JP2007281491A - Substrate cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate cleaning device which has a simple structure and a small footprint. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate cleaning device 1 is equipped with a mounting stage 10 for mounting cassettes C1, C2, cleaning units SS1, SS2 for performing cleaning-treatment on a substrate W, and a transport robot TR. The transport robot TR takes out an untreated substrate W from the casssette C1 by a transport arm 45, transports the substrate to the cleaning unit SS1 (SS2), and stores the treated substrate W in the cassette C2. The transport robot TR can reverse the transport arm 45 holding a substrate W, whereby the front and rear surfaces of a substrate W can be cleaned. Since a special reversing unit dedicated to reverse a substrate W is not needed, the footprint of a device can be down-sized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning processing means for cleaning a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”), and the cleaning processing means. More particularly, the present invention relates to a single-wafer type substrate cleaning apparatus that cleans substrates one by one.

  As is well known, products such as semiconductors and liquid crystal displays are manufactured by performing a series of processes such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, interlayer insulation film formation, heat treatment, and dicing on the substrate. Has been. Among these, the cleaning process is a process for removing contaminants such as particles adhering to the substrate, and is an increasingly important process in recent years when the pattern is becoming finer and more complicated.

  FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a configuration of a conventional substrate cleaning apparatus. The conventional substrate cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 10 includes four cleaning units 101, a reversing unit 105, a transfer robot 111, and an indexer 120. The cleaning unit 101 is a rotary cleaning unit (so-called spin scrubber) that cleans the main surface with a brush while rotating the substrate W. The reversing unit 105 is a unit that rotates the substrate W 180 degrees about the horizontal direction and reverses the front surface (surface on which pattern formation is performed) and the back surface. The transfer robot 111 includes a transfer arm 112 and is configured to be movable along the transfer path 110. The transfer robot 111 can transfer the substrate W to and from the transfer robot 121 of the indexer 120 and can transfer the substrate W between the four cleaning units 101 and the reversing unit 105.

  The indexer 120 includes four cassettes 125 and a transfer robot 121. Each cassette 125 stores a plurality of unprocessed substrates before the cleaning process or processed substrates after the cleaning process. The transfer robot 121 includes a transfer arm 122 and can move in the indexer 120. The transfer robot 121 has a role of taking out the unprocessed substrate W before the cleaning process from the cassette 125 and passing it to the transport robot 111 and storing the processed substrate W after the cleaning process received from the transport robot 111 in the cassette 125. .

  The processing procedure in this substrate cleaning apparatus is as follows. First, the transfer robot 121 inserts the transfer arm 122 into the cassette 125 to take out an unprocessed substrate W, and transfers the substrate W to the transfer arm 112 of the transfer robot 111. The transfer robot 111 carries the received substrate W into one of the four cleaning units 101 while holding the transferred substrate W on the transfer arm 112. The cleaning unit 101 into which the unprocessed substrate W is loaded cleans the surface of the substrate W.

  After the surface cleaning process is completed, the transfer robot 111 causes the transfer arm 112 to access the cleaning unit 101 and unloads the substrate W. Then, the transfer robot 111 carries the substrate W after the surface cleaning process into the reversing unit 105. The reversing unit 105 reverses the front and back of the substrate W and directs the back surface upward.

  Thereafter, the transfer robot 111 takes out the substrate W from the reversing unit 105 and carries it again into one of the cleaning units 101. The cleaning unit 101 into which the substrate W is loaded cleans the back surface of the substrate W.

  After the back surface cleaning process is completed, the transfer robot 111 takes out the substrate W and carries it back into the reversing unit 105, and the reversing unit 105 reverses the front and back of the substrate W so that the front surface faces upward. Then, the transfer robot 111 takes out the substrate W from the reversing unit 105 and passes the cleaned substrate W to the transfer arm 122 of the transfer robot 121. Finally, when the transfer robot 121 stores the cleaned substrate W in the cassette 125, a series of substrate cleaning processing is completed, and contamination on the front and back of the substrate W is removed.

  However, since the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 10 includes the reversing unit 105 for reversing the substrate W, the apparatus size is increased and the apparatus price is also expensive. The substrate cleaning apparatus as described above is usually installed in a clean room. However, as the apparatus size, particularly the footprint (planar size of the apparatus) increases, the area occupied by the clean room necessary for the apparatus also increases. In a clean room, high cleanliness necessary for substrate processing is realized, and appropriate temperature and humidity are always maintained, which requires a corresponding cost. Therefore, if the substrate cleaning apparatus having a large footprint occupies a large exclusive area in the clean room, there is a problem that the running cost is increased in addition to the high apparatus price.

  Further, in the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 10, since two robots of the transfer robot 121 and the transfer robot 111 are used for substrate transfer for a series of cleaning processes, this also increases the apparatus price. In addition, it is a factor that increases the footprint.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a substrate cleaning apparatus having a simple configuration and a small footprint.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 includes a cleaning processing unit that performs a cleaning process on a substrate, and a transport unit that carries the substrate into the cleaning processing unit and unloads the substrate from the cleaning processing unit. In the substrate cleaning apparatus, the transport unit includes a transport arm that holds the substrate, and a reversing drive unit that reverses the transport arm by 180 ° in a state where the substrate is held by the transport arm. The substrate is inverted during the transfer process.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the transport arm includes an edge portion gripping mechanism for holding the substrate by gripping the edge portion of the substrate. Features.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention, the end edge gripping mechanism abuts against a part of the edge of the substrate and restricts the position of the substrate. And pressing means for pressing the other part of the edge of the substrate to press the substrate against the position regulating member.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the transfer means includes a plurality of the transfer arms.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the transfer means is configured to perform a pre-cleaning process from a substrate storage portion provided in the substrate cleaning apparatus. The unprocessed substrate is taken out, and the processed substrate after the cleaning process is stored in the substrate storage portion.

  The invention of claim 6 is the substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a transfer path in which the transfer means moves in a substantially horizontal direction, wherein the cleaning processing means It is arrange | positioned above the conveyance path, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer means includes the transfer arm that holds the substrate, and the reversal drive unit that reverses the transfer arm by 180 ° in a state where the transfer arm holds the substrate. It is not necessary to provide a reversing unit only for reversing the substrate, and the substrate cleaning apparatus can have a simple configuration and a small footprint.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the transport arm includes the edge portion gripping mechanism that holds the substrate by gripping the edge portion of the substrate, the transport arm holds the substrate and reverses it. The substrate can be prevented from falling off.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the edge portion gripping mechanism abuts against a part of the edge portion of the substrate and restricts the position of the substrate, and the other portion of the edge portion of the substrate. And the pressing means for pressing the substrate against the position restricting member, the effect of the invention of claim 2 can be obtained with certainty.

  According to the invention of claim 4, since the conveying means includes a plurality of conveying arms, it is possible to improve throughput and prevent contamination transfer.

  According to the invention of claim 5, the transport means takes out the unprocessed substrate before the cleaning process from the substrate storage unit provided in the substrate cleaning apparatus, and also transfers the processed substrate after the cleaning process to the substrate storage unit. As a result, the transfer robot that transfers the substrate between the substrate storage unit and the transfer unit is not required, and the footprint of the substrate cleaning apparatus can be further reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 6, since the cleaning processing means is arranged above the transport path, the footprint of the substrate cleaning apparatus can be further reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<1. First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1 and the subsequent drawings are provided with an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in which the Z-axis direction is a vertical direction and the XY plane is a horizontal plane as necessary in order to clarify the directional relationship.

  The substrate cleaning apparatus 1 is an apparatus that removes particles by performing a cleaning process on the substrate W, and mainly includes a mounting stage 10 for mounting the cassettes C1 and C2, and a cleaning unit SS1 that performs the cleaning process on the substrate W. , SS2 and a transfer robot TR. The transport robot TR is disposed in the transport path 5, and the mounting stage 10 and the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are disposed to face each other across the transport path 5.

  The two placement stages 10 are provided along the transport path 5, and cassettes C <b> 1 and C <b> 2 are placed at predetermined positions on their upper surfaces. Each of the cassettes C1 and C2 is provided with multistage storage grooves, and each of the cassettes can store a single substrate W in a horizontal posture (with the main surface along a horizontal plane). Accordingly, each of the cassettes C1 and C2 can store a plurality of substrates W stacked in a horizontal posture at a predetermined interval in multiple stages. In addition, as a form of the cassettes C1 and C2 of the present embodiment, a FOUP (front opening unified pod) that accommodates the substrate in a sealed space is adopted, but is not limited thereto, and the storage substrate is exposed to the outside air. OC (open cassette) to expose may be sufficient.

  A lid is provided on the front side (-X side in the figure) of each cassette C1, C2, and the lid is detachable so that the substrate W can be taken in and out. The cassettes C1 and C2 are attached and detached with a pod opener (not shown). By removing the lid from the cassettes C1 and C2, an opening 8 is formed as shown in FIG. The loading / unloading of the substrate W to / from the cassettes C1 and C2 is performed through the opening 8.

  In this embodiment, an unprocessed substrate before the cleaning process is stored in the cassette C1, and a processed substrate after the cleaning process is stored in the cassette C2. It should be noted that the cassettes C1 and C2 are automatically mounted on the mounting stage 10 and unloaded from the mounting stage 10, usually automatically by AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle), OHT (over-head hoist transport), or the like. Yes.

  The cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are provided side by side along the transport path 5 on the side opposite to the mounting stage 10. The cleaning units SS1 and SS2 of the present embodiment supply pure water to the main surface (front surface or back surface) while gripping and rotating the edge of the substrate W, and adhere to the substrate W with a brush or other cleaning tool. It is a spin scrubber that removes particles that have been removed. The cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are not limited to spin scrubbers, and various units can be adopted as long as they are units that remove contaminants attached to the substrate W. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 is formed with an opening 9 for carrying the substrate W in and out toward the transport path 5, and a shutter for opening and closing the opening 9. Etc. (not shown) are also provided.

  A cabinet section 6 is disposed below the cleaning units SS1, SS2. Inside the cabinet unit 6, a power source for supplying power to the substrate cleaning apparatus 1, a tank of pure water, a supply pipe, and the like are installed.

  The transport robot TR is a means that is provided in the transport path 5 and transports the substrate W between the cassettes C1 and C2 and the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 mounted on the mounting stage 10. The transport robot TR includes a horizontal movement unit 41, an elevating unit 42, an arm base 43, a transport arm 45, and various drive mechanisms for driving the transport arm 45, and thereby the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are subjected to a cleaning process. The substrate W after the cleaning process can be unloaded from the cleaning units SS1 and SS2.

  The horizontal moving unit 41 is a portion that constitutes the lowermost part of the transfer robot TR and supports the entire transfer robot TR, and is horizontally movable along the longitudinal direction (Y direction) of the transfer path 5. As a mechanism for moving the horizontal moving portion 41 along the conveyance path 5, a known drive mechanism such as a feed screw mechanism using a ball screw or a mechanism using a pulley and a belt can be employed. As a result, the entire transfer robot TR including the transfer arm 45 can move horizontally in the Y direction along the transfer path 5 as indicated by an arrow AR1 in FIG.

  An elevating part 42 is installed on the upper part of the horizontal moving part 41. The elevating unit 42 includes a so-called telescopic elevating mechanism as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-135475. This telescopic lifting mechanism is a mechanism that moves up and down along a vertical direction by sequentially storing and pulling out a plurality of lifting members having a multistage nested structure. Thereby, as shown by arrow AR2 in FIG. 2, the arm base 43 and the transfer arm 45 simultaneously move up and down along the vertical direction (Z direction). The elevating mechanism incorporated in the elevating unit 42 is not limited to a telescopic type mechanism, and any pantograph mechanism can be used as long as the arm base 43 and the transfer arm 45 can be moved up and down along the vertical direction. Alternatively, a known drive mechanism such as a mechanism using a ball screw or a belt or a mechanism using a cylinder can be employed. However, the telescopic lifting mechanism is suitable as the lifting mechanism for the transport robot TR in that it is compact and can increase the stroke.

  The transfer arm 45 can be moved freely along the YZ plane in the transfer path 5 by the horizontal moving unit 41 and the lifting unit 42, and is positioned in front of each of the cassettes C1, C2 and the cleaning units SS1, SS2. Can do.

  The arm base 43 can rotate with respect to the elevating part 42 around the rotation axis Q along the vertical direction. This rotation operation is performed by a stepping motor or the like built in the arm base 43. As a result, as indicated by an arrow AR3 in FIG. 1, the transfer arm 45 is rotatable in the horizontal plane (in the XY plane) about the rotation axis Q, and is respectively provided in the cassettes C1, C2 and the cleaning units SS1, SS2. You can face each other.

  In the upper part of the arm base 43, three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c that hold the substrate W are provided in this order from the bottom (in this specification, each of the three transfer arms is arranged). When there is a problem, the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c are used. When there is no need to distinguish between them, the transfer arms 45 are simply described. Each of the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c can move forward and backward in the horizontal plane (in the XY plane) while holding the substrate W, and can be inverted 180 ° about the axis along the horizontal direction. it can. Hereinafter, a mechanism for the transfer arm 45a to perform these operations will be described, but the same applies to the transfer arms 45b and 45c.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the transfer arm 45a and its periphery. In addition to the drive mechanism described above, the transfer robot TR includes a bending / stretching mechanism 30 for moving the transfer arm 45a back and forth in a horizontal plane, and a reversal drive that reverses the transfer arm 45a by 180 ° about an axis along the horizontal direction. Part 15. The transfer arm 45 a includes a chuck unit 20 that holds the substrate W by gripping the edge of the substrate W.

  FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a drive structure of the bending / stretching mechanism 30. The bending / stretching mechanism 30 includes a reversing drive unit 15 to which a transport arm 45a is connected, a first arm segment 31 that supports the reversal driving unit 15 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane, and the first arm segment 31 in a horizontal plane. The second arm segment 32 is rotatably supported, and the drive motor 39 is provided in the arm base 43 and rotates the second arm segment 32 in a horizontal plane. When the two-arm segment 32 is rotated, power is transmitted to the first arm segment 31 and the reverse drive unit 15 to control their posture and moving direction.

  The transfer arm 45 a is rotatably connected to the reversal drive unit 15. The reversing drive unit 15 will be described later, but the transport arm 45a is rotated about an axis along the horizontal direction, but no other operation is performed. That is, the transport arm 45a does not perform a bending operation with respect to the reversal drive unit 15, and the longitudinal direction of the transport arm 45a and the longitudinal direction of the reversal drive unit 15 always coincide.

  A first rotation shaft 33 is vertically fixed to the base end portion of the inversion driving unit 15. The first arm segment 31 has a first bearing hole 34 formed at the distal end thereof for rotatably supporting the first rotation shaft 33. Further, a second rotating shaft 35 is vertically fixed to the base end portion of the first arm segment 31 so as to be lowered. The second arm segment 32 is set to have the same length as that of the first arm segment 31, and a second bearing hole 36 for rotatably supporting the second rotation shaft 35 is formed at the tip of the second arm segment 32. Has been. Further, a third rotating shaft 37 to which the rotational force of the drive motor 39 is transmitted is fixed to the base end portion of the second arm segment 32 downward.

  Between the first pulley 61 fixed to the lower end of the first rotation shaft 33 and the second pulley 62 fixed to the second rotation shaft 35 on the upper surface side of the second bearing hole 36, the first belt 63 is provided. Is wrapped around. A second belt is interposed between the third pulley 64 fixed to the lower end of the second rotating shaft 35 and the fourth pulley 65 fixed to the second arm segment 32 and loosely fitting the third rotating shaft 37. 66 is wound.

  Here, the diameter of the first pulley 61 and the diameter of the second pulley 62 are set to 2 to 1, and the diameter of the third pulley 64 and the diameter of the fourth pulley 65 are set to 1 to 2. . The distance from the first rotation shaft 33 to the second rotation shaft 35 and the distance from the second rotation shaft 35 to the third rotation shaft 37 are set to the same length R.

  When the drive motor 39 rotates the second arm segment 32 counterclockwise through the third rotation shaft 37 by the angle α, the second rotation shaft 35 supported by the tip of the second arm segment 32 is Rotate clockwise through the second belt 66 and the third pulley 64 by an angle β = 2α that is twice the third rotation shaft 37. As a result, the first rotation shaft 33 that is supported at the tip of the first arm segment 31 moves straight relative to the arm base 43. At this time, the rotation angle of the first rotation shaft 33 is controlled through the second pulley 62 and the first belt 63. Here, on the basis of the transfer arm 45a, the first rotation shaft 33 rotates counterclockwise by an angle γ = α that is ½ times the second rotation shaft 35. The arm segment 31 itself is rotating. Therefore, as a result, as indicated by an arrow AR4 in FIG. 3, the transfer arm 45a moves back and forth in a straight line in the horizontal direction while maintaining the same posture. The forward / backward moving mechanism of the transfer arm 45a is not limited to the bending / extending mechanism 30 described above, and a known mechanism such as a feed screw mechanism using a ball screw can be employed.

  The inversion driving unit 15 includes a stepping motor 16. The transport arm 45a is fixedly connected to the motor shaft of the stepping motor 16, and its rotational driving force is transmitted. As a result, as indicated by an arrow AR5 in FIG. 3, the transfer arm 45a can rotate with respect to the reversal drive unit 15, and can be reversed 180 ° about the axis P along the horizontal direction.

  The transfer arm 45 a includes a chuck portion 20 and a holding portion 22. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the structure of the transfer arm 45a. The chuck unit 20 includes an air cylinder 21. A gripping portion 23 is fixedly connected to the piston rod of the air cylinder 21. Thereby, as shown by arrow AR6 in FIG. 5, the air cylinder 21 can move the grip part 23 forward and backward.

  The holding portion 22 has a U-shape divided into two forks, and holds the substrate W on its upper surface. The holding portion 22 is formed with guide portions 22a and 22b that guide the edge of the substrate W and restrict the movement in the horizontal direction.

  When the chuck portion 20 advances the grip portion 23 to the air cylinder 21 with the substrate W placed on the holding portion 22, the grip portion 23 abuts on the edge of the substrate W and the base end portion of the transport arm 45 a. Press the substrate W from the side. Then, the substrate W is pressed against the guide portion 22a provided on the tip end side of the transfer arm 45a, and the movement of the substrate W is restricted. That is, the guide portion 22a abuts against a part of the edge portion of the substrate W to regulate the position of the substrate W, and the grip portion 23 presses another portion of the edge portion of the substrate W to guide the substrate W. By pressing against the portion 22a, the substrate W is securely held by the transfer arm 45a.

  By gripping the edge of the substrate W by the grip portion 23 and the guide portion 22a, even if the reversal drive unit 15 inverts the transport arm 45a by 180 ° in this state, the substrate W falls off from the transport arm 45a. Can be prevented. That is, the reversing drive unit 15 can reverse the transport arm 45a by 180 ° around the axis P along the horizontal direction while holding the substrate W on the transport arm 45a.

  Each of the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c is caused by the horizontal movement operation of the horizontal movement unit 41, the vertical movement operation of the lifting unit 42, the rotation operation of the arm base 43, and the forward / backward movement operation using the bending / extension mechanism 30 as described above. It can move freely three-dimensionally in the transport path 5, can carry the substrate W into any of the cassettes C1, C2 and the cleaning units SS1, SS2, and can carry out the substrate W from both. be able to. Further, by the reversing operation of the reversing drive unit 15, each of the transfer arms 45 a, 45 b, 45 c can be reversed by 180 ° around the axis along the horizontal direction while holding the substrate W.

  Incidentally, as described above, the transfer robot TR of the present embodiment includes the three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c that hold the substrate W. The individual operations of the transfer arms 45b and 45c are the same as those of the transfer arm 45a. That is, the transfer arms 45b and 45c can also hold the substrate W and move forward and backward in a horizontal plane, and can be reversed 180 ° about the axis along the horizontal direction. Each of the three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c performs an independent operation.

  Here, when any of the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c performs the reversing operation, it must be prevented from interfering with the other transfer arms. For example, when the transfer arm 45a is turned 180 °, it is necessary to prevent interference with the transfer arm 45b immediately above it. For this reason, in this embodiment, the interval between the adjacent transfer arms is set to be equal to or longer than the distance at which the substrate W does not contact the other transfer arms when at least one transfer arm holds and reverses the substrate W. For example, when handling a substrate W having a diameter of 300 mm, if the interval between adjacent transfer arms is set to about 160 mm, when one transfer arm holds and reverses the substrate W, the substrate W is transferred to the other transfer arm. Interference can be prevented. Specifically, by adjusting the length of the third rotation shaft 37 (see FIG. 4) of the drive motor 39 provided in the arm base 43, the interval between the adjacent transfer arms can be determined. good. FIG. 3 illustrates a part of the third rotation shaft 48 of the transfer arm 45b and the third rotation shaft 47 of the transfer arm 45c. Further, when any of the transfer arms is performing the reversing operation, it is necessary that the transfer arm adjacent thereto does not perform the reversing operation.

  In this embodiment, the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are the cleaning processing means, the transport robot TR is the transport means, the guide portion 22a is the position regulating member, the gripping portion 23 is the pressing means, and the cassettes C1 and C2 are the substrate storage portions. Respectively.

  Next, a processing procedure in the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 will be described. The outline of the processing contents of the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 is that the front and back surfaces of the unprocessed substrate W taken out from the cassette C1 are cleaned, and the cleaned substrate W is accommodated in the cassette C2. Substrate transport at this time is all performed by the transport robot TR. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a substrate transfer procedure in the substrate cleaning apparatus 1.

  First, the transfer robot TR takes out the unprocessed substrate W1 from the cassette C1 by the transfer arm 45a and transfers it to the cleaning unit SS1. In the cleaning unit SS1, the substrate W2 that has already undergone the surface cleaning process is taken out by the transfer arm 45b, and the unprocessed substrate W1 is carried in by the transfer arm 45a. That is, the substrate W2 that has been subjected to the surface cleaning process in the cleaning unit SS1 is replaced with an unprocessed substrate W1 by the transfer arms 45a and 45b. The surface-cleaned substrate W2 is transported from the cleaning unit SS1 to the cleaning unit SS2 by the transport arm 45b.

  Here, since the substrate W1 is stored in the cassette C1 with the surface thereof facing upward, and the transfer arm 45a does not perform the reversing operation, the substrate W1 is placed in the cleaning unit SS1 with the surface facing upward. It is carried in. The cleaning unit SS1 performs a cleaning process on the surface of the substrate W.

  On the other hand, the transfer arm 45b reverses 180 ° around the axis along the horizontal direction while holding the surface-cleaned substrate W2 in the transfer process from the cleaning unit SS1 to the cleaning unit SS2. As a result, the back surface of the substrate W2 faces upward.

  In the cleaning unit SS2, the substrate W3 that has been subjected to the back surface cleaning process is taken out by the transport arm 45c, and the substrate W2 that has been subjected to the front surface cleaning process is loaded by the transport arm 45b. That is, the substrate W3 that has been subjected to the back surface cleaning process in the cleaning unit SS2 is replaced with the substrate W2 that has been subjected to the surface cleaning process by the transfer arms 45b and 45c. The substrate W3 that has been subjected to the back surface cleaning process is transported from the cleaning unit SS2 to the cassette C2 by the transport arm 45c, and stored in the cassette C2.

  Here, when the transfer arm 45b performs the reversing operation, the substrate W2 is loaded into the cleaning unit SS2 with the back surface thereof facing upward. The cleaning unit SS2 performs a cleaning process on the back surface of the substrate W.

  Further, the transfer arm 45c is also inverted by 180 ° around the axis along the horizontal direction while holding the cleaned substrate W3 in the transfer process from the cleaning unit SS2 to the cassette C2. As a result, the surface of the substrate W3 turns upward again, and the substrate C3 is stored in the cassette C2 with the surface thereof facing upward.

  Thereafter, the same procedure is repeated, and the first unprocessed substrate W1 is sequentially subjected to the front surface cleaning process and the back surface cleaning process, and is then stored in the cassette C2.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, since the reversing drive unit 15 for reversing the substrate W held by the transport arm 45 is provided in the transport robot TR, the conventional reversing unit 105 (FIG. 10) is provided. There is no need to dispose the substrate, and the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 can be reduced in size and the footprint can be reduced accordingly.

  Further, since the conventional reversing unit 105 can be reduced and the reversing drive unit 15 having a simple configuration only needs to be provided in the transport robot TR, it is possible to suppress an increase in the device price.

  Further, since the edge of the substrate W is gripped by the grip portion 23 and the guide portion 22a, the substrate W is securely held by the transport arm 45, so that the substrate W is dropped when the transport arm 45 is reversed. Can be prevented.

  Further, since the transfer robot TR includes three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c, and the three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c can replace the substrates in the cleaning units SS1 and SS2, high throughput is obtained. be able to.

  In particular, as in the present embodiment, the transfer assignment of the three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c is clearly divided, and only the transfer arm 45a holds the unprocessed substrate W, and only the transfer arm 45b has a surface cleaning process. If the processed substrate W is held and only the transfer arm 45c holds the substrate W after the front and back surface cleaning processing, the transfer arm 45 holding the unprocessed substrate W holds the processed substrate W. It is possible to prevent the transfer of contamination caused by.

  In the present embodiment, the transfer robot TR takes out the unprocessed substrate W before the cleaning process directly from the cassette C1, and stores the processed substrate W after the cleaning process in the cassette C2. There is no need to provide 121 (FIG. 10). Accordingly, the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 can be reduced in size by reducing the transfer robot 121, and the footprint can be reduced, and the apparatus price can be reduced.

<2. Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The substrate cleaning apparatus 2 of the second embodiment is different from the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 of the first embodiment in the arrangement positions of the cleaning units SS1 and SS2. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the substrate cleaning apparatus 2 of the second embodiment. 8 is a side view of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a rear view of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG.

  The substrate cleaning apparatus 2 of the second embodiment is also an apparatus that performs cleaning processing on the substrate W to remove particles, and mainly performs a cleaning process on the mounting stage 10 for mounting the cassettes C1 and C2 and the substrate W. Cleaning units SS1 and SS2 to be performed and a transfer robot TR are provided. In the second embodiment, the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are disposed above the transport path 5. The configurations of the mounting stage 10, cassettes C1 and C2, cleaning units SS1 and SS2, and transfer robot TR are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are arranged above the transport path 5 in the Y direction with a predetermined gap. Therefore, the transfer robot TR moves in the horizontal direction along the transfer path 5 as indicated by an arrow AR8 in FIG. 9 and moves the transfer arm 45 of the two cleaning units SS1 and SS2 as indicated by an arrow AR9. The cleaning unit SS1 and SS2 are accessed from the opening 9 by raising the gap. As described above, since each of the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c can freely move three-dimensionally in the transfer path 5, it is possible to access the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 as described above. In the second embodiment, since the cleaning unit SS1, SS2 is disposed above the transport path 5 to increase the lift distance required for the transport robot TR, the lift unit 42 has a telescopic type with a large stroke. It is desirable to incorporate a lifting mechanism.

  Accordingly, also in the second embodiment, each of the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c can carry the substrate W into any of the cassettes C1 and C2 and the cleaning units SS1 and SS2, and the substrate can be loaded from either of them. W can be carried out. Further, by the reversing operation of the reversing drive unit 15, each of the transfer arms 45 a, 45 b, 45 c can be reversed by 180 ° around the axis along the horizontal direction while holding the substrate W.

  In the second embodiment, the same processing procedure (FIG. 6) as in the first embodiment can be executed, and as a result, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained. In particular, in the second embodiment, since the cleaning units SS1, SS2 are arranged above the transport path 5, the footprint of the substrate cleaning apparatus 2 can be further reduced, and the exclusive area in the clean room can be reduced. It can be made smaller.

  In the second embodiment, since the transfer robot TR is provided below the cleaning units SS1 and SS2, it is difficult for particles generated by the driving operation of the transfer robot TR to enter the cleaning units SS1 and SS2. The substrate W can be cleaned in a cleaner atmosphere.

<3. Modification>
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above examples. For example, in the above-described embodiments, the interval between adjacent transfer arms is fixed so as not to interfere with each other. However, each of the transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c can be moved up and down by an individual lifting mechanism, thereby adjacent to each other. You may make it adjust suitably the space | interval of the conveyance arm to perform.

  In each of the above embodiments, the so-called mechanical chuck that holds the substrate W by holding the edge of the substrate W by the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 has been adopted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A so-called vacuum chuck that holds the substrate W by vacuum suction of the back surface of the substrate W may be employed. However, if the surface of the substrate W is vacuum-sucked, it causes contamination. Therefore, when a so-called vacuum chuck is employed, only the surface of the substrate W is cleaned. In this case, for example, the substrate W stored in the cassette C1 with the back surface facing upward is taken out by the transfer arm 45, reversed, and then carried into the cleaning unit SS1 (SS2).

  Further, the transfer procedure of the substrate W is not limited to the one shown in FIG. 6. For example, only the front surface cleaning or the back surface cleaning may be performed, and an arbitrary transfer procedure can be set. is there.

  Further, although the transfer robot TR includes the three transfer arms 45a, 45b, and 45c, the number of the transfer arms 45 is not limited to three. If there is at least one transfer arm 45, the substrate W can be reversed and transferred, and if there are two transfer arms 45, throughput can be improved by exchanging the substrates in the cleaning units SS1 and SS2. If there are three transfer arms 45 as in each of the above embodiments, transfer of contamination between the substrate W and the transfer arm 45 can be prevented.

  Further, the horizontal movement operation of the horizontal movement unit 41 of the transfer robot TR is not essential. If the transfer arm 45 can be accessed to the cassettes C1 and C2 and the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 even if the transfer robot TR does not perform a horizontal operation by controlling the movement operation of the transfer arm 45, the horizontal moving unit 41 is used. The transfer robot TR that does not have the above may be used as the transfer means.

It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the board | substrate cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a side view of the board | substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view of a conveyance arm and its periphery. It is a side sectional view showing a drive structure of a bending and stretching mechanism for moving a transfer arm forward and backward in a horizontal plane. It is a top view which shows the structure of a conveyance arm. It is a figure which shows an example of the board | substrate conveyance procedure in the board | substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the board | substrate cleaning apparatus of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 8 is a side view of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a rear view of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 7. It is a top view which shows the structure of the conventional board | substrate cleaning apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Substrate cleaning apparatus 5 Conveyance path 10 Placement stage 15 Reverse drive part 20 Chuck part 22a Guide part 23 Grip part 45 (45a, 45b, 45c) Conveyance arm C1, C2 Cassette SS1, SS2 Cleaning unit TR Conveyance robot W Substrate

Claims (6)

A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a cleaning processing unit that performs a cleaning process on a substrate; and a transport unit that carries the substrate into the cleaning processing unit and unloads the substrate from the cleaning processing unit,
The transfer means includes a transfer arm that holds a substrate, and a reversing drive unit that reverses the transfer arm by 180 ° in a state where the transfer arm holds the substrate.
The substrate cleaning apparatus, wherein the transfer means reverses the substrate in the transfer process. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1,
The substrate cleaning apparatus, wherein the transfer arm includes an edge portion holding mechanism for holding the substrate by holding an edge portion of the substrate. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The edge portion gripping mechanism is configured to contact a part of the edge portion of the substrate and restrict the position of the substrate, and press the other portion of the edge portion of the substrate to place the substrate in the position. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a pressing unit that presses against the regulating member. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The substrate cleaning apparatus, wherein the transfer means includes a plurality of transfer arms. In the substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The transfer means takes out an unprocessed substrate before the cleaning process from a substrate storage unit provided in the substrate cleaning apparatus, and stores the processed substrate after the cleaning process in the substrate storage unit. apparatus. In the substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A transport path in which the transport means moves in a substantially horizontal direction;
The substrate cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning means is disposed above the transport path.

Images