JP2007096027A - Substrate housing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate housing device capable of restraining substrates housed in it from being distorted, and making its substrate housing space as large as possible at the same time. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate housing device 2 includes shelves 22 which are arranged in two or more layers for storing a substrate 21 and where the substrate 21 unloaded or loaded by a substrate transfer robot are placed. An opening 24 is provided to the shelf 22 of the substrate housing device 2 on which the substrate 21 is placed, and an air supply source which makes air used for levitating the substrate 21 jet out from the above openings 24, an air suction source which sucks in air from the opening 24 so as to make the opening 24 attract the substrate 21, and piping 23a and 23b which make the air supply source and the air suction source communicate with the openings 24 are provided to the substrate housing device 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate storage device that stores liquid crystal substrates (hereinafter referred to as substrates) in multiple stages in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel includes a process of performing substrate processing such as thin film formation processing, cleaning processing, and resist coating on the substrate.
A substrate transport robot that transports a substrate in the substrate processing step carries the substrate in and out of the substrate processing apparatus that processes the substrate, the substrate processing apparatus, or the substrate storage apparatus that stores the substrate from the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the substrate storage device 20 and the substrate transfer robot 1 when the substrate transfer robot 1 loads and unloads the substrate 21 from the substrate storage device 20.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the substrate transfer robot 1 includes a base mechanism 11, an elevating mechanism 12, a pair of arm mechanisms 13, and a hand member 14 that is pivotally supported at the tip of the arm mechanism.

The base mechanism 11 includes a plurality of motors (not shown) in the interior thereof, and can elevate the elevating mechanism 12 and rotate the elevating mechanism 12 around the Z axis.
The arm mechanism 13 is a mechanism in which the first arm 13a, the second arm 13b, and the hand member 14 that are pivotally supported by the elevating mechanism are coupled to move the hand member 14 in the X1 or X2 direction. This arm mechanism 13 is also driven by a motor provided in the base mechanism 11.

The hand member 14 can be fixed by placing the substrate 21 on the upper surface of the hand member 14 by means such as vacuum suction (not shown).
JP 2004-42984 A

When a substrate is carried in and out of the substrate storage device by the substrate transfer robot, the substrate storage device is provided with a shelf for mounting the substrate, and the substrate is mounted on this shelf.
6 and 7 are schematic views of the substrate storage device used in the apparatus of FIG. 5, and are enlarged sectional views of the substrate storage portion. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the accommodation gap of the substrate 21 is as narrow as about 4.7 mm to 6.3 mm, and a hand provided at the tip of the substrate transfer robot for picking up and taking out (or carrying in) the substrate in the narrow gap. It is necessary to insert and remove the member 14 with the member 14 inserted and slightly lifted. The hand member 14 is required to have a thickness of about 2 to 3 mm in order to ensure strength and flatness of the substrate receiving surface, and the hand member 14 has a thickness of 0 to prevent sliding with the substrate storage device 20 when the substrate is taken in and out. .2 to about 0.5 mm It is necessary to put in and out in a state of floating from the shelf on which the substrate of the substrate storage device is placed. Furthermore, the size of the glass substrate for liquid crystal is 1500 mm × 1800 mm, 1800 mm × 2200 mm, etc., which are very large, and the substrate transfer robot must move a distance of about 2000 mm in a very narrow gap margin of about 2 to 3 mm. I must.

In recent years, the size of a substrate has been increased with the increase in size of a device using a liquid crystal substrate.
As shown in FIG. 6, the substrate 21 placed on the hand member 14 of the substrate transport robot that transports the substrate 21 is bent by its own weight. The deflection increases as the size of the substrate increases and the thickness of the substrate decreases.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the substrate 21 is placed on the shelf of the substrate storage device 20 that stores the substrate 21, the substrate 21 is similarly bent by its own weight.
For this reason, the storage gap between the substrates stored in the substrate storage device is further narrowed.
Therefore, it is extremely difficult to place the substrate on the shelf of the substrate storage device using the substrate transport robot.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage device that can suppress the bending of the substrate in the substrate storage device and can widen the storage space of the substrate as much as possible in order to improve the above problems. .

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is a substrate storage apparatus for storing a substrate having a plurality of shelves on which a substrate carried in and out by a substrate transfer robot for transferring a substrate is provided.
An opening is provided in a shelf on which the substrate of the substrate storage device is placed, and an air supply source that ejects air for floating the substrate from the opening, and the substrate and the opening are adsorbed A substrate storage apparatus comprising: an air suction source for sucking air from an opening; and a pipe for communicating the opening, the air supply source, and the air suction source.

  In order to achieve the above object, a second invention is a substrate storage device characterized in that the pipe is built in a substrate storage device for storing the substrate.

  In order to achieve the above object, a third invention is a substrate storage device, wherein the substrate is a large liquid crystal substrate.

  In the present invention, an opening for injecting or inhaling air for floating or adsorbing a substrate is provided on a shelf on which a substrate of the substrate storage device is placed, and is ejected from the opening until the substrate is placed on the shelf. The substrate is lifted by the air to suppress the bending of the substrate, and when the substrate is placed on the shelf, the substrate is attracted to the shelf so that the substrate is pulled in the horizontal direction and the bending due to the weight of the substrate is suppressed. it can. Therefore, the storage gap can be widened as much as possible, and the substrate loading / unloading operation can be performed more smoothly.

[Embodiment 1]
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the invention will be described based on examples with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a substrate storage apparatus of the present invention, and is a partially enlarged sectional view.
As shown in the figure, the substrate storage device 2 includes pipes 23 a and 23 b for circulating air, and an opening for injecting air to the lower surface of the substrate 21 on the substrate mounting surface of the shelf 22. 24 is provided. Other configurations are the same as those of the substrate processing apparatus 20 shown in FIG.
In the configuration as described above, when the substrate 21 is placed on the shelf 22 of the substrate storage device 2 by the hand member 14 of the substrate transport robot, air is supplied from an air supply source (not shown) to The air is jetted from the opening 24 provided to prevent the substrate 21 from bending. Thereby, the bending of the substrate is suppressed by the air, and the gap between the substrates at the time of loading and unloading the substrate can be made as wide as possible, so that the loading and unloading of the substrate can be performed smoothly.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the substrate storage apparatus of the present invention, similar to FIG. 1, and is a partially enlarged sectional view.
As shown in the figure, the substrate storage device 2 includes piping 23 a and 23 b for circulating air, and the substrate mounting surface of the shelf 22 has an opening for sucking air into the lower surface of the substrate 21. 24 is provided. Other configurations are the same as those of the substrate processing apparatus 2 shown in FIG.
In the above configuration, when the substrate 21 is placed on the shelf 22 of the substrate storage device 2 by the hand member 14 of the substrate transport robot, the air in the pipes 23a and 23b is sucked by an air suction source (not shown). Here, the substrate 21 is placed on the opening 24 provided on the lower surface of the substrate 21, and the air staying in the pipe is drawn into an air suction source (not shown) so as to be sucked out from the pipe. Inhaled. That is, when the air in the pipe is sucked, external air is continuously sucked from the opening 24 by the suction input of the air suction source, but the opening 24 is in contact with the substrate 21, and as a result, the opening 24 and the substrate 21 are in an adsorbed state.
When the substrate 21 is in the state of being attracted to the opening 24, the state of being pulled in the horizontal direction (the directions of Y1 and Y2) is maintained. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the bending due to the weight of the substrate, to widen the storage gap as much as possible, and to smoothly carry in and out the substrate.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the substrate storage device 2 as viewed from the Y1 direction in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example, when air is supplied from an arrow B by an air supply source (not shown), the air circulates from the pipe 23 a to the pipe 23 b and the pipe 23 c and is ejected from the opening 24. Is done.
On the other hand, from the arrow C, air in the pipes 23a, 23b, and 23c is sucked by an air suction source (not shown). When air in the pipe is sucked, external air is sucked from the opening 24 according to the air flow.
As described above, air is injected or sucked from the opening 24. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, valves 25a and 25b are provided between the pipes 23b and 23c, respectively. 25b, air can be injected or sucked into the opening 24.
That is, when the substrate is placed on the shelf 22, the substrate 21 and the opening 24 are adsorbed, so that air is sucked in, for example, the direction of arrow C shown in FIG. The valve 25a communicated with the pipe 23a is opened, and the valve 25b communicated with the air supply source is closed.
Conversely, when the substrate 21 is carried into and out of the shelf 22, in order to inject air into the substrate 21 from the opening 24, for example, a valve 25b communicated with the air supply source from the arrow B in FIG. The valve 25a communicated with the air suction source is closed, and the valve 25a is closed.

Here, the substrate transfer robot is driven and controlled by a control device (not shown) to carry in and out the substrate 21 placed on the hand member 14, but the substrate 21 is placed in the substrate storage device by a predetermined control program. Loading and unloading and placing the substrate on the shelf are stored in the control device, and the control device can also control the opening and closing of the valves described above.
Accordingly, when the hand member 14 of the substrate transfer robot on which the substrate is placed is carried into and out of the substrate storage device, the valve 25b communicated with the air supply source in order to inject air from the opening 24 to the substrate 21 by a control device (not shown). Is opened, and the valve 25a communicating with the air suction source is closed.
When the substrate is placed on the shelf 22, a valve 25 a communicating with the air suction source is provided so that the substrate 21 and the opening 24 are adsorbed so that air is sucked into the air suction source by a control device (not shown). The valve 25b communicating with the air supply source is closed.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above.
An appropriate number of openings 24 opened on the upper surface of the shelf 22 can be provided depending on the size, weight, etc. of the substrate.
Further, the piping built in the substrate processing apparatus is not limited to the position of the embodiment, and can be appropriately arranged according to the size, shape, etc. of the substrate processing apparatus, and can be provided outside without being built in the substrate processing apparatus. It can also be provided.

It is front sectional drawing of the board | substrate storage apparatus of this invention. It is front sectional drawing of the board | substrate storage apparatus of this invention. It is arrow AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a side view of the board | substrate storage apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view of a substrate storage device and a substrate transfer robot. It is a schematic diagram of a substrate storage device. It is a schematic diagram of a substrate storage device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate transfer robot 11 Base mechanism 12 Elevating mechanism 13 Arm mechanism 13a First arm 13b Second arm 14 Hand member 2 Substrate storage device 20 Substrate storage device 21 Substrate 22 Shelf 23a Piping 23b Piping 23c Piping 24 Opening portion 25a Valve 25b Valve

Claims (3)

In a substrate storage device that stores a plurality of shelves on which substrates loaded and unloaded by a substrate transfer robot that transfers substrates are stored,
An opening is provided in a shelf on which the substrate of the substrate storage device is placed,
An air supply source for ejecting air for floating the substrate from the opening;
An air suction source for sucking air from the opening to adsorb the substrate and the opening;
A substrate storage apparatus provided with a pipe for communicating the opening with the air supply source and the air suction source.   The board | substrate storage apparatus of Claim 1 with which the said piping was incorporated in the board | substrate storage apparatus which accommodates the said board | substrate. The substrate storage device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a large liquid crystal substrate.

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