JP2005142480A - Cassette device and thin substrate transfer system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cassette device that can house many thin substrates having a low height, such as liquid crystal glass substrates, and to provide a thin substrate transfer system. <P>SOLUTION: The cassette device is provided with a substrate support section, a temporary substrate receiving seat, and a support mechanism. The substrate support section comprises a fixed seat, a movable seat supported by the fixed seat, in a state where the movable seat can be driven vertically by means of an elevating/lowering device, and a plurality of supports vertically attached to the movable seat. The support section also comprises a plurality of stages of slidable substrate-receiving seats having U-shapes, opened to the front sides and a plurality of substrate receivers formed by connecting portions facing each other in the widthwise direction with wires at prescribed intervals in the longitudinal direction on the inside of the side sections of the substrate-receiving seats. The temporary substrate-receiving seat is used for temporarily placing the thin substrates, when the substrates are carried in and out. The support mechanism produces spaces on and under the temporary substrate-receiving seat, when the substrates are carried in and out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention includes a cassette device that accommodates a large number of thin substrates such as glass substrates and wafers for liquid crystal in the vertical direction, and a thin substrate transfer device that includes the cassette device and a substrate transfer robot that carries the thin substrate into and out of the cassette device. This is related to the loading system.

With the increase in size and mass production of liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for liquid crystals have become larger year by year, and the size of one side exceeds 1500 mm. In such a substrate transport system that transports next-generation large-sized liquid crystal glass substrates, space is saved for cassette devices that store liquid crystal glass substrates in multiple stages and substrate transport robots that transport liquid crystal glass substrates between cassette devices and process devices. There is a strong demand for it.
Under such circumstances, a conventional cassette apparatus for a liquid crystal glass substrate that is installed in a clean room and accommodates a large number of liquid crystal glass substrates in the vertical direction is as shown in FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b), and FIG. It is configured. That is, a large number of receiving seats 103 are provided at equal intervals inside the two frames 102, 102 on the side surface of the cassette device 101, and the liquid crystal glass substrate 104 is placed on the receiving seat 103 (for example, a patent). Reference 1). The liquid crystal glass substrate 104 is placed and transported on, for example, a fork-shaped robot hand (hereinafter simply referred to as a fork) 108 attached to the tip of an arm 107 of a substrate transporting robot 105 having an elevating device 106, and is a cassette device. It is stored in 101 or carried out from the cassette device 101.
JP 2002-373934 A (FIG. 1)

However, such a conventional cassette apparatus has the following problems.
(1) The cassette device is provided with a large number of receiving seats fixed at equal intervals inside the two frames, but a space for the fork to enter is required between the liquid crystal glass substrates. Therefore, the liquid crystal glass substrate cassette inevitably increases in height and becomes large.
(2) With the above (1), the vertical stroke of the substrate transfer robot becomes longer, and the lifting device becomes larger.
(3) The height of the clean room containing the liquid crystal glass substrate cassette and the substrate transfer robot is increased.
The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and provides a cassette device and a thin substrate transfer system that can accommodate a large number of thin substrates such as a liquid crystal glass substrate at a low height. It is the purpose.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the present invention is configured as follows.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a thin substrate is placed on a fork attached to the tip of an arm of a substrate transfer robot, and the fork is inserted into a cassette that stores a plurality of thin substrates in multiple stages. In a cassette apparatus for carrying in or out of a cassette, a fixed seat, a movable seat supported on the fixed seat so as to be driven in a vertical direction using a lifting device, and a vertical direction on the movable seat A plurality of struts attached to each of the struts, a U-shaped slidable multi-stage substrate receiving seat opened in front, and a width direction inside each side of each substrate receiving seat. A plurality of substrate receivers formed by connecting portions opposed to each other with wires at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction, a substrate support portion for supporting the thin substrate by the substrate receiver, and the movable seat To the top A plurality of temporary substrate receiving seats arranged vertically on the fixed seat so as to be positioned below the substrate receiving of the lowermost substrate receiving seat when lifted and in a space between the wires And when the movable seat is raised to the uppermost position, it is positioned below the substrate receiver of the lowermost substrate receiving seat and in the vertical direction on the fixed seat so as to be positioned in the space between the wires. A plurality of temporary substrate receiving seats arranged, and a mechanism that can support an upper substrate receiving seat that is one level higher than the substrate receiving seat on the side where the thin substrate is loaded or unloaded next to the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat. And when the movable seat is lowered by a predetermined amount, it is placed on the upper surface of the fork between the substrate receiver of the upper substrate receiver and the temporary substrate holder. A first space for loading or unloading the thin substrate And a support mechanism for forming a second space for inserting the fork into the cassette device between the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat and the lower substrate receiving seat of the uppermost lowered step. It is characterized by comprising.
The invention according to claim 4 is a thin substrate transfer system comprising a cassette device that stores a plurality of thin substrates in multiple stages, and a substrate transfer robot that carries the thin substrate into or out of the cassette device. A fixed seat, a movable seat supported on the fixed seat by an elevating device so as to be driven in an up-and-down direction, a plurality of columns attached to the movable seat in a vertical direction, and a plurality of columns mounted on the columns. In addition, each has a U-shaped slidable multi-stage substrate receiving seat with an opening at the front, and a portion facing each other in the width direction is arranged at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction inside the side portion of each substrate receiving seat. Provided with a plurality of substrate receivers formed by connecting them with wires, and a substrate support portion for supporting the thin substrate by the substrate receiver, and a substrate receiving seat at the lowest stage when the movable seat is raised to the uppermost portion. PCB holder A plurality of substrate temporary receiving seats arranged in a vertical direction on the fixed seat so as to be positioned below the wire and in the space between the wires, and a thin shape next to the upper surface of the substrate temporary receiving seat A mechanism capable of supporting an upper substrate receiving seat that is one level higher than a substrate receiving seat at a stage where the substrate is carried in or out, supports the upper substrate receiving seat, and lowers the movable seat by a predetermined amount. Sometimes, a first space for loading or unloading the thin substrate placed on the upper surface of the fork is formed between the substrate receiver of the upper substrate receiving seat and the temporary substrate receiving seat, and the temporary substrate mounting A support mechanism for forming a second space for inserting a fork into the cassette device between the upper surface of the receiving seat and the substrate receiving of the lowermost lower substrate receiving seat. A robot for the thin substrate and the cassette Is transported from the top toward the lower the 置内, is characterized in that the unloaded toward the upper from the lower outside cassette unit.

According to the cassette device and the thin substrate transfer system of the present invention, the temporary substrate receiving seat is provided, and the substrate receiving seat of the cassette for the thin substrate can be moved in the vertical direction. Can produce fork insertion space. This eliminates the need for forming a space for inserting a fork between the thin substrates in advance, allows the space between the thin substrates at each stage to be extremely small, and allows the height of the cassette device to be reduced. can do.
Accordingly, the substrate transfer robot can be miniaturized and the height of the clean room can be reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a cassette apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view.
This cassette apparatus can store thin substrates such as liquid crystal glass substrates in multiple stages, and constitutes a thin substrate transfer system together with a substrate transfer robot (not shown) that carries in and out the thin substrates. The cassette device and the substrate transfer robot are installed in a clean room. The substrate transfer robot transfers a thin substrate between a cassette apparatus and a process apparatus in a clean room. The substrate transfer robot can move the arm and the fork as a robot hand provided at the tip of the arm up and down by a lifting and lowering device using a parallelogram link mechanism, for example, and drives the arm The fork can be moved to an arbitrary horizontal position by the rotating shaft. Of course, any multi-axis robot such as a horizontal multi-joint structure or a vertical multi-joint structure can be adopted as the substrate transfer robot.
The cassette apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 always carries in a thin substrate from the uppermost stage to the lowermost stage and carries out the thin board from the lowermost stage to the uppermost stage.
Hereinafter, the configuration of the cassette apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a cassette device, 2 denotes a thin substrate housed in the cassette device, 3 denotes a fixed seat disposed at the bottom of the cassette device 1, 4 denotes a lifting device, and a lifting device 5 is a movable seat supported so as to be driven in the vertical direction, 6 is the movable seat 4, a plurality of columns attached in the vertical direction, and 7 is a substrate support unit, which is placed on each column 6. A U-shaped slidable multi-stage substrate receiving seat 8 opened at the front, an engagement piece 9 provided outside the side portion of the substrate receiving seat 8, and the inside of the side portion of each substrate receiving seat 8 And a plurality of substrate receivers 10 formed by connecting portions facing each other in the width direction with wires at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction, and the thin substrate 2 is supported by the substrate receiver 10.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a temporary substrate receiving seat, which is positioned below the substrate receiving 10 of the lowermost substrate receiving seat 8 when the movable seat 4 is raised to the uppermost portion, and is positioned in the space between the wires. A plurality of fixed seats 3 are arranged in the vertical direction.
A support mechanism 12 includes a support body 13 that supports the engagement piece 9 from below, and a drive mechanism 14 that drives the support body 13 in the horizontal direction. The drive mechanism 14 horizontally supports the support body 13. The support 13 is engaged with the engagement piece 9 by moving in the direction, and the substrate receiving seat 8 is supported together with the engagement piece 9. The drive source of the drive mechanism 14 is composed of, for example, an air cylinder.
The height of the support 13 is set to a position corresponding to the engagement piece 9 of the substrate receiving seat 8 that is one step higher than the lowermost substrate receiving seat 8 when the movable seat 4 is raised to the uppermost position. Fixed and set.
In this embodiment, for the sake of clarity, the intervals between the thin substrates 2 housed in the cassette apparatus 1 are drawn wide, and the heights of the fixed seats and the movable seats are also drawn accordingly. The intervals between the thin substrates are extremely narrow, and the heights of the fixed seat and the movable seat are also low.
A thin substrate transfer system using the cassette apparatus having such a configuration will be described below.
First, the thin substrate is carried into the cassette device as follows.
(1) With the support 13 of the support mechanism 12 drawn into the drive mechanism 14 side, the movable seat 4 is lowered to the lowest position.
(2) When the movable seat 4 is lowered to the lowermost position, the upper surface of the substrate temporary receiving seat 11 protrudes above the uppermost first-stage substrate receiving 10, and above the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11. A first space 15 for carrying the thin substrate 2 placed on the upper surface of the fork (not shown) is created, and between the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11 and the first-stage substrate receiver 10, A second space 16 is created for inserting the fork into the cassette device 1.
(3) The fork and the thin substrate 2 are carried into the first space 15 and the second space 16, and the thin substrate 2 is opposed to the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11 with a gap.
(4) In this state, the fork is lowered vertically, and the thin substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11.
(5) When the thin substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11, the fork is moved in the horizontal direction and pulled out from the cassette device 1.
(6) After the fork is pulled out from the cassette device 1, the movable seat 4 is lifted and the thin substrate 2 on the temporary substrate seat 11 is lifted by the first-stage substrate receiver 10, so The substrate 2 is placed on the first-stage substrate receiver 10.
(7) In the second and subsequent stages, the thin substrate is carried in using the support mechanism 12. First, while the support 13 of the support mechanism 12 is pulled into the drive mechanism 14 side, the elevating device 5 is driven to raise the movable seat 4 by a predetermined amount to a position immediately above the support 13. The substrate support portion 7 at each stage is moved so that the engagement piece 9 of the first stage substrate receiving seat 8 is positioned.
(8) When the engagement piece 9 of the first-stage substrate receiving seat 8 rises to a position just above the support 13, the drive mechanism 14 is driven and the support 13 is pulled out in the horizontal direction. Then, it is positioned directly below the engagement piece 9.
(9) In this state, the movable seat 4 is lowered by a predetermined amount. Even if the movable seat 4 is lowered, the first-stage substrate receiving seat 8 is supported by the support 13, so that it does not descend, and the first-stage substrate receiving seat 10 and the temporary substrate receiving seat 11 are not lowered. , A first space is created. In addition, a second space is created between the temporary substrate holder 11 and the second-stage substrate holder 10.
(10) In this state, the fork and the thin substrate 2 are carried into the first space 15 and the second space 16, and the thin substrate 2 is interposed between the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11 and the gap. Make them face each other.
(11) In this state, the fork is lowered vertically, and the thin substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11.
(12) When the thin substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat 11, the fork is moved in the horizontal direction and pulled out from the cassette device 1.
(13) After the fork is pulled out from the cassette device 1, the movable seat 4 is raised, and the thin substrate 2 on the temporary substrate seat 11 is lifted by the second-stage substrate receiver 10, so that the thin plate The substrate 2 is placed on the second-stage substrate receiver 10. As a result, the first-stage substrate receiving seat 8 and the second-stage substrate receiving seat 8 are brought into close contact again.
(14) Thereafter, a thin substrate is carried on and placed on the subsequent substrate receiver 10 from the third stage in the same manner.
FIG. 1 shows a state in which the thin substrate 2 is about to be placed on the seventh-stage substrate receiver 10.

Next, the carrying out of the thin substrate from the cassette apparatus will be described. The thin substrate 2 is carried out as follows.
(1) Since the thin substrate 2 is unloaded from the lowermost substrate receiver 10 toward the uppermost substrate receiver 10, it starts from the state where the movable seat 4 is raised to the uppermost portion by loading.
(2) When the movable seat 4 is raised to the top, the first-stage substrate receiver 10 from the bottom is located above the substrate temporary receiver 11. In addition, the engagement piece 9 of the substrate receiving seat 8 that is one step higher than the first substrate receiving seat 8 from the bottom, that is, the second step from the bottom, comes to a position immediately above the support 13 and corresponds. Yes.
(3) In this state, the drive mechanism 14 is driven, the support 13 is pulled out in the horizontal direction, and is positioned directly below the engagement piece 9.
(4) Next, in this state, the movable seat 4 is lowered by a predetermined amount. Even if the movable seat 4 is lowered, the second-stage substrate receiving seat 8 from the bottom is supported by the support 13 and therefore does not descend, and the thin substrate 2 placed on the first-stage substrate receiver 10 is not lowered. Is placed on the upper surface of the substrate temporary support seat 11. At this time, the first space 15 is created on the upper portion of the thin substrate 2 placed on the upper surface of the temporary substrate seat 11, and the second space 16 is created on the lower portion of the thin substrate 2. It is.
(5) In this state, the fork is inserted into the second space 16, and when the insertion is completed, the fork is raised by a predetermined amount, and the thin substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of the fork.
(6) When the thin substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of the fork, the fork is moved in the horizontal direction and pulled out from the cassette device 1.
(7) Next, the movable seat 4 is raised again so that the lowermost substrate receiving seat 8 is brought into contact with the lower portion of the second lower substrate receiving seat 8, and all the substrate receiving seats 8 are moved by the movable seat 4. support.
(8) In this state, the drive mechanism 14 is driven to pull the support 13 back in the horizontal direction.
(9) Next, the movable seat 4 is lowered by a predetermined amount, and the engaging piece 9 of the third stage substrate receiving seat 8 from the bottom is moved so as to come to a position immediately above the support 13.
(10) In this state, the drive mechanism 14 is driven, the support 13 is pulled out in the horizontal direction, and is positioned directly below the engagement piece 9.
(11) The procedure from (4) onwards is repeated.
The cassette device and the thin substrate transfer system of the present invention can create a fork insertion space in the cassette device at the time of loading or unloading in this way. It is not necessary to form a space, and the space between the thin substrates at each stage can be accommodated with a very small distance, and the height of the cassette device can be reduced. As a result, the substrate transfer robot can be reduced in size and the height of the clean room can be reduced.

  In the first embodiment, the elevating device 5 is disposed below the movable seat 4, but may be disposed on both sides of the movable seat. In this case, the support of the movable seat is stable, the movable seat can be lowered to near the floor, and the height of the cassette device, the substrate transfer robot, and the clean room can be reduced.

It is a front view which shows the cassette apparatus in Example 1 of this invention. FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the cassette device in FIG. It is a figure which shows the cutting device in a prior art, (a) is a plane sectional view, (b) is a front view. It is a sectional side view which shows the carrying-in state or conveyance state of the thin substrate by the substrate conveyance robot in a prior art, and one part is shown with the cross section.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cassette apparatus 2 Thin board | substrate 3 Fixed seat 4 Movable seat 5 Lifting apparatus 6 Support | pillar 7 Substrate support part 8 Substrate receiving seat 9 Engagement piece 10 Substrate receiver 11 Substrate temporary receiving seat 12 Support mechanism 13 Support body 14 Drive mechanism 15 First Space 16 Second space

Claims (4)

A thin substrate is placed on a fork attached to the tip of an arm of a substrate transfer robot, and the fork is inserted into a cassette that stores a plurality of thin substrates in multiple stages, and the thin substrate is carried into the cassette, or a cassette In the cassette device that is carried out from the inside,
A fixed seat,
A movable seat supported on the fixed seat so as to be driven in the vertical direction using an elevating device;
A plurality of support columns vertically attached to the movable seat;
A plurality of U-shaped slidable board receiving seats, which are placed in front of each of the pillars, and open at the front, respectively, are provided on the inner sides of the side portions of the board receiving seats. Providing a plurality of substrate receivers formed by connecting with wires at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction, a substrate support portion for supporting the thin substrate by the substrate receiver;
When the movable seat is raised to the uppermost position, the movable seat is positioned below the substrate holder of the lowermost substrate receiving seat, and is disposed in the vertical direction on the fixed seat so as to be positioned in the space between the wires. A plurality of temporary board seats,
A mechanism capable of supporting an upper substrate receiving seat that is one level higher than a substrate receiving seat in a stage where a thin substrate is carried in or out next to the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat, and supports the upper substrate receiving seat, In addition, when the movable seat is lowered by a predetermined amount, the thin substrate placed on the top surface of the fork is carried in or out between the substrate receptacle of the upper substrate receptacle and the temporary substrate receptacle. And a second space for inserting the fork into the cassette device is formed between the upper surface of the substrate temporary receiving seat and the substrate receiving member of the lowermost lower substrate receiving seat. A support mechanism to
A cassette apparatus comprising: An engagement piece is provided on the substrate seat,
The support mechanism is
A support for supporting the engagement piece;
A drive mechanism for driving the support in a horizontal direction;
The support mechanism is engaged with the engagement piece by moving the support body in the horizontal direction by the drive mechanism, and the substrate receiving seat is supported together with the engagement piece. The cassette apparatus as described in.   The cassette device according to claim 2, wherein a drive source of the drive mechanism is an air cylinder. In a thin substrate transfer system comprising a cassette device that stores a plurality of thin substrates in multiple stages, and a substrate transfer robot that loads or unloads the thin substrates into the cassette device,
The cassette device is
A fixed seat,
A movable seat supported on the fixed seat so as to be driven in the vertical direction using an elevating device;
A plurality of support columns vertically attached to the movable seat;
A plurality of U-shaped slidable substrate receiving seats opened in front and placed on each support column, and a portion facing each other in the width direction on the inner side of each substrate receiving seat, in the front-rear direction A plurality of substrate receivers formed by connecting with wires at a predetermined interval, and a substrate support portion for supporting the thin substrate by the substrate receivers;
When the movable seat is raised to the uppermost position, the movable seat is positioned below the substrate holder of the lowermost substrate receiving seat, and is disposed in the vertical direction on the fixed seat so as to be positioned in the space between the wires. The plurality of temporary substrate receiving seats, and when the movable seat is raised to the uppermost position, the lower substrate receiving seat is positioned below the substrate receiving and is positioned in the space between the wires, A plurality of substrate temporary support seats arranged in the vertical direction on the fixed seat,
A mechanism capable of supporting an upper substrate receiving seat that is one level higher than a substrate receiving seat in a stage where a thin substrate is carried in or out next to the upper surface of the temporary substrate receiving seat, and supports the upper substrate receiving seat, In addition, when the movable seat is lowered by a predetermined amount, the thin substrate placed on the top surface of the fork is carried in or out between the substrate receptacle of the upper substrate receptacle and the temporary substrate receptacle. And a second space for inserting the fork into the cassette device is formed between the upper surface of the substrate temporary receiving seat and the substrate receiving member of the lowermost lower substrate receiving seat. A support mechanism to
With
A thin substrate transfer system characterized in that the substrate carrying robot carries the thin substrate into the cassette apparatus from the upper stage to the lower stage and carries it out of the cassette apparatus from the lower stage to the upper stage.

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