JP2881483B2 - Substrate transfer arm - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

 "Object of the invention"

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a substrate transfer arm.

[Prior art]

Usually, when transferring a substrate from the indexer containing the LCD substrate into the process chamber via the load lock chamber,
After the substrate is taken out from the indexer by the arm mechanism, the substrate is pre-aligned by the pre-alignment mechanism. Further, the aligned substrate is carried into the process chamber via the load lock chamber by another arm mechanism.

However, the above-described conventional transfer arm has the following problems. That is, an arm for taking out from the carrier and another arm for carrying in to the process chamber are required, and in addition, for pre-positioning in the pre-alignment mechanism after taking out from the indexer, a pre-alignment mechanism and a drive mechanism for driving this are required. Since the transfer arm is required separately from the transfer arm, not only a space for the substrate transfer arm is required, but also the transfer process is unnecessarily complicated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to improve throughput and effectively use space by driving a transfer arm and simultaneously enabling pre-alignment with the transfer arm. "Configuration of the Invention"

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a substrate mounting body is rotatably provided at a distal end portion of an arm mechanism having a plurality of joints, and the substrate mounted on the mounting body is positioned by the rotating action. The substrate transfer arm is configured as described above.

[Action]

Since the substrate transfer arm according to the present invention is configured to position the substrate mounted on the mounting body by the rotating action of the substrate mounting body rotatably provided at the tip of the arm mechanism,
For example, when transferring a substrate by extending and contracting the arm mechanism, the substrate transfer body is rotated, and the substrate is automatically positioned by the substrate mounting body, so that the substrate is transferred to the transfer process without any need for pre-alignment. If it is positioned, it is transported.

【Example】

An embodiment of the substrate transfer arm according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This is an example in which an appropriate LCD substrate 1 housed in an indexer is taken out by a telescopic transfer arm, transferred, and loaded into a process chamber. The transfer arm of this example is a pulley 2 connected to a drive source. The first which stored in the base end
The joint arm 3 and the belt 4 wound around the pulley 2
Connected to a pulley 5 housed at the other end of the first joint arm 3,
The pulley 6, which is interlocked with the pulley 5, is housed in the second joint arm 7, and is provided so as to rotate the second joint arm 7 in conjunction with the turning operation of the pulley 5.
The other end of the belt 8 is wound around an arm pulley 11 housed in an arm portion 10 of the substrate mounting body 9, and the substrate mounting body 9 is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the arm pulley 11. The articulated arm is provided so as to be operable. The substrate mounting body 9 is provided with a mounting portion 12 formed of four O-rings and the like, a substrate locking portion 13 is provided at a tip portion, and a positioning member is provided at a position in the width direction above the substrate mounting body 9. Connect 14
A roller 18 is provided on an interlocking piece 17 provided coaxially with the arm pulley 11 in a long hole 16 formed at the center of the positioning member 14 so as to be able to advance and retreat via
To the positioning member 14 by the rotation of the arm pulley 11.
Is provided so that it can advance and retreat. Further, a pressing portion 19 that presses the X-axis side surface of the substrate 1 at an equal position in the width direction of the positioning member 14 to determine a reference surface of the substrate 1 in the X-axis is provided on the positioning member 14 via a spring 20. Further, the base of the substantially L-shaped pressing piece 21 for pressing the side surface of the substrate 1 in the Y-axis direction to determine the reference surface of the substrate 1 in the Y-axis direction is positioned at one end side of the positioning member 14 via the rotating shaft 22. And the projection 23 provided in the middle of the pressing piece 21 is fitted into the locking hole 24 of the positioning member 14, and the projection 23 One side is pressed by a leaf spring 25 and the pressing piece 21 is advanced by the advancement of the positioning member 14.
Is pressed against the side surface of the substrate 1 to absorb errors in the outer shape of the substrate 1. On the other hand, the other side of the Y axis of the substrate 1 is pressed to
The base of the pressing piece 26 that determines the reference plane on the shaft is mounted 27 on the other end of the substrate mounting body 9. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. When the articulated transfer arm is extended, the arm pulley 11 rotates counterclockwise in FIG.
Is retracted, the pressing piece 21 is opened, so that the LCD substrate 1 stored in the indexer or the like is placed on the substrate placing body 9 and is pulled out by being locked by the substrate locking portion 13 and then pulled out. When the substrate mounting body 9 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 so that the articulated arm expands and contracts, the projections 18 are locked in the elongated holes 16 and the positioning member 14 is advanced in the direction of the substrate 1. Since the leaf spring 25 presses the projection 23,
The pressing piece 21 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 to press the Y-axis reference surface of the substrate 1, and together with the other pressing piece 26, the Y-axis reference surface of the substrate 1 is determined. On the other hand, when the substrate 1 is placed on the substrate placing body 9, the two pressing portions 19 provided on the positioning member 14 press the X-axis side surface of the substrate 1 on the X-axis reference surface of the substrate 1. An X-axis reference plane is determined and positioned. Accordingly, the LCD substrate 1 is taken out by the transport arm, and the substrate 1 is automatically placed on the substrate placing body 9 without performing pre-alignment separately by the expansion and contraction of the arm. Then, the substrate 1 can be transported by the transport arm as it is, and can be carried into the process chamber from the load lock chamber. Note that, in the above embodiment, the example of the transfer of the LCD substrate by the arm mechanism has been described.However, the present invention is not limited to this example. It can be widely applied to semiconductor wafers. [Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are obtained. That is, by driving the transfer arm, it is possible to perform pre-alignment while simultaneously transferring by the transfer arm. Therefore, while improving the throughput,
There are effects such as effective utilization of the transport space.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a substrate transfer arm according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate mounting portion, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional front view of the same, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view of the arm, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the arm in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... board | substrate, 3 ... 1st joint arm 7 ... 2nd joint arm, 9 ... board | substrate mounting body 14 ... positioning member, 19 ... press part 21 ... press piece, 26 ... press piece

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A substrate mounting member rotatably provided at a distal end of an arm mechanism including a plurality of joints; and a positioning member provided on the mounting member for positioning the mounted substrate, A substrate transfer arm, wherein a rotation mechanism of the substrate mounting body and a drive mechanism of the positioning member are connected. 2. The substrate transfer arm according to claim 1, wherein:
An elongated hole is formed in a positioning member provided via a connecting portion above a substrate mounting member rotatably provided by an arm pulley, and a roller is provided on an interlocking piece provided coaxially with the arm pulley. The positioning member is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat by turning the arm pulley while being locked in the hole, and the positioning member is further provided with a pressing portion for pressing the side surface of the X-axis of the substrate to determine the reference surface via a spring. A substrate transfer arm in which pressing pieces for pressing a side surface of the substrate to determine a Y-axis reference surface of the substrate are axially attached to both ends of the substrate mounting body.