JP3847998B2 - Substrate delivery device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate delivery apparatus for delivering a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer between a substrate holding unit that holds and conveys the substrate and a substrate support unit that supports the substrate in an upright state.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As such a substrate delivery device, a plurality of substrates are held by a pair of substrate holding means such as a pair of chucks in which a plurality of holding grooves for holding the substrate are formed, and the substrate holding means is moved up and down. A configuration in which a plurality of substrates held therein are transferred to and from a substrate support means having, for example, three substrate support arms formed with a plurality of substrate support grooves for supporting each substrate in an upright state. What you have is known.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a substrate delivery device, at the time of substrate delivery, the end portions of each substrate held by the pair of chucks are simultaneously inserted into the three substrate support grooves formed on the three substrate support arms, respectively. Is done. For this reason, at the time of delivery of the substrate, the five grooves of the two holding grooves respectively formed on the pair of chucks and the three substrate supporting grooves formed on the three substrate supporting arms are mutually connected. It is necessary to be positioned with high accuracy.
[0004]
That is, when the substrates are transferred, the positions of the five grooves, that is, the two holding grooves respectively formed on the pair of chucks and the three substrate supporting grooves respectively formed on the three substrate supporting arms, are highly accurate. In the case where the substrate is not positioned, the end of the substrate and the side wall of the substrate support groove interfere with each other, so that the end of the substrate is damaged or the substrate is distorted to damage the substrate. This causes the problem.
[0005]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and even when the substrate holding means and the substrate support means are not positioned with high accuracy, the substrate delivery that does not damage the substrate when the substrate is delivered. An object is to provide an apparatus.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate holding means for holding and transporting a substrate, a substrate supporting means having a plurality of substrate supporting portions formed with substrate supporting grooves for supporting the substrate in an upright state, and Substrate holding means When Said substrate support means And In a substrate delivery apparatus comprising a lifting / lowering means for delivering a substrate between the substrate holding means and the substrate support means by being lifted / lowered relatively, the substrate held by the substrate holding means has the plurality of First engagement with substrate support groove formed in one of the substrate support portions Let After that, engaged with the substrate support groove formed in the other substrate support part Make It is characterized by that.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the substrate held by the substrate holding means by moving at least one of the plurality of substrate support portions. The , First engaging with a substrate support groove formed in any of the plurality of substrate support portions Let After that, engaged with the substrate support groove formed in the other substrate support part Let me Yes.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the substrate is provided with three substrate support portions arranged along the outer periphery of the substrate. Each Been formed total It is supported in an upright state by three substrate support grooves.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, The substrate support means is configured to integrally support the three substrate supports by swinging a connecting plate that connects the end portions of the three substrate supporting portions and an axis that faces the horizontal direction. A motor that swings the part, and by driving the motor, Substrate held by the substrate holding means The The first engagement with the substrate support groove formed in any one of the three substrate support portions other than the central portion of the three substrate support portions Let After that, it engages with the substrate support groove formed in the other two substrate support parts. Let me Yes.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein any one of the three substrate support portions other than the central portion is configured to be movable up and down. Substrate held by substrate holding means The The first engagement with the substrate support groove formed in any one of the three substrate support portions other than the central portion of the three substrate support portions Let After that, it engages with the substrate support groove formed in the other two substrate support parts. Let me Yes.
[0011]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate delivery apparatus according to the third aspect, the substrate holding means is deviated from the substrate holding position by the substrate holding means by shifting the substrate supporting position by the substrate supporting means. Held on the board The The first engagement with the substrate support groove formed in any one of the three substrate support portions other than the central portion of the three substrate support portions Let After that, it engages with the substrate support groove formed in the other two substrate support parts. Let me Yes.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an immersion type substrate processing apparatus to which a substrate delivery apparatus according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main part of the substrate lifting unit 2 in this substrate processing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the chuck part 4 in this substrate processing apparatus.
[0013]
This substrate processing apparatus is for processing a substrate W made of a substantially circular semiconductor wafer by immersing it in a processing liquid. The processing tank 1 for storing the processing liquid and the processing liquid in the processing tank 1 are used. A substrate lifting / lowering unit 2 for immersing the substrate W and lifting the substrate W out of the processing liquid and a chuck unit 4 for delivering the substrate W to the substrate lifting / lowering unit 2 are provided.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 1, the processing tank 1 includes a processing tank main body 11 for storing a processing liquid, a pair of processing liquid ejection pipes 12 disposed below the processing tank main body 11, and a processing tank main body. 11 has an overflow unit 13 for receiving the processing liquid that has overflowed from the upper end of the processing unit 11, and a processing liquid recovery pipe 14 for recovering the processing liquid that has flowed down to the overflow unit 13. The processing tank main body 11, the processing liquid ejection pipe 12, the overflow section 13, and the processing liquid recovery pipe 14 are made of a material such as quartz.
[0015]
In the processing tank 1, the processing liquid ejected from the ejection holes 15 in the pair of processing liquid ejection pipes 12 is supplied to the processing of the substrate W, and then overflows from the upper end of the processing tank body 11 to the overflow unit 13. . Then, the processing liquid is discharged to the drain through the processing liquid recovery pipe 14. Note that the processing liquid recovered via the processing liquid recovery pipe 14 may be reused.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate elevating unit 2 includes three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 arranged along the outer periphery of a substrate W as a substrate support portion according to the present invention, and these substrate supports. A connecting plate 24 that connects both ends of the arms 21, 22, and 23 to each other (only one is shown in FIG. 2), a housing 27 that contains a motor 25, and an illustration that is housed in the housing 27 and the support column 29 And a connecting member 28 that connects the lift drive mechanism that does not.
[0017]
A plurality of substrate support grooves 31, 32, and 33 for supporting the substrate W in an upright state are formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23, respectively. For this reason, the plurality of substrates W are supported in an upright state by these three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 collectively. In FIG. 2, for convenience of explanation, only one substrate W is shown.
[0018]
One connection plate 24 of the pair of connection plates 24 that connects both end portions of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 is connected to the motor 25 through a shaft 26 that faces in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are configured to be swingable about the shaft 26 by driving the motor 25.
[0019]
The casing 27 containing the motor 25 is connected to a lifting drive mechanism (not shown) built in the support column 29 via a connecting member 28. For this reason, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 and the connecting plate 24 are stored in the processing tank 1 in a state where a plurality of substrates W are supported by driving of a lifting drive mechanism (not shown). It is configured to be able to move up and down between a position immersed in the treatment liquid and a position above the treatment liquid surface.
[0020]
The chuck portion 4 functions as a substrate holding means according to the present invention, and includes a pair of chucks 41 and 42 as shown in FIG. These chucks 41 and 42 are respectively connected to a chuck body 46 via support shafts 43 and 44 that are rotated by driving a motor (not shown), and a substrate that holds the substrate W around the support shafts 43 and 44. It is configured to be rotatable between a holding position and a release position for releasing the substrate.
[0021]
A plurality of substrate holding grooves 45 for holding the substrate W in an upright state are formed on the upper surfaces of the pair of chucks 41 and 42. For this reason, the plurality of substrates W are collectively held upright by the pair of chucks 41 and 42.
[0022]
The chuck body 46 is connected to a horizontal drive mechanism (not shown). For this reason, the chuck portion 4 is configured to be capable of reciprocating in the arrow direction shown in FIG. 3 while holding a plurality of substrates W.
[0023]
In the substrate processing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the substrate processing operation for processing these substrates W by immersing a plurality of substrates W in the processing solution at once is executed as follows.
[0024]
That is, first, a pair of chucks 41 and 42 that collectively hold a plurality of substrates W are arranged at a position above the processing tank 1 shown in FIG. Subsequently, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are lifted from the position shown in FIG. 1 by driving an elevating drive mechanism (not shown), and then formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23. The plurality of substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 are stopped in a state where the end portions of the respective substrates W are inserted.
[0025]
Then, the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 by moving the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the release position. The plurality of substrates W transferred to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are supported in an upright state by the action of the three substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33.
[0026]
Next, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are lowered to the position shown in FIG. As a result, the plurality of substrates W supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are immersed in the processing liquid stored in the processing tank 1 and processed.
[0027]
When the processing of the substrate W is completed, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are raised again from the position shown in FIG. In this state, the pair of chucks 41 and 42 are returned from the release position to the holding position for holding the substrate W. Thereafter, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are lowered to transfer the plurality of substrates W from the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 to the pair of chucks 41, 42. The pair of chucks 41 and 42 transport a plurality of processed substrates W toward the next process.
[0028]
In such a substrate processing apparatus, as described above, when a plurality of substrates W are transferred from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23, each substrate W is related. , Two holding grooves 45 formed on the upper surfaces of the pair of chucks 41, 42, and three substrate supporting grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate supporting arms 21, 22, 23, Are not positioned with high accuracy, the end portions of the substrate W and the side walls of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 interfere with each other, causing damage to the end portions of the substrate W or distortion of the substrate W. Or the like, causing a problem of damaging the substrate W.
[0029]
Therefore, in this substrate processing apparatus, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are swung by a minute angle about the shaft 26 by driving the motor 25 described above, thereby causing damage to the substrate W. Occurrence is prevented.
[0030]
Hereinafter, the operation of transferring the substrate W from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the transfer operation of the substrate W from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. In this figure, for convenience of explanation, the swing angles of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are exaggerated.
[0031]
When a plurality of substrates W are transferred from the pair of chucks 41 and 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23, as shown in FIG. The substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 together with the connecting plate 24 are tilted by a small angle about the shaft 26 shown in FIG.
[0032]
Then, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are raised from the positions shown in FIG. In this case, the upper surface of the substrate support arm 22 outside the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 due to the inclination of the three support arms. First, the end portion of each substrate W is inserted into the substrate support groove 32 formed in step (b). In this state, the raising of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is stopped.
[0033]
Next, the pair of chucks 41 and 42 are rotated about the support shafts 43 and 44 toward the release position. As a result, the plurality of substrates W are sequentially shifted from the state where they are held in the substrate holding grooves 45 of the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the state where they are supported by the three substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33.
[0034]
At this time, after the substrate W is first supported by the substrate support groove 32, the substrate W is sequentially supported by the other substrate support grooves 31 and 33 while being guided by the substrate support groove 32. That is, the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the outer substrate support arm 22 out of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 corresponds to the substrate W It will serve as a guide for alignment.
[0035]
For this reason, two holding grooves 45 formed on the upper surfaces of the pair of chucks 41, 42 and three substrate supporting grooves 31, 32, formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate supporting arms 21, 22, 23, Even when the substrate 33 and the substrate 33 are not positioned with high precision, the end of the substrate W and the side walls of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 interfere with each other. It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of a problem that the substrate W is damaged by causing distortion.
[0036]
When the pair of chucks 41, 42 are rotated to the release position, the plurality of substrates W are completely transferred from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the support arms 21, 22, 23. In this state, by driving the motor 25, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are swung together with the connecting plate 24 by a minute angle, and are brought into a horizontal state again as shown in FIG.
[0037]
Thereafter, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are lowered to the position shown in FIG. 1, whereby a plurality of substrates W supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are processed into the processing tank 1. Immerse in the processing solution stored in
[0038]
Next, another embodiment of the substrate delivery apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a front view showing the main part of the substrate delivery apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows the substrate W from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. It is explanatory drawing which shows this transfer operation | movement. In this figure, for the convenience of explanation, the elevation distance of a substrate support arm 22 to be described later is exaggerated.
[0039]
In the substrate delivery apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the three substrate support arms 21, 22 are swung around the shaft 26 by driving the motor 25. , 23, the end of each substrate W is first inserted into the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the outer substrate support arm 22 among the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surface of The end portions of the substrate W are sequentially inserted into the substrate support grooves 31 and 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the support arms 21 and 23.
[0040]
On the other hand, in the substrate delivery apparatus according to the second embodiment, the substrate support arm 22 is moved up and down by raising and lowering the substrate support arm 22 located outside the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23. First, the end portion of each substrate W is inserted into the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the substrate, and then the end portions of the substrate W are sequentially inserted into the substrate support grooves 31 and 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the other support arms 21 and 23. Is configured to be inserted.
[0041]
That is, in the substrate delivery device according to the second embodiment, the substrate support arm 22 located outside the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is disposed in the casing 27 described above. It is connected to an air cylinder 34, and is configured to be movable up and down between a lowered position shown in FIG. 5A and a raised position shown in FIG. 5B by driving the air cylinder 34. Moreover, in the board | substrate delivery apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, the connection board 24 is being fixed to the housing | casing 27, and the motor 25 mentioned above is not arrange | positioned.
[0042]
In the substrate delivery apparatus according to the second embodiment, when transferring a plurality of substrates W from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23, FIG. As shown, the substrate support arm 22 located outside the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is arranged at the raised position by driving the air cylinder 34.
[0043]
Then, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are raised from the positions shown in FIG. In this case, since the substrate support arm 22 is raised relative to the other substrate support arms 21, 23, the substrate support formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. The end of each substrate W is first inserted into the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the substrate support arm 22 outside the grooves 31, 32, and 33. In this state, the raising of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is temporarily stopped.
[0044]
Next, the substrate support arm 22 is lowered by driving the air cylinder 34, and the connecting plate 24 that connects the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is raised at the same speed as the descending speed. In parallel with this, the pair of chucks 41 and 42 are rotated around the support shafts 43 and 44 toward the release position. As a result, the plurality of substrates W are sequentially shifted from the state where they are held in the substrate holding grooves 45 of the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the state where they are supported by the three substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33.
[0045]
At this time, as in the case of the first embodiment described above, the substrate W is first supported by the substrate support groove 32, and then guided to the substrate support groove 32 to the other substrate support grooves 31 and 33. Sequentially supported. That is, the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the outer substrate support arm 22 out of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 corresponds to the substrate W It will serve as a guide for alignment.
[0046]
For this reason, two holding grooves 45 formed on the upper surfaces of the pair of chucks 41, 42 and three substrate supporting grooves 31, 32, formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate supporting arms 21, 22, 23, Even when the substrate 33 and the substrate 33 are not positioned with high precision, the end of the substrate W and the side walls of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 interfere with each other. It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of a problem that the substrate W is damaged by causing distortion.
[0047]
When the pair of chucks 41, 42 are rotated to the release position, the plurality of substrates W are completely transferred from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the support arms 21, 22, 23. In this state, as shown in FIG. 6B, the substrate support arm 22 has returned to the lowered position.
[0048]
Thereafter, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are lowered to the position shown in FIG. 1, whereby a plurality of substrates W supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are processed into the processing tank 1. Immerse in the processing solution stored in
[0049]
In the second embodiment, the movement of the substrate support arm 22 to the lowered position and the movement of the pair of chucks 41 and 42 to the release position are executed in parallel. After the movement to the release position is completed, the substrate support arm 22 may be moved to the lowered position.
[0050]
Next, still another embodiment of the substrate delivery apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the transfer operation of the substrate W from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. In this figure, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the displacement amount described later is exaggerated.
[0051]
In the substrate delivery apparatus according to the first and second embodiments described above, the substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 (or the substrate support arm 22) are moved to the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. After the end of each substrate W is first inserted into the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the outer substrate support arm 22 among the formed substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33, the other support arms 21, The end portions of the substrate W are sequentially inserted into the substrate support grooves 31 and 33 formed on the upper surface of the substrate 23.
[0052]
On the other hand, in the substrate delivery apparatus according to the third embodiment, the support position of the substrate W by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is displaced from the holding position of the substrate W by the pair of chucks 41, 42. By first inserting the end of each substrate W into the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the substrate support arm 22, the substrate support groove 31 formed on the upper surface of the other support arms 21, 23, The end portion of the substrate W is sequentially inserted into 33.
[0053]
That is, in the substrate delivery apparatus according to the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the center of the substrate W supported by the pair of chucks 41, 42 and the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. The position with the substrate support arm located in the center portion is deviated from each other in the left-right direction in FIG. From another viewpoint, the center of the substrate W to be supported by the pair of chucks 41, 42 and the center of the substrate W to be supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are shown in FIG. It is shifted in the horizontal direction shown (direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate W).
[0054]
In the board delivery device according to this embodiment, the connecting plate 24 is fixed to the casing 27, and the motor 25 described above is not provided. The substrate support arm 22 is fixed to the connecting plate 24, and the air cylinder 34 described above is not provided.
[0055]
In the substrate delivery apparatus according to the third embodiment, when transferring a plurality of substrates W from the pair of chucks 41, 42 to the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23, FIG. As shown, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are raised from the position shown in FIG.
[0056]
In this case, the center of the substrate W supported by the pair of chucks 41 and 42 is shifted to the left in FIG. 7 from the center of the substrate W to be supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22 and 23. Therefore, the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the outer substrate support arm 22 among the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is first The end of each substrate W is inserted into In this state, the raising of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 is temporarily stopped.
[0057]
Next, the pair of chucks 41 and 42 are rotated about the support shafts 43 and 44 toward the release position. Accordingly, the substrate W moves while rotating in the right direction in FIG. 7, and the three substrate support grooves 31, a plurality of substrates W are held from the substrate holding grooves 45 of the pair of chucks 41, 42. It shifts to the state supported by 32 and 33 sequentially.
[0058]
At this time, as in the case of the first and second embodiments described above, the substrate W is first supported by the substrate support groove 32 and then guided to the substrate support groove 32 to another substrate support groove 31. And 33 are sequentially supported. That is, the substrate support groove 32 formed on the upper surface of the outer substrate support arm 22 out of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 corresponds to the substrate W It will serve as a guide for alignment.
[0059]
For this reason, two holding grooves 45 formed on the upper surfaces of the pair of chucks 41, 42 and three substrate supporting grooves 31, 32, formed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate supporting arms 21, 22, 23, Even when the substrate 33 and the substrate 33 are not positioned with high precision, the end of the substrate W and the side walls of the substrate support grooves 31, 32, 33 interfere with each other. It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of a problem that the substrate W is damaged by causing distortion.
[0060]
When the pair of chucks 41 and 42 are rotated to the release position, the plurality of substrates W are completely transferred from the pair of chucks 41 and 42 to the support arms 21, 22 and 23 as shown in FIG. It will be posted.
[0061]
Thereafter, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are lowered to the position shown in FIG. 1, whereby a plurality of substrates W supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 are processed into the processing tank 1. Immerse in the processing solution stored in
[0062]
In FIG. 7, the amount of deviation between the center of the substrate W to be supported by the pair of chucks 41 and 42 and the center of the substrate W to be supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22 and 23 is shown. Although shown exaggeratedly, a few millimeters is sufficient for this displacement. For this reason, the displacement of the substrate W becomes a problem when the substrate W is transferred from the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 to the pair of chucks 41, 42 after the processing of the substrate W is completed. There is no.
[0063]
However, when the substrate W is transferred from the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 to the pair of chucks 41, 42, the chuck portion 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The center of the substrate W to be supported by the pair of chucks 41 and 42 and the center of the substrate W to be supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22 and 23 are made to coincide with each other. Good.
[0064]
In the first, second, and third embodiments described above, the pair of chucks 41 and 42 are fixed and the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 are moved up and down. Then, the three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23 may be fixed, and the pair of chucks 41, 42 may be moved up and down.
[0065]
In each of the first, second, and third embodiments described above, the substrate W is supported by the three substrate support arms 21, 22, and 23 arranged along the outer periphery of the substrate W. The substrate W may be supported by two or four or more support arms.
[0066]
Further, in the substrate delivery apparatus according to the second embodiment, the substrate support arm is moved up by moving the substrate support arm having the substrate holding groove into which the end of the substrate W is first inserted among the plurality of substrate support arms. The end portion of the substrate W is inserted into the substrate holding groove. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, when the substrate W is transferred from the pair of chucks 41 and 42 to the substrate support arm, the substrate to which the end portion of the substrate W is inserted first is inserted. By moving the other substrate support arm downward relative to the substrate support arm having the holding groove, the end of the substrate W is first inserted into the substrate holding groove into which the end of the substrate W is first inserted. It is good also as a structure inserted in.
[0067]
Furthermore, in the first, second, and third embodiments described above, the substrate delivery apparatus according to the present invention is applied to an immersion type substrate processing apparatus that performs processing by immersing the substrate W in a processing solution. Although the case has been described, it is also possible to apply this substrate delivery apparatus to other substrate processing apparatuses.
[0068]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the substrate held by the substrate holding means is first engaged with the substrate support groove formed in any one of the plurality of substrate support portions. After the alignment, since the substrate support groove is formed in another substrate support portion, even when the substrate holding means and the substrate support means are not positioned with high accuracy, It is possible to prevent occurrence of a phenomenon in which interference occurs between the end portion of the substrate and the side wall of the substrate support groove to damage the substrate.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an immersion type substrate processing apparatus to which a substrate delivery apparatus according to the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of a substrate lifting unit 2 in the substrate processing apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of a chuck portion 4 in the substrate processing apparatus.
4 is an explanatory view showing an operation of transferring a substrate W from a pair of chucks 41, 42 to three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing a main part of a substrate delivery device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
6 is an explanatory view showing an operation of transferring a substrate W from a pair of chucks 41, 42 to three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. FIG.
7 is an explanatory view showing an operation of transferring a substrate W from a pair of chucks 41, 42 to three substrate support arms 21, 22, 23. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 treatment tank
2 Substrate lifting unit
4 Chuck part
21, 22, 23 Substrate support arm
24 connecting plate
25 motor
26 axes
28 Connecting members
29 Support pillar
31, 32, 33 Substrate support groove
34 Air cylinder
41, 42 Chuck
43, 44
45 Substrate holding groove

Claims (6)

A substrate holding means for holding and transporting the substrate; a substrate supporting means having a plurality of substrate supporting portions formed with substrate supporting grooves for supporting the substrate in an upright state; the substrate holding means and the substrate supporting means ; In a substrate delivery apparatus comprising a raising and lowering means for delivering a substrate between the substrate holding means and the substrate support means by relatively raising and lowering
Substrate held by the substrate holding means, after initially engaging the substrate support groove formed in one of the substrate support of the plurality of substrate supporting portion, it is formed on the other substrate support substrate transfer apparatus characterized by causing engagement to the substrate support grooves. In the board | substrate delivery apparatus of Claim 1,
By at least one of the substrate support portion of the plurality of substrate support portion moves, the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, the substrate support groove formed in one of said plurality of substrate support first after engagement, the substrate transfer device causes engage the substrate support groove formed on the other substrate support portion. In the board | substrate delivery apparatus of Claim 1,
The substrate delivery apparatus, wherein the substrate is supported in an upright state by a total of three substrate support grooves respectively formed on three substrate support portions arranged along the outer periphery of the substrate. In the board | substrate delivery apparatus of Claim 3,
The substrate support means is configured to integrally support the three substrate supports by swinging a connecting plate that connects the end portions of the three substrate supporting portions and an axis that faces the horizontal direction. A motor for swinging the part,
Engagement by the drive of the motor, the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, the first substrate supporting groove formed in one of the substrate support any other than the central portion of the three substrate support after, the other two substrates supporting substrate transfer device causes engage the substrate support groove formed in part. In the board | substrate delivery apparatus of Claim 3,
Of the three substrate support portions, any one of the substrate support portions other than the central portion is configured to be movable up and down, so that the substrate held by the substrate holding means can be moved to the three substrate support portions. after out that initially is engaged with the substrate support groove formed in one of the substrate support any other than the central portion, the substrate transfer causes engage the substrate support groove formed in the other of the two substrate support apparatus. In the board | substrate delivery apparatus of Claim 3,
By deviating the support position of the substrate by the substrate support means from the holding position of the substrate by the substrate holding unit, the substrate held by the substrate holding means, other than the central portion of the three substrate support after initially engaged to any one of the substrate support the substrate support groove formed in the other two substrates supporting substrate transfer device causes engage the substrate support groove formed in part.

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