 having a sealed cassette 60 according to the present invention mounted thereon, a cassette table 75 with a close contact mechanism having a slide mechanism, a substrate loading / unloading robot 110, and the like. It is a figure which shows the sealed type robot storage clean room 80 applied to this invention.

FIG. 9 shows a link arm 56 and an elevating mechanism 57.
Forward transfer carrier 5 according to the present invention shown in FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 10 shows a sealed cassette 60 according to the present invention.
It is a perspective view of.

11 is a view showing a key mechanism of the sealed cassette 60 of FIG. 10; FIG. 11 (a) is a view showing a state of the key mechanism when the sealing lid 61 is attached to the cassette main body 62; FIG. 11B is a view showing a state of the key mechanism when the sealing lid 61 is removed from the cassette body.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a sealing lid attaching / detaching operation sequence of the sealing cassette 60 placed on the cassette base with a close contact mechanism 75 shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of mounting an O-ring 85.

FIG. 15 is a front transfer type carriage 5 of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an equipment operation sequence using a cassette table 5 with a close contact mechanism 5;

FIG. 16 shows a sealed cassette 60 according to the present invention.
The present invention is applied to the present invention in which a lower transfer carrier 50 having a substrate mounted thereon, a carriage storage cassette 70 having a space in which the lower transfer carrier 50 can be moved to the inside, a substrate loading / unloading robot 110, and the like are installed. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a closed-type robot storage clean room 80 to be closed.

FIG. 17 is a view showing the descending transfer type transporting cart 50 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 16 without the link arm and the FFU.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the downward transfer type transport vehicle 50 on which the closed cassette 60 is mounted has moved into a space formed in the vehicle storage type cassette table 70.

FIG. 19 is a descending transfer type transport vehicle 5 of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of equipment operation order using a cassette cassette 70 and a cart storage type 70;

FIG. 20 is a down-loading transfer carriage 50 on which the open cassette 40 according to the present invention is mounted, and a dolly storage cassette table having a space in which the down-loading transfer carriage 50 can be moved to the inside. 70 and substrate loading / unloading robot 110
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an open type robot storage clean room 30 to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 21 is a descending transfer carrier 5 according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the equipment operation sequence when the open cassette 40 is transported using the cassette cassette 70 and the carriage storage type cassette table 70.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a trolley-mounted cassette table 70 provided with a charging mechanism 74 and a descending transfer type transport trolley 50 that can be charged from the charging mechanism 74.

FIG. 23 is a descending transfer type transport cart 5 of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a moving method when another closed transfer type transfer cart 50 moves in the same path when the sealed cassette 60 is transferred from 0 to the cart storage type cassette table 70.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Closed container integrated transport cart 10a Closed container integrated transport cart carrying open cassette 40 10b Closed container integrated transport cart moving in passage 10c Closed container integrated transport truck moving from opposite side of passage DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 FFU 12 Closed container 13 Link arm 14 Elevating mechanism 15 Shutter 16 Carriage truck 20 Cassette table 21 Clamp mechanism 30 Open type robot storage clean room 31 FFU 32 Substrate processing device opening 40 Open cassette 41 Substrate 50 Downward transfer carrier 50a Sealed Descending transfer carrier 50b moving cassette 60. Descending transfer carrier 50c moving in the passage. Descending transfer carrier 51 moving from the opposite side of the passage 51 Lifting mechanism 52 Charging port 55 Forward movement Loading carrier 56 Link arm 57 Elevating mechanism 60 Sealed case G 61 Sealing lid 62 Cassette main body 63 Key hole 64 Key hole rotating plate 65 Connecting rod 66 Key plate 66a Rotation center 66b Arc part 66c Flat part 70 Dolly storage type cassette table 71 Clamp mechanism 72 Cassette mounting table 73 Slide mechanism 74 Charging mechanism 75 Adhesion mechanism Cassette table with clamp 76 Clamp mechanism 77 Cassette mounting table 78 Slide mechanism 80 Sealed robot storage clean room 81 Substrate processing device opening 82 Cassette opening 83 FFU 84 Partition wall 85 O-ring 90 Sealing lid attaching / detaching device 91 Opening / closing plate 92 X-direction sliding mechanism 93 Vertical slide mechanism 94 Key mechanism 95 Suction mechanism 100 Equipment installation clean room 101 Cassette stock place 102 Substrate processing device 110 Substrate loading / unloading robot 111 Base mechanism 112 Elevating mechanism 113 Arm mechanism 113a first arm 113b second arm 114 hand member

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B65G 49/07 B65G 49/07 L (72) Inventor Koji Kurahashi 2-1-1 Tagawa, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 11 Daihen Co., Ltd. F-term in the company Inuyama factory (reference) 5F031 CA05 FA02 FA09 FA13 GA02 GA22 GA45 GA58 MA01 MA11 NA02 NA07 PA02 PA18 PA30

Claims (22)

[Claims] A cassette accommodating a substrate is mounted on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed, and then the substrate loading / unloading robot connects the cassette with the substrate processing apparatus. In a cassette carrying method for loading and unloading substrates between the cassette body, the cassette body is formed by a cassette body having an opening on one side and a sealing lid for closing the opening of the cassette body, wherein the sealing lid is detachable from the cassette body. A process of storing the substrate in the cassette and closing the hermetic lid, a process of mounting the hermetic cassette on the transport trolley, and the hermetic cassette mounted on the transport trolley, wherein the hermetic lid is provided in a hermetic robot storage clean room. Transferring the cassette to the cassette table so as to face the cassette opening. A process of bringing a closed cassette into close contact, a process of opening an opening / closing plate closing the cassette opening and opening the sealing lid, and a substrate loading / unloading robot loading / unloading a substrate between the sealing cassette and the substrate processing apparatus. A cassette transporting method comprising: a step of closing the sealing lid and closing the opening / closing plate after the loading / unloading of the substrate is completed; and a step of transferring the sealed cassette from a cassette table to a transport carriage. 2. A substrate loading / unloading robot is mounted on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. In a cassette carrying method for loading and unloading substrates between the cassette body, the cassette body is formed by a cassette body having an opening on one side and a sealing lid for closing the opening of the cassette body, wherein the sealing lid is detachable from the cassette body. A process of storing the substrate in the cassette and closing the hermetic lid, a process of mounting the hermetic cassette on the front transfer type transport vehicle, and a process of mounting the hermetic cassette on the forward transfer type transport vehicle, Transferring the robot to a cassette table with a close contact mechanism so as to face a cassette opening provided in a closed robot storage clean room; A step of bringing the closed cassette into close contact with the bot storage clean room, a step of opening the closing plate that closes the cassette opening and opening the sealing lid, and a step in which the substrate loading / unloading robot moves between the sealed cassette and the substrate processing apparatus. Loading and unloading the substrate, closing the lid and closing the open / close plate after the loading and unloading of the substrate is completed, and transferring the sealed cassette from the cassette base with the close contact mechanism to the front transfer type transport cart. Cassette transport method comprising: 3. A substrate loading / unloading robot is mounted on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. In a cassette carrying method for loading and unloading substrates between the cassette body, the cassette body is formed by a cassette body having an opening on one side and a sealing lid for closing the opening of the cassette body, wherein the sealing lid is detachable from the cassette body. A step of storing the substrate in the cassette and closing the hermetic lid, a step of mounting the hermetic cassette on the descending transfer type carrier, and a step of attaching the hermetic cassette mounted on the descending transfer type carrier to the hermetic cover. Is transferred to a trolley-mounted cassette table so as to face a cassette opening provided in a closed-type robot storage clean room; and A step of bringing the closed cassette into close contact with the robot storage clean room, a step of opening the opening / closing plate closing the cassette opening and opening the closed lid, and a step in which the substrate loading / unloading robot moves between the closed cassette and the substrate processing apparatus. A step of loading and unloading the substrate, a step of closing the sealing cover and closing the open / close plate after the loading and unloading of the substrate is completed, and a step of transferring the sealed cassette from the trolley storage cassette table to the downward transfer type transport trolley. Cassette transport method comprising: 4. A substrate loading cassette is loaded on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed, and then the substrate loading / unloading robot connects the cassette with the substrate processing apparatus. In a cassette transport method for loading and unloading substrates between, a process of storing substrates in a cassette, a process of mounting the cassette on a downward transfer type transport vehicle, and a process of loading and unloading the cassette with the downward transfer type transport vehicle. A step of moving to the inside of the cassette table, a step of transferring the cassette mounted on the descending transfer type transfer carriage to a carriage storage type cassette table, and a step in which the substrate loading / unloading robot moves between the cassette and the substrate processing apparatus. A cassette transport method comprising the steps of: loading and unloading a substrate; and transporting the cassette from the cart storage cassette table to a downwardly-transferring transport cart. . 5. A cassette for storing substrates is mounted on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading and unloading robot is installed, and then the substrate loading and unloading robot connects the cassette and the substrate processing apparatus. In a cassette carrying method for loading and unloading substrates between the cassette body, the cassette body is formed by a cassette body having an opening on one side and a sealing lid for closing the opening of the cassette body, wherein the sealing lid is detachable from the cassette body. A process of storing a substrate in a cassette and closing the hermetic lid, a process of mounting the hermetically sealed cassette on a downwardly-transferable transport vehicle, And the sealing cassette mounted on the descending transfer type transporting trolley, and the sealing cover is Transferring to a carriage storage type cassette table so as to face a cassette opening provided in the system,
A step of bringing the hermetic cassette into close contact with the hermetically sealed robot storage clean room, a step of opening an opening / closing plate closing the cassette opening and opening the hermetic lid, A step of loading and unloading the substrate between the steps, a step of closing the sealing cover and closing the open / close plate after the completion of the loading and unloading of the substrate, and a step of transferring the sealed cassette from the cassette table to the downward transfer type transporting vehicle. Cassette transport method comprising: 6. A cassette for storing substrates is mounted on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading and unloading robot is installed, and then the substrate loading and unloading robot connects the cassette and the substrate processing apparatus. In a cassette carrying method for carrying substrates in and out, a process of storing a substrate in an open cassette, a process of mounting the open cassette on a descending transfer carrier, and a descending transfer carrier carrying the open cassette Moving to the inside of the trolley-mounted cassette table, transferring the open cassette mounted on the descending transfer-type transfer trolley to the trolley-mounted cassette table, Loading and unloading substrates from and to the processing apparatus; and moving the open cassette downward from the carriage-mounted cassette table. Transferring the cassette to a loading carrier. 7. An opening / closing plate for closing a cassette opening provided in a closed type robot storage clean room according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 5, and closing a sealing lid of the closed cassette. A cassette transport method in which the opening process is performed simultaneously by a sealing lid attaching / detaching device. 8. A cassette transport method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of closing the sealing lid and closing the opening / closing plate of the sealing cassette according to claim 1 or 2 are simultaneously performed by a sealing lid attaching / detaching device. 9. The step of bringing the closed cassette into close contact with the closed robot storage clean room according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of fixing the closed cassette by a clamp mechanism provided on a cassette base with a close mechanism and the step of closing the closed cassette by a slide mechanism. A cassette conveying method in which a cassette is pressed into the clean room storing the closed type robot. 10. The step of bringing the closed cassette into close contact with the closed robot storage clean room according to claim 1, 3 or 5, wherein the step of fixing and sliding the closed cassette is performed by a clamp mechanism provided on the truck storage cassette base. A cassette conveying method in which the hermetic cassette is pressed against the hermetic robot storage clean room by a mechanism. 11. The trolley storage cassette when the descending transfer type transfer trolley according to claim 3 or 4, or 5 or 6 moves to the inside of the trolley storage cassette base and is stopped. A cassette transport method for charging a downward transfer type transport vehicle from a charging mechanism provided on the platform. 12. The downward transfer type transport vehicle according to claim 3, 4 or 5, or 6 moves to the inside of the truck storage type cassette table and stops while the downward transfer type transport vehicle stops. A method of transporting a cassette, in which a mold carrier cart passes through a passage adjacent to the cart storage cassette board. 13. A cassette containing substrates is loaded on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed.
In a cassette transfer system in which a substrate loading / unloading robot loads and unloads a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus, the cassette transfer system is formed by a cassette main body having an opening on one side and a sealing lid for sealing the opening of the cassette main body. A sealed cassette whose lid is detachable with respect to the cassette body, a transport trolley on which the sealed cassette containing the substrates is mounted, a cassette table on which the sealed cassette is placed, and a substrate loading / unloading robot for loading / unloading the substrate; A sealing lid attaching / detaching device for attaching / detaching the sealing lid from / to the cassette body, a cassette for installing the substrate loading / unloading robot and the sealing lid attaching / detaching device inside, and loading / unloading a substrate from / to the cassette by the substrate loading / unloading robot. Type robot covered with a partition having an opening for a substrate processing apparatus and an opening for a substrate processing apparatus and having an FFU A clean room, and an opening / closing plate for opening and closing the cassette opening, wherein the sealing lid is placed on a cassette table so as to face the cassette opening, and the sealing lid attaching / detaching device is connected to the cassette opening through the cassette opening. A cassette transport system in which a sealing lid is attached to and detached from a cassette body, and the substrate loading / unloading robot loads and unloads a substrate stored in a sealing cassette through the cassette opening. 14. A cassette transport system according to claim 13, wherein the transport cart according to claim 13 is a forward transfer type transport cart, and the cassette table is a cassette table with a close contact mechanism. 15. The cassette transport system according to claim 13, wherein the transport cart is a descending transfer type transport cart, and the cassette table is a cart storage type cassette table. 16. A cassette containing substrates is mounted on a transport trolley and transported to a cassette table adjacent to a robot storage clean room in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed.
In a cassette transport system in which a substrate loading / unloading robot loads and unloads a substrate between a cassette and a substrate processing apparatus, a cassette for storing a substrate, a descending transfer type transport vehicle for loading the cassette storing the substrate, A trolley storage cassette table having a space for moving the transfer-type transport trolley to the inside, a substrate loading / unloading robot for loading / unloading the substrate, a robot storage clean room having the substrate loading / unloading robot installed therein and having an FFU. A cassette transport system for transport. 17. The cassette transport system according to claim 16, wherein the cassette is a sealed cassette, and the robot storage clean room is a closed robot storage clean room having an FFU in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. 18. The cassette transport system according to claim 16, wherein the cassette is an open cassette, and the robot storage clean room is an open robot storage clean room having an FFU in which a substrate loading / unloading robot is installed. 19. A cassette transport system in which the sealing lid attaching / detaching device according to claim 13 supports an opening / closing plate for opening and closing a cassette opening of a closed type robot storage clean room. 20. A cassette transport system in which the sealing lid attaching / detaching device according to claim 13 opens and closes a cassette opening of a closed type robot storage clean room and detaches the sealing lid from the cassette body. 21. A cassette transport system according to claim 13, further comprising a clamp mechanism for fixing the closed cassette and a slide mechanism for sliding the closed cassette. 22. A cassette transport system, wherein the carriage storage type cassette table according to claim 16 is provided with a charging mechanism for a downward transfer type transport cart.