JP2003203960A - Substrate processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing device having high flexibility of layout. <P>SOLUTION: Related to an interface position IP1, that gives/receives a substrate W among a plurality of transfer robots 30, a substrate-holding part 51 is made movable by an operation of an air cylinder 53 within a range, corresponding to the size of other processing units arranged in a laminate. Since a movable range can be varied by adjusting length of the air cylinder 53, restriction in the size of the arranged processing unit is reduced. Further, since a telescopic range of an arm 40 can be made minimum, the structure of the transfer robot 30 can be simplified and uniformalized. Since an occupied area also becomes small, the device footprint is reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device or the like (hereinafter referred to as "substrate").

[0002]

As is well known, products such as semiconductors and liquid crystal displays are subjected to a series of various treatments such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, interlayer insulating film formation, heat treatment, and dicing on the above-mentioned substrate. It is manufactured by applying.

In order to improve the manufacturing efficiency in a manufacturing line including a plurality of processes, conventionally, a processing section in charge of each processing step and a transfer path for transferring a substrate between the processing sections are made as small and high as possible. An integrated substrate processing apparatus has been developed and put into practical use. That is, it has been aimed to improve the processing / transport efficiency by efficiently disposing a plurality of processing units and disposing a plurality of transfer robots for each process.

[0004]

With such miniaturization and high integration, there are naturally constraints on the structures and layouts of individual processing units and transfer robots. That is, a situation arises in which a complicated or special structure or material has to be adopted because the layout of the processing unit is required to be efficient. They cause design and manufacturing difficulties and increase manufacturing costs.

A more specific example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the transfer of the substrate W between the plurality of transfer robots 101 (101a to 101c) in the conventional substrate processing apparatus 100. Each transfer robot 10
1 is arranged so as to surround an interface position 103 having three support pins. It is assumed that processing units for performing a predetermined processing on the substrate are stacked and arranged on the upper part or the lower part of the interface position 103, or both of them.

Each transfer robot 101 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface by a drive mechanism (not shown) and rotated about a central axis in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface (not shown). In addition, each transfer robot 101 is extendable and retractable in one direction within the plane of the drawing by a drive mechanism (not shown), and the arm 1 on which a substrate can be mounted.
02 (102a to 102c). The transfer robot 101 appropriately accesses the rotation and vertical movement of the transfer robot 101 itself and the expansion and contraction of the arm 102 to access the processing units arranged in a stack and transfer the substrates.

The transfer of substrates between the transfer robots 101 is performed at the interface position 103.
For example, when the substrate W held by the transfer robot 101a on the arm 102a is transferred to the transfer robot 101b, the transfer robot 101a extends the arm 102a and transfers the substrate W onto the three support pins P. After the placement, the transfer robot 101b extends the arm 102b and acquires it. Substrate transfer between other transfer robots is performed in the same manner.

From the viewpoint of downsizing the substrate processing apparatus, it is preferable that the area occupied by the interface position 103 is as small as possible. However, the size of the interface position 103 is defined by the plane occupying area of the processing unit that requires the largest plane occupying area among the processing units arranged in the upper and lower layers. , There are some that are difficult to miniaturize. Interface position 1
As the area 03 is larger, the transfer robot 101 that transfers the substrate is required to have an arm 102 having a larger expansion / contraction range (this range is referred to as a stroke range S) than other areas. The stroke range of the arm 102 is defined by the outer dimension A of the robot and the size B of the processing units to be stacked, and the larger the stroke range S, the larger the transfer robot becomes, and the entire substrate processing apparatus. The area occupied by the plane becomes large. At the same time, the transfer robot becomes large in size, which causes a high cost.

That is, from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost and maintenance, it is desirable that the plurality of transfer robots 101 have the same structure as much as possible regardless of the place where they are arranged and that the arm 102 has the shortest possible stroke. It will be.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of arranging processing units with a high degree of freedom, without depending on the plane occupation area of the processing unit or the access direction. To aim.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is to transfer a substrate by accessing a plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate and a plurality of processing units in the previous period. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of transfer means for performing the transfer; and a substrate transfer unit accommodating at least one transfer means used for transfer of substrates between the plurality of transfer means, the plurality of processing units And the substrate transfer unit are stacked and arranged, access directions of the plurality of processing units from the transfer unit are different depending on each processing unit, and the at least one transfer unit is the substrate transfer unit. Of the plurality of processing units, the processing unit having the largest plane occupying area is horizontally movable within the range of the plane occupying area. And, characterized by.

The invention according to claim 2 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of processing units include:
It is characterized in that it includes a heating unit for performing heat treatment on the substrate or a cooling unit for performing cooling treatment.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate are independently arranged at positions different from each other in the horizontal direction, and the plurality of processing units are accessed to transfer the substrate. 1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of transfer means for performing a transfer; and a plurality of transfer means for transferring a substrate between the plurality of transfer means, wherein the plurality of transfer means are adjacent to each other. The transfer means is movable within the range of the horizontal width of the area occupied by the transfer means.

The invention according to a fourth aspect is the substrate processing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the plurality of transfer means are arranged in layers.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on the substrate are independently arranged at different positions in the horizontal direction, and the plurality of processing units are accessed to transfer the substrates. What is claimed is: 1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of transfer means for performing a transfer; and a transfer means for transferring a substrate between the plurality of transfer means, wherein the transfer means performs a predetermined process on the substrate. It is characterized in that it can move in the horizontal direction while performing.

The invention according to claim 6 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transfer means is movable while performing a predetermined process on the substrate. , Is characterized.

The invention of claim 7 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 6, wherein the predetermined process is a cooling process of the substrate.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the horizontal plane is the xy plane and the direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane is the z direction is attached. Regarding the xy plane, the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing is the y direction.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a processing section 1 in which a plurality of processing units for performing various kinds of processing on a substrate W are stacked and arranged.
0 (11, 12, 13). A transfer path 20 (21, 22) provided with a transfer robot 30 (31, 32) as transfer means for transferring and transferring substrates is arranged between the processing units 10. These transfer robots 31 and 32 are different from each other in the arrangement position in the horizontal direction.

The transfer robot 30 includes an arm 40 (41,
42). In addition, a vertical movement of the transfer robot 30 itself as shown by an arrow AR1 in the z-axis direction by a drive mechanism (not shown), a rotation about the z-axis as a rotation axis, and an arm 40 as shown by an arrow AR2. The transfer robot 30 transfers the substrates to and from the stacked processing units and transfers the substrates from one processing unit to another processing unit by appropriately combining the horizontal expansion and contraction operation. The operation of the drive mechanism (not shown) of the transfer robot 30 and the arm 40 is performed by the controller 61.
Is controlled by.

In the processing section 11, as a processing unit, a heating unit HP1, a cooling unit CP1, a heating unit HP2 and a cooling unit CP2 are stacked in this order from the top. Heating units HP1 and H
The P2 is provided with a so-called hot plate that heats the substrate to a predetermined temperature or maintains the high temperature state. The cooling units CP1 and CP2 are provided with so-called cool plates that cool the substrate to a predetermined temperature or maintain it in a low temperature state. In addition, the occupied width of the heating units HP1 and HP2 in the x-axis direction is D
If H and the occupying widths of the cooling units CP1 and CP2 in the x-axis direction are DC and DH> DC, the heating units HP1 and HP2 in the stacked arrangement state.
The occupying width DH can be defined as the occupying width of the processing unit 11.

Heating unit HP1 and cooling unit C
P1 has openings 111 and 112 on the side of the transport path 21.
Are provided, and the arm 41 of the transfer robot 31 provided in the transport path 21 can access the respective processing units through these openings. On the other hand, the heating unit HP2 and the cooling unit CP2 are provided with openings 113 and 114 on the transport path 22 side, respectively, and the transfer robot 3 provided in the transport path 22.
Two arms 42 can access the respective processing units through these openings. In the present embodiment, with respect to the substrate W, the predetermined processing in the processing unit 12, the heating unit HP1 and the cooling unit C are performed.
It is assumed that the heat treatment in P1, the predetermined treatment in the processing unit 13, and the heat treatment in the heating unit HP1 and the cooling unit CP2 are performed in this order. As the processing in the processing section 12, for example, an antireflection film coating processing, and as the processing in the processing section 13, for example, resist coating processing is considered as an example of a suitable aspect. Alternatively, the development processing may be performed in any of the processing units.

Below the cooling unit CP2,
Interface position I as board transfer unit
P1 is installed. Interface position IP
1 is to enable the transfer of the substrate W between the transfer robot 31 of the transfer path 21 and the transfer robot 32 of the transfer path 22, which is indispensable for performing the above-described processing procedure. It is provided. Interface position IP
1 is provided with a substrate support portion 51 as a transfer means composed of three support pins 52, and the substrate W is connected to the arm 40.
Is placed on these three support pins 52. Alternatively, the substrate W placed on the support pins 52 is acquired by the arm 40.

In the present invention, this substrate support portion 51
However, it is slidable in the x-axis direction as shown by arrow AR3. That is, the processing unit 12, the heating unit HP
1 and the substrate W which has been subjected to the predetermined processing in the cooling unit CP1 by the arm 41 of the transfer robot 31 at the end of the interface position IP1.
When placed on the three support pins 52 of No. 1, the substrate support unit 51 slides to the other end in the negative direction of the x-axis. After being moved, this time the transfer robot 32
The arm 42 receives the mounted substrate W at this position and provides it for the subsequent processing in the processing unit 13, the heating unit HP2, and the cooling unit CP2.

The movement of the substrate support portion 51 is realized by the operation of the air cylinder 53. Controller 61
However, by controlling the solenoid valve 62 while detecting the signal from the position confirmation sensor 54, the inflow and outflow of the air in the air cylinder 53 through the AIR pipe 63 is adjusted, and the substrate support portion 51 can be moved. There is.

Since the movable range M1 of the substrate supporting portion 51 is defined by the maximum value of the occupation width of the processing portion, that is, the horizontal occupation width of each of the processing units arranged in a stack, in the case of FIG. It will be defined by the occupied width DH of the heating units HP1 and HP2. Generally, since the occupying width of the processing unit is different depending on the processing unit, the movable range M1 of the substrate supporting unit 51 is also different, but by adjusting the length of the air cylinder 53, it is possible to cope in the same manner as described above. It is possible. On the other hand, since the transfer of the substrate W between the arm 40 and the substrate support 51 need only be performed at the end of the interface position IP1, the transfer robot 30 and the arm 40 are within the movable range M1 of the substrate support 51. Regardless of the location or where it is used, the same structure can be used. Moreover, since the arm 40 is always required to expand and contract only within a fixed and short range, it is possible to avoid the influence of bending and the like, and it is possible to reduce the size of the transfer robot and minimize the occupied area.

From the above, according to the present invention, it can be said that the restriction on the layout of the processing units is reduced by making the substrate supporting portions slidable under the processing units arranged in layers. Thereby, the production efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, the structure of the transfer robot can be simplified and standardized, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, the area occupied by the surface of the substrate processing apparatus can be minimized.

The processing unit arranged in the processing unit 10 is not limited to the above-mentioned example, and the arrangement position of the interface position IP1 is not limited to below the processing unit. Further, the access of the arm 40 of the transfer robot 30 to the interface position IP1 is as shown in FIG.
The access is not limited to two directions as shown in FIG.

<Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, the case where the mode of the substrate support portion at the interface position is determined based on the horizontal occupancy width of the processing units arranged in layers is described. In the present invention, the aspect of the substrate supporting portion is not limited to this. Hereinafter, in the second embodiment, an example in which the mode of the substrate support portion is determined based on the occupied widths of the adjacent device components in the horizontal direction and the substrate support portions are stacked is described.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the outline of the substrate processing apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the transfer of the substrate in the substrate processing apparatus 2. Similar to the case of FIG. 1, a three-dimensional coordinate system is also attached to FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the substrate processing apparatus 2 has an indexer I for loading and unloading substrates from a cassette.
It mainly includes a D, a first processing unit 201, a second processing unit 202, and an interface module IFM.

The indexer ID is capable of mounting a plurality of cassettes C capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates in multiple stages, and is also a transfer robot that takes out the substrates from the cassette C and stores the substrates in the cassette C. 211 is provided. Further, the transfer robot 211 is equipped with an arm 221. In the transfer robot 211, a drive mechanism (not shown) enables horizontal movement in the y-axis direction, vertical movement in the z-axis direction, rotation around the z-axis, and extension / contraction of the arm 221. The transfer robot 211 has an arrow AR.
21 and AR22, the substrate W is transferred between the cassette C and an interface position IP2a described later by appropriately combining these operations. Although FIG. 2 shows the case where four cassettes C are mounted, the number of cassettes C to be mounted is not limited to this.

The first processing unit 201 includes a plurality of processing unit groups UN (UN1 to UN4), and a plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate are stacked and arranged for each processing unit group UN. There is. For example, in FIG. 3, three processing units U are included in the processing unit group UN1.
The case where N11 to UN13 are stacked is shown. In FIG. 3, for convenience of illustration, the processing unit group UN1 is shown in an arrangement different from the original arrangement shown in FIG. Further, the number and arrangement of the processing unit groups are
It is not limited to the case of FIG.

Further, at the center of the first processing unit 201, there is provided a transfer robot 212 for transferring and transferring the substrate W to each processing unit. In addition, the transfer robot 212
Is equipped with an arm 222. Transfer robot 212
In FIG. 3, a drive mechanism (not shown) enables horizontal movement in the x-axis direction, vertical movement in the z-axis direction, rotation around the z-axis, and extension / contraction of the arm 222. The transfer robot 212, as shown by arrows AR23 to AR26,
By appropriately combining these operations, each processing unit and an interface position IP described later
The substrate is transferred between the two (IP2a, IP2b).

The elements constituting each processing unit are as follows:
There are a heating unit, a cooling unit, a resist coating processing unit, a development processing unit, a cleaning processing unit, an inspection unit, and the like, which are arranged appropriately according to the purpose of the substrate processing apparatus 2.

The second processing section 202, like the first processing section 201, is also provided for the purpose of performing a predetermined processing on the substrate. The elements that make up the second processing unit 202 include an exposure device that performs an exposure process on a substrate, an inspection device that inspects the substrate, and the like, and an appropriate arrangement is made according to the purpose of the substrate processing device 2.

The interface module IFM includes a transfer robot 213 and an interface position IP2 (IP2a, IP2b) as a transfer means.

The transfer robot 213 is arranged so as to be sandwiched between the indexer ID and the first processing section 201,
Further, it is also arranged adjacent to the interface position IP2. The transfer robot 213 includes an arm 223,
The substrate W is moved between the second processing unit 202 and the interface position IP2b by a drive mechanism (not shown).
To deliver.

Two interface positions IP2
The a and the IP2b are laminated so that the former is on the lower side and the latter is on the upper side. Interface position IP2a
Is responsible for the transfer of substrates between the transfer robot 211 of the indexer ID and the transfer robot 212 of the first processing unit 201, and the interface position IP2b is the transfer robot 212 of the first processing unit 201 and the second processing unit. It is responsible for the transfer of substrates to and from the transfer robot 213 of 202.

In order to enable the transfer of the substrate W between them, the arrows AR27 and AR are provided in the respective interface positions IP2a and IP2b, as in the interface position IP1 in the first embodiment.
Substrate support 231 (231a, 231b) that is slidable in the x-axis direction as shown at 28 is provided. The substrate support portion 231 includes three support pins 232 (232a, 23a).
The substrate W is held by 2b) and is slid by the operation of the air cylinder 233. The operation of the substrate support part 231 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

Further, assuming that the transfer robot 213 has an occupied width D in the x-axis direction because of the structural necessity for performing an operation, the adjacent interface position I
The transfer robot 211 arm 221 has the movable range M2a in which the substrate support portion 231a of P2a can be passed between the indexer ID disposed with the occupied width D and the first processing portion 201. , And it is possible to transfer the substrate without providing the arm 222 of the transfer robot 212 with a long expansion / contraction range.

Further, the interface position IP2
The interface IP2b stacked on top of a is
Since the substrate W is transferred between the transfer robot 212 and the transfer robot 213, the movable range M2b of the substrate support portion 231b of the interface IP2b is between the positions where they both access the interface IP2b.

As described above, by making the substrate supporting portion 231 movable in accordance with the occupied width of the adjacently arranged components,
The restrictions on the arrangement of each component in the substrate processing apparatus are reduced. In addition, since the arms of the respective transfer robots need to always extend and contract only within a short range, it is possible to downsize the transfer robots and minimize the occupied area.

Furthermore, by providing a plurality of interface positions, it is possible to transfer the substrate between different components at the same time, and by arranging the plurality of interface positions in layers, it is possible to save space.

<Third Embodiment> In the first and second embodiments, the substrate support portion merely relays the transfer of the substrate, but the substrate support portion itself is provided with a predetermined transfer at the same time. It is also possible to perform processing. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, a case where the substrate supporting unit also has a cooling processing function will be described.

FIG. 4 shows an interface position IP as a transfer means according to the substrate processing apparatus of the third embodiment.
3A and 3B are diagrams schematically showing a substrate support portion 300 provided therein. FIG. 4A is a plan view and FIG. 4B is a side view. The interface position IP3 is, for example,
Interface position IP in the substrate processing apparatus 1
It can be used in place of 1.

The substrate support portion 300 is composed of an air cylinder 307.
By the operation of, it is possible to move from position (A) to position (A) along the guide 308. For the mechanism of movement,
The description is omitted because it is the same as the substrate support portion 51 in the first embodiment. Further, the substrate support part 300 is provided with a cool plate 301 on the upper part thereof, and when the substrate W is placed thereon, the substrate W is cooled by the cooling water supplied inside through the cooling water tube 303 as a coolant. To be cooled. The cooling water tube 303 is used for the substrate supporting unit 300.
The substrate W can be cooled according to the movement of the substrate W, and the substrate W can be cooled simultaneously with the movement of the substrate supporting unit 300.

When the substrate W is placed at the position (A), the substrate W is transported to the position (A) while being cooled, as described above. When the position (a) is reached, the compressed air tube 3
By the operation of the air cylinder 302 supplied with air from 04, the three push-up pins 30 provided on the board push-up portion 305.
6 holds the substrate W and pushes it up vertically. The operation of the air cylinder 302 may be controlled by the controller 61, or may be provided with other independent control means, for example, if the interface position IP3 is used in the substrate processing apparatus 1.

As described above, since the substrate supporting unit 300 has the function of performing the cooling process while transporting the substrate, the cooling process time in the cooling unit of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced, and in some cases, the cooling unit itself can be deleted. As a result, other processing units can be installed.

<Modification> In the third embodiment, the function of the substrate support is not limited to the cooling process. It may have a heat treatment function or may have an alignment function.

The substrate processing apparatus may include means for supplying clean air such as a fan filter unit and means for controlling temperature and humidity at the interface position.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the restriction on the size of the processing unit in the layout of the processing unit and to realize the substrate processing apparatus with high production efficiency. it can.

In particular, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, restrictions on the stacking arrangement of the processing units are reduced. Further, the structure of the transfer means can be simplified and uniformized, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, since the plane occupying area of the transfer means can be minimized, the plane occupying area of the entire substrate processing apparatus can be reduced.

In particular, according to the inventions of claims 3 to 4, restrictions on the planar arrangement of the processing units are reduced. Also, the structure of the transfer means can be simplified,
Manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 4, the substrate can be transferred between one processing section and a plurality of other processing sections.

According to the inventions of claims 5 to 7, the production efficiency in the substrate processing apparatus can be improved.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 7, it is possible to shorten the cooling time of the substrate and reduce the number of cooling units in the substrate processing apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an outline of a substrate processing apparatus 2 according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the transfer of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an interface position IP3 according to the substrate processing apparatus of the third embodiment, and a substrate supporting section 300 provided therein.

FIG. 5 shows a substrate W of a plurality of transfer robots 101 (101a to 101c) in the conventional substrate processing apparatus 100.
And FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 substrate processing equipment 20 transport paths 30, 211-213 Transfer robot 40, 221-223 arms 51, 231, 300 Substrate support 52,232 Support pins 53, 233, 302, 307 Air cylinder 54 Position confirmation sensor 61 Controller 62 Solenoid valve 301 cool plate 305 Substrate push-up 306 Push-up pin C cassette CP1, CP2 cooling unit D, DH occupied width HP1, HP2 heating unit ID indexer IFM interface module IP1 to IP3 interface positions M1, M2 movable range UN processing unit group W board

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Mitsunobu Matsunaga             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Kenji Sugimoto             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Katsushi Yoshioka             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Kaoru Aoki             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Moritaka Yano             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Satoshi Yamamoto             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Takeshi Mitsuhashi             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Takashi Nagao             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Mitsumasa Kodama             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Masakazu Sanada             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company F term (reference) 5F031 CA02 FA01 FA07 FA12 FA15                       GA02 GA45 GA47 GA55 JA01                       JA22 LA15 MA02 MA03 MA06                       PA02 PA30

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate, a plurality of transfer means for accessing the plurality of processing units in the previous period to transfer a substrate, and a plurality of transfer units for transferring the substrates. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate transfer unit accommodating at least one transfer unit that is used for transfer, wherein the plurality of processing units and the substrate transfer unit are stacked and arranged, A process in which access directions to the plurality of processing units are different depending on the respective processing units, and the at least one transfer unit has the largest planar occupation area of the plurality of processing units in the substrate transfer unit. A substrate processing apparatus, which is movable in a horizontal direction within a plane occupied area of the unit. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of processing units include a heating unit that performs a heating process on the substrate or a cooling unit that performs a cooling process. Substrate processing equipment. 3. A plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate, and a plurality of transfer units independently arranged at different positions in the horizontal direction and accessing the plurality of processing units to transfer the substrates. And a plurality of transfer means used for transfer of substrates between the plurality of transfer means, wherein the plurality of transfer means are occupied by transfer means adjacent to each other. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is movable within a horizontal width of a region to be processed. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of transfer means are arranged in layers. 5. A plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate, and a plurality of transfer units independently arranged at different positions in the horizontal direction and accessing the plurality of processing units to transfer the substrates. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a transfer means and a transfer means for transferring a substrate between the plurality of transfer means, wherein the transfer means is movable in a horizontal direction while performing a predetermined process on the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus is characterized by: 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit is movable while performing a predetermined process on the substrate. apparatus. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined process is a substrate cooling process.