JP4866315B2 - Mounting table - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mounting table for mounting a container called a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) capable of receiving a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) from a surrounding atmosphere.

  Conventionally, as this type of equipment, an attachment / detachment mechanism that attaches / detaches the lid attached to the carry-in / out port of the FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), and ascends and descends in the stacking direction of the substrate with the lid open, and is stored in the FOUP There is a mounting table provided with a mapping arm for detecting the number and position of the substrates (for example, see Patent Document 1).

This mounting table is equipped with a detector that detects the edge of the substrate in the normal position in the FOUP at the tip of the mapping arm on the FOUP side. A pop-out detector for detecting that the substrate has popped out from the substrate. If the pop-up detector detects the board, raising or lowering the mapping arm may cause problems such as damage to the board. Therefore, an alarm is issued to stop the process, and the operator manually closes the lid. Exceptional processing such as letting
Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2002-527897

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
In other words, the conventional apparatus does not shift the position of the substrate as detected by the pop-up detector, but if the position deviates from the normal position, the process continues without alarming. As a result, the substrate may be missed during the unloading process.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mounting table that can prevent the substrate from being missed by making it possible to detect an intermediate displacement of the substrate. And

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, the invention described in claim 1 is provided in a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a processing unit, and a mounting table on which a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) for storing a plurality of substrates is mounted. Detachment means for attaching and detaching a lid attached to the carry-in / out port of the FOUP with respect to the FOUP, counting means for counting the number of substrates accommodated in the FOUP, and the carry-in / out opening when the substrates accommodated in the FOUP are displaced Between the first detection means for detecting that it is popping out from the normal position detected by the counting means in plan view and the shift position detected by the first detection means from the FOUP When the first detection means detects the substrate when the first detection means detects the substrate, the second detection means that detects that the substrate has popped out and is in an intermediate position, and the first detection means The second detecting means is not detected Controls the attachment / detachment of the lid by operating the attaching / detaching means when detecting the substrate, and moving to the substrate unloading process after the counting process when only the counting means detects the substrate. And means.

[Operation / Effect] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the lid is removed from the FOUP by the attaching / detaching means and the counting is performed by the counting means. In addition to the first detecting means, the second detecting means is provided. Therefore, even if the substrate has shifted to an intermediate position between the normal position and the shift position, it can be detected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the substrate from being missed. In addition, when the first detection unit detects the substrate, the control unit notifies the occurrence of abnormality, and the first detection unit does not detect the substrate and the second detection unit detects the substrate. In this case, the lid is attached / detached by operating the attaching / detaching means, and when only the counting means detects the substrate, the processing is shifted to the substrate unloading processing after the counting processing. Therefore, when the substrate is shifted to the intermediate position, it is possible to shift to the next processing without manual operation by operating the attaching / detaching means to attach / detach the lid.

  In the present invention, the counting means is provided on each of the pair of mapping arms arranged on the loading / unloading side of the FOUP across the edge of the substrate, and on the tip side of the pair of mapping arms, And a moving unit that moves the pair of mapping arms in the stacking direction of the substrate, and the first detecting unit includes the first detecting unit in a plan view. It is preferable that a projector / receiver provided at a position outside the carry-in / out port of the FOUP and having an optical axis in the substrate stacking direction is provided. The number and position of the substrates can be detected by moving the mapping arm by the moving means, and the protrusion of the substrate can be detected by the light projecting / receiving device of the first detecting means.

  In the present invention, the second detection means is on the distal end side of the pair of mapping arms, and in plan view, the optical axis of the light emitter / receiver of the counting means and the light emitter / receiver of the first detector means It is preferable that a projector / receiver having an optical axis between the optical axis and the optical axis is provided. The second detection means has a pair of mappings such that the optical axis of the light projecting / receiving device is located between the optical axis of the light projecting / receiving device of the counting means and the optical axis of the light projecting / receiving device of the first detection means. Provided on the tip side of the arm. As a result, it is possible to detect that the substrate has popped out and is at an intermediate position.

(Delete)

According to the mounting table of the present invention, the lid is removed from the FOUP by the attaching / detaching means and the counting means is used for counting. However, since the second detecting means is provided in addition to the first detecting means, it is displaced from the normal position. Even if the substrate is shifted to an intermediate position corresponding to the position, it can be detected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the substrate from being missed. In addition, when the first detection unit detects the substrate, the control unit notifies the occurrence of abnormality, and the first detection unit does not detect the substrate and the second detection unit detects the substrate. In this case, the lid is attached / detached by operating the attaching / detaching means, and when only the counting means detects the substrate, the processing is shifted to the substrate unloading processing after the counting processing. Therefore, when the substrate is shifted to the intermediate position, it is possible to shift to the next processing without manual operation by operating the attaching / detaching means to attach / detach the lid.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 is a partially broken longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a mounting table according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a partially broken transverse sectional view showing a main part of the mounting table according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system.

  The mounting table according to the embodiment includes a mounting unit 3 for mounting a FOUP 1 in which a plurality of substrates W are stacked and stored. The FOUP 1 includes a loading / unloading port 5 through which a substrate W is loaded / unloaded. A lid 7 is attached to the loading / unloading port 5 in order to block the inside of the FOUP 1 from the external atmosphere.

  The processing unit 9 included in the substrate processing apparatus that performs various processes on the substrate W, for example, forms a predetermined pattern on the substrate W, or performs a chemical process on the substrate W, is mounted on the mounting table. Adjacent to each other. A shielding member 11 is erected on the processing unit 9 side of the mounting unit 3. An opening 13 is formed in one part of the shielding member 11. The opening portion 13 is configured to be opened and closed only when the FOUP 1 is placed on the placement portion 3 and closed at other times.

  The opening 13 is opened and closed by a lid attaching / detaching portion 15 corresponding to the attaching / detaching means in the present invention. Specifically, the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 is in a state where the opening 13 is closed (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1), the lid 7 of the FOUP 1 is removed, and the opening on the processing unit 9 side. It is possible to move up and down over an “open position” below 13.

  A counting unit 17 is disposed on the processing unit 9 side of the lid attaching / detaching unit 15. The counting unit 17 operates separately from the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 and includes an elevating member 19 on the processing unit 9 side of the lid attaching / detaching unit 15. A pair of mapping arms 21 are attached to the upper surface of the elevating member 19. The mapping arm 21 is swingable about the vertical axis on the upper surface of the elevating member 19 on the base end side, and a mapping sensor 23 is provided on the tip end side. The mapping arm 21 is in an open state (a state where it is housed on the lifting member 19 side) as shown by a two-dot chain line during standby, and when counting the substrates W as described later, as shown in FIG. The substrate W is in a semi-closed state so that the edge of the substrate W can be detected. The mapping sensor 23 includes a projector 25 and a light receiver 27. The light projector 25 and the light receiver 27 are attached to the optical axis LA1 so as to be in a position where it can be detected that the substrate W is normally accommodated in the FOUP 1 (normal position). When counting the substrates W, the mapping arm 21 is moved in the stacking direction of the substrates W together with the lifting member 19 by a lifting mechanism (not shown).

  The counting unit 17 corresponds to the counting means in the present invention.

A pop-out detection unit 29 is disposed in the opening 13 of the mounting unit 3. The pop-out detection unit 29 includes, for example, a light projector 31 and a light receiver 33, and the light projector 31 is embedded in the upper part of the opening 13 and the light receiver 33 is embedded in the lower part. The optical axis LA2 of the pop-out detector 29 is aligned with a position that can be detected when the substrate W greatly jumps out from the loading / unloading port 5 of the FOUP 1 (shift position: indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2). This shift position is 23mm extent from the normal position.

  The pop-out detection unit 29 corresponds to the first detection means in the present invention.

  Further, an intermediate sensor 35 is further attached to the distal end side of the mapping sensor 23 in the mapping arm 21. The intermediate sensor 35 includes, for example, a light projector 37 and a light receiver 39 facing each other, the optical axis LA3 is between the optical axes LA1 and LA2, and the edge of the substrate W is from the loading / unloading port 5. It has been adjusted to a position where it does not protrude greatly (intermediate position: indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2).

  The intermediate sensor 35 corresponds to the second detection means in the present invention.

  The above-described lifting / removing operation of the lid attaching / detaching portion 15 and the attaching / detaching operation of the lid 7, the opening / closing operation of the pair of mapping arms 21, the raising / lowering operation of the counting portion 17, etc. Is done. Further, the output signals of the mapping sensor 23, pop-out detection unit 29, and intermediate sensor 35 described above are given to the control unit 41. When an abnormal state as will be described later occurs, the control unit 41 operates the notification unit 43 to notify the occurrence of an abnormality. Examples of the notification unit 43 include a lamp and a buzzer.

  The control unit 41 corresponds to the control means of the present invention.

  Next, the operation of the mounting table described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus.

Step S1
The control unit 41 first resets and initializes the counter. This counter is used in a process to be described later in order to prevent an infinite loop when the intermediate sensor 35 is turned on.

Step S2
The control unit 41 operates the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 to start opening the lid 7 of the FOUP 1. The lid attaching / detaching unit 15 releases the lock of the lid 7 with respect to the FOUP 1, pulls the lid 7 toward the near side, and starts moving downward together with the lid 7.

Step S3
After the lid 7 starts moving, the pair of mapping arms 21 are opened, and the mapping sensor 23 starts to be lowered together with the elevating member 19. Thereby, the control unit 41 detects and stores the number and position of the substrates W accommodated in the FOUP 1.

Step S4
The control unit 41 branches the process depending on whether or not the pop-out detection unit 29 has detected the pop-out of the substrate W.

Step S5
In step S4, when the pop-out detection unit 29 is on, the notification unit 43 is operated to notify the operator that an abnormality has occurred. Since the substrate W has jumped out of the FOUP 1 and the lid 7 cannot be returned to the FOUP 1, it waits in this state.

Step S6
In step S4, when the pop-out detection unit 29 is off, the process branches depending on whether the intermediate sensor 35 is activated.

Steps S7 to S10
When the intermediate sensor 35 is turned on, the substrate W has not jumped out of the “normal position” although it has not moved to the “shift position” so as to jump out of the loading / unloading port 5 from the FOUP 1. Therefore, after the lid 7 has moved to the “open position” (step S7), the alarm unit 43 is operated to generate an alarm and call attention (step S8). Further, the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 is operated to move to the “open position” in step S7, and the lid 7 that has been opened is moved again to the “closed position” and attached to the FOUP 1 (step S10). By attaching the lid 7, the substrate W shifted to the intermediate position may be returned to the normal position. At this time, the control unit 41 increments the counter by 1.

  In step S9, the control unit 41 checks the counter and determines whether or not the counter has reached a predetermined value. The predetermined value is, for example, “3”. When the deviation of the substrate W to the intermediate position is detected three times, the process proceeds to step S11 when the next deviation is detected. Accordingly, when the shift of the substrate W to the intermediate position is detected and the lid 7 is attached, the substrate W can be prevented from falling into an infinite loop when the substrate W does not return to the normal position. In addition, since the lid 7 is repeatedly opened and closed three times, there is a substrate W that does not return to the normal position, but the deviation is small and the possibility that the substrate W is missed when the substrate W is transported is extremely low. Although the conveyance is performed, an alarm may be issued to stop the processing. That is, if the answer is Yes in Step S9, the process may move to Step S5.

Steps S11 and S12
If neither the pop-out detection unit 29 nor the intermediate sensor 35 is turned on after the lid 7 is moved to the “open position”, it indicates that all the substrates W are in the normal positions of the FOUP 1, so that the control unit 41 performs processing. The substrate W is carried out by a conveying means (not shown) on the part 9 side. At the time of unloading, the unloading operation is performed based on the position information of the substrate W obtained by the mapping sensor 23.

  As described above, the lid 7 is removed from the FOUP 1 by the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 and the counting unit 17 performs counting. However, since the intermediate sensor 35 is provided in addition to the pop-out detecting unit 29, the gap between the normal position and the shifted position is provided. Even if the substrate W is shifted to an intermediate position corresponding to this, it can be detected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the substrate W from being missed.

  In addition, when only the counting unit 17 detects the substrate W, the control unit 41 shifts to the substrate W carry-out processing after the counting process, and the counting unit 17 and the pop-out detection unit 29 detect the substrate. If the lid 7 is detached by operating the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 and the counting unit 17, the pop-out detecting unit 29, and the intermediate sensor 35 detect the substrate W, the occurrence of an abnormality is notified. Therefore, when the substrate W is shifted to the intermediate position, the lid attaching / detaching unit 15 is operated to attach / detach the lid 7 to automatically shift to the next processing without human intervention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified as follows.

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, the pop-out detection unit 29 and the intermediate sensor 35 employ a light detection method, but other detection methods such as a sound wave method may be employed. Further, instead of the transmission type detection method, a reflection type detection method may be used.

  (2) In the embodiment described above, the pair of mapping arms 21 includes the intermediate sensor 35. However, it may be configured separately from this to detect that the substrate W is in the intermediate position. For example, an upper arm and a lower arm that can be moved forward and backward are provided in the loading / unloading port 5 of the FOUP 1, and an optical axis may be provided in the stacking direction of the substrates W in the FOUP 1.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the jumping to the intermediate position of the substrate W is detected by one intermediate sensor 35. However, a plurality of intermediate sensors 35 arranged at different positions are provided, and the jumping state is detected. It is good also as a structure judged in several steps.

It is a partially broken longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the mounting base which concerns on an Example. It is a partially broken transverse cross section which shows the principal part of the mounting base which concerns on an Example. It is a block diagram of a control system. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

W ... Board 1 ... FOUP
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Mounting part 5 ... Loading / unloading port 7 ... Lid 9 ... Processing part 15 ... Lid attaching / detaching part 17 ... Counting part 21 ... Pair of mapping sensors 23 ... Mapping sensor 29 ... Pop-out detection part 35 ... Intermediate sensor 41 ... Control part

Claims (3)

In a mounting table that is installed in a substrate processing apparatus that processes substrates in a processing unit and that mounts FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) for storing multiple substrates,
Removable means for attaching and detaching a lid attached to the carry-in / out port of the FOUP with respect to the FOUP,
Counting means for counting the number of substrates stored in the FOUP;
First detecting means for detecting that the substrate stored in the FOUP is displaced and jumps out of the loading / unloading port;
A second position for detecting that the substrate protrudes from the FOUP and is in an intermediate position between a normal position detected by the counting means in plan view and a shift position detected by the first detection means; Detection means;
When the first detection means detects the substrate, the occurrence of abnormality is notified, and the first detection means does not detect the substrate, and the second detection means detects the substrate. In this case, the control means for operating the attaching / detaching means to attach / detach the lid, and when only the counting means detects the substrate, shifts to the substrate unloading process after the counting process;
A mounting table characterized by comprising: The mounting table according to claim 1,
The counting means includes
A pair of mapping arms arranged across the edge of the substrate on the loading / unloading side of the FOUP, and provided on the tip side of the pair of mapping arms, with the optical axis directed in the direction of detecting the edge of the substrate And a moving means for moving the pair of mapping arms in the substrate stacking direction,
The first detection means includes
A mounting table provided with a projector / receiver which is provided at a position outside the loading / unloading port of the FOUP in a plan view and has an optical axis in the substrate stacking direction. The mounting table according to claim 2,
The second detection means includes
Projecting / receiving light having an optical axis between the optical axis of the light projecting / receiving device of the counting means and the optical axis of the light projecting / receiving device of the first detection means in a plan view, on the tip side of the pair of mapping arms A mounting table characterized by comprising a container.

Images