JP2958587B2 - Directional transfer device for semiconductor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor direction changing / conveying apparatus, and more particularly, to an air cylinder or the like by rotating a rotary frame holding a semiconductor by a four-joint link mechanism operated by a completely sealed electric motor. It is not necessary to use a hydraulic cylinder to prevent the generation of oil mist and dust, and it is necessary to work in a clean room where the acceleration at the start and stop of the rotation is extremely small and the impact on the semiconductor is extremely reduced. The present invention relates to a semiconductor direction changing transfer device suitable for transferring precision semiconductors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The process of processing a semiconductor wafer, which is an example of a plate-like semiconductor, includes coating a semiconductor wafer having a thickness of about 200 μm to about 10 mm with a photoresist, drying, baking a pattern, developing, etching, and stripping the photoresist. The electronic component is manufactured by performing a number of processes, and performing the process in an automatic processing device.

The transfer of the plate-like semiconductor into and out of the automatic processing apparatus is usually carried out in a state where the plate-like semiconductor is horizontal. However, in recent years, the size of the plate-like semiconductor has increased from 6 inches to 8 inches. Due to the size of the substrate, the horizontal transport causes cracks due to heat during processing, in addition to the bending of the plate-shaped semiconductor due to its own weight, which is a major problem in production.

[0004] A similar problem has occurred in the transportation of a large-sized liquid crystal display device having a side of 40 cm to 60 cm, which has been a major obstacle in the efficient production of large-sized semiconductors. Significant improvement is achieved by holding and transporting the product in a vertical position.

That is, in transporting the plate-shaped semiconductor, the plate-shaped semiconductor is held vertically on a rotating frame, and the rotating frame is disposed on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis, and the shuttle frame is horizontally moved. The plate-like semiconductor is transported by moving the semiconductor in the direction.

Here, in order to ensure good workability of mounting the plate-shaped semiconductor on the rotating frame and to efficiently arrange the automatic processing apparatus for the plate-shaped semiconductor composed of a combination of a large number of devices, the plate-shaped semiconductor is required. It is necessary to rotate the semiconductor by 90 ° together with the rotating frame and deliver it to the next device. Conventionally, the rotation of the plate-shaped semiconductor is performed by a plate-shaped air cylinder or a hydro-air cylinder that operates by converting air pressure into hydraulic pressure. The rotating frame holding the semiconductor was rotated.

However, according to the conventional rotating device, dust contained in oil mist or compressed air is generated from an air cylinder or a hydro air cylinder, and adheres to a plate-like semiconductor being processed, thereby deteriorating the performance of electronic components. There was a disadvantage.

In order to prevent oil mist and dust generated from an air cylinder or a hydro air cylinder, a high-level processing device is required.
There is a drawback that the cost of electronic components increases.

Further, according to the conventional rotating device driven by an air cylinder or a hydro air cylinder, there is a rapid change in movement at the start and stop of the rotation, and large acceleration and impact are applied to the plate-shaped semiconductor. In an extreme case, there is a disadvantage that the thin plate-shaped semiconductor is damaged.

Further, a pipe for supplying a working fluid to the air cylinder or the hydro air cylinder is required. Not only is the pipe work difficult, but the air cylinder or the hydro air cylinder is located at an optimum position by being restricted by the pipe. There is a drawback in that it may not be possible.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, and has as its object to mount a plate-shaped semiconductor by a completely enclosed electric motor. By rotating the rotating frame, it is possible to completely prevent the generation of oil mist and dust, and by this, it is possible to prevent oil mist and dust from adhering to the plate-like semiconductor being processed and to provide high-performance electronic devices. To be able to make parts.

It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the necessity of a piping for supplying a working fluid by the above-mentioned structure, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in design, and to be able to arrange a rotary frame driving mechanism at an optimum position.

Still another object is to transmit the rotation of the completely enclosed electric motor to the rotating frame via a four-bar linkage, and stop the electric motor at the top dead center and the bottom dead center to achieve 180 ° rotation. By intermittently rotating the rotating frame and swinging the rotating frame, the acceleration at the start and stop of the rotation of the rotating frame is extremely reduced, so that the impact given to the plate-shaped semiconductor is extremely reduced. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to rotate a thin plate-shaped semiconductor without any damage.

[0014]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention (claim 1) provides:
A rotating frame for holding the plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is disposed on the shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about the vertical axis of the rotating frame, and the direction is changed by rotating the plate-shaped semiconductor together with the rotating frame. An electric motor fixed to a base and intermittently rotating by 180 °; and a rotation of the electric motor, the semiconductor carrier being configured to transport the plate-like semiconductor by moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction. A crank having one end fixed to a shaft, an operating arm having one end fixed to a rotation center axis of the rotating frame, and another link of the other end of the crank and the other end of the operating arm rotatably connected to the rotating arm; And a four-bar link mechanism comprising:

According to the present invention (claim 2), a rotary frame for holding a plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is disposed on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotary frame. In a semiconductor transport apparatus configured to transport the plate-shaped semiconductor by rotating the semiconductor together with the rotating frame to change the direction thereof and moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction, the semiconductor transport apparatus is fixed to a base and rotated by 180 °. An electric motor that rotates intermittently each time, a crank whose one end is fixed to a rotating shaft of the electric motor, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to a rotation center axis of the rotating frame, and another end of the crank and the other of the operating arm. And a link that rotatably couples one end of the motor with a four-link mechanism. The four-node link mechanism is configured to intermittently rotate the rotary frame and swing the rotary frame to change the direction of the plate-shaped semiconductor.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. With reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, the semiconductor direction changing and conveying device 50 according to the present invention includes an electric motor 35 and a four-node link mechanism 43.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, an overall configuration of a semiconductor processing apparatus 5 using a semiconductor transport apparatus 1 in which a semiconductor direction changing transport apparatus 50 is incorporated will be described.

The semiconductor processing apparatus 5 includes an automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching section 6.
And a manual semiconductor attaching / detaching unit 8 and a number of processing devices such as coating, drying, baking of a pattern, development, etching, and peeling of a photoresist on a semiconductor wafer. The processing chamber 9, the direction change unit 10, the intermediate unit 11, the first lane selection unit 12A, the return duct 13, and the second lane selection unit 12B are connected to each other and combined to form an entire structure. In the double-lane apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the size is about 8 m in width, about 15 m in length, and about 2 m in height.

When the mounting of the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 into the semiconductor processing apparatus 5 is automatically performed, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is
Frame 15 of the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching unit 6 conveyed in the direction
After being mounted vertically on the rotating frame 15
Are transported in the direction of the arrow P, and in the case of manual mounting, they are transported in the direction of the arrow C to the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 8 and mounted vertically on the rotating frame 15.

The plate-shaped semiconductor 14 mounted on the rotating frame 15 of the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching section 6 is operated by operating a semiconductor direction changing / conveying device 50, which will be described in detail later, to rotate the rotating frame 15 by 90 ° in the direction of arrow E. Then, after being transported in the direction of arrow G and transferred to the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching section 8, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 mounted on the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching section 8 also operates the semiconductor direction changing / conveying device 50 in the same manner. Rotating frame 1
5 is rotated 90 ° in the direction of arrow E and carried into the processing chamber 9.

The plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is conveyed in the processing chamber 9 in the direction of arrow H while being coated with a photoresist, dried, baked, developed, etched and processed.
Many processes such as photoresist stripping are automatically performed and processed.

Plate semiconductor 1 processed in processing chamber 9
4 is transferred to the direction changing unit 10 and the direction changing unit 10
Is rotated by 90 ° in the direction of arrow I in the same manner as the rotation in the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching section 6, and is conveyed in the direction of arrow J in the intermediate unit 11 to the first lane selection unit 12.
A is handed over.

In the first lane selection unit 12A, the rotation duct 90 is similarly rotated by 90 degrees in the direction of arrow K,
3 is conveyed in the direction of arrow L and transferred to the second lane selection unit 12B.

The plate-like semiconductor 14 delivered to the second lane selection unit 12B is rotated in the direction of arrow M by operating the semiconductor direction changing / conveying device 50 in the same manner.
And is transferred to the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching unit 6 in the direction.

In the case of automatic processing, the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching section 6
After the rotary frame 15 is similarly rotated in the direction of arrow F, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is transported together with the rotary frame 15 in the direction of arrow Q and taken out in the direction of arrow B.

In the case of manual processing, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 transferred from the second lane selection unit 12B to the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching unit 6 is further transported in the direction of arrow G and then rotated in the direction of arrow F. To be taken out in the direction of arrow D.

The processing chamber 9 and the return duct 13 include:
A clean unit (not shown) is installed, and the processing chamber 9 and the return duct 13 are always kept in a highly clean state to prevent dust and the like from adhering to the plate-shaped semiconductor 14.

The first lane selection unit 12A is provided with a tray take-out support 16 for taking out a tray. A first gate valve 18 is provided between the first lane selection unit 12A and the tray take-out support 16. ,
A second gate valve 19 is mounted between the return duct 13 and the second lane selection unit 12B, and normally closes the first and second gate valves 18 and 19 so that the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 can pass therethrough. Only when this is done, the first and second gate valves 18 and 19 are opened to shut off the processing chamber 9 and the return duct 13 from the outside to keep them clean.

Next, the semiconductor carrier 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The feed screw 2 is for moving the shuttle frame 20 in the horizontal direction, and the feed screw 2 is fixed to the rotating shaft 23 of the servo electric motor 22 fixed to the base 21 in the horizontal direction. .

The feed screw 2 is screwed with a nut 25 fixed to the shuttle frame 20 via a mounting plate 24, and the feed screw 2 is rotated by the servo electric motor 22, whereby the shuttle frame 20 is mounted on the base. Arrow P on 21
Alternatively, it is moved in the Q direction.

The round bar-shaped guide rail 3 is for guiding and sliding the shuttle frame 20, and has a cross-sectional shape in which the lower part is an inverted T-shape as an attachment part 3a and the upper part is a half as an guide part 3b. It has a circular shape,
It is formed in a rod shape having a length of about 1.5 m.

The mounting portion 3 of the round bar-shaped guide rail 3
“a” is fixed to the intermediate frame 21 a of the base 21 by bolts (not shown) in parallel with the feed screw 2.

The sliding member 4 is for sliding the shuttle frame 20 on the round bar-shaped guide rail 3.
A plurality of balls (not shown) are mounted on the contact portion with the round bar-shaped guide rail 3 so as to surround the guide portion 3b of the round bar-shaped guide rail 3, and a plurality of balls (not shown) are mounted on the round bar-shaped guide rail 3. Are smoothly rolled without any backlash, and the sliding body 4 is moved along the round bar-shaped guide rail 3.

The sliding body 4 is fixed to the lower frame 20a of the shuttle frame 20 by bolts (not shown).

The lower frame 20a of the shuttle frame 20
A rotating bearing 30 is fixed to the center of the upper frame 20b and the rotating shaft 3 fixed to the rotating frame 15, respectively.
1 rotatably fits, and holds the rotating frame 15 rotatably about its vertical axis VL.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a semiconductor direction changing and transporting device 50 which is a main part of the present invention will be described. The semiconductor direction changing and transporting device 50 includes an electric motor 35
In the embodiment, the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching unit 6, the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching unit 8, the direction changing unit 10, the first lane selection unit 12A, and the second lane selection unit 12B are the same. A mechanism is provided.

The lower rotating shaft 31 penetrates the rotating bearing 30 and protrudes below the shuttle frame 20 to form an operating arm 32.
Has been fixed.

The operating arm 32 has one end 3 of the coupling link 33.
The other end 33b of the connecting link 33 is rotatably connected to a crank 37 fixed to a rotating shaft 36 of an electric motor 35 fixed to the shuttle frame 20 by a pin 38. Joined to
The operating arm 32, the coupling link 33 and the crank 37 constitute a four-bar linkage 43.

A screw portion 3c for adjusting the length of the connecting link 33 is provided at an intermediate portion of the connecting link 33 so that the rotation angle of the rotating frame 15 can be adjusted.

A shield plate 51 is fixed to the crank 37, and rotates together with the crank 37 to rotate the lower frame 20a.
The electric motor 3 that rotates in the direction of the arrow R by transmitting a signal while shielding the photo sensor 52 fixed to the
5 is stopped at the top dead center and the bottom dead center, intermittently rotated by 180 °, and the rotating frame 15 is rotated by 9 as shown by arrows S and T.
It is configured to swing by 0 °.

A guide roller 39 for holding the semiconductor plate 14 in a vertical state is mounted on the rotating frame 15.

A plurality of photosensors 40 are arranged on the intermediate frame 21a of the base 21 in a straight line in the direction of movement of the shuttle frame 20, and a shielding plate 41 is fixed to the shuttle frame 20. Frame 2
The movement of 0 causes the shielding plate 41 to shield the photosensor 40 and transmit a signal of the current position of the shuttle frame 20.

The present invention is configured as described above,
Hereinafter, the operation will be described. 1 to 6, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is carried in the direction of arrow A, and is held while being vertically held on the rotating frame 15 while being guided by the guide rollers 39.

The electric motor 35 rotates and the crank 37 which has been stopped at the top dead center UDP until that time is rotated in the direction of arrow R and stopped at the bottom dead center LDP.

By the rotation, the four-link mechanism 43 is operated, and the rotating frame 15 is moved through the connecting link 33, the operating arm 32 and the rotating shaft 31 about the vertical axis VL as indicated by an arrow T.
In the direction 90 °.

Next, when the servo electric motor 22 rotates to rotate the feed screw 2, the shuttle frame 20 moves in the direction of the arrow P by the action of the nut 25 screwed to the feed screw 2, and the shuttle frame 20 moves together with the rotary frame 15 in a plate shape. The semiconductor 14 is transported in the direction of arrow P.

When the shuttle frame 20 moves to a predetermined position, the photo sensor 40 sends a signal shielded by the shield plate 41, and the rotation of the servo electric motor 22 is stopped by the operation of a control device (not shown). Thus, the preparation for positioning the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 at a predetermined position and transferring it to the next device is completed.

When the semiconductor plate 14 is carried out, the shuttle frame 20 can be carried in the direction of arrow Q by rotating the servo motor 22 in the opposite direction.

The semiconductor direction changing / conveying device 50 provided in the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching section 8, the direction changing section 10, the first lane selecting unit 12A and the second lane selecting unit 12B.
Is exactly the same as described above, and the plate semiconductors 14 are sequentially operated in accordance with the transport of the plate semiconductors 14 to rotate the plate semiconductors 14 together with the rotating frame 15.

The rotation is configured so as to intermittently rotate by 180 ° from the top dead center UDP to the bottom dead center LDP from the top dead center UDP to the four-node link mechanism 43 or from the bottom dead center LDP to the top dead center UDP. Since the rotation of the rotating frame 15 follows the transition curve of the approximate sine wave, the acceleration is very small at the time of starting and stopping the rotation, and the movement is gradual.
4 performs an ideal turning motion without giving an impact to the motor.

Further, since the shuttle frame 20 is configured to be conveyed by the servo electric motor 22, the thickness of the shuttle frame 20 is reduced.
When transporting the fragile plate-like semiconductor 14 of about 00 μm, the servo electric motor 22 is controlled by slow-up control in which the rotation speed is gradually increased when the motor is started, and slow-down control in which the rotation speed is gradually decreased when the servo motor is stopped. It can be conveyed at any speed optimal for the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 to be formed.

As described above, the rotation of the rotating frame 15 and the transport of the shuttle frame 20 smoothly move on the four-node link mechanism 43 and the round bar-shaped guide rail 3 to move the sliding body 4 driven by the servo electric motor 22. By the action, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 can be smoothly rotated and transported with a very small force.

[0053]

According to the present invention, since the rotary frame on which the plate-shaped semiconductor is mounted is rotated by the completely enclosed electric motor as described above, generation of oil mist and dust can be completely prevented. It is another object of the present invention to manufacture a high-performance electronic component by preventing oil mist and dust from adhering to a plate-like semiconductor being processed.

In addition, since the above configuration eliminates the need for a pipe for supplying a working fluid, the degree of freedom in design can be increased, and the rotating frame drive mechanism can be disposed at an optimum position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a semiconductor processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the semiconductor carrier.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the semiconductor carrier.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the semiconductor carrier.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a semiconductor direction change transport device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a semiconductor direction change transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor conveyance apparatus 14 Plate-shaped semiconductor 15 Rotation frame 20 Shuttle frame 21 Base 31 Rotation center axis 32 Working arm 33 Coupling link 35 Electric motor 36 Electric motor rotation axis 37 Crank 43 Four-node link mechanism 50 Semiconductor direction change conveyance apparatus VL Vertical axis UDP Top dead center LDP Bottom dead center

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A shuttle frame for holding a plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is provided on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotary frame, and the plate-shaped semiconductor is rotated together with the rotary frame. In a semiconductor transfer device configured to transfer the plate-shaped semiconductor by moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction by moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction, an electric motor fixed to a base and intermittently rotated by 180 °, A crank whose one end is fixed to the rotating shaft of the electric motor, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to the rotation center axis of the rotating frame, the other end of the crank, and the other end of the operating arm are rotatable. A semiconductor direction changing and transporting device, comprising: a four-joint link mechanism including a coupling link to be coupled. 2. A shuttle frame for holding a plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is provided on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotary frame, and the plate-shaped semiconductor is rotated together with the rotary frame. In a semiconductor transfer device configured to transfer the plate-shaped semiconductor by moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction by moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction, an electric motor fixed to a base and intermittently rotated by 180 °, A crank whose one end is fixed to the rotating shaft of the electric motor, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to the rotation center axis of the rotating frame, the other end of the crank, and the other end of the operating arm are rotatable. A four-link mechanism comprising a coupling link for coupling, the electric motor is stopped at a top dead center and a bottom dead center, and the electric motor is intermittently rotated by 180 ° to rotate the electric motor. Semiconductor diverting conveying device, characterized in the frame is swung pivot that constitutes the four bar linkage so as to convert the direction of the plate-like semiconductor.