JP2739142B2 - Rotary substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention conveys a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass plate for a liquid crystal panel to a plurality of processing apparatuses such as a rotary processing apparatus for performing a rotation process on a substrate using a required processing liquid. The present invention also relates to a rotary substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate in each transported processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A rotary substrate processing apparatus of this kind, for example, a rotary substrate processing apparatus, includes a plurality of processing apparatuses including a rotary processing apparatus for rotating a substrate taken out of a cassette by using a required processing liquid. Equipment is provided. Then, the substrate processing procedure for specifying the substrate processing conditions such as the order of transporting the substrates to each processing device, the number of rotations, the processing temperature, and the chemical solution used in each processing device is stored in the rotary substrate processing apparatus in advance. . Therefore, when a certain substrate processing procedure is specified, the substrates are sequentially transferred to the corresponding processing equipment based on the substrate transfer order in the specified substrate processing procedure, and the transferred processing equipment performs the processing in the substrate processing procedure. The substrate is processed based on the substrate processing conditions.

[0003] In this type of rotary substrate processing apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
No. 0 is equipped with a display device for displaying a so-called error message when an abnormality occurs for some reason. For this reason, it has been proposed that, when an abnormality occurs, an item considered to be the cause is displayed to enable prompt abnormality treatment.

[0004]

In such a rotary type substrate processing apparatus, if the designated substrate processing procedure is different, the processing equipment used for substrate processing and the transport order thereof are naturally different. Nevertheless, in the conventional rotary substrate processing apparatus, no special measures have been taken with respect to the change of the processing equipment and the transfer order. However, it is difficult for an operator to immediately determine which processing equipment is to be used for substrate processing in the changed substrate processing procedure. Therefore, the operator who is unfamiliar with the operation of the apparatus, every time the substrate processing procedure is changed and specified, for example, whether the substrate is transported according to the instructions corresponding to the combination of the substrate processing procedure and the combination of processing equipment to be used, It is necessary to confirm by a fast-forward operation or the like that only carries the substrate. Since the substrate processing is not performed during this confirmation, the processing efficiency is reduced.

[0005] Alternatively, the transfer destination processing equipment and the transfer order in which the substrate is actually transferred after the start of the substrate processing are irrespective of the correct transfer destination processing equipment and transfer order based on the changed substrate processing procedure. The operator may erroneously recognize that the transfer destination processing equipment and the transfer order are different from those based on the substrate processing procedure instructed to be changed, and the operation of the rotary substrate processing apparatus may be stopped in an emergency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to easily grasp the actual state of a transfer order to a destination processing apparatus to which a substrate is to be transferred.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention employs a plurality of processing apparatuses including a rotary processing apparatus for performing a rotary processing on a substrate using a required processing liquid. A rotary substrate processing apparatus that sequentially transports the substrate to a corresponding one of the plurality of processing devices and processes the substrate with the transported processing device based on a transport order of the substrates to the device. The gist of the present invention is to provide a display unit for displaying the corresponding processing equipment to which the substrate is transferred and the substrate transfer order based on the transfer order to the relevant processing equipment in association with each other.

Further, the means adopted in the second invention is based on the order of transporting the substrate to a plurality of processing apparatuses such as a rotary processing apparatus for performing a rotation process on a substrate using a required processing liquid. In the rotary substrate processing apparatus that sequentially transports the substrate to a corresponding one of the plurality of processing devices and processes the substrate with the transported processing device, draws a layout diagram of the plurality of processing devices. Based on the layout image data and the order data of the board transfer order based on the transfer order to the corresponding processing equipment, the board transfer order is incorporated in the display portion of the corresponding processing equipment in the layout drawing. A layout drawing data synthesizing means for synthesizing image data for drawing a rank-added layout map; and a layout map display means for displaying a rank-added layout map based on the synthesized image data. It is referred to as the gist thereof.

Further, the means adopted in the third invention is that the substrate is transferred to a plurality of processing apparatuses such as a rotary processing apparatus for performing a rotation process on a substrate using a required processing liquid, based on the transfer order of the substrates. In a rotary substrate processing apparatus that sequentially transports a substrate to a corresponding one of the plurality of processing devices, and processes the substrate in the transported processing device, the corresponding processing device in which the substrate is transported. A board transfer order table that associates the board transfer order based on the transfer order to the corresponding processing equipment, and a layout image based on layout image data for drawing a layout diagram of the plurality of processing equipment. The gist of the present invention is to provide a display means for displaying.

[0010]

The first rotary type substrate processing apparatus having the above-described configuration actually performs a rotation process on a substrate by using a required processing solution, based on the transfer order to a plurality of processing apparatuses including a rotary processing apparatus. The display device displays the processing equipment to which the substrate is transported, that is, the relevant processing equipment, and the transport order of the substrates transported to the relevant processing equipment. As a result, the correspondence between the destination processing device of the substrate and the order of transport of the substrate to the processing device is visually recognized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in visually recognizing the correspondence between the actual destination processing equipment of the substrate and the transfer order of the substrates, the layout drawing data synthesizing means synthesizes the image data, and the substrates are arranged in the transfer order. Based on this, a transfer order in which the transfer is actually performed is incorporated into the display portion of the transfer destination processing device in the layout diagram of the plurality of processing devices to create a rank-added layout diagram. Then, this rank-added layout map is displayed by the layout map display means. For this reason, the visibility at the time of visually confirming the correspondence between the substrate processing destination processing equipment and the transport order is improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in visually recognizing a correspondence between an actual destination processing device of a substrate and a transfer order of the substrate, the processing device to which the substrate is transferred and the transfer order of the substrate to the processing device are determined. A display unit displays the associated substrate transport order table and an arrangement image in which an arrangement drawing of the processing equipment to which the substrate is to be transported is drawn. For this reason, the correspondence between the substrate processing destination processing equipment and the transport order is visually recognized.

[0013]

Next, a preferred embodiment of the rotary substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the outline of the rotary substrate processing apparatus of the present embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1 which is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus.

The rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for rotating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or the like to spin-coat a photoresist or the like on the surface of the substrate and heat-treating the substrate. As shown in FIG. And the substrate processing unit 3. In the following description, in order to clearly distinguish the two from each other, the former substrate supply unit 2 is referred to as a substrate transfer unit 2 and the substrate processing unit 3 is referred to as a process processing unit 3.

The substrate transfer unit 2 takes out the substrates W from the cassettes C1 to C4 containing the substrates W in multiple stages and transfers the substrates W to a substrate transfer position P which is a substrate transfer position, or transfers the substrates W from the substrate transfer position P. Then, the substrate W is stored in one of the cassettes capable of storing the substrate.
The process processing unit 3 includes a plurality of various processing devices including a rotary processing device that supplies a required processing liquid to the substrate and performs a rotation process as described later, and drives each of the processing devices to process the substrate. I do. Further, in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a process processing unit 3b having the same configuration as that of the process processing unit 3 can be additionally provided with an interface unit 3a capable of exchanging substrates.

Next, each of the above units will be described.
The substrate transfer unit 2 includes the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
2, two cassettes C1 and C2 accommodating the substrates W in multiple stages and two cassettes C3 and C not accommodating the substrates are provided on the upper surface of the cassette mounting table 4, as shown in FIG.
4 is provided. Further, a substrate transfer device 6 for taking out the substrate W from each cassette or storing the substrate W in each cassette is provided so as to be horizontally movable in the direction of arrow D in the drawing along the rows of the cassettes C1 to C4. A main operation panel 5 for giving various instructions to the substrate transfer unit 2 and a process unit 3 to be described later is incorporated in the front surface of the cassette mounting table 4.

Although the cassettes C3 and C4 are cassettes not containing substrates, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, all cassettes may be cassettes containing substrates. The main operation panel 5 includes a keyboard 5a for inputting various settings and numerical values, and a display 5b for displaying various screens based on instructions from the keyboard 5a.
And

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the substrate transfer device 6 moves the substrate suction arm 7 for sucking and sucking the substrate W on its lower surface in the stacking direction of the substrate W in the cassette (FIG. 2).
Up and down along the front and back sides of the paper surface), and
It is provided so as to be able to move back and forth in the direction of arrow E in the figure between the standby position shown in FIG. 2 and the take-out position which has entered the cassette.

For this reason, the substrate transfer device 6 is moved horizontally in the direction of arrow D in the figure to the front of the desired cassette,
Thereafter, the substrate suction arm 7 is raised to a height corresponding to the substrate storage groove at the desired stage in the cassette, the substrate suction arm 7 enters the cassette, the substrate suction arm 7 is slightly raised, and the substrate suction arm 7 is retracted. When the substrate suction arm 7 is sequentially lowered, the removal of the substrate W from the cassette is completed. When the substrate suction arm 7 is driven in the reverse order, the storage of the substrate W in the cassette is completed.

The substrate transfer device 6 includes the substrate suction arm 7
In addition, in order to horizontally support the substrate W taken out of the cassette by the substrate suction arm 7, three support pins 8a, 8
b, 8c are provided on the base 9 so as to be movable up and down. In order to align the center of the substrate W supported by each of the support pins, an alignment plate 10 is provided on both sides of the base 9 so as to be able to reciprocate horizontally.

On the upper surface of the positioning plate 10, 4
The guide pins 11 of the books are provided in a protruding manner in such an arrangement that they have substantially the same curvature as the outer diameter of the substrate W. Therefore, when each alignment plate 10 is reciprocated horizontally while the substrate W is supported by the support pins raised from the base 9, each guide pin 11 comes into contact with or separates from the outer periphery of the substrate W. The center alignment of the substrate W is completed.

In this way, the substrate W taken out of the cassette is transferred to the substrate transfer position P (see FIG. 1) by the substrate transfer device 6, and then transferred to the processing unit 3 described later.
It is delivered to the attached substrate transporting device 37, and is sequentially transported and processed by the spin coating device in the unit.
Then, the processed substrate after the processing is returned to the substrate transfer position P by the substrate transfer device 37, and then stored in a predetermined cassette by the substrate transfer device 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of the cassette mounting table 4 is a cassette containing substrates to be processed, a procedure number numerical code for specifying a substrate processing procedure, and a processing order in cassette units. A cassette control panel 18 is provided for each cassette in order to input the same.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, around each of the cassettes C1 to C4 mounted on the cassette mounting table 4,
A U-shaped bracket 21 surrounding the cassette is provided so as to be vertically movable. An optical sensor 24 including a light projecting element 22 and a light receiving element 23 for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate W stored in the cassette is attached to the front end of the opening of the bracket 21. The bracket 21 is moved up and down via an optical sensor elevating mechanism (not shown) for vertically moving a plate-shaped support shaft 30 that penetrates the upper surface of the cassette mounting table 4. The optical sensor 24, together with a timing sensor (not shown), collectively detects the presence or absence of a substrate in the cassette in association with the number of substrate storage grooves in the cassette while ascending along the cassette.

A process processing unit 3 which receives a substrate from the substrate transfer unit 2 and processes the substrate is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, spin coating devices 31 and 32 for forming a chemical thin film by dropping a chemical solution on the surface of a rotating substrate, heat treatment devices 33 for heat-treating (heating / cooling) the substrate before and after the processing by the spin coating device, 34 and 35 are provided. Further, a substrate transfer device 37 is provided which is horizontally movable in the direction of arrow A in the figure along the rows of the spin coating devices 31 and 32 and the heat treatment devices 33, 34 and 35. As shown in the figure, each heat treatment device includes a heating heat treatment device in an upper stage and a cooling heat treatment device in a lower stage. In addition, each of these spin coating equipment and heat treatment equipment is provided with an individual controller as described later, for example, for the rotation speed and temperature, etc.
Feedback controlled.

The substrate transporting device 37 has a head 39 which can be turned in the direction of arrow B in the figure on the upper surface of a stage 38 which can be moved horizontally in the direction of the arrow A by a driving system (not shown). -Shaped substrate support arms 37a, 3
7b is provided in two upper and lower stages. Each of the substrate support arms 37a and 37b is configured to be able to move in and out of the head 39.

The process processing unit 3 having the above configuration drives and controls the substrate transport device 37 based on the transport process in a predetermined substrate processing procedure, and moves the substrate transport device 37 from the substrate transfer position P in the substrate transfer unit 2 to the above-mentioned spin coating device. The substrates are sequentially transferred to necessary processing equipment among the plurality of processing equipment. Then, the substrate is processed based on the processing conditions in the substrate processing procedure by a rotary coating device or the like to which the substrate has been transported, and the processed substrate that has been processed by each transported processing device is returned to the substrate transfer position P I do.

When an unprocessed substrate is moved into or out of a processing device such as a spin coating device, if a processed substrate remains in the processing device, the substrate support arm that does not support the substrate is used. Protruding from the head 39 to remove the remaining processed substrate from the processing equipment. Then, the unprocessed substrate supported by the other substrate support arm is set in the processing equipment. Thus, the substrate processing is performed efficiently.

Next, a control system in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to a block diagram shown in FIG. The control system according to the present embodiment includes a main controller 50 that integrally controls the entire rotary substrate processing apparatus 1.
In addition, as its sub-controllers, a board transfer unit controller 60 for controlling the board transfer unit 2;
For each device constituting the process processing unit 3, a substrate transfer device controller 37A for the substrate transfer device and spin coating device controllers 31A and 32 for each spin coating device are provided.
A and heat treatment equipment controller 33 for each heat treatment equipment
A, 34A and 35A.

The main controller 50 is configured as a logical operation circuit mainly including a well-known CPU 51 for executing a logical operation, a ROM 52 for storing various programs for controlling the CPU in advance, a RAM 53 for temporarily storing various data, and the like. In addition, a storage disk 54 that can write and hold data at any time and stores a large amount of data described later in advance is built in.

Then, the main controller 50
The input / output port 56 connected to the CPU or the like via a common bus 55 allows input / output with the outside, for example,
Data is transferred between the main operation panel 5, the substrate transfer unit controller 60, the substrate transfer device controller 37A, and the controllers 31A to 35A for each processing device.

The substrate transfer unit controller 60 is connected to the substrate transfer device 6, the cassette control panel 18, the optical sensor elevating mechanism 25, and the like, in addition to the optical sensor 24 and the timing detection sensor 42. Then, the arithmetic operation data obtained by the controller and the signals from the sensors and the cassette control panel 18 are output to the main controller 50. The cassette control panel 18, optical sensor 24, timing detection sensor 42, optical sensor elevating mechanism 25, etc.
Are provided in each of the four cassettes C1 to C4 on the upper surface of the substrate, and each is connected to the substrate transfer unit controller 60.

Each of the controllers 37A, 31A to 35A for each processing device such as a spin coating device is controlled based on a control command value issued from the main controller 50 or a detection signal from a sensor (not shown) provided in each processing device. To control each processing device.

Each controller 3 for each processing device
7A, 31A to 35A each include a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, similarly to the main controller 50, but a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a description will be given of a substrate processing procedure for driving and controlling each of the above-described processing devices. As shown in FIG. 4, there are a plurality of types of substrate processing procedures, each of which stores in advance a procedure number numerical code for specifying each substrate processing procedure, a control command value in each processing apparatus, and the like. It is written and stored on the disk 54.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, for each of the procedure number numerical codes, for each required processing step, a process symbol representing a process in each processing step, and a processing device for performing the process are provided. , Data on the processing conditions in the process are written.

That is, the symbols in the process symbol columns in the respective process steps correspond to the respective process names. The process symbol AD indicates a heating process (pre-bake) before applying the chemical solution, and AC indicates a cooling process (precool) before applying the chemical solution. ), SC represents a chemical solution application step (spin coating), and SB represents a heating step (after bake) after application of the chemical solution. In the same processing step, a plurality of processing devices (processing devices 1 and 2)
…) Is written (procedure number numerical code 01)
Heat treatment equipment 33a, 3 in treatment step 1 in
4a) indicates that processing may be performed by any of the processing devices. However, the smaller the numerical value of the processing device, the higher the priority. For example, in the case of the procedure number numerical code 01, the heating heat treatment equipment 33a in the column of the processing equipment 1 is preferentially used, and if the heating heat treatment equipment 33a cannot be used as it is being processed, the processing equipment 2 Is used.

The processing steps other than the processing step 3 are the heat treatment steps before and after the application of the chemical solution as can be seen from the process symbols AD, AC, SB, etc., and as described in the processing condition column, the corresponding processing equipment is used. Numerical data representing a control command value such as a processing temperature and a processing time at the time of control is provided.

Processing step 3 of each processing step is as follows:
As can be seen from the process code SC, this is a chemical application step using a rotary processing device, and since the chemical application is repeatedly performed,
The data includes data obtained by further dividing the processing step into a first step part, a second step part, an i-th step part, and the like.

That is, in the processing step 3 which is the chemical liquid application step, the chemical liquid is applied while rotating the substrate, so that a plurality of kinds of chemical liquids to be used are specified, the number of processing rotations, the rotational acceleration, and the chemical liquid discharge time (discharge amount). In addition to being executed based on a number of processing conditions (control command values), a rotation process using different chemicals is repeatedly performed. For this reason, the processing step 3 is provided with many types of condition data, which are much more numerous than other processing, but it is designed so that all of them can be stored without any trouble.

As described above, a plurality of types of substrate processing procedures are recorded on the storage disk 54, including a huge amount of processing condition data. For this reason, a step number numerical code,
For example, when a numerical code of “00” is designated, the substrate processing procedure at this time is as follows.
3a, a heating process is performed (processing step 1), a cooling process is then performed by the cooling heat treatment device 33b (processing step 2), and a chemical liquid coating process is subsequently performed by the spin coating device 32 (processing step 3). ), Heat treatment after application of the chemical is performed by the heat treatment equipment 35a for heating (processing step 4).
Will be. That is, the numerical value of the processing step indicates the order of transporting the substrates on the process processing unit 3 side. It should be noted that if the data is created and stored in the processing step 5 and subsequent steps, it is needless to say that the processing is performed in accordance therewith.

For writing data to the storage disk 54, for example, data is input from the keyboard 5a of the main operation panel 5, and data is written and stored in a storage medium such as a magnetic tape or a flexible disk. Input / output port 5 from external storage device 70 (see FIG. 3)
6 through data transfer or the like.

The instruction to select a desired substrate processing procedure from the plurality of substrate processing procedures stored as above is given by:
It is executed by a key operation on the cassette control panel 18, the keyboard 5a of the main operation panel 5, or the like. The key operation for selecting and instructing a desired substrate processing procedure is an operation of key-inputting the numerical value of the procedure number numerical code.

In addition to the data relating to the above-mentioned substrate processing procedure, the following data is stored in the storage disk 54 in advance. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, a unit name map in which the symbols of the respective processing devices and the like are associated with the unit names usually referred to as the processing devices and the like is stored. This unit name is named in association with each function name. As described above, the data area is sufficiently secured in consideration of the addition of the process processing unit 3b with the interface unit 3a interposed (see FIG. 1).

In addition, original layout data for displaying the schematic layout (original layout) of the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 as an image as shown in FIG. 6 is stored. This layout original drawing data can be edited by operating the keyboard 5a of the main operation panel 5,
The layout original drawing of FIG. 6 includes a division line (diagram) representing each processing device or the like as a modeled region, and a processing device symbol for distinguishing an area divided by the division line. When only the layout original drawing needs to be displayed for editing, it is displayed as follows.
That is, when an operation (display ON operation) of the keyboard 5a, the touch switch, and the like on the main operation panel 5 for simply displaying the layout original image is performed, the operation is displayed on the display 5b by a display routine (not shown).
Thereafter, the diagram or the processing device symbol is added / corrected and edited by various key operations.

In the original layout, the symbols C1 to C4 of the respective cassettes are displayed on the display window of a predetermined area in the arrangement section of each cassette on the upper surface of the cassette mounting table 4 in the substrate transfer unit 2. Similarly, the symbol P is displayed on the display window in the layout section of the substrate transfer position, the symbols 31 and 32 are displayed on the display windows in the layout section of each spin coating device, each of the heat processing devices 33 to 35 and each of the heat processing devices for heating and cooling. The signs 33a to 35a are respectively displayed on the display windows in the arrangement section of the heat treatment equipment.
a, 33b to 35b are displayed images. In addition,
It is a matter of course that the unit names in FIG. 5 may be displayed instead of these symbols.

Next, the substrate transfer order display control (routine) performed by the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is executed every time the operation of the keyboard 5a or the touch switch on the main operation panel 5 for displaying the transfer order of the substrates (the transfer order display ON operation) is performed. First, when this transfer order display ON operation is performed, a procedure number numerical code is read in order to determine which substrate processing procedure the substrate is currently processed in the process processing unit 3 (step 100, hereinafter simply referred to as "step 100"). Step S
Notation). Prior to the start of the substrate processing, the procedure number numerical code is designated by the cassette control panel 18 for each cassette in units of cassettes or substrates, and the value is stored in the RAM 53.

Thereafter, the substrate processing procedure written at the address where the read procedure number numerical code matches the procedure number numerical code in FIG. 4 is read (S11).
0). However, in this case, the data to be read is sufficient with the numerical values of the processing steps in the substrate processing procedure and the data on the processing equipment in the corresponding processing steps. For example, if the read procedure number numerical code is "01", referring to the address A1, the heating heat treatment equipment 33a, 34a in the processing step 1, the cooling heat treatment equipment 33b in the processing step 2, and the spin coating in the processing step 3. The device 31 reads the data of the heating heat treatment device 35a in the processing step 4. The numerical value of this processing step is nothing but the order of transporting the substrates as described above.

Next, based on the sensors provided at the substrate entrance and the like of each processing equipment, the optical sensor 24 for each cassette, and the sensor provided at the substrate transfer position P, it is determined whether there is a substrate in each of the processing equipment or the processing equipment. Then, it is determined whether or not the processing is being performed (S120), and subsequently, the unit name map shown in FIG. 5 is read (S130). The detection signals from the optical sensor 24 and the sensor provided at the board transfer position P are input from the board transfer unit controller 60.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, a board transfer order table in which the read processing steps, processing equipment symbols, and unit names are associated with each other is created and displayed on the display 5b (S140). The board transfer order table includes, from the left side, a processing step number (processing step No.) column representing a numerical value of a processing step, and processing equipment (procedure number numerical code) which is used preferentially when there are a plurality of corresponding processing equipment. The basic flow column using the heat treatment equipment 33a) in the processing step 1 in the case of "01" and the processing equipment used in place of this priority processing equipment (the processing step 1 in the case of the procedure number numerical code "01") And a parallel processing flow column using the heat treatment equipment 34a) for heating.

The numerical value in this processing step number column indicates the numerical value of the processing step, that is, the transport order of the substrates.
Represents the start of transport, and the symbol E represents the end of transport. Further, the basic flow column has a display area including a processing device symbol and a unit name, and the parallel flow column has this display region in consideration of a case where a plurality of processing devices are written in the same processing step. We have three. The symbol S indicating the start of the transfer and the symbol E indicating the end of the transfer relate to the substrate transfer unit 2 for transferring the substrate to and from the process processing unit 3, and any procedure number numerical code is inevitable. Is given.

The board transfer order table shown in FIG. 8 is created and displayed when "01" is read as the current procedure number numerical code in S100. In other words, from the upper row of the order table, the processing equipment (substrate transfer unit) symbol “2” and the unit name “indexer” are displayed as the transfer start S, and the substrate transfer order is the first processing. The numerical value of step 1, ie, the substrate transfer order “1”, the processing equipment symbol “33a”, the unit name “adhesion enhancer supply type hot plate”, and the processing equipment symbol “34”
"a" and the unit name "adhesion enhancer supply type hot plate" are displayed. Similarly, in the third column, "2" (substrate transfer order), "33b", "adhesion enhancer supply type cool plate", “34b”, “adhesion enhancer supply type cool plate” are displayed, and “3” (substrate transfer order) is displayed in the fourth column.
"31", "spin coater" are displayed, "4" (substrate transfer order), "35a", "hot plate" are displayed in the fifth column, "5" (substrate transfer order) is displayed in the sixth column,
“35b” and “cool plate” are displayed, and symbols “2” and “indexer” of the substrate transfer unit as the substrate transfer destination are displayed at the bottom row as the transfer end E.
The information in the sixth column is omitted in FIG.

Further, “S”,
“2” and “1”, “33a”, “34a” in the second column
And “2”, “33b”, and “34b” in the third column are S
At 120, based on the detection signals from the various sensors, the substrate exists at the substrate transfer position P, and the heat treatment devices 33a, 34
Since it is determined at a, 33b, and 34b that the substrate is being processed, the display is highlighted. If this routine is before the substrate processing, it is determined that there is no substrate in each processing apparatus, so only “S” and “2” in the top row are highlighted.

After displaying the board transfer order table in this way,
It is determined whether to stop the display or switch to another display format (S145). This stop determination is based on whether a predetermined key operation of the keyboard 5a or an operation of a touch switch or the like for issuing a control signal to stop the display is performed.
The display switching determination is made based on whether an operation of a touch switch or the like for issuing a control signal for changing the displayed board transfer sequence table of FIG. 8 to another display format is performed.
The display of the board transfer order table is continued until any operation is performed.

If it is determined that the display is to be stopped, the processing of this routine is terminated. If it is determined that the display is to be switched, the original layout data for displaying the original layout of FIG. 6 is read (S150). Then, based on the layout original drawing data, the substrate transfer order determined from the substrate processing procedure read in S110, and the substrate presence / absence state in each processing device or the like determined in S120, the layout original drawing of FIG. The current layout diagram shown in FIG. 9 to which the transfer order and the board presence / absence information are added is displayed on the display 5b (S160).

That is, the layout original data of the layout original drawing is combined with the board transfer order data and the board presence / absence data to create layout data for displaying the current layout diagram of FIG. 9 as an image. As shown in FIG. 10, the figure is displayed on the display 5b so as to overlap the board transfer order table. 9 and FIG.
0, the cassettes C1 and C2 and the substrate transfer position P on the substrate transfer unit 2 side and symbols "C1", "C2", "P",
"S" and "33" representing the heat treatment equipment for heating 33a, 34a, 33b, 34b on the process processing unit 3 side.
"a", "34a", "33b", and "34b", and "1" and "2" indicating the order (first and second) of transporting the substrates to the respective processing devices, indicate that the substrate exists or is not present in S120. It is highlighted that it is determined that the processing is being performed. In addition,
If this routine is before the substrate processing, it is determined that there is no substrate in each processing apparatus, and only “C1,” “C2,” and “S” on the substrate transfer unit 2 are highlighted.

Then, a predetermined key operation of the keyboard 5a or a pressing operation of a touch switch (for example, a top menu switch at the bottom of the screen in FIG. 10) for terminating the present routine or shifting to another routine (not shown) is performed. Until then, continue to display the current layout diagram,
This routine ends when the above operation is performed.

As described above, according to the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the substrate to be processed in the process processing unit 3 or the substrate transfer based on the substrate processing procedure for the substrate currently being processed. Since the order and the substrate transport order table in which the symbols and names indicating all the processing equipment used in this substrate processing procedure are associated are displayed,
The correspondence between the processing equipment on which the substrate is actually transported according to the substrate processing procedure and the order of transporting the substrate to each processing equipment can be visually confirmed and easily grasped.

That is, since the actual state of the transfer order of the substrate to the transfer destination processing equipment to be transferred can be immediately confirmed, various problems (such as a decrease in processing efficiency and an erroneous recognition by an operator) that have conventionally occurred when the substrate processing procedure is changed. , Etc.) can be suppressed.

Further, since an image incorporating the substrate transfer order is displayed in a layout diagram of each processing device or the like included in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1, each processing device to which a substrate is actually transferred and each processing device are displayed. The visibility when visually confirming the correspondence with the substrate transfer order can be remarkably improved. For this reason,
The contents of the substrate processing procedure can be more easily and reliably grasped, and the occurrence of a problem at the time of changing the substrate processing procedure can be avoided.

Further, the layout diagram of each processing device or the like is not necessarily displayed as an image in which the board transfer order is incorporated in the layout diagram as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a layout diagram not incorporating the board transfer order and the transfer order table displaying the board transfer order may be displayed at the same time.

Further, in this embodiment, the substrate transfer order (processing order), the processing equipment symbol, and the like for the processing equipment that is currently being processed are inverted in the substrate transfer order table of FIG. 8 and the current layout diagram of FIG. Since it is displayed, it is possible to determine how far the substrate processing is progressing.

The rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the above embodiment
The substrate transfer order display control (routine) performed by the server is to newly prepare or partially change (so-called update) the contents of the substrate processing order (substrate processing procedure) as preparation before performing the rotation processing on the substrate. It can also be implemented in cases. However, when such a substrate processing procedure is created or changed, the substrate is not processed in any of the processing equipment, so that it is not necessary to reversely display the processing equipment symbol and the like as shown in FIGS.

[0065]

As described above, according to the rotary substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the transport order of the substrates and the destination processing equipment to which the substrates are actually transported based on the transport order are displayed in association with each other. By visually recognizing this, it is easy to grasp the transfer order of the substrate to the transfer destination processing device to be transferred. Furthermore, in visually recognizing the correspondence between the destination processing equipment and the order of transfer of the substrates to the processing equipment, the order of transfer of the substrates is incorporated into the layout drawing of a plurality of processing equipment and displayed together with this layout view. The visibility at the time of visually confirming the correspondence between the preprocessing device and the transfer order of the substrates is further improved, and the transfer order to the transfer destination processing device can be more easily and reliably grasped.

In visually recognizing the correspondence between the actual processing equipment at the destination of the substrate and the order of transport of the substrates, the processing equipment to which the substrate is transported is associated with the order of transport of the processed substrates to the processing equipment. By displaying the transfer order table and the layout drawing depicting the layout of the processing equipment to which the substrate is transferred, it is easy to grasp the correspondence between the processing equipment to which the substrate is transferred and the transfer order of the substrate to this processing equipment. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment, with a partial plane cut away.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system centered on a main controller 50 in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a substrate processing procedure of the rotary substrate processing performed by each processing device of the process processing unit 3 in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining processing in a substrate transfer order display routine performed by the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining processing in a substrate transfer order display routine, and is a schematic layout diagram of the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a substrate transfer order display routine performed by the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for describing processing in a substrate transfer order display routine.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining processing in a substrate transfer order display routine.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for describing processing in a substrate transfer order display routine.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for describing processing in a substrate transfer order display routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotary substrate processing apparatus 2 Substrate transfer unit 3 Process processing unit 4 Cassette mounting table 5 Main operation panel 5b Display 18 Cassette control panel 50 Main controller 60 Substrate transfer unit controller C1, C2, C3, C4 Cassette W Substrate

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-164017 (JP, A) JP-A-2-244709 (JP, A) JP-A-4-99018 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is transported to a plurality of processing apparatuses including a rotary processing apparatus for performing a rotation process on the substrate using a required processing liquid. In a rotary substrate processing apparatus that sequentially transports the substrate to the corresponding processing equipment and processes the substrate with the transported processing equipment, the corresponding processing equipment in which the substrate is transported, and the transport to the corresponding processing equipment. A rotary substrate processing apparatus, comprising: display means for displaying a substrate transfer order based on an order in association with the order. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is transported to a plurality of processing apparatuses including a rotary processing apparatus for performing a rotation process on the substrate using a required processing liquid. In a rotary substrate processing apparatus that sequentially transports the substrate to the corresponding processing equipment and processes the substrate with the transported processing equipment, layout image data for drawing a layout diagram of the plurality of processing equipment; Based on the order data of the substrate transfer order based on the transfer order to the processing equipment,
A layout data synthesizing unit for synthesizing image data for drawing a rank-added layout drawing incorporating the board transfer rank in a display portion of the processing equipment in the layout drawing, based on the synthesized image data A rotary substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a layout drawing displaying means for displaying a rank-added layout drawing. 3. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said substrate is transported to a plurality of processing apparatuses including a rotation processing apparatus for performing a rotation process on the substrate using a required processing liquid. In a rotary substrate processing apparatus that sequentially transports the substrate to the corresponding processing equipment and processes the substrate with the transported processing equipment, the corresponding processing equipment in which the substrate is transported, and the transport to the corresponding processing equipment. A display unit configured to display a board transfer order table in which the board transfer order is associated with the order based on the order and an arrangement image based on the arrangement image data for drawing the arrangement diagram of the plurality of processing apparatuses. Rotary substrate processing apparatus.