JP2009170726A - Load port and method for adjusting cassette position - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a load port which can move a mounted cassette to a predetermined removing reference position to be aligned, and can return the cassette back to original mounting position from the removing reference position, and to provide a method for adjusting the cassette position of a load port. <P>SOLUTION: A mounting portion 30 includes a base stage 31 installed at a predetermined position on a horizontal plane, a floating stage 32 having a plane for mounting a cassette 50, and a position adjustment mechanism 33, wherein the position adjustment mechanism 33 moves the cassette 50, along with the floating stage 32, to the reference position of the cassette 50 for the base stage 31 in a preset x-direction and a y-direction, based on the size of the cassette 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention installs articles, such as stored substrates, in a highly clean room from a cassette that is placed in a low-clean area and contains articles such as wafer substrates that need to maintain high cleanliness. The present invention relates to a load port for supplying to a processing apparatus for subsequent processing or storing processed articles in a cassette from a highly clean room. In particular, the present invention relates to a load port that can move and align a placed cassette to a predetermined take-out reference position and return the cassette from the take-out reference position to the original placement position, and a cassette position adjustment method for the load port. . Hereinafter, a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer or a liquid crystal substrate, particularly a semiconductor wafer, will be described as the article, but this is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the present invention.

  Semiconductor substrates such as silicon wafers and liquid crystal substrates as articles that need to maintain high cleanliness during transportation and processing are contaminated when dust or vaporized organic matter (hereinafter simply referred to as `` dust '') adheres. Contamination reduces the production yield of semiconductors and products, that is, the yield rate. Therefore, when a semiconductor wafer or the like is transported or processed, it is necessary to create an environment with a high cleanliness around it. That is, the semiconductor wafer is one of articles that need to maintain high cleanliness during transportation and processing (hereinafter referred to as “dust-free dust article”).

  In general, a semiconductor wafer is processed in a highly clean room (hereinafter referred to as “highly clean room”), a so-called clean room. On the other hand, in transporting a semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer is placed in a sealed and highly clean container (hereinafter referred to as “cassette”) and transported together with the cassette. Accordingly, the semiconductor wafer can be transported via a room with low cleanliness or outdoors (hereinafter referred to as “low clean room”), and the semiconductor wafer is not contaminated by dust during transport.

  In addition, a load port with an opening that can be closed is installed at the boundary between the high clean room and the low clean room, and this is used to clean the inside of the cassette for processing semiconductor wafers. Transfer of the semiconductor wafer from the space to the processing equipment in the high clean room (hereinafter referred to as “load”), and high cleaning inside the cassette from the processing equipment in the high clean room for transferring the processed semiconductor wafer to another process The semiconductor wafer is moved to the appropriate space (hereinafter referred to as “unload”). Therefore, the semiconductor wafer moves through the opening of the load port. The cassette is provided with a lid on the opening side of the load port, and the lid is opened when the cassette is moved.

In the case of moving a semiconductor wafer by loading or unloading, the following procedure is performed in Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, a container corresponds to a cassette, and a loader corresponds to a load port.
(1) The container is placed on the stage of the loader placement unit.
(2) The placed container and the stage are fixed and integrated. Here, in order to perform integration at a predetermined position, a positioning mechanism by kinematic coupling is provided. The positioning mechanism by the kinematic coupling includes a kinematic coupling V-groove provided on the bottom surface of the container and a kinematic coupling pin provided on the stage and a kinematic coupling pin corresponding to the stage. The container position is determined on the top.
(3) The stage is moved to the opening of the loader, and the door for closing the opening of the loader and the lid of the container are brought close to each other.
(4) The loader door and the container lid are integrated.
(5) The container lid and the loader door are moved together to open the container and loader openings.
(6) Finally, the semiconductor wafer is moved from the inside of the opened container to the high clean room or from the high clean room to the open container.
Japanese Patent No. 3827021

  However, since the semiconductor wafer has been increased from the conventional 30 cm to 45 cm, the method described in Patent Document 1 as described above has the following problems. That is, when a plurality of semiconductor wafers having a diameter larger than the conventional diameter are stored, the storage weight of the semiconductor wafer inevitably becomes heavier than the conventional one. When placing such a heavy cassette on the stage, if the cassette and the stage are fixed and integrated by a positioning mechanism using a kinematic coupling, a cassette made of a material such as plastic is used. When the kinematic coupling provided on the bottom surface and the kinematic coupling provided on the stage are fixed by pins, the bottom surface of the cassette may be bent. If the bottom surface of the cassette bends, the position for integrating the door of the load port opening and the lid of the cassette is shifted, the lid and the door cannot be integrated, and the lid cannot be opened and closed.

  Also, if the cassette is made of a hard material that is harder to deform than conventional plastics to solve the flexure of the bottom of the cassette, the weight of the entire cassette containing the semiconductor wafer will increase, resulting in a load port. There arises a problem that the carriage cannot be transported due to the weight limit of a transport vehicle such as OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport) which transports and mounts the cassette on the mounting section.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. The placed cassette is moved to a predetermined take-out reference position and aligned, and the take-out reference position is changed to the original placement position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a load port that can be returned and a method for adjusting the cassette position of the load port.

The following invention is provided to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems.
The load port according to the first aspect of the present invention takes out the dust-removing dust article from a cassette in which the dust-removing dust article placed on the placement portion provided in the low-cleaning area is hermetically stored, and enters the highly clean room. A load port for supplying or storing the dust-free dust article from the high clean chamber into the cassette, wherein the placing portion is directly directed to a partition wall having an opening communicating with the high clean chamber. Or a first stage installed on a substantially orthogonal horizontal plane, and a second stage having a plane on which the cassette is placed, the first stage being movable in a free direction parallel to the first stage; After the cassette is placed on the second stage, the second stage is moved by pressing the side surface of the cassette on the second stage so that the second stage is at the placement position of the cassette. From the stage reference position, characterized in that it comprises a position adjusting mechanism for moving up the cassette reference position is a position of the cassette.

  A load port according to a second aspect of the present invention is the load port according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a ball guide is installed on the surface of the first stage facing the second stage, By the rotation, the second stage placed on the ball guide can move in a predetermined direction horizontal to the first stage.

  A load port according to a third aspect of the present invention is the load port according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the position adjusting mechanism includes a contact portion that contacts the side surface of the cassette. A member, a stage positioning member configured integrally with the cassette positioning member and defining a movement amount of the second stage, and a drive unit that moves the cassette positioning member and the stage positioning member by a predetermined amount. It is characterized by providing.

  The load port according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the load port according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the position adjusting mechanism adjusts the movement in the x direction, the cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member. And an x-direction position adjusting unit including the driving unit, and a y-direction including the cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member, and the driving unit for adjusting movement in the y direction orthogonal to the x direction on the same plane. The position adjustment part is provided.

  The load port according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the load port according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the x-direction position adjustment portion presses the side surface of the cassette so as to sandwich the cassette from the left and right. The cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member, and a position adjusting unit including the driving unit are provided on the left and right.

  The load port according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the load port according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the position adjusting portion in the y direction presses the side surface of the cassette so as to sandwich the cassette from the left and right. The cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member, and a position adjusting unit including the driving unit are provided on the left and right.

  The cassette position adjusting method according to the first aspect of the present invention is a method of taking out the dust-free dust article from a cassette in which the dust-proof dust article placed on the placement portion provided in the low-cleaning area is hermetically stored. A cassette position adjusting method for the cassette to be supplied to a room or to be placed on the mounting portion of the load port for storing the dust-free article from the high clean chamber into the cassette, comprising: (a) A second stage movable in a free direction parallel to the first stage on the first stage, the second stage being stopped at a stage reference position, which is a position for placing the cassette; (B) a cassette reference position which is an arrangement position on the load port of the cassette by pressing the cassette against the second stage on which the cassette is placed. Characterized in that it and a step of moving up.

  The cassette position adjusting method according to the second aspect of the present invention stores the stage reference position of the second stage in the step (a) of the cassette position adjusting method according to the first aspect of the present invention. And (c) a step of returning the cassette to the original placement position by moving the second stage moved in the step (b) to the stored stage reference position. It is characterized by.

  According to the present invention, even when the total weight of the cassette and the semiconductor wafer is large by storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers having a large diameter, the cassette is placed on the plane of the second stage movable with respect to the first stage. By directly placing the cassette, the first stage and the cassette installed at a predetermined position can be fixed and integrated without deforming the cassette even if the cassette is made of a material such as plastic. The cassette can be moved together with the second stage to the cassette reference position, that is, the cassette positioning can be executed.

  Further, even when cassettes of different sizes are placed, cassette positioning can be easily performed by simply changing the movement amounts of the cassette positioning member and the stage positioning member depending on the size.

  In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a conventional kinematic coupling in the cassette, the manufacturing cost of the cassette can be reduced.

  In addition, since the position adjustment mechanism has a simple structure including a cassette positioning member, a stage positioning member, and a drive unit, the manufacturing cost of the mounting unit can be reduced.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the embodiment described below is for explanation, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, those skilled in the art can employ embodiments in which each or all of these elements are replaced by equivalents thereof, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the appearance of a load port according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the cassette, FIG. 2A is a schematic perspective view of the appearance of only the cassette, and FIG. 2B is a state where the cassette is placed on the load port. It is a schematic perspective view of the external appearance of this cassette. FIG. 3 is a view for explaining an example of the position adjusting mechanism according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view for explaining the position adjustment mechanism only in the x direction in the position adjustment mechanism shown in FIG. 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the load port 10 is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the partition wall 20 in which an opening 21 leading to a highly clean chamber in which a processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor wafer is placed is formed. The mounting part 30 for mounting the cassette 50 (refer FIG. 2) on the horizontal surface to perform is provided.

  The placement unit 30 includes a base stage 31 installed at a predetermined position on a horizontal plane, a floating stage 32 having a plane on which the cassette 50 is placed, a position adjustment mechanism 33, and a moving stage 34. A base stage 31 and a position adjustment mechanism 33 are fixed to the moving stage 34. The moving stage 34 is configured to open the cassette 50 positioned on the floating stage 32 after the cassette 50 is positioned together with the base stage 31. It is a stage for moving in the direction. The moving stage 34 is stopped at a predetermined reference position while the cassette 50 is positioned. A door 22 is provided at the opening 21 of the partition wall 20.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette 50 is provided with a lid 51. After the cassette 50 is positioned on the floating stage 32, the moving stage 34 moves toward the opening 21 of the partition wall 20, and the door 22 and the lid 51 of the cassette 50 are engaged and integrated. Thereafter, the integrated door 22 and the lid 51 are moved in one direction while removing the lid 51 from the cassette 50, whereby the opening of the cassette 50 and the load port 10 is opened.

  The base stage 31 is a plate-like member having a horizontal surface to which the moving stage 34 is fixed. The floating stage 32 is placed on a ball guide 45 (see FIG. 4) installed on the upper surface of the base stage 31, and rotates on the ball guide 45, thereby causing a predetermined plane on a horizontal plane parallel to the base stage 31. It is a plate that can move in the direction of. Hereinafter, the x direction and the y direction will be described as examples of the predetermined movement direction. The ball guide 45 is an example of means for freely moving the floating stage 32 in the x direction and the y direction, and other means may be used.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a ball guide 45 applicable to the present invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing an example of the ball guide 45, FIG. 5 (a) is an external perspective view thereof, and FIG. 5 (b) is a central sectional view thereof. As shown in FIG. 5, the ball guide 45 includes a case 48 having a hemispherical space 44, a ball 47 that moves while rotating in contact with the space 44, a rotating ball 46 that contacts the ball 47, The upper cover 49 includes an upper cover 49 having a hole for exposing the upper portion of the 46 to the outside of the case 48. The case 48 is fixed at a predetermined position of the base stage 31, and the floating stage 32 placed on the ball 46 is rotated in a predetermined direction on a horizontal plane parallel to the base stage 31 by the rotation of the ball 46. It becomes possible to move to.

  1, 3 and 4 illustrate a position adjusting mechanism 33 as an example of a mechanism for adjusting the cassette position. The position adjusting mechanism 33 pushes the side surface of the cassette 50 (not shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4) placed on the floating stage 32 by the contact portions 43 a to 43 d, thereby bringing the cassette 50 together with the floating stage 32. Can be moved in the x and y directions. Each of the position adjustment units 33a to 33d of the position adjustment mechanism 33 includes a drive unit 42a to 42d such as a piston or a motor, and the position adjustment units 33a to 33d have a predetermined amount determined based on the size of the cassette 50. The contact portions 43a to 43d can be moved in the front-rear direction. Thereby, the cassette is pressed and moved to a predetermined position.

  The position adjustment mechanism 33 includes position adjustment units 33a and 33b that perform position movement in the x direction, and position adjustment units 33c and 33d that perform position movement in the y direction. The position adjustment units 33a and 33b include Cassette positioning members 40a and 40b having contact portions 43a and 43b at their tips, stage positioning members 41a and 41b, and drive units 42a and 42b are provided. Similarly, the position adjusting portions 33c and 33d are provided with cassette positioning members 40c and 40d having contact portions 43c and 43d at the tips and stage positioning members 41c and 41d.

  The cassette positioning members 40a, 40b, 40c, and 40d and the stage positioning members 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d are formed so as to move integrally.

  Further, the front end convex portions of the stage positioning members 41a and 41b are fitted into two concave portions 60a and 60b provided on a straight line in the x direction on the lower surface of the floating stage 32 so that the spaces in the concave portions 60a and 60b are formed. A member capable of moving in the x direction is provided, and the leading end convex portions of the stage positioning members 41c and 41d are also on the straight line in the y direction on the lower surface of the floating stage 32, similarly to the stage positioning members 41a and 41b. A member is provided that fits into two provided recesses (not shown) and can move in the y direction in each of the two recesses. The stage positioning members 41a to 41d are moved to the outermost side when the cassette 50 is not placed, and the tip convex portions of the stage positioning members 41a to 41d are respectively connected to the outer inner walls of the corresponding concave portions 60a to 60d. Stops in contact.

  By explaining the position adjustment in the x direction, the position adjustment function and the effect of the load port 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. The position adjustment in the x direction is performed using the position adjustment units 33a and 33b. When the cassette 50 is moved in the x direction together with the floating stage 32, the drive unit 42a moves the cassette positioning member 40a on the straight line in the x direction by a movement amount set in advance based on the size of the cassette 50. This is done by moving the interval so as to reduce the interval. By this movement, the side surface of the cassette 50 placed on the straight line in the x direction is pushed by the contact portions 43a and 43b of the cassette positioning members 40a and 40b, and the cassette 50 is moved together with the floating stage 32 to the cassette reference position. Until the contact portions 43a and 43b of the cassette positioning members 40a and 40b come into contact with the side surfaces of the cassette, the leading end protrusions of the stage positioning members 41a and 41b are in the recesses 60a and 60b provided on the lower surface of the floating stage 32. Pass through. In a state where both the contact portions 43a and 43b are in contact with the side surface of the cassette 50 and sandwich the cassette, it becomes exactly the cassette reference position and the movement stops. It is desirable that the surface of the floating stage 32 on which the cassette 50 is placed has a configuration in which the coefficient of friction with the bottom surface of the cassette 50 is high.

  In addition, the position movement for returning the floating stage 32 from the cassette reference position to the stage reference position is performed by the drive unit 42a to move the stage positioning member 41a outward so as to widen the interval between the straight lines in the x direction. By doing. As described above, when the stage positioning members 41a and 41c are moved outward, when the predetermined amount is moved, the tip protrusions of the stage positioning members 41a and 41c are engaged with the inner surfaces of the outer sides of the recesses 60a and 60b, thereby floating stage. 32 is pulled to move the floating stage 32 to the original stage reference position.

  The position adjustment in the y direction is the same as the movement in the x direction except that the position adjustment units 33c and 33d are used.

  The base stage 31 described above corresponds to the first stage described in the claims of the present invention, and the floating stage 32 corresponds to the second stage described in the claims of the present invention.

  Next, two procedures of the cassette position adjusting method for the cassette placed on the placement section will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a first example of a cassette position adjustment method for the cassette 50 placed on the placement unit 30 of the load port 10 using the position adjustment mechanism 33. The following describes the x direction. The y direction is the same as the x direction. In FIG. 6, the drive unit 42 a is not provided in the left position adjustment unit 33 b and is fixed to the base stage 31.

(1) Home position of floating stage 32 (stage reference position)
As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the stage positioning member 41 a is moved by the drive unit 42 a in the direction of the arrow 70 in the recess 60 a provided on the straight line in the x direction on the lower surface of the floating stage 32. The position moved to the reference position C with respect to is the home position of the floating stage 32. The floating stage 32 can be moved with respect to the base stage 31 by the ball guide 45 even in a state where the front end convex portion of the stage positioning member 41a and the outer inner wall of the concave portion 60a are in contact with each other. The floating stage 32 can move together with the stage positioning member 41a until the tip convex portion comes into contact with the outer inner wall of the concave portion 60b. The reference position C is a position where the distance between the stage positioning member 41a and the stage positioning member 41b is maximized, and the floating stage 32 is temporarily fixed to the substrate stage 31 by the stage positioning member 41a and the stage positioning member 41b. The home position (stage reference position). That is, when the stage positioning member 41a moves to the reference position C, the floating stage 32 moves to the stage reference position.

(2) Placement of Cassette 50 on Floating Stage 32 As shown in FIG. 6A, the cassette 50 is placed on the floating stage 32 at the home position (stage reference position) by OHT or the like. At this time, the placement reference position of the cassette 50 is the position A.

(3) Adjustment procedure for moving the cassette 50 so that the placement reference position of the cassette 50 becomes the cassette reference position B with respect to the base stage 31 As shown in FIG. 6B, the cassette positioning is performed by the drive unit 42a. The member 40a is moved in the direction of the arrow 71 by a movement amount H corresponding to the size of the cassette 50. The cassette 50 moves to the left in the figure while being on the floating stage 32. At this time, even when the contact portion 43a of the cassette positioning member 40a and the cassette 50 are in contact with each other, the cassette 50 on the floating stage 32 can be moved together with the cassette positioning member 40a by the ball guide 45. Here, the movement amount H corresponding to the size of the cassette 50 is an amount such that the interval between the contact portion 43a of the cassette positioning member 40a and the contact portion 43b of the cassette positioning member 40b becomes the width W of the cassette 50. That is, since the position of the cassette positioning member 40 b is fixed to the base stage 31, the reference position of the cassette 50 moves to the cassette reference position B with respect to the base stage 31. Thereby, the error L of the reference position is adjusted.

(4) Moving the floating stage 32 on which the cassette 50 is placed to the stage reference position After the processing of the wafer or the like is completed, the cassette 50 placed on the placement unit 30 of the load port 10 is transferred to another place by OHT. When doing so, it is required to return the cassette 50 to the original placement position (placement reference position) stored in the OHT. It is position adjustment for that. As shown in FIG. 6C, the stage positioning member 41 a is moved by the drive unit 42 a in the direction of the arrow 70 in the recess 60 a provided on the straight line in the x direction on the lower surface of the floating stage 32. To the reference position C. That is, the floating stage 32 moves to the stage reference position by the process (1) described above.

(5) Movement of cassette 50 on floating stage 32 As shown in FIG. 6C, the cassette 50 on the floating stage 32 is transported to another place by OHT or the like.

  As described above, in the configuration of FIG. 6, the position of the cassette 50 placed on the placement portion 30 of the load port 10 by moving the stage positioning member 41 a and the cassette positioning member 40 a to the left and right with only one driving device. Adjust. Thus, even when a plurality of semiconductor wafers having a large diameter are accommodated and the total weight of the cassette and the semiconductor wafer is increased, the cassette 50 is directly placed on the plane of the floating stage 32 that can move with respect to the base stage 31. In order to fix and integrate the base stage 31 and the cassette 50 installed in a predetermined position without deforming the cassette even if the cassette 50 is made of a material such as plastic. The cassette 50 can be moved together with the floating stage 32 to the cassette reference position, that is, the cassette positioning can be executed.

  Further, even when cassettes 50 of different sizes are placed, cassette positioning can be performed simply by changing the movement amounts of the cassette positioning member 40 and the stage positioning member 41 depending on the size.

  Further, since it is not necessary to provide the kinematic coupling as in the conventional case, the manufacturing cost of the cassette 50 can be reduced.

  In addition, since the position adjustment mechanism 33 has a simple structure including the cassette positioning member 40, the stage positioning member 41, and the drive unit 42, the manufacturing cost of the placement unit 33 can be reduced.

  The position adjustment mechanism 33 described above is configured such that only the position adjustment unit 33a in the x direction and the position adjustment unit 33c in the y direction are provided with the drive unit 42a and the drive unit 42c. You may comprise so that the drive part 42 may be provided. That is, the position adjustment units 33a and 33b in the x direction may include the drive units 42a and 42b, and the position adjustment units 33c and 33d in the y direction may include the drive units 42c and 42d.

  The cassette position adjusting method at this time will be described below as a second example. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a cassette position adjusting method for the cassette 50 when all the position adjusting mechanisms 33 are provided with the drive unit 42. The following describes the x direction. The y direction is the same as the x direction.

(1) Home position of floating stage 32 (stage reference position)
As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the stage positioning members 41a and 41b are moved by the drive portions 42a and 42b into the recesses 60a and 60b provided on the straight line in the x direction on the lower surface of the floating stage 32 with arrows 80a and The position moved to the reference positions C ′ and C ″ with respect to the base stage 31 in the direction of 80 b is the home position of the floating stage 32. Even when the tip convex portion of the stage positioning member 41a or the tip convex portion of 41b is in contact with the outer inner wall of the recess 60a or the outer inner wall of 60b, the floating stage 32 is moved relative to the base stage 31 by the ball guide 45. Since it is movable, the floating stage 32 can move together with the stage positioning member 41a or 41b until the tip convex portion of the stage positioning member 41a or the tip convex portion of 41b contacts the outer inner wall of the recess 60a or the outer inner wall of 60b. it can. The reference positions C ′ and C ″ are positions where the distance between the stage positioning member 41a and the stage positioning member 41b is maximized, and the floating stage 32 is temporarily moved to the base stage by the stage positioning member 41a and the stage positioning member 41b. This is a home position (stage reference position) fixed with respect to 31. That is, when the stage positioning members 41a and 41b move to the reference positions C ′ and C ″, the floating stage 32 moves to the stage reference position.

(2) Placement of Cassette 50 on Floating Stage 32 As shown in FIG. 7A, the cassette 50 is placed on the floating stage 32 at the home position (stage reference position) by OHT or the like. At this time, the placement reference position of the cassette 50 is the position A.

(3) Adjustment procedure for moving the cassette 50 so that the placement reference position of the cassette 50 becomes the cassette reference position B with respect to the base stage 31 As shown in FIG. 7B, the drive units 42a and 42b The cassette positioning members 40a and 40b are moved in the directions of arrows 81a and 81b by movement amounts H ′ and H ″ corresponding to the size of the cassette 50. Normally, the movement amounts H ′ and H ″ are the same value. In the case of FIG. 7, the cassette 50 moves to the left in the figure while being on the floating stage 32. At this time, the cassette 50 on the floating stage 32 is moved together with the cassette positioning member 40a or 40b by the ball guide 45 even if the contact portion 43b of the cassette positioning member 40a is in contact with the cassette 50. Can be moved. Here, the movement amount H ′ corresponding to the size of the cassette 50 is an amount such that the interval between the contact portion 43 a of the cassette positioning member 40 a and the contact portion 43 b of the cassette positioning member 40 b becomes the width W of the cassette 50. That is, since the movement amount movement amounts H ′ and H ″ of the cassette positioning members 40 a and 40 b are determined in advance, the reference position of the cassette 50 moves to the cassette reference position B with respect to the base stage 31. Thereby, the error L ′ of the reference position is adjusted.

(4) Moving the floating stage 32 on which the cassette 50 is placed to the stage reference position After the processing of the wafer or the like is completed, the cassette 50 placed on the placement unit 30 of the load port 10 is transferred to another place by OHT. When doing so, it is required to return the cassette 50 to the original placement position (placement reference position) stored in the OHT. It is position adjustment for that. As shown in FIG. 7 (c), the stage positioning members 41a and 41b are moved by the drive portions 42a and 42b into the recesses 60a and 60b provided on the straight line in the x direction on the lower surface of the floating stage 32 with arrows 80a and In the direction of 80b, the base stage 31 is moved to the reference positions C ′ and C ″. That is, the floating stage 32 moves to the stage reference position by the process (1) described above.

(5) Movement of cassette 50 on floating stage 32 As shown in FIG. 7C, the cassette 50 on the floating stage 32 is transported to another place by OHT or the like.

  As described above, when all the position adjustment mechanisms 33 are provided with the drive unit 42, the movement by one position adjustment mechanism 33 is shortened, that is, the movement of FIG. 7 compared to the movement amount H of FIG. Since the amounts H ′ and H ″ are reduced, the cassette position can be adjusted in a short time.

It is a schematic perspective view of the external appearance of the load port which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic perspective view of the external appearance of a cassette. It is a figure for demonstrating a position adjustment mechanism. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view for explaining an x-direction position adjustment mechanism in FIG. 3. 4 is an enlarged view of a ball guide 45. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the cassette position adjustment method of the cassette 50 mounted in the mounting part 30 of the load port 10 using the position adjustment mechanism 33. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the cassette position adjustment method of the cassette 50 when the drive part 42 is provided in all the position adjustment mechanisms 33. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Load port 21 Opening part 30 Mounting part 31 Base stage 32 Floating stage 33 Position adjustment mechanism 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d Position adjustment part 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d Cassette positioning member 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d Stage positioning member 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d Drive part 43a, 43b, 43c, 43d Contact part 45 Ball guide 50 Cassette

Claims (8)

The dust-removing dust article is taken out from a cassette in which the dust-removing dust article placed on the placing portion provided in the low-cleaning area is hermetically stored and supplied to a highly clean room, or the dust-removing dust article is removed from the highly clean room. A load port for storing in a cassette from a chamber,
The placement section is
A first stage installed on a horizontal plane that goes directly or substantially perpendicular to the partition wall in which the opening that leads to the highly clean chamber is formed;
A second stage having a plane on which the cassette is placed, the first stage being movable in a free direction parallel to the first stage;
After the cassette is placed on the second stage, the second stage is moved by pressing the side surface of the cassette on the second stage, and the second stage is the placement position of the cassette. A position adjusting mechanism for moving from a stage reference position to a cassette reference position, which is an arrangement position of the cassette;
A load port comprising:   A ball guide is installed on the surface of the first stage facing the second stage, and the second stage placed on the ball guide is horizontal with respect to the first stage by the rotation of the ball guide. The load port according to claim 1, wherein the load port is movable in a predetermined direction. The position adjustment mechanism is
A cassette positioning member provided with a contact portion that comes into contact with the side surface of the cassette;
A stage positioning member configured integrally with the cassette positioning member and defining a movement amount of the second stage;
A drive unit for moving the cassette positioning member and the stage positioning member by a predetermined amount;
The load port according to claim 1, further comprising: The position adjustment mechanism is
an x-direction position adjustment unit including the cassette positioning member for adjusting movement in the x direction, the stage positioning member, and the drive unit;
A y-direction position adjustment unit comprising the cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member, and the drive unit for adjusting movement in the y direction orthogonal to the x direction on the same plane;
The load port according to claim 3, further comprising:   The position adjusting unit in the x direction includes two position adjusting units including the cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member, and the driving unit that press the side surface of the cassette so as to sandwich the cassette from the left and right. The load port according to claim 4, wherein   The y-direction position adjusting unit includes two position adjusting units provided on the left and right sides including the cassette positioning member, the stage positioning member, and the driving unit that press the side surface of the cassette so as to sandwich the cassette from the left and right. The load port according to claim 4, wherein The dust-removing dust article is taken out from a cassette in which the dust-removing dust article placed on the placing portion provided in the low-cleaning area is hermetically stored and supplied to a highly clean room, or the dust-removing dust article is removed from the highly clean room. A cassette position adjusting method for the cassette placed on the placement portion of the load port for storing in the cassette from a chamber,
(A) On the second stage, which is movable on the first stage in a free direction parallel to the first stage, and is stopped at a stage reference position where the cassette is placed. And a step of placing the cassette;
(B) moving the second stage on which the cassette is placed to a cassette reference position which is an arrangement position on the load port of the cassette by pressing the cassette;
A cassette position adjusting method comprising: In the step (a), the stage reference position of the second stage is stored, and (c) the second stage moved in the step (b) is stored up to the stored stage reference position. The cassette position adjusting method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of returning the cassette to an original placement position by moving the cassette.

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