JP3415782B2 - Wafer transfer device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer,
For example, the present invention relates to a wafer transfer device used when transferring from a carrier to an aligner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a transfer device for transferring a semiconductor wafer from a carrier to an aligner, there is one shown in FIG. In this carrying device, a first horizontal arm 8 is rotatably provided on a main body portion 7, a second horizontal arm 9 is rotatably provided on a tip end portion of the first horizontal arm 8, and further, a second horizontal arm 9 thereof is provided. A vertical arm 10 is rotatably erected at the tip of the holding arm 1 and holds the wafer W on the vertical arm 10.
1 is rotatably provided.

When the wafer W is transferred from the carrier to the aligner, for example, after holding the wafer W in the vertical direction by the holding arm 11, the wafer W is rotated 90 degrees in the horizontal direction and moved forward to be transferred to the aligner. This transfer is achieved by rotating the first horizontal arm 8 and the second horizontal arm 9 on a horizontal plane.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional wafer transfer apparatus, in order to transfer the wafer W, both the first horizontal arm 8 and the second horizontal arm 9 are rotated on a horizontal plane. Therefore, both the first horizontal arm 8 and the second horizontal arm 9 always project laterally from the main body portion 7. Further, when the wafer W is transferred, the first horizontal arm 8 and the second horizontal arm 9 rotate on a horizontal plane, so that the wafer W is not only projected from the main body 7 in the transfer direction but also in the transfer direction. It will also greatly project to other areas. As a result, the horizontal space occupied by the wafer transfer device becomes large, resulting in a waste of space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a wafer transfer apparatus capable of eliminating the waste of space by reducing the space occupied in the horizontal direction.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is mounted on an apparatus main body (1) and is moved up and down by a first motor (2a). A lifting rod (2) that is freely movable, and is attached to the upper end of the lifting rod (2), and a second motor (3
a) A rotary arm (3) which is rotatable in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction on a vertical plane by a), and is attached to the upper end of the rotary arm (3). ) And a joint (4) that always maintains a vertical posture by a link mechanism (4a) connected to
Mounted on the upper end of the wafer, and is rotatable by a third motor (5a) around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotation arm (3). Gripping arm (5) for gripping in this posture, and
A controller (6) which is provided in the device body (1) and controls the first motor (2a), the second motor (3a) and the third motor (5a), and the controller (6) controls the first motor ( 2a) and second motor (3a)
Are rotated in synchronism with each other to synchronize the ascending / descending movement of the ascending / descending rod (2) and the rotation of the rotating arm (3), and the axis (4b) of the lower end of the joint (4) is aligned with the horizontal line (L). ), And the wafer (W) is transferred by the gripping arm (5).

Further, in the wafer transfer apparatus described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, when the control by the controller (6) is to move the gripping arm (5) forward, the first motor ( The second motor (3a) is normally rotated in synchronization with the normal rotation of (2a) to lower the elevating rod (2), and the pivot arm (3) is pivoted in the clockwise direction so as to have a vertical standing posture. Then, in synchronization with the reverse rotation of the first motor (2a), the second motor (3a) is directly rotated as it is to raise the elevating rod (2) and the rotating arm (3) is kept as it is. Rotate clockwise to tilt forward,
When the gripping arm (5) is moved backward, the second motor (3) is synchronized with the forward rotation of the first motor (2a).
a) is reversely rotated to lower the elevating rod (2) and the rotating arm (3) is rotated counterclockwise to a vertical standing posture, and subsequently the first motor (2a) is reversely rotated. In synchronism with this, the second motor (3a) is reversely rotated as it is to raise the elevating rod (2) and
It is characterized in that the rotating arm (3) is rotated counterclockwise as it is to assume a rearward inclined posture.

Symbols in parentheses indicate corresponding elements or corresponding matters described in the drawings and embodiments of the invention described later.

According to the wafer transfer apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the controller causes the controller to rotate the first motor and the second motor in synchronization with each other to move the lifting rod up and down and to rotate the rotating arm on a vertical plane. By rotating the upper part and moving the axis of the lower end of the joint forward and backward along the horizontal line, the wafer is transferred by the gripping arm. That is, the lifting rod is moved up and down in the vertical direction, and the rotating arm is rotated on a vertical plane to move the holding arm forward and backward to transfer the wafer. Therefore, the lifting rod does not protrude laterally (horizontally) from the main body of the apparatus. Further, the rotating arm also projects only in the carrying direction, and does not project in any other direction. Therefore, the space in the horizontal direction is not wasted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the controller causes the controller to rotate the first motor and the second motor in the forward or reverse direction to move the lifting rod. It controls the up-and-down movement of and the rotation of the rotating arm. Therefore, the axial center of the lower end of the joint is reliably moved back and forth along the horizontal line, and the wafer is carried by the gripping arm in parallel with the horizontal line. As a result, wafer transfer is smoothly achieved.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A wafer transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 is a side view showing a state where a wafer W is transferred by a wafer transfer device, and FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the structure of the wafer transfer device in more detail.

The wafer transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is used for transferring a semiconductor wafer W from, for example, a carrier to an aligner. The elevating rod 2 of this wafer transfer apparatus is attached to the apparatus main body 1 and can be moved up and down by the first motor 2a. When the first motor 2a rotates, the belt 2b and the pulley 2c
The screw bolt 2e rotates via the, and the die 2d screwed to the screw bolt 2e moves up and down. As a result, the lifting rod 2 fixed to the die 2d also moves up and down.

The lower end of the rotating arm 3 is attached to the upper end of the elevating rod 2, and the rotating arm 3 can be rotated clockwise and counterclockwise on a vertical plane by a second motor 3a provided at the lower end. It is said that. The rotation angle is set to 60 ° in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction from the vertical line. The joint 4 is a rotating arm 3.
The lower end is attached to the upper end of the, and a normal link mechanism 4a connected to the rotating arm 3 is set to always maintain the vertical posture.

The gripping arm 5 has a base end portion attached to the upper end portion of the joint 4, and is rotatable by a third motor 5a about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotation arm 3. Grip in a vertical posture, a horizontal posture, or a posture in between. The gripping arm 5 has a substantially Y-shape and grips the peripheral edge of the wafer W at two points (forked portions) at the tip and one point at the base. Therefore, as compared with, for example, a transfer device that adsorbs and holds the surface of the wafer W, dirt is not transmitted, and thus it has a characteristic of excellent performance.

The controller 6 (CPU) is the main body 1 of the apparatus.
And controls the first motor 2a, the second motor 3a, and the third motor 5a. The controller 6 causes the first motor 2a and the second motor 3a to rotate in synchronization with each other so that the up-and-down movement of the up-and-down rod 2 and the rotation of the rotating arm 3 are performed in synchronization with each other. As a result, the axial center 4b of the lower end of the joint 4 is moved back and forth along the horizontal line L as shown in FIG. 1, and the wafer W is transferred by the holding arm 5 under such horizontal movement. .

The control by the controller 6 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, after the wafer W is vertically held by the holding arm 5 (see FIG.
(See (a)). In order to move the gripping arm 5 forward, the second motor 3a is normally rotated in synchronization with the normal rotation of the first motor 2a to lower the elevating rod 2 and rotate the rotating arm. Rotate 3 clockwise. As a result, the rotating arm 3 is placed in the vertical standing posture (see FIG. 1).
(B)). During this time, the third motor 5a is rotated by the signal from the controller 6 to rotate the gripping arm 5 by 90 °, and the wafer W is changed from the vertical posture to the horizontal posture.

Continuing on, the second motor 3a is rotated forward as it is in synchronism with the reverse rotation of the first motor 2a, and the lifting rod 2 is raised, while the rotary arm 3 is rotated clockwise. It is turned to a forward tilted posture (FIG. 1 (c)). Then, in response to a signal from the controller 6, the wafer W is detached from the gripping arm 5 and placed on the aligner, and the transfer of the wafer W is completed.

In order to move the gripping arm 5 backward in order to transfer a new wafer W, from the posture shown in FIG. 1C, first, the second motor is synchronized with the forward rotation of the first motor 2a. 3a is reversely rotated to lower the elevating rod 2 and rotate the rotating arm 3 counterclockwise. As a result, the rotating arm 3 is placed in a vertical standing posture (FIG. 1 (b)).

Subsequently, in synchronism with the reverse rotation of the first motor 2a, the second motor 3a is reversely rotated as it is to raise the elevating rod 2 and the rotary arm 3 is counterclockwise as it is. It is rotated in the rotating direction to take a rearwardly inclined posture (FIG. 1 (c)). After that, a predetermined operation is performed to hold the wafer W in the carrier and the above-described operation is performed. The wafer W is continuously transferred by repeating such a series of operations.

[0020]

As described above, according to the wafer transfer apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the lifting / lowering rod is moved up and down in the vertical direction, and the rotating arm is rotated on the vertical plane. The wafer is transferred by moving the arm back and forth. Therefore, the lifting rod does not protrude laterally (horizontally) from the main body of the apparatus. Further, the rotating arm also projects only in the carrying direction, and does not project in any other direction. As a result, it is possible to effectively utilize the limited indoor space without wasting the space in the horizontal direction.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the controller causes the controller to rotate the first motor and the second motor in the forward or reverse direction so as to raise or lower the rod. It controls the up-and-down movement of and the rotation of the rotating arm. Therefore, the axis of the joint is reliably moved back and forth along the horizontal line, and the wafer is carried by the gripping arm in parallel with the horizontal line. As a result, wafer transfer is smoothly achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an operation of a wafer transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a side view showing a state in which a rotating arm is in a rearward inclined posture, and FIG. 1B is a vertical standing state of the rotating arm. FIG. 3C is a side view showing a state in which the rotary arm is in a posture, and FIG.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the wafer transfer device shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a wafer transfer device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 device body 2 Lifting rod 2a first motor 2b belt 2c pulley 2d die 2e screw bolt 3 rotating arm 3a Second motor 4 joints 4a link mechanism 4b axis 5 gripping arm 5a Third motor 6 controller 7 Main body 8 First horizontal arm 9 Second horizontal arm 10 Vertical arm 11 holding arm W wafer L horizontal line

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68 B65G 49/06-49/07 B25J 9/00-11/00 B25J 18/00-18 / 06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An elevating rod which is attached to a main body of the apparatus and which can be moved up and down by a first motor, and a second motor which is attached to an upper end portion of the elevating rod in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction on a vertical plane. And a joint that is attached to the upper end of the rotating arm and that maintains a vertical posture at all times, and an upper end of the joint. And a gripping arm that is rotatable by a third motor around a horizontal axis that is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotation arm and that grips the wafer in a vertical posture, a horizontal posture, or a posture therebetween, and A controller that is provided in the apparatus main body and controls the first motor, the second motor, and the third motor; By rotating the two motors in synchronism with each other, the ascending / descending movement of the ascending / descending rod and the rotation of the oscillating arm are synchronized, and the axial center of the lower end portion of the joint is moved forward / backward along a horizontal line. A wafer transfer device, which is configured to transfer a wafer by means of. 2. The control by the controller is such that, when the gripping arm is moved forward, the second motor is normally rotated in synchronization with the normal rotation of the first motor to lower the lifting rod and rotate it. The arm is rotated clockwise to a vertical standing posture, and subsequently, the second motor is directly rotated in synchronization with the reverse rotation of the first motor to raise the elevating rod and simultaneously rotate the arm. When the moving arm is rotated in the clockwise direction as it is to be in the forward inclined posture, and when the gripping arm is moved backward, the second motor is reversely rotated in synchronization with the forward rotation of the first motor. And lowering the lifting rod,
The rotating arm is rotated counterclockwise to a vertical standing posture, and subsequently, the second motor is directly rotated in reverse in synchronization with the reverse rotation of the first motor to raise the elevating rod. At the same time, the wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating arm is rotated counterclockwise as it is to be in a rearward inclined posture.