JP2014093462A - Substrate conveyance apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate conveyance apparatus with a static eliminator, capable of preventing decreasing of conveyance speed.SOLUTION: A substrate conveyance apparatus comprises: a substrate mounting part 15 on which a substrate 50 is mounted; an arm part jointed to the substrate mounting part and capable of telescopic motion between a working position where the substrate is mounted and a housing position where the arm part sits while the substrate is delivered so as to move the substrate mounting part; a lifting part (support part) for supporting the arm part; a static eliminating unit 21 fixed on the lifting part so as to cover the substrate mounting part at the housing position and having a nozzle in a housing 23 in front of which an opening 23a is provided, in which the nozzle is for injecting air-flow including ions with positive or negative electric charge in an outward direction from the opening; and a dust collection part disposed at a rear part in the housing and collecting dust.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring a substrate.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a substrate transfer device (robot) for transferring a substrate such as a semiconductor silicon wafer. This substrate transfer apparatus includes a substrate mounting portion (substrate transfer hand) for mounting a substrate and a bendable articulated arm portion. Further, the substrate mounting portion is provided with a static elimination device that emits positively or negatively charged ions. Thus, the substrate can be carried in and out by expanding and contracting the arm portion while removing static electricity from the substrate placed on the substrate placement portion.

JP 2011-1114023 A

  However, when the conventional substrate transfer device is used, the weight of the substrate mounting portion is increased by the static eliminator, the load on the arm portion is increased, and the operation speed is reduced. For this reason, there was a problem that the conveyance speed of a substrate falls.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer device that includes a static eliminator and can prevent a decrease in transfer speed.

  In order to achieve the above object, a substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention is arranged at the time of transporting a substrate placing portion on which a substrate is placed, a work position where the substrate is placed, and a work position on which the substrate is placed. An arm part that extends and contracts between the storage position and moves the substrate mounting part; a support part that supports the arm part; and a cover that is fixed to the support part and covers the substrate mounting part at the storage position. A neutralization device having a nozzle for injecting an airflow containing positive or negatively charged ions in a direction away from the opening in a housing having an opening on the front surface, and a dust disposed on the rear in the housing It is characterized by having a dust collection part that collects.

  According to this configuration, the substrate platform lifts up the substrate at the working position where the arm portion whose one end is supported by the support portion extends. Thereafter, when the arm portion is contracted and the substrate placement portion passes through the opening, and the arm portion is disposed at the storage position, the substrate placement portion is accommodated inside the housing. Further, the substrate placed on the substrate placing portion is discharged by discharging positive or negative charged ions in a direction away from the opening by a nozzle provided inside the housing. At this time, the air flow including the ions ejected onto the substrate flows backward, and the dust is collected by the dust collecting unit.

  The substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the static eliminator is provided on an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing.

  The substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described configuration, the nozzle is disposed so as to face the substrate, and a sensor for detecting a charge amount on the substrate at a position facing each nozzle is provided. .

  The substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the amount of ion ejection ejected from the nozzle is varied in accordance with the amount of charge on the substrate detected by the sensor.

  In the substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention, in the above configuration, it is determined whether or not the charged value on the substrate detected by the sensor exceeds a preset threshold value, and an abnormality is notified when the threshold value is exceeded. It is characterized by outputting a signal to the outside.

  In the substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention, in the configuration described above, the support part includes first and second lifting parts, and the arm part and the charge removal device are provided in each of the first and second lifting parts. It is characterized by that. According to this configuration, the two substrates can be lifted up and conveyed by the arm portions provided in the first and second elevating units. Moreover, each mounted substrate can be discharged simultaneously by each discharging device provided in the first and second elevating units.

  According to the present invention, the housing of the static eliminator is fixed to the support portion, and the load due to the weight of the static eliminator is not applied to the arm portion. Thereby, a board | substrate can be mounted and conveyed on a board | substrate mounting part, without reducing the operating speed of an arm part, and the fall of the conveyance speed of a board | substrate can be prevented.

  In addition, a nozzle disposed in the housing of the static eliminator injects positively or negatively charged ions backward, and a dust collecting portion is disposed at the rear of the housing. For this reason, the substrate is neutralized and foreign matter such as dust on the substrate is collected by the dust collecting portion. Therefore, foreign matter can be prevented from flowing out of the housing and falling onto another substrate, and the yield of the substrate can be improved.

1 is a perspective view of a substrate transfer apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the board | substrate mounting part of the board | substrate conveyance apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The front view which shows the static elimination apparatus of the board | substrate conveyance apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. Side surface sectional drawing which shows the upper part of the board | substrate conveyance apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. Side surface sectional drawing which shows the upper part of the board | substrate conveyance apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate transfer apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the upper part of the substrate transfer apparatus 1.

  The substrate transport apparatus 1 is an articulated robot for transporting a substrate 50 such as a large glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, and includes a base portion 11, a support shaft 12, an articulated arm portion 13, and a substrate placement portion. 15 and a static eliminator 21.

  On the lower surface of the base portion 11, driving wheels (not shown) for running the substrate transfer apparatus 1 are provided. A support shaft 12 is erected on the base portion 11. The support shaft 12 can move in the front-rear direction (Y direction) on the upper surface of the base portion 11 and can be rotated by a vertical rotation shaft. The support shaft 12 is provided with an elevating part (supporting part) 15d capable of elevating in the vertical direction (Z direction). The arm part 13 is connected to the elevating part 15d, and the substrate placing part 15 is connected to the tip of the arm part 13. Moreover, the static elimination apparatus 21 has the housing 23 which can accommodate the arm part 13 and the board | substrate mounting part 15, and the housing 23 is being fixed to the raising / lowering part 15d. For this reason, the load due to the weight of the static elimination device 21 is not applied to the arm portion 13.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of the static elimination device 21. The housing 23 has an opening 23a on the front surface, and a plurality of ionizers 24 are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces in the housing 23 at equal intervals in the X direction and the Y direction (perpendicular to the paper surface). A dust collecting portion 22 is provided above the rear portion in the housing 23 (see FIG. 2). The ionizer 24 includes a nozzle 24a, and ions having a positive or negative charge are ejected from the nozzle 24a. Further, the dust collecting part 22 communicates with the outside of the housing 23. Thereby, dust in the housing 23 is collected by the dust collecting unit 22, and the dust-removed airflow is discharged to the outside of the housing 23.

  The ionizer 24 is for removing static electricity from the substrate 50, and includes a nozzle 24a and a sensor (not shown). The nozzle 24a is disposed so as to face the substrate 50, and injects a gas (for example, nitrogen gas) containing ions having positive or negative charges in a direction away from the opening 23a. Each sensor detects the amount of charge on the substrate 50 at a position facing the nozzle 24a.

  The ionizer 24 includes, for example, a needle-like discharge electrode (not shown) and an annular counter electrode (not shown). The counter electrode is disposed to face the discharge electrode, and an alternating high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode with respect to the counter electrode. Thereby, for example, ions having positive or negative charges are generated by corona discharge. In addition, the nozzle 24a immediately moves the generated positively or negatively charged ions away from the discharge electrode to prevent neutralization of the positively charged ions and the negatively charged ions in the vicinity of the discharge electrode. To do. Also, positive or negatively charged ions mixed with the gas ejected from the nozzle 24a reach the substrate 50 and perform static elimination of the substrate 50.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state of the substrate transfer apparatus 1 at the work position. The arm unit 13 includes a first arm 13a and a second arm 13b. One end of the first arm 13a is connected to the elevating part 15d by a shaft support part 14a so as to be rotatable about a vertical rotating shaft. Further, the other end of the first arm 13a and one end of the second arm 13b are connected by a shaft support portion 14b so as to be rotatable about a vertical rotation shaft (see FIG. 2). The other end of the second arm 13b is connected to a connecting portion 15b of a substrate mounting portion 15 described later by a shaft support portion 14c so as to be rotatable about a vertical rotating shaft. Thereby, the arm part 13 is comprised by many joints, and is formed so that bending / extension is possible within a horizontal surface (XY plane).

  The substrate platform 15 includes a plurality of parallel bar-shaped bar members 15a and a connecting portion 15b that connects one end of the bar member 15a. The connecting portion 15b is attached to the lower surface of the rear end portion of the bar member 15a. The board | substrate 50 is mounted ranging over the bar member 15a arranged in parallel.

  Next, the operation of the substrate transfer apparatus 1 will be described. First, the substrate transport apparatus 1 brings the substrate placement unit 15 closer to the substrate 50 to be transported by moving the support shaft 12 in the front-rear direction, raising and lowering the lifting unit 15 d, and bending and stretching the arm unit 13. Next, the substrate placement unit 15 is lifted up from below the substrate 50 at the work position where the arm unit 13 is extended, and the substrate 50 is placed on the substrate placement unit 15.

  Next, the arm portion 13 contracts, the substrate placement portion 15 is accommodated in the housing 23 through the opening 23a, and the arm portion 13 returns to the accommodation position. Thereafter, the substrate transfer apparatus 1 moves to transfer the substrate 50 to a predetermined place. At this time, the housing 23 is fixed to the elevating part 15d, and the arm part 13 is not subjected to a load due to the weight of the static eliminating device 21. As a result, the substrate 50 can be placed and transported on the substrate platform 15 without reducing the operating speed of the arm unit 13.

  In addition, during transport, the substrate 50 placed on the substrate platform 15 is ejected by positively or negatively charged ions in a direction away from the opening 23 a by an ionizer 24 having a nozzle 24 a provided inside the housing 23. Then, static elimination is performed. At this time, the airflow containing the positively or negatively charged ions injected onto the substrate 50 flows backward, and the dust collecting unit 22 collects dust.

  In addition to positively or negatively charged ions that are directly injected onto the substrate 50, the substrate 50 is neutralized by an air flow that includes positively or negatively charged ions that flow along the surface of the substrate 50 in the housing 23. This can be done more reliably. Further, by covering the substrate 50 with the housing 23, the concentration of positively or negatively charged ions in the housing 23 can be increased. Thereby, the static elimination effect can be improved. Further, by performing the above-described static elimination work when the substrate is transported by the substrate transport device 1, the transport time of the substrate 50 can be shortened.

  Further, ions having a positive or negative charge are jetted onto the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 50. The static electricity charged on the substrate 50 may not be reliably removed by spraying positively or negatively charged ions only on the upper surface of the substrate 50. However, by removing electricity on both sides, Well done. Further, when the charge removal is performed only on the upper surface of the substrate 50 and the lower surface is not discharged, there is a problem that foreign matters such as dust adhere to the lower surface of the substrate 50. Foreign matter adhering to the lower surface of the substrate 50 may fall on the upper surface of the substrate 50 disposed below, but this problem is caused by injecting positively or negatively charged ions onto the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 50. Can be solved.

  A sensor (not shown) detects the amount of charge on the substrate 50 at a position facing the nozzle 24a. A plurality of sensors are provided at equal intervals so as to face the mounting surface of the substrate 50. For this reason, the charge distribution on the substrate 50 can be detected. Thereby, it is possible to easily identify the cause of occurrence of a defect in the substrate 50 and the place where the defect occurs. Note that the ion ejection amount ejected from the nozzle 24a at each position may be varied according to the detection result of the sensor. This makes it possible to more reliably prevent the substrate 50 from being charged by intensively ejecting positively or negatively charged ions on the portion where the substrate 50 is likely to be charged.

  Further, the charged state of the substrate 50 detected by the sensor may be displayed in a graph that is easy to understand visually, and may be registered and accumulated in a database. By analyzing the correlation between the accumulated data and the yield data, it is possible to numerically manage the threshold value of the charging value at which a defective product of the substrate 50 is generated.

  Further, it may be determined whether or not the charged value on the substrate 50 detected by the sensor exceeds a preset threshold value, and a signal notifying the abnormality may be output to the outside when it exceeds the threshold value. For example, when the threshold value is exceeded, an alarm is issued and the substrate transfer apparatus 1 is temporarily stopped, whereby generation of defective products of the substrate 50 can be minimized.

  Further, the static eliminator 21 may inject ions having a positive or negative charge onto the substrate mounting portion 15 on which the substrate 50 is not mounted. Thereby, the arm part 13 can be previously neutralized and dust-removed before conveyance.

  According to the present embodiment, the housing 23 is fixed to the support shaft 12, and the load due to the weight of the static eliminating device 21 is not applied to the arm portion 13. As a result, the substrate 50 can be placed on the substrate platform 25 and transported without reducing the operating speed of the arm unit 13.

  Further, the substrate 50 placed on the substrate platform 25 is neutralized by ejecting ions with positive or negative charges in a direction away from the opening 23a by the neutralization device 21 provided in the housing 23. . At this time, the airflow containing positive or negatively charged ions ejected onto the substrate 50 flows backward and is discharged to the outside of the housing 23 through the dust collecting portion 22. At this time, dust is collected by the dust collector 22.

  Thereby, in addition to the ions sprayed directly onto the substrate 50, the substrate 50 is more reliably discharged by an air flow including positive or negative charged ions flowing along the surface of the substrate 50 in the housing 23. It is possible to prevent foreign matter such as dust from adhering to the surface of 50. Further, by covering the substrate 50 with the housing 23, the concentration of positively or negatively charged ions in the housing 23 can be increased. Thereby, the static elimination effect can be improved. Further, by performing the above-described static elimination work during substrate conveyance by the substrate conveyance device 1, it is possible to eliminate static electricity while suppressing a decrease in the substrate conveyance speed.

  In addition, by providing the static elimination device 21 on the upper and lower surfaces of the housing 23, it is possible to discharge the ions having positive or negative charges on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 50 to reliably eliminate the substrate 50.

  Further, by arranging the nozzles 24a so as to face the substrate 50 and providing a plurality of sensors (not shown) for detecting the charge amount on the substrate 50 at positions facing the respective nozzles 24a, the substrate 50 is determined from the detection results of the sensors. The occurrence of a defect in the substrate 50 can be identified by detecting the charged state.

  Further, it may be determined whether or not the charged value on the substrate 50 detected by the sensor exceeds a preset threshold value, and a signal notifying the abnormality may be output to the outside when it exceeds the threshold value. For example, when the threshold value is exceeded, an alarm is issued and the substrate transfer apparatus 1 is temporarily stopped. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of the defect product of the board | substrate 50 can be suppressed to the minimum.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the substrate transfer apparatus according to the second embodiment. In addition, the same part as 1st Embodiment attaches | subjects the same code | symbol, and abbreviate | omits description. In contrast to the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the support shaft 12 has first and second elevating parts 15d and 16d, and the arm part 13 and the static eliminating device 21 are provided in each of the first and second elevating parts 15d and 16d. And are provided. Thereby, the two board | substrates 50 can be simultaneously conveyed by each arm part 13 provided in the 1st, 2nd raising / lowering parts 15d and 16d. Therefore, the conveyance efficiency can be further improved.

  Moreover, each board | substrate 50 mounted can be neutralized simultaneously by each static elimination apparatus 21 provided in the 1st, 2nd raising / lowering parts 15d and 16d.

  Further, the nozzles 24 a disposed in the respective housings 23 eject ions rearward, and the dust collecting portions 22 are disposed at the rear portions of the respective housings 24. For this reason, each substrate 50 is neutralized and foreign matter such as dust on each substrate 50 is collected by the dust collecting unit 22. Therefore, foreign matter can be prevented from flowing out of the housing 23 and falling onto the other substrate 50, and the yield of the substrate 50 can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate conveyance apparatus 11 Base part 12 Support shaft 13 Arm part 15 Board | substrate mounting part 15a Bar 15b Connection part 21 Static elimination apparatus 22 Dust collection part 23 Housing 23a Opening part 24 Ionizer 24a Nozzle 50 Substrate

Claims (6)

  A substrate platform on which a substrate is placed, and a substrate placement portion that is connected to the substrate platform and expands and contracts between a work position on which the substrate is placed and a storage position that is disposed when the substrate is transported. A positive or negative charge in a housing that moves, an supporting part that supports the arm part, a housing fixed to the supporting part and covering the substrate mounting part at the storage position and having an opening on the front surface A neutralization device provided with a nozzle for injecting an air stream containing charged ions in a direction away from the opening, and a dust collecting unit arranged at the rear of the housing to collect dust. Substrate transport device.   The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the static eliminator is provided on an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing.   The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sensor is provided for disposing the nozzles facing the substrate and detecting a charge amount on the substrate at a position facing each of the nozzles.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an ion ejection amount ejected from the nozzle is varied in accordance with a charge amount on the substrate detected by the sensor.   2. A signal indicating abnormality is output to the outside when it is determined whether or not a charge value on a substrate detected by the sensor exceeds a preset threshold value and exceeds the threshold value. The conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 4.   The said support part has the 1st, 2nd raising / lowering part, The said arm part and the said housing were provided in each of the 1st, 2nd raising / lowering part, The any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned. The conveying apparatus as described in.

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