JP3463236B2 - Linear motion mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a linear motion mechanism,
In particular, the present invention relates to a linear motion mechanism for moving an object to be processed in a predetermined direction in a vacuum container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Laser annealing is performed by introducing an object to be processed into a vacuum container, creating a vacuum or low-pressure gas atmosphere in the vacuum container, and then applying a laser beam to the object to be processed through a quartz window or the like provided in the vacuum container. It is a technique of irradiating light to anneal an object to be processed. In order to perform such laser annealing over a wide range of the surface of the object to be processed, a means for moving the object to be processed in the vacuum container is essential.

Conventionally, there has been a linear motion mechanism for realizing the movement of the object to be processed as described above. A conventional linear motion mechanism includes a holding table for holding an object to be processed, which is held by two linear guides so as to be movable in one axis direction.
It has a drive shaft whose one end is fixed to a holding table and whose other end is led out of the vacuum container, and a bellows which holds airtightness between the drive shaft and the vacuum container.

In the conventional linear motion mechanism, the holding table can be moved in the direction along the linear guide by driving the drive shaft. That is, the object to be processed held on the holding table can be moved in the direction along the linear guide by moving the holding table. This allows
It is possible to process a wide range of objects.

By the way, in order to perform laser annealing stably, it may be necessary to heat an object to be processed. In order to deal with such a case, a heater is embedded in the holding stand of the conventional linear motion mechanism.

[0006]

However, in the conventional linear motion mechanism, when the holder is heated by using the heater, thermal distortion occurs in the holder and the linear guide, and the durability and reliability of the holder are increased. There is a problem that it has a serious adverse effect on sex.

Further, there is a problem that one or both of the holding table and the linear guide are scraped due to the sliding of the holding table and the linear guide, abrasion dust is generated, and a clean atmosphere cannot be maintained in the vacuum container.

Further, the conventional linear motion mechanism may incorporate a rotation mechanism for rotating the holding table minutely (rotation about an axis parallel to an axis perpendicular to the surface (hereinafter referred to as θ axis) as a rotation axis). However, there is a problem in that the rotation mechanism installed outside the vacuum container cannot realize highly accurate rotation control.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a linear motion mechanism which does not have a linear guide, has a high speed and a high precision, a long life, and is capable of a minute rotation about the θ axis of the holding base with a high precision. .

[0010]

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the problems], together
Two driving rods arranged in parallel and the two driving rods
Drive rods that can be driven independently of each other in their extending direction.
For each of the moving means and the two driving rods,
With a holding table that is rotatably held in a plane parallel to the extending direction
The provided, said drive means, which is the two respective four linear motor provided at the end of the driving rod
A linear motion mechanism characterized by

Also according to the invention, they are arranged parallel to each other.
The two driving rods and the two driving rods
Drive means that can be driven independently of each other in their extending direction;
For each of the two driving rods, in the extending direction
And a holder which is rotatably held in a plane parallel, wherein the holding table is the first holding member of a pair of securing each said holder to rotatably the two driving rod And a pair of second holding members that are respectively fixed to the two driving rods and mount the holding table, and are parallel to the extending direction with respect to each of the two driving rods. A direct-acting machine characterized by being held rotatably in a plane
The structure is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, the two driving rods are arranged so as to penetrate the vacuum container, and the holding table is arranged so as to be located inside the vacuum container. A characteristic linear motion mechanism is obtained.

The airtightness of the vacuum container can be realized by fixing a plate to the end of the driving rod and disposing a bellows between the vacuum container and the plate.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 (a) and 1 (b) show an example in which a linear motion mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a laser processing apparatus. Here, FIG. 1 (a) corresponds to A in FIG. 1 (b).
1 is a sectional view taken along the line A1-A1 and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along the line B1-B1 in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the linear motion mechanism according to the present embodiment penetrates the vacuum container 11 of the laser processing apparatus and positions both ends of the vacuum container 11 outside the vacuum container 11. , Driving rods 12a and 12b arranged in parallel to each other, and four plates 13 fixed to the ends of the driving rods 12a and 12b or near the ends, respectively.
Four linear motors 14 that linearly move each plate 13 in the extending direction of the driving rods 12a and 12b, and are arranged between the outer wall of the vacuum container 11 and each plate 13 to ensure the confidentiality of the vacuum container 11. The bellows 15 are provided.

Of the four linear motors 14, near one end of the driving rods 12a and 12b (right side in FIG. 1).
The two linear motors installed in the
A linear encoder 16 is provided for detecting the positions of 2a and 12b, respectively. The four linear motors 14 are divided into two sets that respectively drive the driving rods 12a and 12b, and can be operated independently of each other.

A holding table 17 for holding an object to be processed is fixed in the vacuum chamber 11 to the two driving rods 12a and 12b. A plurality of pins 18 are projected on the surface of the holding table 17, and a processing object 19 such as a glass plate is placed on these pins 18. A heater 20 is provided inside the holding table 17.

In the above structure, the linear motion mechanism operates such that the four linear motors 14 translate the plates 13 in a normal operation. That is, the four linear motors work together to move the drive rods 12a and 12b in the same direction and by the same amount. As a result, the holding table 17 has the driving rods 12a and 12b.
It is possible to irradiate the surface of the object to be processed with a laser beam that linearly moves in the extending direction of the laser beam and enters from the quartz window 21 over a wide range. Here, since there is no mechanical element in the vacuum container 11 that lowers the degree of cleanliness, such as a sliding portion, high speed, high accuracy, and long life can be realized.

In the cord drive mechanism according to this embodiment, as described above, the drive rods 12a and 12b can be operated independently of each other. Therefore, by devising the method of fixing the holding table 17 to the driving rods 12a and 12b, the holding table 17 can be finely rotated about the axis parallel to the θ axis as the center of rotation. A method of fixing the holding table 17 to the driving rods 12a and 12b will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, holding members 25a and 25b for fixing the holding base 17 are fixed to the driving rods 12a and 12b, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2 (c), the holding member 25a has an upper member 26 and a lower member 27, which sandwich the driving rods 12a and 12b and which are fastened to each other by screws. Drive rod 12
It is fixed to a and 12b. A solid-lubricated ceramic ball 28 is attached to the upper surface of the upper member 26, and the holding table 17 is placed on the ceramic ball 28. That is, the holding member 25a is the driving rod 1
Although it is fixed to 2a and 12b, the holding base 17 is not fixed to the drive rods 12a and 12b.

On the other hand, the holding member 25b has an upper member 29, a lower member 30, and a rotation supporting member 31, as shown in FIG. 2 (d). The upper member 29 and the lower member 30 are similar to the case of the holding member 25a.
They are fastened to each other with screws sandwiching b. And
The lower member 30 is rotatably held by a rotation support member 31 about an axis parallel to the θ axis as a rotation axis.

An enlarged view (partially sectional view) of the holding member 25b is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotation support member 31 is
It has a vacuum bearing 32 and holds a rotating shaft 33 fixed to the lower member 30. As a result, the upper member 29 and the lower member 30 of the holding member 25b are rotatable about the θ axis.

As described above, the holding members 25a and 25b
When the holding table 17 is held by using, and the two sets of linear motors are driven in opposite directions (or only one set), the holding table 17 slightly rotates with the axis parallel to the θ axis as the rotation axis. . In this case, the rotation angle of the holding table 17 is obtained by detecting the position of each drive rod using a linear encoder attached to the linear motor.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the driving means is provided on the two driving rods, and the supporting bases are attached to these driving rods, so that there is no influence due to heating of the supporting bases. In addition, there is no generation of wear debris due to the movement of the support table, and it is possible to perform processing such as laser annealing in a clean state at high speed with high accuracy.

Further, according to the present invention, the two driving rods can be driven independently of each other, and the support base is rotatably held with respect to the two driving rods. As a result, the support base can be finely rotated without providing a special rotation mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a plan view, FIG. 2B is a front view, FIG. 2C is a front view, and FIG. 2C is a view for explaining a holding table 17 and holding members 25a and 25b in the linear motion mechanism of FIG. C1-C1
The line sectional view and (d) are the D1-D1 line sectional views of (a).

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a holding member 25b shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 vacuum container 12 Drive rod 13 plates 14 Linear motor 15 Bellows 16 linear encoder 17 holding table 18 pin 19 Object to be processed 20 heater 21 quartz window 25a, 25b holding member 26 Upper member 27 Lower member 28 ceramic balls 29 Upper member 30 Lower member 31 Rotation support member 32 Vacuum bearing 33 rotation axis

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-9-216138 (JP, A) JP-A-61-267245 (JP, A) JP-A-9-123034 (JP, A) JP-A-8- 211173 (JP, A) JP 2001-62682 (JP, A) JP 10-277379 (JP, A) JP 2-105094 (JP, A) Actually developed 62-25325 (JP, U) (JP 58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16H 21/00-21/44 B23Q 5/00-5/58 B23Q 1/00-1/30 G12B 1/00-17/08 H01L 21 / 268

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pair of driving rods arranged in parallel with each other, a driving means capable of driving the two driving rods independently of each other in the extending direction thereof, and the two driving rods. A holding table rotatably held in a plane parallel to the extending direction, and the driving means includes four linear units respectively provided at end portions of the two driving rods. Characterized by being a motor
Direct acting mechanism . 2. Two driving rods arranged in parallel with each other, a driving means capable of independently driving the two driving rods in the extending direction thereof, and the two driving rods. And a holding table rotatably held in a plane parallel to the extending direction, the holding table rotatably fixing the holding table to the two drive rods. A pair of first holding members,
The pair of second holding members that are respectively fixed to the two driving rods and that mount the holding base,
A linear motion, which is rotatably held on each of the book driving rods in a plane parallel to the extending direction.
Mechanism . Wherein the two driving rods, are disposed through the vacuum vessel, according to claim 1, wherein the holding table, characterized in that it is arranged to be positioned inside the vacuum chamber Or 2 linear motion mechanism. 4. A plate is fixed to an end portion of the drive rod, and a bellows is arranged between the vacuum container and the plate to maintain airtightness of the vacuum container. The linear motion mechanism according to claim 3 .