JP3028064B2 - Processing condition determining apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining conditions for processing a product of a manufacturing facility, and more particularly, to processing of a manufacturing facility in a next process which is affected by an elapsed time from the end of a previous process operation of the product. The present invention relates to a processing condition determining apparatus and method for determining conditions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a processing condition determining apparatus determines conditions necessary for a manufacturing facility to process a product, and is determined from a type of a product and a process of processing.

[0003] An example of a conventional processing condition determining apparatus is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 04-135206. The processing condition automatic determination device described therein specifies a name of processing condition data to be corrected by a user according to a mode of processing, and a name of input condition data to be used for the correction, and a neutral network according to the specification. Is formed so that optimum processing conditions can be efficiently obtained in a short time.

[0004]

In a conventional processing condition determining apparatus, a conventional processing condition determining apparatus, such as a cleaning time of a wafer in semiconductor manufacturing, has a problem.
If the processing conditions of the next process differ depending on the elapsed time from the end time of the previous process, it is difficult to automatically determine the processing conditions, and there is a problem that the determination of the processing conditions must rely on management of an operator. Further, in the case of a factory of mixed production of other products, the determination of the processing conditions becomes complicated, and there is a risk that the processing conditions are erroneously set.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a processing condition determining apparatus, comprising: an equipment communication means for communicating with a manufacturing equipment; and a product information storage means in which a process and a type of a product are registered in correspondence with a product number. And a product manufacturing history storage unit for registering manufacturing history information of the product corresponding to the product number, and a process condition associated with each process of manufacturing, a type, and an elapsed time from the end time of the previous process. The processing condition storage means to be registered, and the process and type of the product stored in the product information storage means corresponding to the product number given from the manufacturing equipment via the equipment communication means, and the product manufacturing history Using the manufacturing history information stored in the storage means, the processing conditions associated with the process, type, and elapsed time from the end time of the previous process to be processed in the manufacturing equipment are stored in the processing condition storage. A processing condition determination for additionally registering a processing step and an end time according to the processing condition given to the manufacturing equipment via the external communication means, obtained from a stage, to the manufacturing equipment via the external communication means, in the manufacturing history information of the product manufacturing history storage means. Means.

According to the processing condition determination method of the present invention, a process and a type of a product are registered in a product information storage means in correspondence with a product number, and manufacturing history information of the product is manufactured in accordance with the product number. The processing conditions associated with each process, product type, and the elapsed time from the end time of the previous process are registered in the processing condition storage means, and the serial number of the product to be processed is registered. When received from the manufacturing equipment, the process, product type and manufacturing history information corresponding to the serial number are read from the product information storage means and the product manufacturing history storage means, and the process, type and end time of the previous process of the product are read out. The processing conditions linked to the elapsed time from are read from the processing condition storage means and transmitted to the manufacturing equipment, and the processing step and end time of the product are stored in the product history storage means. Characterized in that it additionally registered in the history information.

[0007]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing condition determining apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing performed by the processing condition determining apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a communication unit 1 for communicating with a manufacturing facility (not shown), a processing condition determining unit 2 for determining processing conditions by program control, and outputting a current time. And a storage device 4 for storing information on processing conditions and products. The communication unit 1
It has equipment communication means 11 for receiving the product number transmitted from the manufacturing equipment and transmitting it to the processing condition determination means 21 of the processing condition determination unit 2. The time section 3 has time control means 31 indicating the current time.

[0010] The storage device 4 includes a product information storage unit 41,
It has a product manufacturing history storage unit 42 and a processing condition storage unit 43. In the product information storage unit 41, the process and type of the product are registered in advance in correspondence with the product number assigned to the product for each manufacturing unit (lot). In the product manufacturing history storage unit 42, the process and the processing end time, which are the manufacturing history information of the product, are registered corresponding to the product number. In the processing condition storage unit 43, each process of the product, the type, the elapsed time from the processing end time of the previous process, and the processing conditions associated with the three items are registered. For example, if process A, type A, and elapsed time are 1, the processing condition is 1111;
If the elapsed time is 2, the processing condition is 2222; if the elapsed time is 1, the processing condition is 3333; if the elapsed time is 3, the processing condition is 3333; if the elapsed time is 3, the processing condition is 4444. .

The processing condition determination unit 2 includes a product number transmitted from the equipment communication unit 11, a current time obtained from the time unit 3, product information obtained from the storage device 4, product manufacturing history information, There is a processing condition determining means 21 for determining a processing condition from the condition information.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

When the product arrives at the manufacturing facility, the manufacturing facility communicates with the facility communication means 11 of the communication unit 1, and the facility communication means 11 arrives at the manufacturing facility and acquires the product number of the product to be processed. Then, the obtained information is sent to the processing condition determining means 21 (step A1). Processing condition determining means 21
Searches for product type and process information from the product number obtained in step A1 in the product information storage section 41 of the storage device 4 (steps A2 and A).
3). When the information of the corresponding product is not obtained from the product information storage unit 41, the processing condition determining means 21 transmits the processing impossible to the equipment communication means 11 and
Transmits to the manufacturing facility that processing is not possible (step A1).
2).

On the other hand, when the product type and process information can be retrieved from the product information storage section 41 in step A3,
Next, it is searched whether or not the manufacturing history information of the product is stored in the product manufacturing history storage unit 42 of the storage device 4 (Steps A4 and A5). Product manufacturing history storage unit 4
If the relevant product information cannot be obtained from 2,
The processing condition determining means 21 transmits the processing impossible to the equipment communication means 11, and the equipment communication means 11 transmits the processing impossible to the manufacturing equipment (step A12). On the other hand, step A5
In the case where the manufacturing history information of the product can be retrieved from the product manufacturing history storage unit 42, the current time obtained from the time control unit 31 and the previous process, that is, the last manufacturing time information is used in the manufacturing history information. The elapsed time is calculated from the difference from the end time of the indicated process (step A6).

The kind, process information obtained in step A2,
Based on the history information obtained in step A4 and the elapsed time obtained in step A6, the processing condition storage unit 43 of the storage device 4 is searched, and the process to be performed, the type of product, and the conditions of the elapsed time are found. It is searched whether the processing conditions are stored (steps A7 and A8). If the corresponding processing condition information is not obtained from the processing condition storage unit 43, the processing condition determination unit 21 transmits the processing impossible to the equipment communication unit 11, and the equipment communication unit 11 indicates that the processing is impossible. (Step A12). If the processing conditions can be determined, the processing condition determination means 21 registers the obtained processing conditions in the product information storage unit 41 of the storage device 4 (steps A9 and A10), and the operator or the like registers the product information. Useful to understand.

Finally, the processing condition determining means 21 transmits the processing condition information obtained in step A9 to the equipment communication means 11, and the equipment communication means 11 transmits the processing condition information to the manufacturing equipment (step A11). The manufacturing equipment processes the product according to the processing condition information, and when this process is completed, the process and the end time are additionally registered in the product manufacturing history storage unit 42 as manufacturing history information corresponding to the product number of the product. I do.

[0017]

As described above, the processing condition determining apparatus and method according to the present invention are configured so that the elapsed time from the work end time of the previous process is taken into account in the determining process, and therefore, the cleaning of the semiconductor wafer is performed. Even if the processing conditions are affected by the elapsed time as in the process, the processing for determining the processing conditions can be automated, preventing erroneous selection of the processing conditions by the operator, and reducing the man-hours and management man-hours required for setting the processing conditions. Can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing condition determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process performed by the processing condition determination device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication part 2 Processing condition determination part 3 Time part 4 Storage device 5 Equipment communication means 21 Processing condition determination means 31 Time control means 41 Product information storage part 42 Product manufacturing history storage part 43 Processing condition storage part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An equipment communication means for communicating with a manufacturing equipment; a product information storage means in which a process and a type of a product are registered in correspondence with a product number; Product manufacturing history storage means for registering history information;
Processing condition storage means for registering processing conditions associated with each step of manufacturing, product type, and elapsed time from the end time of the previous step, and corresponding to a product number given from the manufacturing equipment via the equipment communication means The process and type of a product processed by the manufacturing equipment using the process and type of the product stored in the product information storage means and the manufacturing history information stored in the product manufacturing history storage means And a processing condition obtained from the processing condition storage means, which is associated with the elapsed time from the end time of the previous step, and is provided to the manufacturing facility via the external communication means, and the processing condition is provided to the manufacturing equipment. And a processing condition determining means for additionally registering an end time in the manufacturing history information of the product manufacturing history storage means. 2. A process and a kind of a product are registered in the product information storage means in correspondence with the product number, and production history information of the product is registered in the product production history storage means in accordance with the product number. Then, each process of the product, the type and the processing conditions associated with the elapsed time from the end time of the previous process are registered in the processing condition storage means, and when the serial number of the product to be processed is received from the manufacturing equipment, The process, product type, and manufacturing history information corresponding to the serial number are read from the product information storage unit and the product manufacturing history storage unit, and are linked to the process, product type, and the elapsed time from the end time of the previous process of the product. Reading the processed processing conditions from the processing condition storage means and transmitting the processed processing conditions to the manufacturing equipment, and additionally registering a processing step and an end time of the product in the manufacturing history information of the product history storage means. A processing condition determination method characterized by the following.