JP2504337Y2 - Board carry-out / carry-in device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention uses an arm equipped with a mechanism for holding various substrates (hereinafter referred to as substrates) such as semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices. The present invention relates to a substrate carry-out / carry-in device for taking out a substrate from a cassette storing the substrate, or storing the substrate in the cassette.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, this type of substrate unloading / carrying-in device has an arm having a mechanism for holding a substrate, a drive mechanism for driving the arm forward and backward relative to a cassette, and a control for controlling the drive mechanism. In general, a plurality of cassettes are mounted in parallel on a cassette table in a direction orthogonal to the substrate loading / unloading direction to support the cassettes.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> In the conventional configuration in which cassettes are linearly mounted in parallel, if a large number of cassettes are to be loaded, the cassette parallel distance becomes long and a large amount of horizontal movement between the cassettes of the arms is required. This leads to an increase in the size of the arm drive mechanism in plan view.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate carry-out / carry-in device capable of filling a large number of cassettes while suppressing an increase in the size of an arm drive mechanism.

<Means for Solving the Problem> In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, the present invention is a substrate loading / unloading device for loading / unloading a substrate into / from a cassette capable of storing a substrate, the arm having a mechanism for holding the substrate, and the arm directed to the cassette. It is equipped with an arm drive mechanism that sends out and retreats from the cassette, and an upper and lower two-stage cassette table that mounts and supports the cassette. The cassettes can be mounted without overlapping vertically.

<Operation> According to the present invention, for example, when four cassettes are filled, two cassettes are mounted in parallel on the lower cassette table, and each upper cassette is placed on the substrate ejection side with respect to each lower cassette. By protruding and arranging and supporting it, the amount of vertical movement of the arm is required to be twice as large as that of the conventional one, but the amount of movement of the arm between the cassettes is half that in the case where four cassettes are arranged in a straight line.

In addition, since the upper cassette protrudes toward the substrate ejection side from the lower cassette, dust generated when loading and removing the substrate from the upper cassette rarely drops onto the lower cassette or substrate, and the substrate from the lower cassette Since the arm moves under the upper cassette when loading and unloading, the dust does not adhere to the upper cassette and its substrate.

<Embodiment> An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall side view of a substrate carry-out / carry-in device according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

This apparatus has four cassettes C (hereinafter, C ₁ for the upper cassette and C _{1 for} the lower cassette) that accommodates semiconductor substrates (hereinafter, abbreviated as substrates) W having a substantially circular shape in multiple stages.
C ₂ and both upper and lower cassettes are collectively referred to as C) are mounted on the right half of the equipment cabinet 1 and loaded from the cassette C by the substrate unloading / carrying unit 2 installed in the cabinet 1. The taken-out substrate W is positioned at a specific position (the P position in FIG. 2) in the center of the left and right and delivered to a substrate transfer mechanism of a substrate processing apparatus (not shown), or the processed substrate W is received here and the cassette C is received. Is configured to return to.

Here, in the present invention, the mounting form of the cassette C is a step-like mounting form.

That is, the upper right end of the cabinet 1 has two cassettes.
A lower cassette table 3a for mounting C ₂ in parallel is provided, and an upper cassette table 3b for mounting two cassettes C ₁ in parallel is provided, which is deviated to the substrate ejection side (left side in the figure) from this. Thus, the upper and lower cassettes C can be freely loaded and unloaded from above.

Next, a detailed configuration of the substrate carry-out / carry-in unit 2 will be described.

In FIG. 1 (a), the substrate loading / unloading unit 2 is located at the substrate loading / unloading position for the lower cassette C ₂ , and FIG.
In the substrate unloading / importing unit 2, the upper cassette C ₁
The substrate is in and out of the substrate, and FIG. 2 shows the substrate transfer position. Further, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the substrate unloading / loading unit, and FIG. 4 is a front view thereof. The front-back direction in the following description corresponds to the left-right direction in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the left-right direction corresponds to the up-down direction in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a movable base member, and the movable base member 10 is slidably fitted to a pair of left and right guide rails 11 arranged in parallel at the bottom of the cabinet 1.
The movable base member 10 is screwed onto a screw shaft 12 arranged in the same direction as the guide rail 11. The movable base member 10 is horizontally moved back and forth by rotationally driving the screw shaft 12 in forward and reverse directions by a motor 19 which is interlockingly connected to one end of the screw shaft 12 via a belt 18.

As shown in FIG. 4, a portal frame 13 is erected on the upper surface of the movable base member 10, and is vertically installed between the beam member 13 a of the portal frame 13 and the movable base member 10. An elevating member 15 is slidably fitted into the pair of guide shafts 14. The elevating member 15 is screwed onto a screw shaft 16 provided in parallel with the guide shaft 14. The screw shaft 16 is driven by a motor 17 (see FIG. 3) attached to the beam member 13a in the forward and reverse directions to move the elevating member 15 up and down.

The lifting unit 15 is equipped with an arm unit 20.
FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the arm unit 20, and FIG. 6 shows a side view thereof. Base plate 21 for arm unit 20
Is provided with a pair of guide rails 22 in the left-right direction, that is, in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the movable base member 10, and an arm base 23 is slidably fitted to the guide rails 22. There is. A guide rail 24 and a rodless cylinder 25 are erected on the arm base 23, and an elevating plate 26 that is fitted and supported by the guide rail 24 and is moved up and down by the rodless cylinder 25 is provided. A thin plate-shaped suction arm 28 for mounting and holding the substrate W by suction is supported in a horizontal state on the upper side of a support rod 27 whose lower end is connected to the lifting plate 26. A suction hole 28a for vacuum-sucking a wafer is provided at the tip of the suction arm 28.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the drive mechanism of the arm unit base plate 21, and FIG. 8 is a side view showing a part thereof. On the base plate 21 of the arm unit 20, parallel to the guide rail 22,
An endless belt 29 is stretched between a pair of pulleys 30 and 31, and a part of the belt 29 is connected to an arm base 23 by a connecting fitting 32 (see FIG. 6). Further, by driving the drive pulley 30 in the forward and reverse directions by a motor 33, the arm base 23 is reciprocated along the guide rail 22.

As shown in FIG. 6, the base plate 21 has an arm base 23.
An optical sensor 34 is attached to detect the end position of the optical sensor, and the optical sensor 34 detects the L-shaped light shielding plate 35 that extends horizontally from the arm base 23 to perform the end detection.

The substrate unloading / importing unit 2 configured in this way is
By horizontally driving the movable base member 10, the movable base member 10 is moved to a position corresponding to a desired cassette C on the cassette tables 3a and 3b. Then, the suction arm 28 is set to a desired storage groove position of the cassette C by vertically moving the elevating member 15 by the motor 17 shown in FIG.
Next, by driving the motor 19 in the normal direction to move the movable base member 10 forward, the suction arm 28 is moved forward from the origin position by a predetermined amount to enter the cassette C, and the substrate W in the cassette C is moved. After receiving or delivering the substrate W that has been suction-held, the motor 19 is driven in reverse to return the suction arm 28 to the original position. At this time, the extension of the arm 28 at the advance / retreat position is caused by the rotary encoder connected to the screw shaft 12.
Done by 36.

In the above operation, when the cassette C which is the target of substrate loading and unloading is in the lower stage, the state where the support rod 27 is lowered to the lower limit as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 (a) and FIG. When the cassette unit C, which is the target of substrate loading and unloading, is in the upper stage, the arm base 20 is moved up and down and the arm base 23 is moved left and right by the belt feed, as shown in FIG. 1 (b) and FIG. As shown by the phantom line in the figure, the rod-less cylinder 25 is used to set the support rod 27 to the upper limit, and the reference height of the arm 28 is increased by the difference of the cassette installation height. The arm unit 20 is screwed up and down, and the arm base 23 is moved left and right by belt feeding. still,
The upper and lower limits of the support rod 27 are positioned by the rod ends of the rodless cylinder 25 as shown in FIG. 6, and the upper and lower optical sensors 37 attached to the guide rails 24 are used to shield the light shield plate 38 attached to the lift plate 26. The upper and lower limit positions are confirmed by detecting. Further, 39 in FIG. 6 is a tube connecting the suction arm 28 and the vacuum device.

In the substrate carry-out / carry-in unit 2, as shown in FIG. 12, three vertically movable support pins 40 for mounting the substrate W taken out by the arm 28, and these support pins 40 are mounted. A substrate matching mechanism and the like for aligning the substrate W are mounted. The substrate alignment mechanism will be described in detail later, but a pair of pin-shaped contact pieces 41a are provided on a pair of left and right alignment plates 41 slidably disposed on both sides of the support pin 40.
Are arranged in an arc shape so as to have substantially the same curvature as the substrate W, and the left and right matching plates 41 are reciprocally driven so that the abutting piece 41a abuts and separates from the outer edge of the substrate W on the support pin 40. As a result, the substrate W is aligned with the support pins 40.

As shown in FIG. 11, a base plate 42 for slidably supporting the matching plate 41 is attached to the upper surface of the portal frame 13. The base plate 42 is provided with two pairs of left and right guide rails 43, which are a pair of front and rear facing in the left-right direction, and a pair of left and right sliding plates 44 are installed on the guide rails 43 of each set so as to be slidable left and right respectively. . The matching plates 41 are respectively supported by the two sliding plates 44 via the support plates 45.

As shown in FIG. 12, a support shaft 46 is provided below each sliding plate 44.
Link members 47 slidably attached to the base plate 42 via the respective are provided. Each link member 47 is
The sliding plates 44 are loosely connected to each other via connecting pins 48. Further, below each link member 47, there is a pusher plate 50 which is fitted in a guide rail 49 (see FIG. 9) provided on the base plate 42 so as to be slidable forward and backward. It is loosely connected to each link member 47 via a pin 51. As shown in FIG. 13, when the pusher plate 50 is pushed out in the arrow direction of the figure by a cam mechanism described later, the acting force is transmitted to each link member 47 via the connecting pin 51, and each link member 47 swings around the support shaft 46 in the direction of the arrow. As a result, each link member 47
The left and right matching plates 41 connected to the connecting pins 48 move toward each other, and the contact pieces 41a provided on the matching plate 41 contact the outer edge of the substrate W.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the three support pins 40 between the matching plates 41 are supported by a U-shaped support plate 52. The base portion of the support plate 52 is connected to an elevating member 53, and the elevating member 53 is slidably fitted to a guide rail 54 attached to the portal frame 13 in the vertical direction. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, the elevating member 53 is biased downward by a coil spring 55, and
When the substrate 28 is loading and unloading the substrate W with respect to the cassette C, it is at the lower limit position as shown in FIG.

Next, a configuration for driving the above-mentioned contact piece 41a and support pin 40 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a guide rail 60 is vertically provided on the gate-shaped frame 13, and a member 61 is slidably fitted to the guide rail 60. 61 is connected to the cam member 63 via the member 62. Further, an air cylinder 64 is attached to the portal frame 13, and the rod 64 of the air cylinder 64 is attached.
The a and the cam member 63 are connected via the member 61. The operation curved surface of the cam groove 63a formed in the cam member 63 is
As shown in FIG. 10, there is a curved portion 63b whose upper portion is convex in the sliding direction of the pusher plate 50, and the lower portion of the curved portion 63b extends vertically. This cam member 63
A cam follower 66 attached below the L-shaped driven member 65 is fitted therein, and the other end of the driven member 65 is connected to the pusher plate 50.

A push-up member 67 is attached below the member 61 connecting the cam members 63 in a state of being separated from the lower ends 53b of the ribs 53a formed on the elevating member 53, and while the cam member 63 is being driven to rise. The push-up member 67 is the rib 53a.
By contacting the lower end 53b of the
The push-up member 67 is configured to push up the elevating member 53 against the biasing force of the coil spring 55 and the support pin 40 rises as the push-up member 67 rises. A reference numeral 68 shown in FIG. 9 is a stopper that contacts the member 69 attached to the lower end of the push-up member 67 and restricts the downward movement of the cam member 63, and also serves as a spring receiving member.

Next, the operation of the substrate carry-out / carry-in unit 2 having the above-described configuration will be described.

The operation of taking out a predetermined substrate W from the cassette C is as follows.

First, the motor 33 of the arm unit 20 is rotationally driven to horizontally move the arm base 23 to a position facing the predetermined cassette C. During or after the above-described movement, the motor 17 for raising and lowering the arm is driven to raise and lower the arm 28, so that the arm 28 is moved to a height corresponding to the storage groove position of the substrate W from which the cassette C is taken out. I will set it. At this time, when the cassette C to be taken out of the substrate is the upper cassette C ₁ , the rodless cylinder 25 is driven to raise the support rod 27 to the upper limit of the rodless cylinder lifting stroke. Next, the screw shaft 12 is driven to rotate in the normal direction by the motor 19, so that the arm 28 is advanced below the substrate W to be taken out of the cassette C. And arm 28
The substrate W is transferred onto the arm 28 by raising a little, and the arm 28 sucks and holds the substrate W. After sucking the substrate W, the motor 19 is driven in the reverse direction to move the arm 28 back to the original position. During such a substrate takeout operation, the support pin 40 is lowered to the lower limit position.

When the arm 28 returns to the origin position while the substrate W is suction-held, the base plate 10 moves horizontally to convey the substrate W to the substrate delivery position P shown in FIG. During or after this horizontal movement, the motor 17 is driven to move the arm.
Lower 28 to the lower limit position. When the cassette C for which the substrate is to be taken out is the upper cassette C ₁ , the loadless cylinder 25 is driven to lower the support rod 27 to the lower limit of the rodless cylinder lifting stroke.

Since the lower limit position of the arm 28 is set lower than the upper end of the support pin 40 in the retracted position, the adsorption of the substrate W when the arm 28 descends releases the substrate W on the arm 28.
Are delivered onto the support pin 40 in the standby position. At this time, since the rod 64a of the air cylinder 64 is retracted (state shown in FIG. 9), the cam member 63 is at the lower limit position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, since the cam follower 66 provided on the driven member 65 is at the upper limit position of the cam groove 63a, the alignment plate 41 is in an open state.

When the arm 28 reaches the lower limit position, the air cylinder 64 is driven, the rod 64a extends, and the cam member 63 moves upward. As the cam member 63 rises, the cam follower 66 is displaced rightward in the figure along the curved portion 63b of the cam groove 63a, so that the driven member 65 is displaced in the same direction, and as a result, the alignment plate 41 is moved. Move closer to each other. When the cam follower 66 reaches the apex of the curved portion 63b, that is,
When the matching plates 41 come closest to each other, the positional relationship of the matching plates 41 is adjusted in advance so that the inscribed circle with respect to each contact piece 41a becomes approximately the same as the substrate diameter. Even if it is placed on the support pin 40 with the position shifted,
While the alignment plate 41 is moving, the contact piece 41a comes into contact with the outer edge of the substrate W to horizontally displace the substrate W so that the substrate W always has a fixed positional relationship with the support pin 40. Aligned.

When the cam member 63 further rises, the cam follower 66 gradually returns to the left and returns to the original position. As a result, the alignment plate 41
Returns to its original open state. When the cam member 63 rises to a predetermined height, the push-up member 67 connected to the cam member 63 abuts on the lower ends 53b of the ribs of the elevating member 53, and thereafter ascends and descends as the cam member 63 rises. The member 53 rises. As a result, the support pins 40 are lifted while the aligned substrate W is placed, and the substrate W is lifted to a preset height for delivering the substrate W to the substrate transfer mechanism of the substrate processing apparatus. To be When the substrate W that has been processed by the substrate processing apparatus is loaded into the original cassette C, the above-described unloading operation is performed in the reverse order.

In the embodiment, two cassettes C are provided on each of the upper and lower sides.
However, the number of cassettes C installed in each stage is not limited.

<Advantages of Device> As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, by mounting the cassettes in two stages, the amount of arm movement between the cassettes is half that of the conventional example in which the cassettes having the same number of arms are linearly arranged. As a result, the arm drive mechanism can be downsized in plan view.

Then, by disposing the upper cassette in a state of protruding from the lower cassette in the substrate ejection direction, it is possible to prevent dust generated when the upper cassette is loaded or unloaded from splashing onto the lower cassette or the substrate. Carry-out
Carry-in can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a substrate unloading / loading device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the entire device, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a substrate unloading / loading unit. Figure,
FIG. 4 is a front view showing the substrate unloading / carrying-in unit, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the arm unit, FIG. 6 is a side view of the arm unit, and FIG. 7 is a front view showing a base plate moving mechanism of the arm unit. FIG. 8 is a side view showing a part thereof, FIG. 9 is a front view of a substrate aligning and placing lifting structure, FIG. 10 is a side view of a pusher plate driving cam mechanism, and FIG. 11 is a substrate aligning and placing. FIG. 12 is a side view of the elevating structure, FIG. 12 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a substrate matching operation. C …… Cassette 2 …… Board unloading / loading unit 3a …… Lower cassette table 3b …… Upper cassette table 16 …… Screw shaft (Amoom / screw advance / lower) 20 …… Arm unit 25 …… Loadless cylinder ( (For raising / lowering the arm / throk) 28 …… Suction arm

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Takeo Okamoto, creator Takeo Okamoto, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto 322 Furukawacho Furukawa-cho Dai Nippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. at the Rakusai Factory (72) Yoshimitsu Fukutomi Hazuka, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Prefecture 322 Furukawacho Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Rakusai Factory

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A substrate unloading / loading device for loading and unloading a substrate into and from a cassette capable of storing a substrate, the arm having a mechanism for holding the substrate, and the arm directed toward the cassette. Equipped with an arm drive mechanism that sends and withdraws from the cassette, and two upper and lower cassette tables that mount and support the cassette, and the upper cassette table is offset to the substrate ejection side from the lower cassette table, and the upper and lower cassette tables are provided. A substrate unloading / loading device, characterized in that it can be mounted without overlapping vertically.