JP2003220586A - Article transporting robot and vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article transporting robot that has a compact structure and can extend an effective coverage while restraining small the minimum turning-radius and the surface area for installing the robot, and to provide a vacuum processing equipment that is provided with the article transporting robot and has large flexibility in the design such as the size of the vacuum processing chamber and the location for installing article holder inside such chamber. <P>SOLUTION: The article transporting robot A is provided with an article holding member 1, an elastic equipment 2 that supports as well as projects and retracts the member 1, and a platform 3 for the robot that has a rotation- activating shaft 30 that supports the equipment 2 as well as a turn-activating part 301 that rotates the member 1 and the entire body of the equipment 2 together. The elastic equipment 2 includes nos. 1, 2 and 3 arms 21, 22, 23 and a mechanism 20 that extends and drives these arms. The ratio of the effective lengths of the arms 21, 22, 23 is 1:2:1. The vacuum processing equipment is provided with the robot A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an article transport robot. More specifically, the present invention is to install a substrate to be processed in a substrate holder or the like in a vacuum processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a substrate to be processed such as a wafer under a predetermined reduced pressure, or to take out the substrate from the holder or the like. The present invention relates to an article transfer robot that can be used for such purposes.

The present invention also relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having such an article transfer robot.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of article transfer robots have been proposed and used in various fields.

Physical film forming devices such as vacuum vapor deposition devices and sputtering devices, various chemical vapor deposition film forming devices such as plasma CVD devices, various etching devices such as plasma dry etching devices, and further ion implantation devices and ion doping devices. Also in the field of vacuum processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on an object to be processed under a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere, an object to be processed such as a wafer is transferred to an article holder or the like in the vacuum processing apparatus, is received from the holder, or the like. It has been used to move a substrate or the like from one position to another in connection with the processing of articles.

FIG. 6 exemplifies an article transfer robot B which has been used mainly in the field of vacuum processing equipment. Figure 6
6A is a plan view of the robot B, and FIG. 6B is a side view of the robot B.

A robot B illustrated in FIG. 6 includes an article holding member 1, a telescopic device 5 that supports the article holding member 1 to project and retract the same, and a robot base 3 that supports the telescopic device 5.
It has and.

The robot base 3 has a vertical drive shaft 30 which is rotationally driven by a motor 31 on the base.

The telescopic device 5 is a rotary drive shaft 3 of the robot base.
It is provided with a first arm 51 and a second arm 52 extending in a lateral direction at right angles to 0, and further includes an expansion / contraction drive mechanism not shown. The article holding member 1 also extends in the lateral direction.

The first arm 51 is supported by the turning drive shaft 30 at one end 511 thereof. The second arm 52 is disposed on the upper side of the first arm 51, and is pivotally supported by the other end 512 of the first arm 51 at one end 521. The article holding member 1 is arranged above the second arm 52 and is rotatably supported by the other end 522 of the second arm.

The arms 51 and 52 have the same overall length and their effective length. Here, the effective length of the first arm 51 is the distance Q from the center of rotation of the arm 51 by the rotation drive shaft 30 to the center of rotation of the arm 52 with respect to the arm 51.
The effective length of the second arm 52 is the distance Q from the center of rotation of the arm 52 with respect to the arm 51 to the center of rotation of the article holding member 1 with respect to the arm 52.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the robot base 3
Is a rotation drive capable of rotating the entire expansion / contraction device 5 and the article holding member 1 supported by the turning drive shaft 30 about the central axis of the turning drive shaft 30 to orient the article holding member 1 in a predetermined direction. It also includes a lift drive unit 302 for moving up and down in the direction of the central axis of the unit 301 and the swing drive shaft 30.

The expansion / contraction drive mechanism (not shown) uses a transmission device such as a winding transmission device or a gear transmission device which is a combination of a pulley and a transmission belt (not shown). In association with the turning, the second arm 52 is turned in the opposite direction with respect to the turning direction of the arm 51, and the article holding member 1 is turned in the opposite direction with respect to the turning direction of the second arm 52. 1 is moved in the direction of a horizontal line HL orthogonal to the swivel drive shaft 30, and the article holding member projecting position p1 in the series extension arrangement or the article holding member in the bending reduction arrangement is arranged on the first and second arms 51 and 52 and the article holding member 1. The member retracted position p2 is taken.

According to the robot B, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the first arm 51 is swung counterclockwise (CCW direction) in the figure by the swivel drive shaft 30 of the robot base, the robot B expands and contracts. By the action of the drive mechanism 50, the second arm 52 pivots clockwise (CW direction) in conjunction with this, and the article holding member 1 pivots in the CCW direction relative to the second arm 52, It projects along a horizontal straight line HL orthogonal to the center line of the turning drive shaft 30. Thus, the first arm 51, the second arm 52 and the article holding member 1
Takes the article holding member projecting position p1 of the series extension arrangement.

In this state, when the first arm 51 is swung in the CW direction opposite to the above direction by the swivel drive shaft 30 of the robot base in the figure, the extension / contraction drive mechanism 50 causes the first arm 51 to interlock with this. The two arms 52 rotate in the CCW direction, and the article holding member 1 further retracts along the line HL while rotating in the CW direction relative to the second arm 52. Thus, the first arm 51, the second arm 52 and the article holding member 1
Takes the retracted position p2 of the article holding member in the bending reduction arrangement.

Further, in this way, the position p1 or p2
The robot base 3 includes the entire arm and article holding member
The rotation drive unit 301 in FIG.

The extension drive mechanism does not employ the interlocking transmission mechanism as described above, but the first arm 51 is supported by the swing drive shaft 30 and the second arm 52 is supported by the shaft 30. The shaft of a motor mounted on the other end 512 of the first arm supports the motor, and the article holding member 1 is supported by the shaft of a motor mounted on the other end 522 of the second arm and driven and rotated by the motor. There are also things.

[0017]

According to such a conventional article transport robot, in order to transfer the article to a position farther from the central portion of the robot B, the first and second arms 51 and 52 are lengthened. Then, the maximum reachable distance of the article holding member 1 by the arms 51 and 52 when taking the projecting position p1, in other words, the first arm 51 by the turning drive shaft 30.
Article holding member 1 for the second arm 52 from the turning center of the
The distance G to the center of turning must be increased.

However, the turning radius (minimum turning radius) R'when taking the retracted position p2 is, as shown in FIG. 6A, the end 512a of the first arm 51 and the end 5 of the second arm 52.
22a, the radius R ′ is determined by the protruding position p1.
The maximum reachable distance G is not less than 1/2 of the maximum reachable distance G, and a large robot installation area is required to rotate the arm and the entire article holding member together in that state.

Further, from the outermost edge of the robot when taking the retracted position p2, in other words, the retracted position p2
The effective transport distance H determined by the farthest reaching distance of the radius of gyration (minimum turning radius) R ′ from the circle c1 when taking, ie, the farthest reaching distance of the turning center of the article holding member 1 on the second arm. Is smaller than the maximum reaching distance G, that is, the apparent reaching distance G.
In order to extend the reachable distance, it is conceivable to add one third arm 53 having the same length as the first and second arms in the entire length and effective length as shown in FIG.

However, in the case of this robot C, FIG.
When the retracted position p2 indicated by the solid line is taken, the first to third arms 51 to 53 contract to about the length of one arm, but the article holding member 1 connected to the third arm 53 is located outside the arm. Therefore, the entire radius of gyration (minimum radius of gyration) R ″ of the arms 51 to 53 and the member 1 when taking the retracted position p2 eventually becomes large, and the same problem as described above occurs.

Further, in the conventional vacuum processing apparatus equipped with the robot, the size of the vacuum processing chamber, the installation position of the article holder in the chamber, and the robot in the vacuum processing chamber are related to the required installation area of the robot and the effective reach distance. The degree of freedom in designing the articles carried in and / or the size and position of the article carrying chambers that are continuously provided via the article carrying chamber to be installed is restricted.

Therefore, the present invention has an article holding member, a telescopic device that supports the article holding member to project and retract the article holding member, and a swivel drive shaft that supports the telescopic device. And a robot base having a rotation drive unit for rotating together about the central axis of the rotation drive shaft, wherein the entire article holding member and a telescopic device supporting the article holding member are rotated together. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article transport robot having a compact structure in which the minimum radius of gyration at the time of making it small can be made small and the effective area of the article holding member can be made long while the robot installation area is made small.

The present invention is also a vacuum processing apparatus equipped with an article transfer robot, wherein the size of the vacuum processing chamber, the installation position of the article holder in the chamber, and the vacuum processing chamber are connected to each other via the robot-installed article transfer chamber. Delivered goods and / or
An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus that has a large degree of freedom in design regarding the size and position of the transfer chamber.

[0024]

The present invention provides the following article transfer robot and vacuum processing apparatus. (1) Article-carrying robot article holding member, an extension / contraction device that supports the article holding member to project and retract the article holding member, and a swing drive shaft that supports the extension / contraction device, and the article holding member and the extension / contraction device. And a robot base having a rotation drive unit for rotating the entire body together around the central axis of the rotation drive shaft.

The telescopic device has a first arm supported at one end by a turning drive shaft of the robot base, and is turnable by the turning drive shaft, and one end turns at the other end of the first arm. A second arm rotatably supported, and a third arm rotatably supported at the other end of the second arm at one end and rotatably supported at the other end by the article holding member. And the effective length of the first arm: the effective length of the second arm: the effective length of the third arm is 1: 2: 1.
Is.

Here, the effective length of the first arm is the distance from the center of rotation of the first arm by the rotation drive shaft on the robot base to the center of rotation of the second arm with respect to the first arm. The effective length of the first arm of the second arm
The distance from the center of rotation of the arm to the center of rotation of the third arm with respect to the second arm, and the effective length of the third arm means the rotation of the third arm with respect to the second arm from the center of rotation of the article holding member with respect to the third arm. It is the distance to the center.

The telescopic device further rotates the second arm in the opposite direction with respect to the rotation direction of the first arm, and rotates the third arm in the opposite direction with respect to the rotation direction of the second arm, By rotating the article holding member in the opposite direction with respect to the rotating direction of the third arm, the first,
The second and third arms and the article holding member are provided with the article holding member projecting position in the series extension arrangement or the article holding member retracted position in the bending reduction arrangement in which the central portion of the second arm is located substantially above the turning drive axis. It is equipped with a telescopic drive mechanism that can take it.

According to this robot, the first, second and third arms and the article holding member can be placed at the article holding member projecting position of the series extension arrangement by the extension / contraction drive mechanism, and the central portion of the second arm can be substantially located. It is also possible to place the article holding member in the bending reduction arrangement above the turning drive shaft in the retracted position. In addition, the first, second and third arms and the article holding member as a whole can be swung around the central axis of the swivel drive shaft supporting the first arm by the rotary drive unit in the robot base. By these operations, the article can be delivered to a predetermined position, and the article can be transported from one position to another position.

The robot base may be provided with an elevating and lowering drive unit for elevating and lowering the entire first, second and third arms and the article holding member in the direction of the swivel drive axis.

According to the article transfer robot of the present invention,
Effective length of the arm: Effective length of the second arm: Effective length of the third arm is 1: 2: 1. In the retracted position, these three arms have a substantially central portion of the second arm. Since it is possible to assume a bending reduction arrangement state located above the turning drive axis, the entire first, second and third arms and the article holding member are turned together by the turning drive section of the robot base. In this case, the minimum turning radius is about the length of the first arm, in other words, the farthest reaching distance from the turning center of the first arm by the turning drive shaft to the turning center of the article holding member with respect to the third arm (apparently). Reach of,
It is less than a quarter of the total effective length of the first to third arms), and the robot installation area can be reduced to that extent.
Moreover, the effective reach distance of the article conveying member, that is, from the circle of the minimum turning radius when the first, second and third arms and the entire article holding member are turned together, to the turning center of the article holding member with respect to the third arm. The farthest reaching distance of can be made a little less than 3/4 of the apparent reaching distance,
The effective reach can be made larger than the apparent reach.

Thus, it is possible to increase the effective reach distance of the article holding member while keeping the robot installation area small by suppressing the minimum radius of gyration when the article holding member and the entire telescopic device supporting the article holding member are turned together. Moreover, the structure is compact because it has only one arm added to the conventional robot B. (2) Vacuum processing apparatus A vacuum processing chamber, an article transfer chamber adjacent to the processing chamber, and an article transfer and / or transfer chamber adjacent to the article transfer chamber for loading and / or unloading articles A vacuum processing apparatus, wherein the article transfer robot according to (1) is installed in a transfer chamber, and an object to be processed is transferred by the robot between the vacuum processing chamber and the article loading / unloading chamber.

The article conveying robot in this vacuum processing apparatus is installed in the robot according to the present invention, that is, the article holding member and the entire telescopic device supporting the article holding member are swung together with the minimum turning radius suppressed. Since the product transfer robot has a compact structure that can increase the effective reach distance of the article holding member while keeping the area small, and the size of the vacuum processing chamber, the installation position of the article holder in the chamber, and the robot installation in the vacuum processing chamber. The degree of freedom in designing the article loading and / or the size and position of the article transporting chambers that are connected through the article transporting chamber is large.

The vacuum processing device mentioned here is a physical film forming device such as a vacuum vapor deposition device or a sputtering device, various chemical vapor deposition film forming devices such as a plasma CVD device, and various etching such as a dry etching device using plasma. The apparatus means a vacuum processing apparatus such as an ion implantation apparatus and an ion doping apparatus that performs a predetermined process on an object to be processed under a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere.

[0034]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an article transfer robot 1 according to the present invention.
It is a schematic plan view of an example. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the robot shown in FIG.

The robot shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has an effective length which is twice the effective length of the arms 51, 52 between the arm 51 and the arm 52 of the telescopic device 5 in the conventional robot shown in FIG. It is a type with an arm added.
The same reference numerals as in FIG. 6 may be used for the same parts and portions as those in the robot of FIG. 6 in the robot of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The robot A shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises an article holding member 1, a telescopic device 2 for supporting the article holding member 1 to project and retract the same, and a robot base 3 for supporting the telescopic device 2. I have it.

The robot base 3 has a vertical drive shaft 30 which is rotationally driven by a motor 31 on the base.

The telescopic device 2 is a rotary drive shaft 3 of the robot base.
It is provided with a first arm 21, a second arm 22 and a third arm 23 that extend in a lateral direction perpendicular to 0, and further includes a telescopic drive mechanism 20. The article holding member 1 also extends in the lateral direction.

The first arm 21 is supported by the turning drive shaft 30 at one end portion 211 thereof. The second arm 22 is disposed on the upper side of the first arm 21, and is pivotally supported by the other end 212 of the first arm 21 at one end 221. Third
The arm 23 is arranged on the upper side of the second arm 22, and is pivotally supported by the other end 222 of the second arm 22 at one end 231. Further, the article holding member 1 has the third arm 23.
Of the third arm and is rotatably supported by the other end 232 of the third arm.

As shown in FIG. 2, the robot base 3 rotates not only the swivel drive shaft 30 but also the telescopic device 2 and the article holding member 1 supported by the swivel drive shaft 30 about the central axis of the swivel drive shaft 30. It also includes a rotation drive unit 301 capable of orienting the article holding member 1 in a predetermined direction and a lift drive unit 302 for moving up and down in the direction of the central axis of the rotation drive shaft 30.

A pulley 201 is loosely fitted on the turning drive shaft 30, and the pulley 201 is supported on the top of the robot base 3.

The shaft 22 is provided at one end 221 of the second arm 22.
1a is fixed, and the shaft 221a is attached to the first arm 2
Since the second arm 22 is rotatably supported by the other end portion 212 of the first arm 22, the second arm 22 is rotatable with respect to the first arm 21. Further, a pulley 202 paired with the pulley 201 is fitted on the shaft 221a. An endless transmission belt 207 is wound around the pulleys 201 and 202. Axis 221
Further, a pulley 203 is loosely fitted in a, and the pulley is supported by the other end portion 212 of the first arm 21.

The shaft 23 is provided at one end 231 of the third arm 23.
1a is fixed, and the shaft 231a is attached to the second arm 2
The third arm 23 is rotatable with respect to the second arm 22 by being rotatably supported by the other end portion 222 of the second arm 22. A pulley 204, which is paired with the pulley 203, is fitted on the shaft 231a. An endless transmission belt 208 is wound around the pulleys 203 and 204. Axis 231
Further, a pulley 205 is loosely fitted in a, and the pulley is supported by the other end 222 of the second arm 22.

A shaft 1a is fixedly attached to the article holding member 1. The shaft 1a is rotatably supported by the other end 232 of the third arm 23 so that the member 1 pivots with respect to the third arm 23. It is possible. Further, the pulley 20 is attached to the shaft 1a.
5 is fitted with a pulley 206, and the pulley 2
An endless transmission belt 209 is wound around 05 and 206.

The pulley, the endless transmission belt and the like described above constitute the interlocking drive mechanism 20 for expanding and contracting the link mechanism including the first, second and third arms 21-23.

The total length of the first arm 21 is (effective length L + 2r) as shown in FIG. The effective length L is from the rotation center of the arm 21 by the rotation drive shaft 30 to the arm 2
2 is the distance to the turning center with respect to the arm 21, and r
Is the remaining length of the outer portion of the effective length L.

The third arm 23 also has the same length as the first arm 21 (effective length L + 2r).

The total length of the second arm 22 is (effective length 2L +
2r).

That is, the effective length L of the first arm 21:
The effective length 2L of the second arm 22 and the effective length L of the third arm 23 are L = 1: 2: 1.

According to the robot A described above, when the first arm 21 is swung in the counterclockwise direction (CCW direction) in the figure by the swivel drive shaft 30 of the robot base, as shown in FIG. By the action of the mechanism 20, the second arm 22 pivots clockwise (CW direction) in conjunction with this, and the third arm 23 pivots CCW direction.

Further, the article holding member 1 pivots in the CW direction relative to the third arm 23, and projects along the line HL orthogonal to the center line of the pivot drive shaft 30. Thus, the first, second, and third arms 21 to 23 and the article holding member 1 have the article holding member protruding position P in the serial extension arrangement.
Can take 1.

In this state, when the first arm 21 is swung in the CW direction opposite to the above direction in the figure by the swivel drive shaft 30 of the robot base, the extension / contraction drive mechanism 20 causes the first arm 21 to move in conjunction with this. The second arm 22 turns in the CCW direction, and the third arm 23 turns in the CW direction. Further, the article holding member 1 retreats along the line HL while turning in the CCW direction relative to the third arm 23. Thus, the first, second and third arms 21 to 23 and the article holding member 1 can take the article holding member retracted position P2 in the bending reduction arrangement. At this time, the substantially central portion of the second arm 22 is located above the turning drive shaft 30.

The diameter of each of the pulleys is set so that the position P1 or P2 can be taken.

The entire arm and article holding member in the position P1 or P2 can be rotated by the rotation drive unit 301 of the robot base 3 or can be moved up and down by the elevation drive unit 302.

As for the extension / contraction drive mechanism 20, it is also possible to adopt another transmission mechanism such as a gear transmission mechanism instead of adopting the above-described winding transmission mechanism. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first arm 21 is supported by the swing drive shaft 30 and the second arm 22 is mounted on the other end 212 of the first arm 212 of the motor m1. Axis s1
Supported by the motor and the second arm for the third arm 23.
The motor m2 mounted on the other end 222 of the arm supports the motor by the shaft s2, and the article holding member 1 is supported by the shaft s3 of the motor m3 mounted on the other end 232 of the third arm and driven by the motor. An independent drive type of turning may be used.

According to the article carrying robot A described above, the first, second and third arms 21 to 23 and the article holding member 1 may be placed at the article holding member projecting position P1 in the serial extension arrangement by the extension / contraction drive mechanism 20. The central portion of the second arm 22 can be located substantially above the pivot drive shaft 30. The article holding member retracted position P in the bending reduction arrangement is arranged.
It can be set to 2. In addition, the first, second and third arms 21 to 23 and the entire article holding member 1 are provided around the central axis of the turning drive shaft 30 that supports the first arm 21 by the turning drive unit 301 in the robot base 3. It is possible to swivel it up and down, and it is also possible to raise and lower by the raising and lowering drive unit 302, and by these operations, the article can be delivered to a predetermined position.

According to the article transport robot A, the effective length of the first arm 21: the effective length of the second arm 22: the effective length of the third arm 23 is 1: 2: 1, and in the retracted position P2. , These three arms 21 to 23 are the second
Since the central portion of the arm 22 can be in the bending reduction arrangement state in which the arm 22 is positioned substantially above the turning drive shaft 30,
Second and third arms 21 to 23 and article holding member 1
The minimum radius R of rotation when the whole of the above is swung together by the swivel drive unit 301 of the robot base 3 is approximately the length of the first arm 21, that is, from the swivel center of the swivel drive shaft 30 of the first arm 21. The farthest reachable distance (apparent reachable distance, sum of effective lengths of the first to third arms) of the article holding member 1 to the turning center with respect to the third arm 23 is set at a little over a quarter of G = 4L. Therefore, the robot installation area can be reduced to that extent. Moreover, the effective reach distance H of the article conveying member 1, that is, the effective reach distance H from the circle C1 having the minimum turning radius R to the center of rotation of the article holding member 1 with respect to the third arm 23 is set to the apparent reach distance G = 4L. Three quarters
It can be weakened and the effective reach can be increased relative to the apparent reach.

Thus, the effective reach distance of the article holding member 1 is reduced while keeping the robot installation area small by suppressing the minimum radius of gyration R when the article holding member 1 and the entire telescopic device 20 supporting the article holding member 1 are swung together. H can be lengthened,
Moreover, the structure is compact because only one arm is added to the conventional robot B.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional robot B, a robot C in which an arm of the same length is added to the robot B, and the robot A according to the present invention are arranged with the apparent reach distances G being the same 10. It was

As can be seen from this figure, in the robot A, the radius of gyration R = (5/2) when the position P2 is taken.
+ Γ and effective reach distance H = (15/2) −γ. In the robot B, the radius of gyration R ′ = (10 /
2) + α and effective reach distance H = (10/2) −α. In the robot C, the radius of gyration R ″ = (10 /
3) + β and effective reach distance H = (20/3) −β.

As described above, the robot A according to the present invention has a smaller minimum turning radius R than the robots B and C, and
The effective reach distance H is large.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a vacuum processing apparatus which employs the robot A.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 61 is a vacuum processing chamber,
Physical processing such as vacuum deposition and sputtering, various chemical vapor deposition such as plasma CVD, various etching such as dry etching by plasma, ion implantation, and ion doping are performed on the substrate S to be processed under a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere. This is the room below. Substrate holder 611 inside
Is installed. A predetermined processing device (not shown) is attached to the processing chamber 61. 62 is a loading / unloading chamber for loading and unloading the substrate S,
63 is a substrate transfer chamber.

A high vacuum side partition valve 64 is provided between the processing chamber 61 and the substrate transfer chamber 63, and a low vacuum side partition valve 65 is provided between the substrate transfer chamber 63 and each of the load / unload chambers 62. Atmosphere-side sluice valves 66 are provided between the load / unload chamber 62 and the atmosphere.

The robot A is installed in the substrate transfer chamber 63.

According to this vacuum processing apparatus, for example, the substrate to be processed is carried in and subjected to a predetermined process in the following procedure,
You can then carry it out. (1) Initially, at least the valve 64 and both valves 65 are closed, and the processing chamber 61 and the substrate transfer chamber 63 are respectively set to a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere by an exhaust device (not shown). (2) Open the atmosphere side valve 66 of any of the loading / unloading chambers 62 (for example, the chamber 62 on the right side in the drawing), and load the substrate S to be processed into the chamber by an external robot (not shown). (3) The valve 66 of the chamber 62 into which the substrate S is loaded is closed, and the inside of the chamber is set to a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere by an exhaust device (not shown). (4) Valve 6 between the chamber 62 in which the substrate is loaded and the substrate transfer chamber 63
5, the article holding member 1 of the robot A is projected to receive the substrate S in the chamber 62, and then the substrate S is retracted and retracted into the substrate transfer chamber 63, and the valve 65 is closed. (5) Next, the valve 64 is opened, and the substrate S is carried into the processing chamber 61 from the substrate transfer chamber 63 by the robot A, and the substrate holder 61
Then, the robot A is reduced and retracted into the chamber 63, and the valve 64 is closed. (6) Thus, the substrate S loaded in the processing chamber 61 is subjected to predetermined processing. (7) At an appropriate time between the steps (1) to (6), the other load / unload chamber 62 (the chamber 62 on the left side in the figure) is also
The atmosphere side valve 66 of the chamber is opened to load the substrate S to be processed, the valve is closed, and the inside of the chamber is set to a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere. (8) When the substrate processing is completed in the processing chamber 61, the valve 64
, The processed substrate S is taken out from the processing chamber 61 into the substrate transfer chamber 63 by the robot A, and the valve 64 is closed. (9) The valve 65 on the side of the empty load / unload chamber 62 on the right side is opened, the processed substrate S is carried out by the robot A into the chamber 62, and the robot A is retracted again into the chamber 63 to open the valve 65. Close. (10) Thereafter, the atmosphere side valve 66 of the chamber 62 having the processed substrate
, The substrate is carried out to the outside, a new substrate S to be processed is again carried into the chamber, the valve 66 is closed, and the process is waited. (11) Further, after the step (9), the valve 65 between the left load / unload chamber 62 and the substrate transfer chamber 63 is opened, and the substrate S to be processed waiting in the chamber is transferred to the substrate by the robot A. It is taken into the transfer chamber 63 and the valve 65 is closed. (12) The substrate loaded into the substrate transfer chamber 63 is loaded into the processing chamber 61 by the same procedure as described above, processed, then taken out, taken out to the left load / unload chamber 62, and taken out to the outside.

The substrate S can be sequentially subjected to a predetermined process in the above procedure.

The article transfer robot A in this vacuum processing apparatus suppresses the minimum radius of gyration R when the article holding member 1 and the entire telescopic device 2 supporting the article holding member 1 are swung together to reduce the robot installation area. Meanwhile, since the effective reach distance H of the article holding member 1 can be lengthened and the article transport robot has a compact structure, the vacuum processing chamber 61 is provided.
, The installation position of the substrate holder 611 in the chamber, the size and position of the loading / unloading chamber 62, and the like have a high degree of freedom in design.

The robot according to the present invention, including the robot A described above, not only conveys a substrate in a vacuum processing apparatus but also exchanges an article with a predetermined position and conveys an article from one position to another position. Can be widely used for doing and etc.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, the article holding member, the telescopic device for supporting the article holding member to project and retract the article holding member, and the turning drive shaft for supporting the telescopic device are provided. What is claimed is: 1. An article transfer robot comprising: a holding member and a robot base having a rotation drive unit for rotating the entire expansion / contraction device together around the central axis of the rotation drive shaft, the article holding member and an expansion / contraction device for supporting the same. (EN) It is possible to provide an article transfer robot having a compact structure, which can reduce the minimum radius of gyration when the entire apparatus is swung together to reduce the robot installation area, and can increase the effective reach of the article holding member. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, a vacuum processing apparatus equipped with an article transfer robot, wherein the article transfer robot according to the present invention is adopted as the robot, whereby the size of the vacuum processing chamber and the article holder in the chamber can be improved. It is possible to provide a vacuum processing apparatus that has a large degree of freedom in designing the installation position, the article loading and / or the transfer chamber size that is continuously provided to the vacuum processing chamber via the robot-installed article transfer chamber, and / or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an example of an article transport robot according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the robot shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a modified example of the robot shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a comparison between a minimum turning radius and an effective reach distance between the robot shown in FIG. 1 and a conventional robot.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an example of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a schematic plan view of a conventional example of an article transport robot, and FIG. 6B is a schematic side view of the robot.

7 (A) is a schematic plan view of a possible modification of the robot of FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 (B) is a schematic side view of the robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

A article transport robot 1 article holding member 1a swivel axis 2 of the article holding member 1 telescopic device 21 first arm 211 one end 212 of the arm 21 other end 22 of the arm 21 second arm 221 one end 222 of the arm 22 The other end 221a The swivel shaft 23 of the arm 22 The third arm 231 The one end 232 of the arm 23 The other end 231a of the arm 23 The swivel shaft 20 of the arm 23 Telescopic drive mechanisms 201-206 Pulleys 207-209 Transmission belt 3 Robot base 31 Motor 30 Revolving drive shaft 301 Rotation drive unit 302 Elevating drive unit L Effective length of arms 21, 23 r Remaining length of outer portion of effective length of each arm HL Movement line P1 of article holding member 1 Arm and article holding Article holding member projecting position P2 of serial extension arrangement of members and article of bending reduction arrangement of arm and article holding member Holding member retracted position m1 to m3 Motors s1 to s3 Motor axis R Minimum robot turning radius C1 Radius R circle G Apparent reach distance H Effective reach distance 61 Vacuum processing chamber 62 Load / unload chamber 63 Substrate transfer chamber 64 High Vacuum side gate valve 65 Low vacuum side gate valve 66 Atmosphere side gate valve S Substrate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An article holding member, a telescopic device for supporting the article holding member for projecting and retracting the article holding member, a swivel drive shaft for supporting the telescopic device, and the article holding member and the telescopic device. And a robot base having a rotation drive unit for rotating the whole together around the central axis of the rotation drive shaft, wherein the telescopic device is supported at one end by the rotation drive shaft of the robot base, A first arm that can be swung by the swivel drive shaft, a second arm that is rotatably supported by the other end of the first arm at one end, and a swivel by the other end of the second arm at one end A third arm that supports the article holding member so that the article holding member is pivotally supported at the other end, and an effective length of the first arm: an effective length of the second arm: the third arm The effective length of the arm is 1: 2: 1 And the telescopic device further swivels the second arm in the opposite direction to the swivel direction of the first arm, swivels the third arm in the opposite direction to the swivel direction of the second arm, and By pivoting the article holding member in the opposite direction with respect to the pivoting direction of the third arm, the article holding member projecting position of the serial extension array or the first or second and third arms and the article holding member are arranged. An article conveying robot, comprising: a telescopic drive mechanism capable of taking a retracted position of an article holding member in a bending reduction arrangement in which a central portion of two arms is located substantially above the turning drive axis. 2. An article transfer system comprising a vacuum processing chamber, an article transfer chamber adjacent to the process chamber, and an article transfer and / or transfer chamber adjacent to the article transfer chamber for loading and / or unloading articles. A vacuum processing apparatus, wherein the article transfer robot according to claim 1 is installed in a chamber, and an object to be processed is transferred by the robot between the vacuum processing chamber and the article loading and / or unloading chamber.