JP3210154B2 - Substrate attitude converter - 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 for changing the orientation of a substrate, and more particularly, to a cassette-less method for mounting a rectangular or square thin plate-like substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a reticle or a photomask. The present invention relates to a substrate wet processing apparatus that performs wet processing by using a substrate at a carry-in position or a carry-out position of a substrate, and relates to a technique of changing a posture between a carry-in / out position and a processing posture.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that a liquid crystal display device is used for displaying an image on a thin home television or a laptop personal computer. Demand for wall-mounted TVs and desktop personal computers is increasing because liquid crystal display devices consume less power, are thinner and take up less space, and accordingly, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices tend to become larger year by year. .

[0003] By the way, in the wet processing technique for these glass substrates (hereinafter, referred to as substrates) and semiconductor wafers (hereinafter, referred to as wafers), a plurality of substrates and the like are accommodated in a carrier cassette for transport and processed collectively. There are a cassette type type and a cassetteless type type which directly holds and processes substrates and the like by a substrate transfer device, and the cassetteless type type has a single-wafer type in which the number of substrates to be held is one. And a batch type of a plurality of sheets.

[0004]

In recent years, in order to increase the cleaning efficiency, prevent contamination of the cleaning liquid and increase the production efficiency, in the case of wafers, a cassette-less batch type wet processing is generally used. On the other hand, in the case of a substrate, on the other hand, it is limited to a batch type using a carrier cassette or a cassetteless type single-wafer type, and a processing method like a wafer has not been adopted.

[0005] That is, in the case of a wafer, its shape and dimensions are currently 8 inches and a circle having a diameter of about 200 mm.
Still easy to hold directly by the substrate transfer device. On the other hand, in the case of a substrate, its shape and dimensions are increasing year by year as described above, and since it is recently a large rectangle of 400 × 500 mm, it is very difficult to chuck and more heavy than a wafer. Therefore, batch-type wet treatment without a cassette has been considered impossible.

[0006] However, in the wet processing using the carrier cassette, the carrier cassette is also increased in size with the increase in the size of the substrate, and during the wet processing through a number of chemical liquid tanks, the chemical liquid is contained in the carrier cassette. Since a large amount of the drug solution was taken out and left behind, the drug solution had to be replenished repeatedly, which was uneconomical.

[0007] Further, if the chemical solution is treated many times for a long time using the carrier cassette, the chemical solution permeates the carrier cassette over time, and this seeps into the pure water for cleaning, and this time. It adversely affects the treatment process, such as contaminating pure water. Further, in order to prevent such an adverse effect, the carrier cassette must be discarded and replaced at a relatively short cycle. However, since the carrier cassette is expensive, the running cost is greatly increased. It was uneconomic.

On the other hand, in the cassetteless type single-wafer processing, a substrate is extracted one by one from a carrier cassette by a loader device, transported in a horizontal state by a rubber belt, and a chemical liquid shower is performed during the processing. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-37016, there is a method in which one substrate is held in an L-shaped or V-shaped substrate holder and the substrate holder is transported by transport means. However, each of them had the following problems.

That is, in the former, contamination occurs due to the contact between the rubber belt and the substrate, so that not only a sufficient wet treatment effect cannot be obtained, but also a substrate having a large flat area is moved horizontally, so that the size of the apparatus is increased. I was invited. In the latter case, as in the case of the carrier cassette described above,
Take out of chemicals by substrate holder, soak of chemicals,
The problem of contamination due to bleeding, or the substrate is L-shaped or V-shaped
Since the substrate is supported by the character-shaped substrate holder, the diagonal line of the substrate is close to a horizontal state, so that the holding jig becomes large and the size of the apparatus is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to support a substrate in a posture in which the surface to be processed of the substrate is vertical and the lower side thereof is slightly inclined from horizontal. In this way, large-sized substrates can be loaded and unloaded in a batch-type wet processing system with a low contamination level and a high production efficiency.
An object of the present invention is to provide a posture changing device for changing the posture between a carry-out posture and a processing posture.

[0011]

In order to achieve this object, an attitude conversion apparatus according to the present invention is arranged such that when a rectangular or square substrate is wet-processed in a cassette-less manner, the substrate transfer processing apparatus moves the substrate adjacent to the substrate. A substrate wet processing apparatus having a processing posture of suspending and supporting both of these two inclined sides with two sides inclined so as to be inclined lower sides, wherein a plurality of the substrates are collectively accommodated in the same posture. A substrate holder, and a rotating unit for rotating the substrate holder so that the substrate accommodated in the substrate holder is in the processing position. The substrate holder is provided for each of the substrates. A chuck unit having a plurality of chuck jaws for opening and closing the front and back of the peripheral portion so as to be openable and closable, and the chuck jaws of the chuck unit are in an open state when the substrate is moved in and out; Both characterized in that it is driven and controlled to be in the closed state during the rotating operation of the substrate holder.

The term "chucking support" as used herein includes a state in which there is a gap enough to allow the substrate to be taken in and out, and the same applies hereinafter in this specification.

[0013]

According to the present invention, when a rectangular or square substrate is subjected to wet processing, the posture is changed so that two adjacent sides of the substrate are inclined lower sides, so that the substrate transfer device can hold the two inclined lower sides. In particular, large-sized rectangular or square substrates can be processed in a cassette-less manner and in a batch manner.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 A substrate wet processing apparatus according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, and this substrate wet processing apparatus is a cassette-less apparatus in which a plurality (20 in this example) of substrates SB, SB,. As shown in FIG. 2, a batch type is performed in a batch manner, and as shown in FIG. 2, a substrate loading section L, a loading side transfer section A, a wet processing section B, an unloading side transfer section C, a substrate unloading section U, a cassette Transport unit D
And the control device E as a main part, and the above-described posture changing device 2 of the present invention
Is arranged. Hereinafter, each component will be sequentially described.

I. Substrate carry-in part L: The substrate carry-in part L is a part where the substrates SB, SB,. The carrier cassette CC with the substrate carried in from the previous process is arrowed by the tact feeding mechanism.
Tact is fed in the direction of (1) at a predetermined interval. At this time, the substrate SB is held in a horizontal state (downward state).

II. Transfer units A and C: The transfer units A and C on the loading side and the unloading side each include a transfer robot 1 and a posture conversion device 2.

The transfer robot 1 has a carrier cassette CC.
Is transferred to the posture changing device 2 of FIG.
As shown in (1), a transfer hand 1a for handling the substrate SB is provided. The transfer hand 1a is provided on the upper side of the robot main body 1b so as to be vertically movable and rotatable via a support shaft 1c, and is linked to a drive source (not shown) inside the robot main body 1b. The distal end of the transfer hand 1a is provided with a suction plate 1d for sucking and chucking the substrate SB, and this suction plate 1d is connected to a negative pressure source such as a vacuum pump (not shown).

The suction plate 1d takes out the substrates SB, SB,... Stored in the carrier cassette CC one by one in a horizontal state, and rotates the substrate SB by a predetermined angle (175 ° in the illustrated example) in the horizontal direction. After that, it is inserted into the posture conversion device 2 in the horizontal holding state and transferred (arrow (2)
reference). In this case, the transfer hand 1a moves one (1) in the vertical direction (upward or downward) every time one substrate SB is transferred.
After raising and lowering by the pitch, the same operation as described above is sequentially repeated, and drive control is performed so that all of the 20 substrates SB, SB,... Are transferred from the carrier cassette CC to the attitude conversion device 2.

The posture conversion device 2 is described in detail with reference to FIGS.
As shown in the figure, a substrate holding portion 2A for housing and holding a substrate SB
And a rotating unit 2B for rotating the substrate holding unit 2A.

The substrate holder 2A accommodates a plurality of the substrates SB in the same posture and is composed of a holder main body 201 and an opening / closing unit 202.
It is attached to the rotating part 2B via the 0, 241 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction.

The holding section main body 201 holds two adjacent sides SBa and SBb of each substrate SB, and has a chuck section (chuck means) 205 on an inner peripheral portion thereof.

The chuck portion 205 is provided for each of the substrates SB.
A plurality of chuck claws M, which chuck the opening / closing opening / closing of the periphery of the edge, ie, the front and back surfaces of the edges of the two sides SBa, SBb.
, And these chuck claws M, M,... Are composed of a fixed-side chuck member 206 and a movable-side chuck member 207 arranged along the inner periphery of the holding portion main body 201.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the fixed-side chuck member 206 is fixedly provided on the inner periphery of the holding portion main body 201 so as to extend in the substrate arrangement direction.
Substrate holding groove M ₁ to the vertical direction, that the substrate array direction,
A plurality are formed with the same substrate arrangement pitch. Each substrate holding groove M ₁ has a side shape as shown in FIG. 7,
The width is set to be wider than the thickness of the substrate SB. In FIG. 7, reference numerals 210 and 211 denote a frame plate and a reinforcing plate, respectively, which constitute the holding portion main body 201, and reference numeral 212 denotes a spacer for attaching the fixed-side chuck member 206.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the movable-side chuck member 207 is adjacent to the fixed-side chuck member 206 on the inner periphery of the holding portion main body 201 and parallel to the fixed-side chuck member 206. It is provided to extend in the substrate arrangement direction. Also, the movable side chuck member 207
Of the well inside the substrate holding groove M ₂ is the vertical direction (substrate arrangement direction), and is multiply formed with the same substrate arrangement pitch. Each substrate holding groove M ₂ has a side shape as shown in FIG. 8, the width dimension similar the substrate holding groove M _1, the substrate S
B is set wider than the thickness dimension of B.

As shown in FIG. 8, a specific mounting structure of the movable chuck member 207 is such that a support 215 is mounted on the frame plate 210 via a mounting spacer 216. The guide rod 217 of the movable chuck member 207 is supported via a linear ball bearing 218 so as to be movable in the vertical direction (substrate arrangement direction).

At the lower end of the support 215, an air cylinder (drive unit) 219 is provided downward.
The piston rod 219a is connected to the lower end of the movable chuck member 207 via a connection bracket 220. The movable chuck member 207 is capable of reciprocating in the vertical direction, that is, the substrate arrangement direction, by the projecting and retracting operation of the piston rod 219a.

In connection with this, the frame plate 2
The position detection sensor 22 as shown in FIG.
The sensing plate 223 of the movable chuck member 207 is detected respectively, and the reciprocating stroke of the movable chuck member 207 (the solid line position and the two-dot chain line position in FIG. 8) is provided. The distance between the air cylinder 219 and the air cylinder 219 is controlled.

The two chuck members 206, 207,...
Are arranged so as to correspond to each other as shown in FIG. 10, and a corresponding set of these two substrate holding grooves M ₁ , M ₂ ,.

[0030] That is, the substrate SB, SB, ... at the time of and out operation, the substrate holding groove M ₂ of the movable chuck member 207 is in stroke raised position (solid line position in FIG. 8).
As a result, as shown in FIG. 10A, the lower surfaces 225 and 226 of the substrate holding grooves M ₁ and M ₂ are both at the same height position, the chuck claws M are in the open state, and the substrate holding grooves M ₁ and M ₂ are open. The periphery of the SB is formed on the lower surfaces 225 and 22 of the substrate holding grooves M ₁ and M ₂ .
6 and is supported. In this case, the fixed-side chuck member 2
Substrate holding groove M ₁ of the bottom surface 227 of the 06 is an inclined surface as shown, as will be described later, functions as a positioning portion of the substrate SB periphery.

On the other hand, at the time of rotating operation of the substrate holding portion 2A, the substrate holding groove M ₂ of the movable chuck member 207 is in stroke lowered position (two-dot chain line position in FIG. 8). Thus, both the substrate holding groove M _1, M _2, ..., as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the upper surface 228 of the substrate holding groove M ₂ is close to the lower surface 225 of the substrate holding groove M _1, The chuck claw M is in the closed state, and the peripheral edge of the substrate SB is chucked and supported at the bottom of the lower surface 225 and the upper surface 228. in this case,
The chucking width at the bottom of the chuck claw M is set so as to support the peripheral edge of the substrate SB in a sandwiched manner or with a small gap, so that the substrate SB can be moved in and out of the chuck claw M.

The supporting surfaces of the chuck claws M, M,... Of these chuck portions 205 are, as shown in FIG.
It has a linear cross-sectional profile that extends obliquely with respect to b). Thereby, these chuck claws M, M,
Are held slightly inclined (in this example, 5 °) with respect to a straight line perpendicular to the rotation axis of the substrate holding portion 2A, that is, a line parallel to the side surface 210a of the frame plate 210. Will be retained.

As a result, as described later, the substrate holding unit 2
A has been changed in posture so that the surface to be processed of the substrate SB is in a vertical state (vertical holding state position) (a two-dot chain line G in FIG. 5).
), And a processing posture in which the two adjacent orthogonal sides SBa and SBb are inclined lower sides is obtained (see FIG. 11).

The opening / closing section 202 holds the other side SBc of the substrate SB so as to be openable, and has an opening / closing chuck member 230 having the same structure as the fixed side chuck member 206.
The opening / closing chuck member 23
0 is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the holding portion main body 201.

The opening / closing chuck member 230 is attached and fixed to the distal ends of a pair of upper and lower holding plates 231 and 231, and the base ends of the two holding plates 231 and 231 are connected via a connecting plate 232 to a pair of slide shafts 233. , 233.

The slide shafts 233, 233
Is guided and supported in the direction of the arrow (9) by a pair of slide guides 234 and 234 fixed to the frame plate 210. In this connection, the connection plate 2
The tip of the fork 32 has a bifurcated shape and is inserted into the recesses 235 and 235 of the frame plate 210 in an intersecting manner, and is allowed to move in the direction of the arrow (9) (FIGS. 4 and 6). reference).

The slide guides 234 and 234
The air cylinder 23 is provided on the frame plate 210 between them.
6 is attached, and its piston rod is connected to the connection plate 232 (not shown).

Then, the opening / closing chuck member 230 is driven by the protruding / retracting operation of the piston rod of the air cylinder 236 (in the direction of the arrow (9)), and the holding body 201 is held.
The other side SBc of each substrate SB held by the chuck portion 205 is held or released. The support surface of the opening / closing chuck member 230 is formed so as to hold each substrate SB in the inclined state, similarly to the support surfaces of the chuck claws M, M,.

The rotating portion 2B is for rotating the substrate holding portion 2A so that the substrates SB, SB,... Accommodated in the substrate holding portion 2A are in the above-described processing posture, and are shown in FIGS. Thus, the rotating shaft 241 for rotating the substrate holding unit 2A,
A drive unit 242 for rotating the rotation shaft 241 and a positioning unit 243 for defining a rotation range of the holding unit 2A are provided as main parts.

The rotating shaft 241 is rotatably supported on a fixedly provided vertical column 245, and the frame plate 210 of the substrate holding section 2A is fixed to the end thereof. Specifically, the vertical column 245 is provided upright on a support base 246 fixed to the apparatus main body, and the rotating shaft 240 rotates on a bearing bracket 247 fixed to the upper end thereof. It is supported as much as possible.

In this connection, a vertical column 248 paired with the vertical column 245 is provided upright on the support base 246, and the upper end of the support shaft 240
Are supported coaxially with the rotation shaft 241. The frame plate 210 is also fixed to the support shaft 240, and both ends 240 and 241 support the substrate holding portion 2A at both ends so as to be rotatable up and down.

The driving section 242 includes a rotation arm 250 and an air cylinder 251 for driving the rotation arm 250. The rotation arm 250 has its base end connected and fixed to the outer end of the rotation shaft 241. At the same time (see FIG. 4), the distal end is connected to the air cylinder 251 via the connecting rod 252.

The base end of the air cylinder 251 is pivotally supported by the vertical column 245 via the mounting bracket 253, and the piston rod 251a is rotatable to the distal end of the rotary arm 250 via the connecting rod 252. The piston rod 251a is protruded and retracted by the pivot arm 250 via the pivot arm 250.
41, and the substrate holding portion 2A is rotated in the vertical direction.

The positioning section 243 includes a horizontal positioning section 255 and a vertical positioning section 256. The horizontal state positioning portion 255 includes horizontal state positioning stoppers 255a and 255a provided on the fixed side, that is, the two vertical columns 245 and 248, and the movable side frame plate 210.
And the stopper members 255b, 255b provided on the substrate holding portion 255a, and these come into contact with each other to define the horizontal holding state position (solid line position in FIG. 5) of the substrate holding portion 2A.

On the other hand, in the same manner as described above, the vertical positioning member 256 also includes vertical positioning stoppers 256a provided on the vertical columns 245 and 248 and a stopper member 256 provided on the frame plate 210.
b and 256b, which come into contact with each other to define the vertical holding state position (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line G in FIG. 5) of the substrate holding portion 2A.

The horizontal positioning stopper 25
Both the 5a and the vertical positioning stopper 256a have a built-in function as a shock absorber.

Thus, in the loading side transfer section A configured as described above, the substrate S which is stored in the carrier cassette CC in a horizontal state (downward state) and is tact-feeded.
Are extracted one by one by the transfer robot 1 and transferred in the same posture into the substrate holding unit 2A of the posture conversion device 2 in the horizontal holding state, as described above.

In this case, the chuck jaws M of the holding section main body 201 are in the open state (see FIG. 10A), and the open / close chuck member 230 of the open / close section 202 is in the closed state (FIG. 4).
See). Therefore, the substrate SB in the horizontal state
In a state where the chuck claw M is bent to some extent by its own weight.
Since the chuck jaws M are in an open state, the substrate SB is not rubbed between the chuck jaws M and the substrate SB between the substrate holding groove M ₁ of the opening / closing chuck member 230 and the chuck jaws M. Inserted smoothly, its three sides SBa,
SBb and SBc are supported on the mounting.

The bottom surface 227 of the substrate holding groove M _{1 in} the fixed-side chuck member 206 and the opening / closing chuck member 230.
Functions as a positioning portion of the periphery of the substrate SB, that is, the three sides SBa, SBb, and SBc, and positions and mounts the substrate SB transferred from the transfer robot 1 at a predetermined position.

Subsequently, the chuck jaws M are closed to chuck the two sides SBa and SBb of the substrate SB (FIG. 1).
0 (b)), the rotation unit 2B of the posture changing device 2 is operated, and the substrate holding unit 2A in the horizontal state is turned 90 ° in the upright direction.
It rotates and stands up. Thereby, the substrates SB, S
B,... Also have their processing surfaces in a vertical state (standing state), and their lower side SBa is slightly inclined from horizontal (in this example, inclined by 5 °), that is, the posture is changed to the above-described processing posture.

Finally, the air cylinder 236 operates,
The opening / closing chuck member 230 of the opening / closing section 202 is provided with the substrates SB, S
B, ... (in the direction of the arrow (9)), and the substrates SB, SB,
.. Means that only the adjacent inclined lower sides SBb and SBa are held by the chuck claws M of the holding section main body 201, and the substrate transfer apparatus 5 of the wet processing section B waits in this processing posture.

On the other hand, in the unloading side transfer section C, the substrates SB, SB,... For which the wet processing step has been completed are transferred by the substrate transfer apparatus 7 into the substrate holding section 2A of the posture changing apparatus 2 in the upright state. Is done. In this case, the opening / closing chuck member 230 of the opening / closing section 202 is separated from the substrates SB, SB,.
Are in the closed state, and the substrates SB, SB. ... is the chuck claw M
The two sides SBa and SBb are inserted from above and are held here.

Subsequently, the air cylinder 236 is operated to close the opening / closing chuck member 230, and after the three sides SBa, SBb, SBc of the substrates SB, SB,... Are held by the chuck pawl M and the opening / closing chuck member 230, The rotation unit 2B is operated, and the substrate holding unit 2A in the upright state is moved 90 ° in the falling direction.
.. Are rotated, and the substrates SB, SB,...

Finally, the air cylinder 219 is operated again to open the chuck claws M, and these substrates SB, SB,... In a horizontal state are taken out one by one by the transfer robot 1 in a manner opposite to the above. As a result, the wafer is transferred in a horizontal state into the cleaned empty cassette CC waiting at the substrate unloading section U. Also in this case, the substrate SB in the horizontal state is pulled out from between the chuck claws M while being bent to some extent by its own weight, but since the chuck claws M are in the open state, the substrate SB is Without being rubbed between the opening and closing chuck member 230, and smoothly withdrawn from between the substrate holding groove M ₁ and the chuck claw M.

The chuck 2 of the substrate holder 2A
As shown in FIG. 11, the reference numeral 05 is arranged at a position which does not interfere with the chucking position of the suspension arms 14, 15 of the substrate transfer devices 5, 7, which will be described later.
Are also set in accordance with the tilt holding angles of the suspension arms 14, 15, and the transfer of the boards SB, SB,... Between the attitude conversion device 2 and the board transfer devices 5, 7 is smooth. Is performed.

III. Wet processing section B: As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wet processing section B is a pair of processing tanks arranged in parallel in two rows in a processing chamber maintained in a highly clean atmosphere. Rows 3 and 4 and substrate transfer devices 5 and 7 are provided, and a substrate transfer device 6 is provided at a connection portion between the two processing tank rows 3 and 4. .., The wet processing path for the substrates SB, SB,... Proceeds from the end on the operator zone O side of the processing tank array 3 on the loading side to the end on the opposite side to the operator zone O, and the operator zone O on the processing tank array 4 on the unloading side. It is configured to proceed from the opposite end to the operator zone O side end.

In the illustrated example, the processing tank row 3 on the loading side includes a plurality of processing tanks (six processing tanks 3a to 3 in the illustrated example).
f), and the substrate transfer device 5 is arranged on the side of the processing tanks 3a to 3f.

Specifically, the processing tank 3a is provided with the substrate transfer device 5
Washing tank of the hanging arms 14 and 15 (described later), the processing tank 3b
Denotes an etching tank for the substrates SB, SB,..., A processing tank 3c
Is a so-called QDR (quick dump rinse) tank, the processing tank 3d is a FINAL (final rinse) tank, and the processing tank 3e is an IPA (isopropyl alcohol) dryer. The processing tank 3f actually belongs to the unloading-side processing step described in detail below, and is filled with a stripping solution for stripping the photoresist film.

The substrate transfer device 5 has a structure in which the substrates SB, SB,... Stored in the posture changing device 2 of the transfer unit A on the loading side are transferred without a cassette.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer apparatus 5 is provided in the inside 8a of the apparatus main body, and the arrangement direction of the processing tanks 3a to 3f (the direction of the arrow (3) in FIG. 2). A transfer table 9 that can be reciprocated in parallel to a support, a support 10 that is provided on the transfer base 9 so as to be able to move up and down, and a support 10
And a horizontal arm 12 extending upward from the support device base 11 to the processing tank.
, And a plurality of substrates SB, SB,... Received from the attitude converting device 2 are processed by the processing tank rows 3a to 3f. Are sequentially immersed in a processing solution in the substrate to process the surfaces of the substrates SB, SB,....

In the structure of each of the processing tanks described above, the processing tanks 3a, 3c and 3d are single tanks made of a material such as vinyl chloride resin, and the processing tanks 3b, 3e and 3f are made of a material such as quartz glass. Overflow tank. A substrate holding table 50 as shown in FIG. 12 is provided at the bottom of each of these tanks, for example, a processing tank 3e which is an overflow tank. The substrate holder 50 includes a base 3e _1, consisting of the fixed on the base 3e ₁ is a pair of substrate holding portion 3e _2, 3e ₃ Prefecture.

The pair of substrate holders 3e ₂ and 3e ₃ are arranged at positions where they do not interfere with the chucking positions (solid line positions in FIG. 12) of the suspension arms 14 and 15 of the substrate transfer device 5, respectively. having a plurality of substrate holding groove M ₃ and M _4.

[0063] One of the substrate holding groove M of the substrate holding portion 3e _2
3 holds one corner of the substrate SB, that is, the intersection between the inclined lower sides SBa and SBb in an inclined state, and each substrate holding groove M ₄ of the other holding portion 3e ₃ defines one side of the substrate SB, that is, the inclined lower side SBa. It is configured to hold.

The inclination holding angles of the substrate holding grooves M ₃ , M ₄ correspond to the relative positions of the substrate holding bars 19, 19,. Is set so as to be held at an angle of about 5 ° from the horizontal.

The specific structure of the substrate suspension device 13 is shown in FIG.
2 to 14, a pair of left and right suspension arms 14,
15 and an arm control unit 16 for controlling the opening and closing of these components as main parts.

One suspension arm 14 includes two arm plates 17, 17, and three substrate holding bars 19, 19, 19 horizontally mounted at the lower end and the center of the arm plates 17, 17. . The other suspension arm 15 is similar to the suspension arm 14 and includes arm plates 20, 20 and a single substrate holding bar 19 provided in a bridge between the arm plates 20, 20. Be prepared.

The arm plate 17 is made of a stainless steel material coated with a fluorine resin and has excellent chemical resistance. As shown in FIG. 13, the substrate holding bar 19 is formed of a fluorine resin or the like, and has an outer cylinder 19b having a plurality of substrate holding grooves 19a, 19a,. And a stainless steel mandrel 19c enclosed in a stainless steel.

The upper ends of the suspension arms 14 and 15 are pivotally connected to the frame 21 connected to the horizontal arm 12 described above, respectively, and are connected to the arm control unit 16. As a result, the suspension arms 14 and 15 are swung with each other to chuck and hold the substrate SB in the closed position in the closed position, and to hold the substrate SB in the extended position.
Release the chucking of B.

The relative positions of the four substrate holding bars 19, 19,... Attached to the two suspension arms 14, 15 are determined when the suspension arms 14, 15 are closed to chuck and hold the substrate SB. The lower side of the substrate SB is set to be suspended in a state of being inclined by about 5 ° from the horizontal.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the control section 16 includes a swing shaft 33 for pivotally supporting the suspension arm 14 or 15 and an air cylinder 26 as a driving means. Two sets are mounted to separately drive the arms 14 and 15.

The swing shaft 33 is connected to the frame 2
1 is rotatably supported via bearings 32, 32. Both ends of the swing shaft 33 are covered with the cover 2.
8 and protrudes to the outside, where the connection block 2
The upper end of the suspension arm 14 or 15 is attached and fixed via 9, 29.

The air cylinder 26 is of a double rod type and is mounted on the frame 21 via a bracket 35. One piston rod 26a of the air cylinder 26 swings via a connecting rod 36. It is connected to a swing lever 34 fixed to the moving shaft 33. A stopper 37 for stopping the other piston rod 26b of the air cylinder 26 is fixed to the frame 21.

Thus, in the substrate suspension device 13 configured as described above, the suspension arms 14, 15 are mutually swung by the air cylinders 26, 26 of the arm control unit 16 to perform the expansion and contraction operations. In the closed position, the substrate SB
Is held in a suspended manner, and the chucking of the board SB is released at the expanded position, so that the board SB,
.. Are transported without a cassette.

The substrate transfer device 6 following the loading-side processing tank row 3 transfers the substrate S from the loading-side processing tank row 3 to the unloading-side processing tank row 4.
B, SB,... Are transferred and processed.
As shown in the figure, it is installed at a portion 8b of the apparatus main body.
The basic structure of the substrate transfer device 6 is substantially the same as that of the above-described substrate transfer device 5, and the substrate suspension device 13 chucks the substrates SB, SB,. It is attached to the column 10 so that the king can be held.

The transfer-side processing tank row 4 includes a plurality of processing tanks, similar to the above-described loading-side processing tank row 3, and a substrate transfer device 7 is disposed on the side of these processing tanks.
In the illustrated example, four processing tanks 4a to 4d and an IPA vapor dryer 4e are provided.

More specifically, the processing tank 4a is a tank containing a stripping solution for performing the same stripping treatment, following the processing tank 3f installed on the loading side, a processing tank 4b is a rinsing tank, and a processing tank 4c.
Is a QDR tank, treatment tank 4d is a FINAL tank, and I
The PA vapor dryer functions as a drying unit for the substrates SB, SB,...

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer device 7 is installed at a portion 8c of the apparatus main body, and has a basic structure substantially similar to that of the substrate transfer device 5 described above. It is configured to perform a transfer process to the attitude conversion device 2.

IV. Substrate unloading section U: The substrate unloading section U is a section for unloading the substrates SB, SB,... To the next step, is disposed on the unloading side of the wet processing section B, and has a tact feeding mechanism (not shown). Prepare. The carrier cassette CC in which the substrates SB, SB,.
The tact is fed by the tact feeding mechanism at predetermined intervals in the direction of arrow (8), and is carried out to the next step.

V. Cassette transport section D: Cassette transport section D
Is a portion for transporting the empty cassette CC from the substrate carry-in portion A to the substrate carry-out portion C, and connects the substrate carry-in portion A and the substrate carry-out portion C. The cassette transport section D has a cassette transport device 30 and a transport path (7).
A cassette washing tank 31 is provided at an intermediate position.

The cassette transfer device 30 is provided in a portion 8d (see FIG. 3) of the device main body so as to be able to reciprocate along the path indicated by the arrow (7), and a pair of chucking arms 30a for chucking the empty cassette CC. , 30a and the like.

VI. Control Device E: The control device E synchronizes the aforementioned tact feeding mechanism (not shown), the transfer robot 1, the attitude conversion device 2, the substrate transfer devices 5, 6, 7 and the cassette transfer device 30 with each other. The controller E performs the following wet processing steps on the substrate S
.. Are carried out automatically from the time when B, SB,.

A. Loading of the substrates SB, SB,...: The substrates SB, SB,.
After being carried into the substrate carrying-in portion L while being housed therein, and being placed at the transfer position by tact feeding along the path indicated by the arrow (1) as described above, the carrier is transferred from the carrier cassette CC by the carrying-in transfer portion A. It is taken out and the posture is changed. Subsequently, the substrate transfer device 5 of the cleaning unit B approaches, and collectively chucks and holds the plurality of substrates SB, SB,.

B. Wet treatment of substrates SB, SB, ...:
The substrates SB, SB,... Held in the substrate transfer device 5 on the loading side in a cassette-less manner are sequentially immersed and transferred to the processing tanks 3a to 3f, and subjected to predetermined wet processing. The processing tank 4 of the unloading side processing tank row 4 by the substrate transfer device 6
a, and this time is held in a cassetteless manner by the substrate transfer device 7, and after immersion and transfer are sequentially repeated in each of the processing tanks 4b to 4e to perform a predetermined wet process,
The sheet is conveyed to the unloading-side transfer section C (see the arrow (5)) and is stored in the posture changing device 2.

C. Conveyance of empty cassette CC: The carrier cassette CC emptied in the loading-side transfer section A is transferred by the cassette conveying device 30 in parallel with the cleaning process of the substrates SB, SB,... Taken out from the carrier cassette CC. ,
After being subjected to the cleaning process in the cassette cleaning tank 31, it is conveyed to the unloading side transfer section C (see arrow (7)).

D. Unloading of the substrates SB, SB,...: Substrates SB, S for which the wet processing steps in both cleaning tank rows 3 and 4 have been completed.
B,... Are not shown in the unloading-side transfer section C after being transferred from the attitude conversion device 2 to the empty cassette CC that has been cleaned by the transfer robot 1 at the same time as the transfer (see arrow (6)). The tact is sent by the tact feeding mechanism along the path indicated by the arrow (8) and is carried out to the next step.

Embodiment 2 This embodiment is shown in FIG. 15 and is a modification of the configuration of the posture changing device 2 of Embodiment 1. This posture changing device 2 includes a substrate holding portion 20A for housing and holding a substrate SB. A first rotating part 20 for vertically rotating the substrate holding part 20A.
B and a second rotating part 20C (not shown) for tilting the substrate holding part 20A in the tilting direction are configured as main parts.

The substrate holding section 20A has the same basic structure as the substrate holding section 2A of the first embodiment, and the rotating section 2B of the first embodiment.
It is attached to the first rotating portion 20B having the same configuration as that described above so as to be rotatable up and down.

In the substrate holding section 20A, the support surface of the chuck claws M, M,... Of the chuck section 205 is, as shown in FIG.
a, the bottom surface 210b) has a linear cross-sectional profile extending parallel to each other. Thereby, each substrate SB held by these chuck claws M, M,... Is held in a state of being in a straight line orthogonal to the rotation axis of the substrate holding portion 20A, that is, in a state of being parallel to the side surface 210a of the frame plate 210.

Although the specific structure of the second rotating portion 20C is not shown, the support base 246 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) for supporting the vertical columns 245 and 248 is provided in a direction in which the substrate SB is inclined, that is, the first direction. In a direction (direction indicated by an arrow (10) in FIG. 6) orthogonal to the rotation direction of the rotating part 20B, the tilting state can be tilted between the vertical holding state position and the tilt holding state position. Linked to the source. Then, the support base 246 is driven by this driving source.
The entire upper device (the first rotating unit 20B and the substrate holding unit 2)
0A) is integrally tilted in the tilting direction (10) of the substrate SB.

When the substrates SB, SB,... Are transferred by the transfer robot 1 into the substrate holding portion 20A of the posture changing device 2 in the horizontal holding state, first, the first rotating portion 20B Operates, and the substrate holding unit 20 in the horizontal holding state is operated.
A is rotated 90 ° in the upright direction to be in a vertical holding state, and the substrates SB, SB,... Also have their processing surfaces in a vertical state (upright state). Subsequently, the second rotating part 20C operates,
The substrate holding unit 20A in the vertical holding state is slightly arrowed (1) together with the first rotating unit 20B in this vertical state.
It is tilted in the 0) direction (5 ° tilt in this example) to enter the tilt holding state. Thus, the substrates SB, SB,...
Ba is converted into a processing posture slightly inclined from horizontal. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The above-described embodiment merely shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various design changes can be made. The objective structure may be another configuration as long as it has the same function as the illustrated example, and the structures of other components constituting the substrate wet processing apparatus are not limited to those of the illustrated example. The structure can be changed to another structure having the same function according to the purpose.

[0092]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
When performing wet processing on a rectangular or square substrate, the posture is changed so that two adjacent sides of the substrate are inclined lower sides, so that the substrate transfer device can hold these two inclined lower sides in a suspended state, With a simple configuration, a large-sized substrate can be processed in a batch manner without using a cassette, thereby realizing a wet process with a low degree of contamination and high production efficiency.

Further, the substrate holding section is provided with chuck means having a plurality of chuck jaws for chucking and supporting the front and rear surfaces of the peripheral portion of each substrate so as to be openable and closable. Since the drive is controlled so as to be in the open state, especially the substrate in the horizontal state is smoothly inserted between the chuck claws with little contact with the chuck claws, thereby minimizing damage to both the substrate and the chuck claws. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating the inside of a substrate wet processing apparatus including a posture conversion apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view showing the inside of the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing the inside of the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a posture changing device in the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the attitude conversion device as viewed from the direction of arrow V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a left side view of the attitude conversion device in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a mounting structure of a fixed-side chuck member of the posture changing device.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a mounting structure of a movable chuck member of the posture changing device.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a relationship between the movable chuck member and a position detection sensor.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the operation of a chuck pawl composed of a fixed chuck member and a movable chuck member;
10A shows an open state, and FIG. 10B shows a closed state.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer operation between the attitude conversion device and the substrate transfer device.

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of a processing tank in the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing, in partial cross section, a substrate suspension device of the substrate transfer device in the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a plan sectional view showing an arm control unit of the substrate hanging device.

FIG. 15 is a plan view illustrating a posture conversion apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

SB substrate SBa, SBb Lower inclined side of substrate M Chuck claw 2 Attitude conversion device 2A Substrate holding unit 2B Rotating unit 5-7 Substrate transfer device 20A Substrate holding unit 20B First rotating unit 20C Second rotating unit 201 Holding Main body 202 Opening / closing section 205 Chuck section (chuck means) 206 Fixed side chuck member 207 Movable side chuck member 219 Air cylinder 230 Opening / closing chuck member 236 Air cylinder 241 Rotating shaft 242 Drive section 243 Positioning section 251 Air cylinder 255 Horizontal state positioning section 256 Vertical positioning part 227 Bottom surface of substrate holding groove of fixed chuck member (positioning part)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI H01L 21/304 651 H01L 21/304 651D // H01L 21/027 H05K 3/26 Z H05K 3/26 H01L 21/30 569D (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68 B65G 49/06 G02F 1/13 101 H01L 21/304 651

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] When performing a wet process on a rectangular or square substrate without using a cassette, a substrate transport processing apparatus includes:
The substrate is provided in a substrate wet processing apparatus which takes a processing posture of suspending and supporting these two inclined two sides in a state where the substrate is inclined so that two adjacent sides thereof are inclined lower sides, wherein the substrate has the same posture. A substrate holding unit for accommodating a plurality of substrates together, and a rotating unit for rotating the substrate holding unit such that the substrate accommodated in the substrate holding unit is in the above-described processing posture. Comprises chuck means having a plurality of chuck claws for opening and closing the peripheral surface of the substrate so as to be openable and closable, and the chuck claws of the chuck means are in an open state at the time of the movement of the substrate, A substrate attitude changing device, wherein the driving is controlled so as to be in a closed state at the time of rotating the substrate holding portion. 2. The substrate holding section holds a main body of a holding section for holding two adjacent sides of each of the substrates, and is openable and closable with respect to the main body of the holding section, and holds the other side of the substrate in an openable manner. The substrate attitude changing device according to claim 1, further comprising an opening / closing unit that performs the operation, wherein at least the chuck unit is provided on the holding unit main body. 3. The fixed chuck, wherein a plurality of substrate holding grooves having a width larger than a thickness of each of the substrates are provided at predetermined intervals in the substrate arrangement direction. A member, and a plurality of substrate holding grooves wider than the thickness dimension of each of the substrates are arranged at predetermined intervals in the substrate arrangement direction, and a movable chuck member provided so as to be able to reciprocate in the substrate arrangement direction, A drive unit for reciprocating the movable chuck member. Each of the chuck claws is constituted by a corresponding set of a substrate holding groove of the fixed chuck member and a substrate holding groove of the movable chuck member. The substrate attitude conversion device according to claim 1. 4. The substrate holding section is supported by the rotating section so as to be rotatable in a vertical direction between a horizontal holding state position and a vertical holding state position, and a chuck claw of the chuck means is provided. The substrate is formed so as to be chucked and supported in a state in which the substrate is slightly inclined with respect to a straight line perpendicular to the rotation axis of the holding means. When the substrate holding portion is in the vertical holding state position, The substrate attitude conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain a processing attitude. 5. The first rotating means for vertically rotating the substrate holding unit between a horizontal holding state position and a vertical holding state position, and rotating the substrate holding unit with the substrate holding unit. A second rotating means for performing a tilting operation between the vertical holding state position and the tilt holding state position in a direction orthogonal to the rotating direction, wherein the substrate holding unit includes the first rotating means. And a chuck claw of the chuck means is formed so as to hold the substrate in a state parallel to a straight line perpendicular to the rotation axis of the holding means. 4. The substrate attitude changing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing attitude of the substrate is obtained when the substrate holding unit is at the tilt holding state position. 6. A positioning part which is inclined so as to position a peripheral edge of a substrate held here when the substrate holding part is in the horizontal holding state position, wherein a bottom surface of the chuck claw is provided. 6. The substrate posture changing device according to 4 or 5.