JP2011044538A - Apparatus and method for transfer of wafer frame - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and method for transfer of a wafer frame, capable of achieving miniaturization thereof. <P>SOLUTION: An inverting unit 4 inverts a wafer frame W with its flat surface set along the vertical direction. A transfer unit 5 transfers the wafer frame W in such an inverted position. As a result, an area required for a transfer path for the wafer frame W becomes smaller, compared to a case of transferring the wafer frame W with its flat surface set along the horizontal direction, thereby the miniaturization in wafer frame transfer is achieved. Transferring the inverted wafer frame W with its flat surface set along the vertical direction requires the area of the transfer path that is at least the product of the transfer distance of the wafer frame W and the thickness of the wafer frame W, thereby the area required for the transfer path can be reduced to be smaller than the area in a conventional case. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus and transfer method for transferring a wafer frame.

  Conventionally, a system has been proposed in which an electronic component is picked up from a wafer sheet on which a plurality of electronic components are attached and inspected or stored in a predetermined container (for example, see Patent Document 1). ). In this system, a wafer sheet is held by a ring-shaped wafer frame and conveyed to a handler that picks up an electronic component while keeping the wafer frame horizontal.

JP-A-5-338730

  However, in the conventional system, since the wafer frame is transported in a horizontal state, the area of the transport path is large, and the entire system is large. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a wafer frame transfer apparatus and transfer method that can be miniaturized.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a conveyance system according to the present invention is a conveyance device that conveys a planar frame that holds a sheet on which an electronic component is attached, and a holding unit that holds the frame; An inverted part that moves the holding part so that at least the main surface is in the vertical direction; and a moving part that moves the frame whose plane is in the vertical direction by the inverted part in the horizontal direction. It may be configured.

  The transport system may further include a rotating unit that rotates the frame by a predetermined angle around an axis orthogonal to the plane, and the transport unit may transport the frame rotated by the rotating unit.

  In the transport system, the rotating unit may rotate the frame in a horizontal plane or a vertical plane.

  In addition, the transport method according to the present invention is a transport method for transporting a flat frame that holds a sheet on which an electronic component is attached, and an inversion step for bringing the plane of the frame along the vertical direction; And a moving step of moving the frame whose plane is in a state along the vertical direction by the inversion step.

  According to the present invention, since the area of the transport path can be reduced by transporting the frame by inverting the plane of the frame along the vertical direction, the transport apparatus can be downsized as a result. be able to.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the rotating unit of the transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the inverted portion of the transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the configuration of the inverted portion of the transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing configurations of an inverted part, a transport part, and a pickup part of the transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

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

<Configuration of transport system>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transfer system 1 according to the present embodiment stacks and stores wafer frames W holding wafer sheets in a horizontal state and stores the wafer frames W one by one in a predetermined direction. The storage unit 2 supplied in the conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as the conveyance direction) and the wafer frame W provided in parallel to the storage unit 2 along the conveyance direction and rotated from the storage unit 2 by a predetermined angle within a horizontal plane, A rotating unit 3 that adjusts the orientation of the electronic components attached to the wafer, and a wafer frame W that is horizontally installed on the rotating unit 3 and rotated by the rotating unit 3 so that the plane thereof is along the vertical direction. An inverted part 4 that rises, a moving part 5 that is movable along the transfer direction, and that moves the wafer frame W raised by the inverted part 4 along the transfer direction, and a transfer It is arranged in the inverted portion 4 along the direction, and a pickup 6 for picking up the electronic component from the wafer frame W which has been moved, and a control device 7 for controlling the operation of the entire system by the moving unit 5. The electronic component picked up by the pickup unit 6 is subjected to various types of processing such as inspection, marking, and storage by the processing unit 61 provided in the subsequent stage.

  The storage unit 2 stores a plurality of wafer frames W stacked in the vertical direction in a horizontal state inside a rectangular parallelepiped housing. Further, the storage unit 2 is provided with a supply unit (not shown) that carries out the wafer frames W stored inside the housing one by one to the outside and supplies them to the rotating unit 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotating unit 3 includes a motor 31 having a rotating shaft 31a protruding vertically upward, and a mounting unit 32 having a horizontal mounting surface provided at the upper end of the rotating shaft 31a. And. A wafer frame W supplied from the storage unit 2 is placed on the placement surface of the placement unit 32.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 to 6, the inverted portion 4 is a base portion 41 that is horizontally provided on the rotating portion 3 and has a base shape, and a plate-like member that is substantially rectangular in plan view. A member 42 whose lower end is pivotally attached to a rotation shaft 411 along the conveying direction on the top plate of 41, and a fixed end 43a on the side adjacent to the rotating portion 3 below the top plate of the base 41, A cylinder 43 made of a known air cylinder or the like having a movable end 43b that is perpendicular to the conveying direction and that is movable obliquely upward in a direction away from the rotating unit 3 and connected to the lower portion of the member 42. And a holding member 44 that is disposed on the lower surface side of the member 43 and holds the wafer frame W.

  Here, the member 42 is interlocked with the driving of the cylinder 43, with the lower end as a rotation axis, the plane along the horizontal (hereinafter referred to as “horizontal state”) and the state along the vertical direction (hereinafter referred to as “horizontal state”) , “Vertical state”). Specifically, when the cylinder 43 is in a contracted state, the upper portion of the member 42 is in a horizontal state facing the rotating unit 3. Further, when the cylinder 43 is in the extended state, the vertical state is such that the plane of the member 42 is inverted along the vertical direction. In the member 42, the side on which the rotation shaft 411 is attached is referred to as a lower end, and the opposite side is referred to as an upper end.

  The holding member 44 is disposed substantially parallel to each other on the surface facing the rotating portion 3 when the member 42 is in a horizontal state, and supports the edge of the wafer frame W in cooperation with each other. , Second support members 441 and 442 and a known air cylinder or the like, arranged along the direction connecting the upper end and the lower end of the member 42 (hereinafter referred to as “first direction”), one end being a member 42 has first or second moving members 443 and 444 attached to the first or second support members 441 and 442 at the other end. In the first support member 441 and the second support member 442, grooves 441a or 442a having a width corresponding to the thickness of the wafer frame W are formed on the surfaces facing each other.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in a state where the wafer frame W is placed on the placement surface of the rotating portion 3, the first and second support portions 441 and 442 are moved by the first and second moving portions 443 and 444. When the member 42 is moved from the vertical state to the horizontal state after moving in a direction away from each other, the wafer frame W is positioned between the first and second support portions 441 and 442. In such a state, when the first and second support portions 441 and 442 are moved in the directions approaching each other by the first and second moving portions 443 and 444, the edge portion of the wafer frame W is moved to the first and second positions. The two support portions 441 and 442 come into contact with the grooves 441a and 442a. As a result, the wafer frame W is held in a state where the pair of edge portions are sandwiched between the first support portions 441 and 442. At this time, the distance between the bottoms of the grooves 441a and 442a is longer than the distance between the pair of edges of the wafer frame W fitted into the grooves 441a and 442a.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and the like, the moving unit 5 includes a rail 51 that extends in the conveying direction above the inverted unit 4, a vertical direction, and an upper end that is attached to the rail 51. One end is attached to the lower end of the support member 52, and the lower end of the support member 52 protrudes horizontally from the lower end of the support member 52 toward the inverted portion 4 so that the wafer frame W can be moved. It is comprised from the rod-shaped press member 53 to press. The tip of the pressing member 53 is positioned on the same straight line as the grooves 441a and 442a when viewed from above vertically when the member 42 of the inverted portion 4 is in the vertical state.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and the like, the pickup unit 6 holds a processing unit 61 having a handler and the like, and a wafer frame W that is laterally disposed on the processing unit 61 and is transported by the moving unit 5. Holding part 62. The holding portion 62 has a rod-like shape, is disposed substantially parallel to each other, and supports the edge portions of the wafer frame W, and the side facing the inverted portion 4. The first holding member 621 and the cover 623 disposed on the side of the second holding member 622 have a substantially “C” shape in plan view, in which an opening 623a is formed. Yes. Here, the first support member 621 is disposed at the same height as the first support member 441 when the member 42 of the inverted portion 4 is in the vertical state. Similarly, the second support member 622 is also disposed at the same height as the second support member 442 when the member 42 of the inverted portion 4 is in the vertical state. A groove (not shown) having a width corresponding to the thickness of the wafer frame W is formed on the opposing surfaces of the first support member 621 and the second support member 622. When the member 42 of the inverted portion 4 is in a vertical state, the groove is aligned with the grooves 441a and 442a of the first and second support members 441 and 442 in the conveyance direction. Note that the distance between the bottom of the groove of the first support member 621 and the bottom of the groove formed in the second support member 622 is longer than the distance between the pair of edge portions of the wafer frame W fitted into the groove. ing.

  The control device 7 controls the operation of the entire transport system by controlling the operations of the storage unit 2, the rotating unit 3, the inverted unit 4, the moving unit 5, and the pickup unit 6. The control device 7 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a memory and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an input device that detects information input from the outside such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pointing device, a button, and a touch panel, I / F devices that transmit and receive various types of information via communication lines such as the Internet, LAN (Local Area Network), and WAN (Wide Area Network), and CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), FED ( A computer including a display device such as a field emission display (EL) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) and a program installed in the computer are included. By cooperation of these hardware resources and software, the above hardware resources are controlled by a program, and the operation of the transport system described later is realized.

<System operation>
Next, the operation of the transport system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the user stores the wafer frame W in the storage unit 2 (step S1: YES), the supply unit of the storage unit 2 moves the wafer frame W from the storage unit 2 onto the mounting unit 32 of the rotation unit 3. Supply (step S2). At this time, the member 42 of the inverted portion 4 is in a horizontal state, and the first and second support portions 441 and 442 are moved to positions farthest from each other.

  When the wafer frame W is mounted on the mounting unit 32, the motor 31 of the rotating unit 3 is rotated by a predetermined angle, and the wafer frame W is rotated by a predetermined angle (step S3). The predetermined angle is set in consideration of the arrangement of electronic components attached to the wafer sheet of the wafer frame W and the orientation of the electronic components when stored in a predetermined container such as a tape or a stick. Specifically, when the electronic component is transported to a predetermined container, the rotation unit 3 rotates the wafer frame W to a predetermined angle so that the direction is a predetermined direction stored in the predetermined container. The direction of the electronic component is adjusted in advance.

  When the wafer frame W is rotated, the first and second support portions 441 and 442 of the inverted portion 4 are moved in directions close to each other, and the edge of the wafer frame W is fitted into the grooves 441a and 442a, thereby holding members. After the wafer frame W is held by 44, the cylinder 43 is driven to bring the member 42 into a vertical state (step S4).

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the member 42 is in a horizontal state, first, the inverted portion 4 first places the first support member 441 and the second support member 442 of the holding member 44 in the most separated state. As a result, the wafer frame W is positioned between the first support member 441 and the second support member 442. From this state, when the first support member 441 and the second support member 442 are moved toward each other by the first moving member 443 and the second moving member 444, the wafer frame W is It is sandwiched between the support member 441 and the second support member 442 and is fixed by the holding member 44. In this state where the wafer frame W is fixed by the holding member 44, when the cylinder 43 is driven and the movable end 43b is moved away from the fixed end 32a, the member 42 moves with the lower end as a rotation axis, Finally, it becomes a vertical state. Thereby, the main surface of the wafer frame W is also in a state along the vertical direction.

  After the member 42 is in a vertical state, the support member 52 of the moving unit 5 is moved, and the wafer frame W is transported to the pickup unit 6 (step S5). When the member 42 is in the vertical state, the other end of the pressing member 53 of the moving unit 5, the grooves 441 a and 441 b in the holding member 44 of the inverted unit 4, and the first holding member 621 and the second holding member of the pickup unit 6. The groove 622 is located on the same straight line along the transport direction in the horizontal plane. Therefore, when the pressing member 53 is moved in the conveyance direction of the holding member 44, the tip of the pressing member 53 comes into contact with the upstream end in the conveyance direction of the wafer frame W. When the pressing member 53 is further moved, the wafer frame W pressed by the pressing member 53 moves in the transport direction along the grooves 441a and 441b, and the first position from the opening 623a side of the holding unit 62 of the pickup unit 6 is increased. The first holding member 621 and the second holding member 622 are inserted into the grooves. When the wafer frame W is further moved along the groove in the transport direction, the wafer frame W is finally guided to a predetermined position inside the holding unit 62.

  When the wafer frame W is transported to a predetermined position inside the holding unit 62, the processing unit 61 of the pickup unit 6 picks up the electronic component attached to the wafer sheet (step S6). The picked-up electronic component is carried to a processing device subsequent to the pickup unit 6 and subjected to a predetermined process.

  When all the electronic components are picked up from the wafer frame W, the control device 7 carries the wafer frame W out to a predetermined external device (not shown) that houses the wafer frame W from which the electronic components have been picked up (step). S7), the process ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the wafer frame W is transported with the plane of the wafer frame W aligned in the vertical direction so that the plane of the wafer frame W is aligned in the horizontal direction. Compared to the case, the area required for the transport path of the wafer frame W is reduced, and as a result, downsizing can be realized. That is, in the present embodiment, the wafer frame W is transferred while being inverted in a state in which the plane of the wafer frame W is aligned in the vertical direction. Therefore, the transfer path is multiplied by at least the moving distance of the wafer frame W and the thickness of the wafer frame W. Therefore, the area required for the transport path can be made smaller than before.

  Further, conventionally, in the processing device subsequent to the pickup unit 6, the electronic components are rotated one by one using a jig or the like, but at this time, an excessive load is applied to the electronic components and the electronic components are damaged. There was a case. Further, since a process for rotating the electronic component is necessary, it takes a long processing time. However, according to the present embodiment, by rotating the electronic component attached to the wafer sheet by the rotating unit 3, it is not necessary to rotate the electronic component using a jig or the like, so the electronic component is damaged. Can be prevented. Moreover, since it is not necessary to rotate the electronic components one by one, the processing time can be shortened.

  The present invention can be applied to various apparatuses that transport a wafer frame.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance system, 2 ... Storage part, 3 ... Rotation part, 4 ... Inverted part, 5 ... Moving part, 6 ... Pick-up part, 7 ... Control apparatus, 31 ... Motor, 31a ... Rotary shaft, 32 ... Mounting part , 41 ... base part, 42 ... member, 43 ... cylinder, 44 ... holding member, 51 ... support part, 52 ... pressing part, 61 ... processing part, 62 ... holding part, 411 ... rotating shaft, 421 ... movable end, 441 ... 1st support part, 442 ... 2nd support part, 441a, 442a ... Groove, 621 ... 1st holding part, 622 ... 2nd holding part, 623 ... Cover, 623a ... Opening part, W ... Wafer frame .

Claims (4)

A transport device that transports a planar frame that holds a sheet on which an electronic component is attached,
A holding unit for holding the frame;
An inverted part that moves the holding part and at least the main surface is in a state along the vertical direction; and
A transfer device comprising: a moving unit that moves the frame, the plane of which is in a state along the vertical direction by the inverted unit, in the horizontal direction. A rotating unit that rotates the frame by a predetermined angle around an axis orthogonal to the plane;
The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport unit transports the frame rotated by the rotating unit. The conveying device according to claim 2, wherein the rotating unit rotates the frame in a horizontal plane or a vertical plane. A transport method for transporting a planar frame that holds a sheet on which an electronic component is attached,
An inversion step to bring the plane of the frame along the vertical direction;
And a moving step of moving the frame in which the plane is in a state along the vertical direction by the inversion step.

Images