JP2802019B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and method of controlling substrate transport mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a series of processes on a substrate to be processed while transporting the substrate, and a method of controlling a substrate transport mechanism used in the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in a manufacturing process of a precision electronic substrate such as a liquid crystal display substrate or a semiconductor substrate, for example, a rotary cleaning device (hereinafter referred to as "spin scrubber") and a rotary coating device (hereinafter referred to as "spin scrubber"). "Spin coater"), unit processing units such as a rotary developing device (hereinafter "spin developer"), an oven (heater), and an exposure machine are arranged, and these unit processing units are transported along the arrangement of the substrate to be processed. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a series of processing by moving in and out of the apparatus is used.

In a conventional substrate processing apparatus, a linear transport path is provided along a processing row composed of an array of these unit processing sections, and a substrate transport mechanism reciprocates on the transport path. Then, the substrate transfer mechanism causes the substrate to be processed to be moved into and out of each unit processing unit, thereby performing a series of surface treatments on each substrate to be processed.

[0004]

However, in such a substrate processing apparatus, since a relatively large number of unit processing units exist and a large number of substrates to be processed must be processed in parallel, one unit processing unit is required. If the substrate to be processed is transferred only by one of the substrate transfer mechanisms, the substrate transfer mechanism may not return to a predetermined position until a predetermined tact time elapses.

For this reason, such an apparatus often uses a plurality of substrate transport mechanisms and employs a zone defense system in which each has a coverage area. However, in such a case, a place and time for transferring the substrate to be processed from one substrate transfer mechanism to another substrate transfer mechanism are required. In addition, there is a problem that time loss is particularly large.

In order to solve such a problem, instead of the zone defense system, an "all range defense system" in which each substrate transfer mechanism can move over the entire range of the processing line may be used. However, when a plurality of substrate transport mechanisms share a straight transport path, one substrate transport mechanism necessarily collides with the rear substrate transport mechanism when trying to return to the initial position. On the road, "full range defensive system"
Is impossible. For this reason, if a transfer path is provided separately for each substrate transfer mechanism, the "all-range defense system" becomes possible, but this causes other problems. In other words, when a plurality of transport paths are provided, they are close to each other, so that when the substrate transport mechanism on the other side returns to the initial position, the arm of the rear substrate transport mechanism must be evacuated to prevent interference. That is, the rear substrate transport mechanism is in a standby state. As a result, the efficiency of operation of the substrate transport mechanism is reduced.

[0007] In addition, when the substrate transport mechanism returns to its initial position every time a series of processes is completed once, the same problem of standby for preventing collision or interference occurs.

Further, when a plurality of transport paths are provided, the substrate transport mechanism is returned in an empty state when the substrate transport mechanism returns, so that the operation efficiency of the substrate transport mechanism is low.

As described above, the conventional apparatus has a problem that much time and space are lost and the operation efficiency of the substrate transfer mechanism is low.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and to prevent or reduce a spatial and time loss for transferring a substrate to be processed, and to improve the efficiency of the substrate transport mechanism. It is a first object of the present invention to provide a substrate transfer device capable of performing a proper operation.

A second object is to appropriately control a substrate transfer mechanism in such a processing apparatus.

[0012]

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention carries out a series of processes on a substrate while transporting the substrate.
It is intended for a substrate processing apparatus for performing processing, which consists of (a) an annular orbit and (b) each one substrate.
A processing sequence in which a plurality of unit processing units are arranged along the annular track for processing, respectively (c) a first holding a substrate
A hand and a second hand, wherein the first hand
Processing in a first unit processing unit of the plurality of unit processing units.
Take out the processed substrate, hold it along the annular track
Move to the second unit processing section and move forward with the second hand.
Take out and hold the processed substrate in the second unit processing section
The first hand held by the first hand
The processed substrate in the unit processing unit is transferred to the second unit processing unit.
While repeating the loading operation, it is circulated on the circular orbit.
A moving substrate transport mechanism.

Further, the present invention provides an annular orbit and a plurality of units.
A processing sequence in which processing units are arranged along the annular orbit;
The substrate to be processed is circulated and moved on a circular orbit while holding the substrate.
Transports the substrate to be processed by the
Substrate transfer for loading and unloading the substrate to be processed into and out of the processing unit
And a control method of a substrate transport mechanism in a substrate processing apparatus having the mechanism. That is, while the drive power is supplied to the substrate transport mechanism by a power supply line,
Provided that the substrate transport mechanism is capable of rotating by turning, the method of the present invention includes the steps of (a) providing the substrate transport mechanism with a revolution corresponding to the circulation on the annular orbit, and a rotation by the rotating. And (b) rotating the substrate transfer mechanism N times (N is a predetermined positive integer) by causing the substrate transfer mechanism to move the substrate into and out of the unit processing unit while performing the above operations. Performing the rotation by returning the substrate transport mechanism to the substrate transport mechanism so that the rotation cumulative angle of the substrate transport mechanism becomes zero.

[0014]

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the substrate transfer mechanism performs the transfer of the substrate to be processed and the transfer of the substrate into and out of the unit processing unit by the two hands while circulating on the circular orbit. No delivery is required. For this reason, space and time loss accompanying the delivery of the substrate to be processed is prevented.

Further, when the substrate transport mechanism returns to the initial position, the period during which the substrate transport mechanism is in the "empty state" is small, and the time loss for returning to the initial position is reduced.

Further, when one substrate transport mechanism returns to the initial position, no collision or interference occurs with another substrate transport mechanism.
Therefore, the operation efficiency of each substrate transport mechanism is high.

Therefore, in the apparatus of the present invention, there is little time and space loss and the operation efficiency of the substrate transfer mechanism is high.

On the other hand, according to the control method of the present invention, the rotation angle of the substrate transport mechanism is returned to zero every time the substrate transport mechanism makes N revolutions, so that the twist of the power supply line to the substrate transport mechanism is prevented. .

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In each of the drawings, the horizontal X and Y directions and the vertical Z direction are defined with plus and minus signs, and the directions in each drawing correspond to each other. doing. When it is not necessary to distinguish between plus and minus directions in each direction, the direction is simply referred to as “X direction”.

[0020]

[1. FIG. 1 is a plan layout view of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is configured as an apparatus for forming a pattern such as an electrode on a surface of the substrate 2 to be processed, using a glass substrate for liquid crystal as a substrate 2 to be processed.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 has a rectangular ring-shaped processing system 10 for performing a series of processing on the substrate 2 to be processed, and a processing system 10 disposed in a space surrounded by the processing system 10 for processing the substrate 2.
And a substrate transfer system 100 for transferring the substrate 2 into and out of each unit processing unit included in the processing system 10. The apparatus 1 also includes a controller CT that controls each unit processing unit, a substrate transport mechanism described below, and the like.

The substrate transfer system 100 has two substrate transfer robots (substrate transfer mechanisms) 150a and 150b circulating on a substantially rectangular horizontal annular orbit 110. In the following, these two substrate transfer robots 1
When any one of 50a and 150b is indicated without distinction, it is referred to as "substrate transfer robot 150".

On the other hand, the processing system 10 includes a substrate loading station 11. In the substrate loading station 11, the substrate 2 to be processed after the pure water rinsing process is loaded into the cassette 3.
It is housed and brought in. Then, the substrate transport robot 150 takes out the substrate 2 to be processed from the cassette 3 and transfers it to the first processing unit 12 one by one.

The first processing unit 12 has a detailed configuration described later, and performs a series of processing before exposure on the substrate 2 to be processed. Although the details of the processing will be described later, at the time when the processing is completed, a resist film is formed on the surface of the substrate 2 to be processed.

The substrate to be processed 2 which has completed the processing in the first processing section 12 is sent to the buffer 13 by the substrate transfer robot 150. An exposure device (stepper) 15 is adjacent to the buffer 13.

In the buffer 13, the substrate transfer robot 150
Transfer the substrates 2 to be exposed to the exposing machine 15 one by one. The exposure device 15 performs exposure transfer of a pattern to a resist film using a predetermined mask. The substrate 2 to which the exposure has been completed is returned to the buffer 13 and further sent to the additional exposure unit 16 by the substrate transfer robot 150. Additional exposure unit 1
Numeral 6 is provided with an edge exposure machine and a character printing machine for the substrate 2 to be processed, and performs edge exposure on the resist of the substrate 2 and printing of characters. After completing these processes, the substrate to be processed 2 is sent to the second processing unit 17 by the substrate transfer robot 150.

Although the detailed configuration of the second processing unit 17 will be described later,
When the processing in the second processing unit 17 is completed, the substrate 2 to be processed is in a state where the development of the resist has been completed. The substrate to be processed 2 is transferred one by one to the unloading station 18 by the substrate transfer robot 150 and stored in the cassette 3 placed thereon.

The cassette 3 accommodating the processed substrate 2 after the processing is carried out from the carry-out station 18 to the next step.

The substrate transfer robots 150a and 150b circulate counterclockwise in FIG. 1. When one substrate transfer robot 150a starts from the loading station 11 and returns to the unloading station 18, the substrate transfer robot 150a moves forward. Is moved counterclockwise without returning, and returns to the loading station 11. Then, the next substrate to be processed 2 is received. The same applies to the other substrate transfer robot 150b.

[0030] Therefore, unlike the conventional zone defense method, there is no need for a place or time for transferring the substrate to be processed between the substrate transport mechanisms, and spatial and temporal losses are prevented.

Further, after a series of transfer processing is completed, the substrate transfer mechanism does not need to return to the initial position on the outward path, and the time loss for such return can be reduced.

The two substrate transfer robots 150a, 150a,
Since the positional relationship of 150b depends on the arrangement and order of substrate processing in each part, it is not always constant, but on average, the circulating phases are different by approximately 180 °. Therefore, these two substrate transfer robots 1
The substrates 50a and 150b can independently transfer the substrate 2 without interfering with each other.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 further includes a power supply panel 120 for supplying electric power to the substrate transfer robots 150a and 150b, and the driving power of the power supply panels is supplied through power supply lines 121a and 121b extending from the power supply panel 120. Have received.

A passage 19 is formed at the boundary between the carry-in station 11 and the carry-out station 18 to access the transport system 100 from outside for maintenance of the transport system 100.

[0035]

[2. FIG. 2 is a conceptual elevation view showing the arrangement of unit processing units in the first processing unit 12. First
The processing unit 12 has a multi-stage configuration in which a plurality of unit processing units are arranged in multiple stages. In the first stage portion 12a, a spin scrubber SS, a spin coater SC, an edge and a back rinse portion ER are arranged in the X direction.

On the other hand, a second step portion 12b is provided on the first step portion 12a. The second step portion 12b has a two-layer structure, and the first layer has an X-direction arrangement of hot plates (oven) HP1, HP4 to HP5, and cool plates (cooling plates) CP1 to CP3. The second layer is a hot plate HP2, HP3, HP6.
have. The corresponding first and second layers (for example, the cool plate CP1 and the hot plate HP3) are vertically stacked.

Each of the processing units SS, SC, ER,
HP1 to HP6, CP1 to CP3 are the first processing unit 12
And corresponds to the definitive "unit processing unit", they constitute a "processing sequence" multi-stage as a whole.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual elevation view of the second processing unit 17. Also in the second processing unit 17, a plurality of unit processing units are arranged in two stages and three layers, and the first stage part 17a has a one-dimensional X-direction arrangement of two spin developers SD1 and SD2.

The processing section of the second step portion 17b has a two-layer structure, and the first layer is provided with a one-dimensional array of hot plates HP7 to HP9 and a cool plate CP4.

In the second processing unit 17, each of the processing units SD1, SD2, HP7 to HP10, and CP4 corresponds to a "unit processing unit", and they constitute a multi-stage "processing sequence" as a whole. I have.

The substrate loading / unloading ports of the processing units 12 and 17 are opposed to the transfer system 100 shown in FIG. Also, when attention is paid to one of the substrate, details of processing contents in each processing unit 12 and 17 are shown in Table 1, the direction from the top to the bottom of the Table 1 corresponds to the processing sequence.

The hot plate HP10 may be used instead of the hot plate HP9. The spin developers SD1 and SD2 are used alternately to process odd-numbered and even-numbered substrates, respectively.

[0043]

[Table 1]

As can be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and Table 1,
In this embodiment, the substrate transfer robot 150 must not only circulate in a counterclockwise direction along the annular orbit 110 of FIG. 1 but also reciprocate locally. For example, referring to FIG. 2 and Table 1, after the processing on the hot plate HP5 in FIG. 2, the substrate transfer robot 150 moves in the (-X) direction to move the hot plate HP5.
6, the substrate to be processed needs to be transferred, and then moved in the (+ X) direction to the cool plate CP3.

As can be seen from FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in order to transfer the substrate to be processed between each stage and between each layer in each processing section, the substrate transfer hand of the substrate transfer robot 150 has a Z It is also necessary to move in the direction.

For this reason, the substrate transfer robot 150 can not only circulate counterclockwise in the horizontal plane along the circular orbit 110, but also temporarily return clockwise on the circular orbit 110. The substrate holding hand of the substrate transfer robot 150 has a degree of freedom of translational movement in two directions of YZ for taking in and out of each unit processing part. In addition, rotation by turning around the Z axis is also possible.

[0047] For preferred example in the mechanism for achieving such freedom of movement is described in the following sections.

[0048]

[3. Details of substrate transfer system]

[0049]

[3-1. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the mechanism of the substrate transfer robot 150 using robot joint symbols. However, the direction symbols (+ X), (-X), (+ Y), and (-Y) in the horizontal plane in FIG. 4 are shown when the substrate transfer robot 150 is at the position of 150a in FIG. The direction in the horizontal plane changes depending on the position of the substrate transfer robot 150 on the annular orbit 110.

In FIG. 4, a base 151 movable on the annular track 110 is mounted on the annular track 110. The base 151 is provided with a turning part 151R that can make a θ turn about the Z axis. In addition, the turning part 151R
Is connected to a vertical arm mechanism 152. These vertical arm mechanisms 152 are so-called SCARA robot mechanisms.
53 can be translated in the Z direction while keeping the horizontal attitude unchanged.

[0051] the position 155 in the housing 153, Y
A horizontal arm mechanism 154 that can bend and extend in the direction is connected. A hand 156a is connected to the distal end of the horizontal arm mechanism 154, and the hand 156a can place and hold the target substrate 2 thereon.

[0052] horizontal arm mechanism 154 have also been the so-called SCARA robot mechanism, by which it is bent and stretched, it is possible to translate the hand 156 a left Y-direction in the horizontal position unchanged.

In the substrate transfer robot 150, a similar hand 156b is provided in addition to the hand 156a, and they can operate independently.

With the above configuration,
The substrate transfer robot 150 is a robot mechanism having a degree of freedom of translation in three directions of XYZ and a degree of freedom of θ rotation about the Z axis.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the loading and unloading of a substrate to be processed into and out of the unit processing unit by the substrate transfer robot 150. As an example, the processing target substrate 2a has been processed in the unit processing unit PP, and the processing target substrate 2a is processed in the unit processing unit P.
The process of taking out a new substrate 2b to be processed into the unit processing unit PP while taking it out of P will be described.

First, the substrate 2b to be processed is held by the second hand 156b and stored in the housing 153 (FIG. 5A). Next, the first hand 156a is extended using the horizontal arm mechanism, and the substrate 2a to be processed is taken out of the unit processing section PP (FIG. 5B). This first hand 156a
By translating the horizontal arm mechanism in the opposite direction,
It is accommodated in the housing 153 together with the substrate 2a to be processed (FIG. 5C).

Meanwhile, the target substrate 2b held by the second hand 15 6 b, the second hand 156b is translated toward the unit processor PP by extending outside of the housing 153 (FIG. 5 (c )). And the second hand 15
6b is transferred to the unit processing section PP, and the second
The hand 156b comes out of the unit processing section PP to complete the process of exchanging the substrates 2a and 2b (FIG. 5 (d)).

The above is the principle of the process of exchanging a substrate to be processed using the substrate transfer robot 150.

[0059]

[3-2. Power supply system Each part of the substrate transfer robot 150 is driven by a motor. Therefore, power must be supplied to the substrate transfer robot 150 from an external power supply line. It is also necessary to supply a control signal to the substrate transfer robot 150. In the case where only one substrate transfer robot 150 is provided, such power supply does not cause any particular problem. However, as in this embodiment, two substrate transfer robots 150 are used.
a, 150b, each feed line 1
21a, 121b mutual fault only with problems.

That is, if one power supply panel is arranged on the floor in the center of FIG. 1 and power is supplied from the power supply panel to each of the power supply lines 121a and 121b, the substrate transfer robot 150a, 150b is circular orbit 1
With the repeating circulation along the 10, feed line 121a as shown in FIG. 6, 121 b mutually entangled occurs. Although the effect is small when the circulation is performed once, the entanglement increases as the circulation is repeated, and eventually, the operation of the substrate transfer robot 150 may be hindered, or the power supply line may be damaged.

Therefore, the following measures are taken in the device 1 of this embodiment. That is, in FIG. 7, which is a conceptual side view as viewed in the (+ X) direction of FIG. 1, the power supply panel 120a for the first substrate transfer robot 150a is provided on the ceiling surface T, while the second substrate Transfer robot 15
The power supply panel 120b for 0b is provided on the floor F.

Primary power supply lines 122a, 12 from an external power supply
2b, the primary power supply line 122a for the first substrate transfer robot 150a is connected to the power supply panel 120 from the ceiling surface T side.
a, and a secondary power supply line 121a extending therefrom extends from the ceiling side to the first substrate transfer robot 150a. The primary power supply line 122b for the second substrate transfer robot 150b extends from the floor F to the power supply panel 120b,
A secondary power supply line 121b extending therefrom extends to the second substrate transfer robot 150b.

As described above, by taking one of the power supply paths from the upper side and the other from the lower side, even if the two substrate transport robots 150a and 150b repeatedly circulate, the entanglement of the power supply lines 121a and 121b is prevented. can do.

In order to prevent the horizontal portion of the power supply line 121a from falling, the power supply panel 12
The part coming out of Oa and the subsequent horizontal part may be housed in a swivelable L-shaped pipe.

When power is supplied in such a manner, a substrate transfer robot that can be provided on one annular track 110 is
Two units are the limit as in this embodiment. If three substrate transfer robots are provided on one annular track 110, it is impossible to provide a power supply path for the third substrate transfer robot without entanglement with another power supply path. Therefore, as in this embodiment, one annular orbit 1
It is not a mere design choice to arrange two substrate transfer robots on top of 10 and divide the power supply paths to them upward and downward, so that the arrangement has a special meaning.

On the other hand, in the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, the length in the X direction in FIG. 1 is generally longer than the length in the Y direction. For this reason, the annular track 110 is often not a square but a rectangle. Therefore,
The power supply lines 121a, 1a are adjusted to the length of the short side of the rectangle.
When the length of 21b is determined, the substrate transfer robot 150
Feeders 121a, 121b
Runs out of length. Conversely, the feed lines 121a, 121
When b is adjusted to the length of the long side of the annular orbit 110, when the substrate transport robot 150 comes near, for example, the center of the first processing unit 12 in FIG. 1, the power supply line 121a (121b) is too long, and It is easy for slack to occur.

Therefore, this embodiment employs the following method. That is, in FIG. 8, which is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view as viewed from the (+ Y) direction in FIG. 1, a caterpillar power supply guide (hereinafter, “caterpillar”) 123a is provided in the upper power supply panel 120a. A primary power supply line 122a from the outside enters from an end of this caterpillar 123a,
It passes through this caterpillar 123a. Caterpillar 123
The other end of a is connected to a feed tube 124a, and the secondary feed line 12 electrically connected to the primary feed line 122a.
1a is connected to the substrate transfer robot 15 of FIG.
0a. In FIG. 1, the substrate transfer robot 1
8, the first substrate transfer robot 150a is located on the buffer 13 side, and the second substrate transfer robot 150 is facing the processing units 12 and 17.
The directions of the power supply lines 121a and 121b are drawn assuming that the point b is located on the loading station 11 side.

The bottom surface 1 of the housing of the power supply panel 120a
25a is provided with a slit in the X direction.
4a is movable in the X direction along the slit.
Therefore, for example, when the substrate transfer robot 150a moves rightward in FIG. 8, the power supply line 121a is also pulled rightward,
As the feed pipe 124a moves to the right, the bending position of the caterpillar 123a shifts to the right as indicated by the imaginary line I. The reverse is true when the substrate transfer robot 150a moves to the left in FIG.

By doing so, the power supply line 12
The power supply line 121a can be routed with the circulating movement of the substrate transfer robot 150a without causing slack or insufficient wire length in 1a.

Similarly, in the power supply panel 120b for the substrate transfer robot 150b, the caterpillar 123b
And the power supply tube 124b,
The connection between the secondary power supply line 122b and the secondary power supply line 121b is achieved. In this case, a slit in the X direction is cut in the ceiling surface 125b of the housing of the power supply panel 120b.

[0071]

[3-3. Rotation control of the substrate transfer robot In this manner, the feed line 12 is formed by the circulating movement of the two substrate transfer robots.
Although the problem of entanglement between 1a and 121b is solved,
Apart from this, there is a problem of twisting of each of the power supply lines 121a and 121b. That is, since the substrate transfer robot 150 has to move the substrate to be processed in and out of each unit processing unit, the hand moves in the (-Y) direction when facing the first processing unit 12 in FIG. It is a posture that is suitable. Further, when the hand is facing the second processing unit 17, the hand is oriented in the (+ Y) direction. Similarly, at the position of the buffer 13, the (+ X) direction, the stations 11, 18
The position is in the (-X) direction.

For this reason, the hand always faces the outside of the annular orbit 110 when the substrate is taken in or out or transferred. Therefore, if the hand always faces the outside of the annular orbit 110, the operation of the hand is efficient, and this is the simplest method.

However, in this case, while the substrate transfer robot 150 makes one round along the circular orbit 110,
The substrate transfer robot 150 will rotate once around its own vertical central axis. Then, the power supply line 121a
(121b) is twisted around its own axis as shown in FIG.

Such a twist is not problematic for about one round, but when the substrate transfer robot 150 repeats circulation, the twists are accumulated and hinders the operation of the substrate transfer robot 150 and disconnection of the power supply lines 121a (121b). Cause problems.

Therefore, in this embodiment, every time the substrate transfer robot 150 makes one revolution (revolution) on the annular orbit 110, the substrate transfer robot 150 rotates in the reverse direction, and control is performed so that the rotation cumulative angle becomes zero. Here, the “rotation accumulated angle” refers to the sum of the rotation angles from a predetermined initial direction. For example, in the example of FIG. 10, when the robot rotates counterclockwise from the initial direction PO by the angle θa and then rotates clockwise by the angle θb, the rotation cumulative angle θ becomes θ
= (Θa−θb).

There are various specific methods for compensating the accumulated rotation angle, and FIG. 11 shows a preferred example. FIG. 11 is a plan view of a rectangle corresponding to the boundary between the processing system 10 and the transport system 100 in FIG. 1 corresponding to the arrangement relationship in FIG. Therefore, the reference position C0 in FIG. 11 corresponds to a position facing the loading station 11, and the corner C1 corresponds to a corner at the boundary between the loading station 11 and the first processing unit 12. Other corners C2 to C
4 is the same.

At the initial position C0, the rotation cumulative angle θ is zero. Then, at the first corner C1, the substrate transfer robot 150 rotates counterclockwise by θ1 = 90 °. At this time, the rotation cumulative angle θ is θ = 90 °.

When a substrate to be processed is taken in and out of each unit processing unit, the substrate transfer robot 150 once turns in a direction toward the unit processing unit, but returns to the traveling direction when the transfer is resumed thereafter. Therefore, FIG.
For example, before and after the substrate to be processed is inserted into and removed from each unit processing unit, for example, a clockwise rotation angle of 90 ° and a counterclockwise rotation angle of 90 ° are paired, and the rotation accumulated angle θ The increment Δθ is Δθ = 90 ° −90 ° = 0 °. For this reason, when the substrate to be processed is put into or taken out of the unit processing section, the contribution to the rotation cumulative angle may be ignored.

For this reason, what must be considered next is the counterclockwise angle θ2 = 9 at the second corner C2.
The rotation is 0 °. When this is completed, the rotation cumulative angle θ becomes
θ = 90 ° + 90 ° = 180 °.

Similarly, since the rotation of the third corner C3 at the counterclockwise angle θ3 = 90 ° is further added, when the substrate transfer robot 150 reaches the fourth corner C4, the rotation rotation accumulated angle θ becomes , Θ = 180 ° + 90 °
= 270 °.

At the fourth corner C4, if the substrate transfer robot 150 rotates 90 ° counterclockwise,
Although the orientation direction of the substrate transport robot 150 is the same as the orientation direction at the initial position C0, the twist of the power supply line 121a occurs as described above. For this reason, in the control in this embodiment, the substrate transfer robot 150 is rotated clockwise at the fourth corner C4 by 270 °, that is, θ4 = −.
It causes the rotation of 270 °. Then, the rotation cumulative angle θ is
θ = 270 ° −270 ° = 0 °, and returns to the rotation angle initial value at the initial position C0. During this return rotation, 3
The feeder line 121a (121b) twisted by / 4 rotation returns to the original position.

Since the initial position C0 is completely in the same state as the initial state, the same rotation control is performed thereafter, so that the substrate transfer robot 150 can rotate the circulation path 110 no matter how many times, so that the cumulative rotation angle can be obtained. θ returns to zero every round, and the twisting of the power supply lines 121a and 121b is prevented.

FIG. 12 shows another example of the rotation control having such a purpose. In the example of FIG. 12, the process up to the third corner C3 is the same as that of FIG. 11, but the rotation angle θ3 at the third corner C3 is set to zero. Therefore, the third
Is 180 degrees when the vehicle passes the corner C3.
°.

The rotation cumulative angle θ is 180 ° even at the fourth corner C4, and the substrate transfer robot 150 is rotated clockwise at the fourth corner C4 by 18 degrees.
It rotates by 0 °, that is, θ4 = -180 °. Then, the rotation cumulative angle θ is θ = 180 ° −180 ° = 0 °
And returns to the initial rotation angle value at the initial position C0.
At the time of this return rotation, the feeder line 1 that has been twisted by half a turn
21a (121b) returns to the original state.

Such compensation of the rotation cumulative angle θ is not limited to the above two examples, but can be realized in various modes. As long as the rotation cumulative angle θ returns to zero at the initial position C0, the rotation may be performed at any position on the annular orbit 110. FIG.
3 is a graph showing an example of the state of the return rotation, and it is essential to return to 0 ° as shown by the solid line without reaching 360 ° at the initial position C0 as shown by the broken line.

[0086]

[4. FIG. 14 is a plan view showing another embodiment. In the substrate processing apparatus 1a, an annular track 110 is provided so as to surround the outside of the first and second processing units 12 and 17. Correspondingly, these processing units 12, 17
Are respectively (−Y)
Direction, the (+ Y) direction. Such an arrangement has the advantage that access for maintenance of the transport system is possible without providing a passage corresponding to the passage 19 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15 as a side view, of the power supply device 120 in the case of the device 1a, the power supply device 120b for the substrate transfer robot 150b is supported at a relatively high position from the floor side. This is because the power supply line 121b needs to pass over the processing units 12 and 17.

In order to prevent the horizontal portions of the feed lines 121a and 121b from falling, the feed lines 121a and 121b
Of these, the portion that has come out of the power supply panel 120 and the horizontal portion thereafter may be housed in a swivelable L-shaped pipe.

The remaining configuration and operation are the same as those of the device 1 of FIG. Return rotation can also be performed at any position.

[0090]

[5. Modifications and Supplement] (1) There may be a plurality of circular orbits. In this case, FIG.
They can be arranged parallel to one another, as in 6. In this case, the substrate transfer robot 150a runs on the outer annular trajectory 110a, and the substrate transfer robot 150b runs on the inner annular trajectory 110b. Also, so that the substrate transfer robot 150b can also access each unit processing unit,
The length of the arm or the like is changed between the substrate transfer robots 150a and 150b.

In the case of FIG. 16, the substrate transfer robot 1
Since the 50a can pass or overtake the substrate transfer robot 150b, the operation flexibility of each of the substrate transfer robots 150a and 150b is high.

(2) A plurality of circular orbits 110a, 110b and 110c are provided as shown in FIG. 17 shown as a conceptual side view, and a plurality of substrate transfer robots (R1a and R2) are provided on each of the circular orbits 110a, 110b and 110c.
a), (R1b, R2b), (R1c, R2c) may be additionally provided. Also in this case, in order to prevent the power supply lines from being entangled with each other, one annular track 110 is required.
The number of substrate transfer robots that can be attached to a, 110b, or 110c is up to two.

FIG. 17 shows three annular orbits. In general, when an N (N is an integer of 2 or more) annular orbits is provided, the feed line is defined by the following rules (a) to (c). If they are arranged in this manner, it is possible to prevent the power supply lines from being entangled with each other (the numbers in parentheses are reference numerals in the case of the example of FIG. 17).

(A) One of the substrate transfer robots (R2a) attached to the innermost annular orbit (110a) is supplied with electric power from the floor F side (E2a).

(B) i-th from the inside (i = 1, 2,...,
N-1) one of the substrate transfer robots attached to the circular orbit (R1a when i = 1) and (i +
One of the substrate transfer robots (R2b) attached to the (1) th circular orbit is provided with the i-th circular orbit (110
Electric power is supplied through guides (Gab) erected from the floor surface F through between the a) and the (i + 1) -th annular orbit (110b) (E1a, E2b). In FIG. 17, for i = 2, the feeder line E to R1b and R2c
1b and E2c are passed through the guide Gbc.

(C) One of the substrate transfer robots (R1c) attached to the outermost annular orbit (110c) is supplied with electric power from the ceiling T side (E1c).

The guides Gab and Gbc are set up so as not to obstruct the loading and unloading of substrates to be processed into and out of the unit processing sections so as not to hinder the loading and unloading of the substrates.

(3) As shown in FIG.
0a, 110b, and 110c are stacked vertically, and each is 1
One or two substrate transfer robots may be provided (in the illustrated example, three stages are stacked). In this case, of the two substrate transport robots on the circular track on each floor, one feeds power from above and the other feeds power from the floor F1, F2 or F3 side of each floor. The feeder lines on the second and higher floors F2 and F3 are connected to the respective lower circulation paths 110c and 11c.
So as not to pass through the 0b leads to the power supply end. In the illustrated example, these power lines are lifted upward and the ceiling surface T
Through to the power supply side. This means that the power supply line of the substrate transfer robot R2b is temporarily set to the floor surface F2 as indicated by the broken line I.
This is because if the vehicle is lowered right below and passes through the annular orbit 110c, it becomes entangled with the power supply lines of the lowermost substrate transfer robots R1c and R2c.

In the case of vertical stacking or a multi-stage configuration as shown in FIG. 18, care must be taken in supporting the floor surfaces F2 and F3 on the second floor or more. For example, as shown in FIG. 19, when the pillar 502 is erected and supported inside the annular track 110c below each of the second floor portions F2, the supply of the substrate transport robot running on the lowermost annular track 110c is performed. Electric wire is this pillar 5
Get entangled with 02. The same applies to the pillar 503 in the third step portion F3. For this reason, when supporting by the pillar from the floor surface F1 side, it supports from the outer side of the lower annular track 110c. When the uppermost floor F3 is supported from the ceiling, it is supported from the outside of the annular track 110a as indicated by an arrow 523.

Of course, it may be supported from the horizontal direction as shown by the thick arrows 512 and 513, and in this case, the above problem does not occur.

(4) The required number of substrate transport robots 150 can be provided according to the tact time of a series of processes. When a power supply system having no sliding portion is used as in the above embodiment, one or two substrate transfer robots are attached to one annular track to prevent a plurality of power supply lines from being entangled with each other. Desirably, in the case of an apparatus that can supply power by the third rail method or the trolley method, three or more substrate transfer robots can be additionally provided on one annular track. The control signal may be transmitted by wireless communication.

(3) Return rotation to prevent twisting of the feeder line can be generally performed every time the circuit has rotated around the annular orbit N times (N is a positive integer). However, in order to minimize the torsion, it is preferable to perform the return rotation every one rotation (N = 1) as in the above embodiment.

It is conceivable to use a method in which return rotation is performed every half-turn. In this case, even-number return rotation corresponds to "return rotation every one rotation (N = 1)". Is also included in the embodiment of the present invention. The same applies to return rotation every quarter turn.

(4) In the apparatus of the embodiment, even if one substrate transfer robot 150a is removed from the annular track for failure or maintenance, the remaining substrate transfer robot 150b
Can take charge of all transportation. in this case,
Although the throughput is reduced, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the entire apparatus. This is an advantage of not using the zone defense system.

(5) The annular track need not be installed on the floor, and may be of an elevated type. Further, the annular orbit may not be a horizontal orbit.

(6) The present invention is applicable not only to a processing apparatus for a liquid crystal display substrate, but also to a processing apparatus for a semiconductor substrate and other substrates.

[0107]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the substrate transfer mechanism circulates through the circulation path to the two hands.
Therefore, the transfer of the substrate to be processed and the transfer of the substrate to and from the unit processing section are not required, so that the transfer of the substrate to be processed between the substrate transport mechanisms is unnecessary. For this reason, space and time loss accompanying the delivery of the substrate to be processed is prevented.

In addition, when the substrate transport mechanism returns to the initial position, the period during which the substrate transport mechanism is in the “empty state” is short, and the time loss for returning to the initial position is reduced.

Further, even when a plurality of substrate transport mechanisms are provided, no collision or interference with another substrate transport mechanism occurs when one substrate transport mechanism returns to the initial position. Therefore, the operation efficiency of each substrate transport mechanism is high.

Therefore, this device has little time and space loss, and has high operation efficiency of the substrate transfer mechanism.

Further, according to the control method of the present invention, since the rotation angle of the substrate transfer mechanism is returned to zero every time the substrate transfer mechanism makes N revolutions, the twist of the power supply line to the substrate transfer mechanism is prevented. You.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan layout view of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic elevation view of a first processing unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic elevation view of a second processing unit.

FIG. 4 is a mechanism diagram of a substrate transfer robot using a robot symbol.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of loading and unloading of a substrate to be processed by a substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the entanglement of two power supply lines.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a power supply system.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of a power supply system.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a twist of a power supply line.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a cumulative rotation angle of the substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the rotation control of the substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the rotation control of the substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 13 is a graph illustrating rotation control of the substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the device of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a side view showing a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view of support in the arrangement of FIG. 18;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 2 Substrate to be processed 3 Cassette 10 Processing system 11 Carry-in station 12 1st processing part (processing line) 17 2nd processing part (processing line) 18 Unloading station 100 Transport system 110 Horizontal annular track 120, 120a, 120b Power supply Panel 121a, 121b Power supply line 150, 150a, 150b Substrate transfer robot θ Rotational cumulative angle

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ identification code FI H01L 21/68 H01L 21/68 A (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B25J 19/00 B65G 47/07 H01L 21 / 02 H01L 21/68 G02F 1/13 G02F 7/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for transporting a substrate to a series of substrates
A substrate processing apparatus for performing the (a) a cyclic trajectory, and (b) processing each of which is arranged a plurality of unit processing unit for processing one by one substrate along said annular track sequence (C) a first hand and a second hand, each holding a substrate.
And the plurality of units by the first hand.
The substrate processed in the first unit processing unit
Out and hold the second unit processing unit along the annular orbit.
To the second unit processing by the second hand.
Take out and hold the processed substrate in the
The processing in the first unit processing unit held by the first hand
The operation of loading the processed substrate into the second unit processing unit is repeated.
A substrate transport mechanism that circulates and moves on the annular orbit while turning back . 2. An annular orbit, and a plurality of unit processing units, wherein
A processing line arranged along a circular orbit, and the substrate to be processed
Holding and circulating on an annular orbit, thereby
While carrying the processing substrate,
A substrate transfer mechanism for taking in and out the substrate to be processed.
That the in the substrate processing apparatus and a control method for a substrate transport mechanism, the driving power is being supplied by the power supply line to the substrate transfer mechanism, the substrate transfer mechanism is possible rotation by turning the The control method includes the steps of: (a) causing the substrate transfer mechanism to perform the revolution corresponding to the circulation on the annular orbit and the rotation by the rotation, while the substrate transfer mechanism transfers the substrate to the unit processing unit by the substrate transfer mechanism; (B) every time the substrate transport mechanism makes N revolutions (N is a predetermined positive integer) so that the cumulative rotation angle of the substrate transport mechanism becomes zero. A method of controlling the substrate transport mechanism, comprising: returning the transport mechanism to rotate.