JP4896236B2 - Substrate transport apparatus and substrate transport method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus and a substrate transfer method for transferring a substrate to be processed in a flat flow.

For example, in manufacturing an FPD (flat panel display), a circuit pattern is formed by a so-called photolithography process.
Specifically, the photolithography process is performed as follows.
First, after a predetermined film is formed on a substrate to be processed such as a glass substrate, a photoresist (hereinafter referred to as a resist) which is a processing liquid is applied to form a resist film. Then, the resist film is exposed corresponding to the circuit pattern and developed.

By the way, in recent years, in this photolithography process, for the purpose of improving throughput, each process such as resist coating, drying, heating, and cooling is performed on the surface to be processed while the substrate to be processed is conveyed in a substantially horizontal posture. Many configurations are used.
As a configuration of the substrate transport, levitation transport in which the substrate is floated to a predetermined height in a substantially horizontal posture and transported in the substrate transport direction has attracted attention.

As disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, a resist coating apparatus is used for a substrate transfer apparatus using this levitation transfer. A conventional configuration example will be described with reference to FIG. 8A to 8C show the operation state of the substrate transfer apparatus.
A substrate transfer apparatus 200 in FIG. 8 is levitated with respect to a moving stage of the glass substrate G, and a levitating stage 201 for levitating and conveying a glass substrate G (for example, an LCD substrate) as a substrate to be processed. A pair of guide rails 202 laid on the left and right sides of the stage 201 and four substrate carriers 203 that adsorb and hold the four corners of the glass substrate G from below and slide on the guide rails 202 are provided.

  On the upper surface of the levitation stage 201, a large number of gas injection ports 201a for injecting a predetermined gas upward and a large number of intake ports 201b for performing intake are alternately provided at regular intervals. Yes. Then, by making the pressure load between the gas injection amount injected from the gas injection port 201a and the intake amount from the intake port 201b constant, the glass substrate G is floated from the surface of the levitation stage 201 to a certain height. It is configured.

Further, at the substrate loading position H of the levitation stage 201, four alignment devices 204 corresponding to the four corners of the loaded glass substrate G are provided on the left and right sides of the stage 201, and each alignment device 204 operates. The substrate G is arranged at a predetermined position.
In addition, since this substrate transport apparatus 200 is applied to a coating processing apparatus, it is disposed across the left and right direction (width direction) of the glass substrate G as shown in the figure, and is levitated and conveyed on the levitating stage 201. A resist nozzle 205 for supplying a resist solution to the surface of the glass substrate G is provided.

In the substrate transport apparatus 200 configured as described above, an alignment operation (referred to as alignment) by the alignment apparatus 204 is performed on the glass substrate G carried in from the previous process apparatus before the substrate transport is started. This alignment process will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C and the flow of FIG.
First, the substrate carrier 203 that has completed transport of one glass substrate G along the guide rail 202 receives the substrate G to be transported next, as shown in FIG. Return to position H and wait (step SP1 in FIG. 9).

Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, when a glass substrate G is newly carried in, the hand unit 204a of the alignment device 204 rises to the height of the glass substrate G that floats on the stage 201, and the substrate G side. In other words, the movement starts (inward) and approaches the four corners of the substrate G (step SP2 in FIG. 9).
Thereby, the hand part 204a of the alignment apparatus 204 contacts the four corners of the glass substrate G, the glass substrate G is pushed, moved to a predetermined position, and alignment is performed. When this alignment of the substrate G is completed, the suction pads 203a of the substrate carrier 203 are raised, and the four corners of the substrate G are sucked and held as shown in FIG. 8C (step SP3 in FIG. 9).

Further, when the glass substrate G is held by the substrate carrier 203, the position of the substrate G does not shift, so the hand unit 204a of the alignment device 204 moves away from the substrate G and returns to the standby position (step SP4 in FIG. 9). .
Then, the substrate carrier 203 moves in the X direction along the rail 202, whereby the substrate G is transported on the floating stage 201, and when the substrate G passes below the resist nozzle 205, the resist solution is applied. (Step SP5 in FIG. 9).
Further, after the transfer of the substrate G, the substrate carrier 203 returns to the substrate carry-in position H and is placed at the standby position (step SP1 in FIG. 9).

JP 2006-237482 A

As described above, in the alignment of the substrate G, the substrate carrier 203 sucks and holds the substrate G while the substrate G is held at a predetermined position by the hand unit 204a of the alignment device 204. For this reason, the substrate carrier 203 can carry the substrate G without being displaced.
However, in the configuration of the substrate transport apparatus 200, if the next transported substrate G is aligned before the substrate carrier 203 returns to the substrate carry-in position H, the substrate carrier 203 returns to the substrate carry-in position H. There is a technical problem that the hand unit 204a of the alignment device 204 interferes.

Therefore, conventionally, as described along the flow of FIG. 9 described above, the alignment work by the alignment apparatus 204 has been performed after the substrate carrier 203 that has completed the substrate transport returns to the substrate carry-in position H.
However, in that case, the next substrate transfer cannot be started unless the substrate carrier 203 waits for the time for the substrate carrier 203 to return to the substrate loading position H and the alignment time after the substrate G is transferred on the floating stage 201. There was a technical problem that the throughput was lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and in a substrate transport apparatus that transports a substrate to be processed one by one in a sheet format, the tact time from substrate loading to transport start A substrate transport apparatus and a substrate transport method that can shorten the throughput and improve the throughput.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention is a substrate transport apparatus that transports a substrate to be processed flatly one by one in a sheet format, and the substrate is transported by gas injection or injection and suction. A levitation stage for levitation, a pair of guide rails arranged in parallel to the left and right sides of the levitation stage, and a pair of guide rails are provided so as to be movable along the pair of guide rails. A plurality of holdable substrate carriers and a substrate loading position of the levitation stage are provided so as to be able to advance and retreat from a standby position to a predetermined position with respect to the loaded substrate, and the substrate is disposed at a predetermined position in contact with the substrate. An alignment means and a substrate that supports the substrate placed at a predetermined position by the alignment means from below the substrate at the substrate loading position of the floating stage. A control unit that controls operations of the support unit, the substrate carrier, the alignment unit, and the substrate support unit, wherein the control unit completes the transfer of the substrate to be processed, and the substrate carrier is loaded into the floating stage. Before returning to the position, the alignment means aligns the substrate at a predetermined position, and the substrate support means supports the aligned substrate from below, and the alignment means Control is performed so as to return to a standby position that does not interfere with the substrate carrier.

Thus, since the substrate support means for temporarily holding the substrate to be processed after the alignment step is provided, the substrate alignment can be performed before the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position of the floating stage.
In other words, it is not necessary to perform alignment after the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position of the levitation stage as in the prior art, and as soon as the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position, the substrate can be held and started to be conveyed. The tact time from the carry-in to the start of conveyance is shortened, and the throughput can be improved.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a substrate transport method according to the present invention is arranged in parallel to a levitation stage for levitating the substrate by gas injection or injection and suction, and to the left and right sides of the levitation stage. A pair of guide rails, a plurality of substrate carriers provided so as to be movable along the pair of guide rails and capable of adsorbing and holding the edge of the substrate from below, and loading at the substrate loading position of the floating stage An alignment unit that is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat from a standby position to a predetermined position with respect to the substrate, and is arranged at a predetermined position in contact with the substrate, and at a predetermined position by the alignment unit at the substrate loading position of the floating stage. Substrate support means for supporting the substrate placed on the substrate from below, the substrate carrier, the alignment means, and the substrate A substrate transfer apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling the operation of a plate support means, wherein the substrate transfer method is to transfer a substrate to be processed flatly one by one in a sheet format, the substrate being transferred along the guide rail. The substrate carrier that has been transported is newly loaded into the substrate loading position on the floating stage until the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position of the floating stage for receiving the next substrate to be transported. A step of aligning the processing substrate at a predetermined position by the alignment unit, a step of supporting the aligned substrate from below by the substrate support unit, and the substrate supported by the substrate support unit. And a step of returning the alignment means to the standby position.

According to such a method, since the substrate to be processed after alignment can be temporarily held by the substrate support means, alignment of the substrate can be performed before the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position of the floating stage. .
In other words, it is not necessary to perform alignment after the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position of the levitation stage as in the prior art, and as soon as the substrate carrier returns to the substrate loading position, the substrate can be held and started to be conveyed. The tact time from the carry-in to the start of conveyance is shortened, and the throughput can be improved.

  According to the present invention, in a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring and transferring a substrate to be processed one by one in a sheet format, a substrate transfer apparatus and a substrate capable of reducing the tact time from substrate transfer to transfer start and improving throughput. A conveyance method can be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall schematic configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an overall schematic configuration of the embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate transfer apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate transfer apparatus of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining a schematic configuration of a conventional substrate transfer apparatus. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the conventional substrate transfer apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a case where the substrate transport apparatus is applied to a resist coating processing unit that performs resist coating on a glass substrate that is a substrate to be processed will be described as an example.

The substrate transport apparatus 1 includes a levitation transport unit 2A for levitating and transporting a glass substrate G one by one in a sheet format, and a roller transport unit 2B that receives the substrate G from the levitation transport unit 2A and transports the substrate G. The substrate G is configured so as to be conveyed in a so-called flat flow.
In the levitation transport unit 2A, a levitation stage 3 extended in the X direction, which is the substrate transport direction, is provided. On the upper surface of the levitation stage 3, as shown in the figure, a large number of gas outlets 3 a and gas inlets 3 b are alternately provided at regular intervals in the X direction and the Y direction. The glass substrate G is floated by making the pressure load between the amount and the amount of intake air from the gas inlet 3b constant. In this embodiment, the substrate G is levitated by gas ejection and suction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the substrate may be levitated only by the configuration of gas ejection.

  A pair of guide rails 5 extending in parallel with the X direction are provided on the left and right sides of the levitation stage 3 in the width direction (Y direction). The pair of guide rails 5 are provided with four substrate carriers 6 that move on the guide rails 5 by sucking and holding the four corner edges of the glass substrate G from below. The glass substrate G levitated on the levitating stage 3 by these substrate carriers 6 is moved along the carrying direction. In order to smoothly transfer the substrate from the floating conveyance unit 2A to the roller conveyance unit 2B, the guide rail 5 extends not only to the left and right sides of the floating stage 3, but also to the side of the roller conveyance unit 2B. ing.

As shown in FIG. 3, each substrate carrier 6 includes a slide member 6 a movably provided along the guide rail 5, an adsorption member 6 b that can be adsorbed to the lower surface of the substrate G by a suction / release operation, And a cylinder driving unit 6c for moving the member 6b up and down.
Note that a suction pump (not shown) is connected to the suction member 6b, and sucks the air in the contact area with the substrate G to bring it close to a vacuum state, thereby attracting the substrate G.
Further, the driving of the slide member 6a, the cylinder driving unit 6c, and the suction pump is controlled by a control unit 50 including a computer.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in the floating stage 3, at the position (substrate loading position H) where the substrate G is loaded from the apparatus of the preceding stage, the loaded substrate G is arranged at a predetermined position. An alignment operation (alignment) is performed. Therefore, four alignment devices 7 are provided so as to respectively correspond to the four corners of the substrate G on both the left and right sides of the substrate loading position H of the levitation stage 3.
Each alignment device 7 has hand members 7a (alignment means) provided so as to be able to approach and come into contact with the four corners (corner portions) of the substrate G from the side. In order to allow the hand member 7a to come into contact with the four corners of the substrate G, as shown in FIG. 4, the cylinder driving portion 7b for raising and lowering the hand member 7a and the hand member 7a horizontally with respect to the substrate G (Y And a cylinder driving portion 7c that moves forward and backward (in the direction). The cylinder driving units 7b and 7c are controlled by the control unit 50.

Further, the substrate transport apparatus 1 includes a support pin mechanism 8 (substrate support means) that can be moved up and down to support the substrate G that has been aligned by the alignment device 7 from below. The support pin mechanisms 8 are provided in the vicinity of the four corners of the substrate G aligned at the substrate loading position H of the levitation stage 3.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, each support pin mechanism 8 includes a support pin 8 a provided so as to protrude upward from the surface of the levitation stage 3 by a predetermined dimension (for example, 0.5 mm), and a support pin. It has a cylinder drive unit 8b (elevation drive unit) that moves 8a up and down. The cylinder drive unit 8b is controlled by the control unit 50.

  A nozzle 9 for discharging a resist solution onto the glass substrate G is provided on the floating stage 3 of the substrate transport apparatus 1. The nozzle 9 is formed, for example, in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the Y direction. Moreover, the nozzle 9 is formed longer than the width | variety of the Y direction of the glass substrate G, for example. As shown in FIG. 2, a slit-like discharge port 9a is formed at the lower end of the nozzle 9, and a resist solution is supplied to the nozzle 9 from a resist solution supply source (not shown). Yes.

As shown in FIG. 1, guide rails 10 extending in the X direction are formed on both sides of the nozzle 9. The nozzle 9 is held by a nozzle arm 11 that moves on the guide rail 10. The nozzle 9 can be moved in the X direction along the guide rail 10 by a driving mechanism of the nozzle arm 11.
The nozzle arm 11 is provided with an elevating mechanism, and the nozzle 9 can be raised and lowered to a predetermined height. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle 9 is movable between the discharge position for discharging the resist solution onto the glass substrate G, and the rotary roll 12 and the standby unit 14 on the upstream side thereof. Yes.

The rotary roll 12 is accommodated in the cleaning tank 13 so as to be rotatable around an axis.
When the discharge port 9 a of the nozzle 9 shown in FIG. 2 is cleaned, the discharge port 9 a of the nozzle 9 is brought close to the uppermost part of the rotary roll 12. Then, while the rotating roll 12 is rotated, the resist solution is discharged from the discharge port 9 a to the rotating roll 12, so that the resist solution is attached to the discharge port 9 a of the nozzle 9. Thereby, the discharge state of the resist solution at the discharge port 9a of the nozzle 9 can be stabilized.
A standby unit 14 for the nozzle 9 is provided further upstream of the rotary roll 12. For example, the standby unit 14 has a function of cleaning the nozzle 9 and a function of preventing the nozzle 9 from drying.

  Further, as described above, the roller transport unit 2B is provided at the subsequent stage of the levitation transport unit 2A. In the roller transport unit 2B, a plurality of roller shafts 16 that are rotationally driven by the roller driving unit 25 are provided in parallel to the subsequent stage of the stage 3. A plurality of transport rollers 17 are attached to each roller shaft 16, and the substrate G is transported by the rotation of the transport rollers 17.

Next, an alignment process for the substrate G in the substrate transport apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow of FIG. 5 and FIGS.
In the substrate transport apparatus 1, the substrates G are transported one by one on the floating stage 3 by the substrate carrier 6, and the resist solution discharged from the nozzle 9 is applied to the surface of the substrate G.
Then, the substrate G transported on the floating stage 3 is transferred to the roller transport unit 2B, and the substrate carrier 6 starts to return to the substrate loading position H in order to receive the substrate G next loaded on the floating stage 3 (FIG. 5 step S1).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6A, a glass substrate G is newly loaded at the substrate loading position H of the levitation stage 3. Here, an inert gas flow is formed on the levitation stage 3 by injecting an inert gas from the gas outlet 3a and taking in the gas from the gas inlet 3b. The loaded substrate G is supported from below by the flow of the inert gas formed on the floating stage 3.

  With respect to the newly loaded substrate G, the hand member 7a of the alignment device 7 is raised to the flying height of the substrate G by the cylinder driving portion 7b, and is horizontally touched by the four corners of the substrate G by the cylinder driving portion 7c. Moved. As a result, the glass substrate G is moved to a predetermined position on the levitation stage 3 and aligned (step S1 in FIG. 5). Thus, in the present embodiment, alignment is performed before the substrate carrier 6 returns to the substrate carry-in position H as shown in FIG.

When the alignment with respect to the loaded substrate G is completed, in each of the four support pin mechanisms 8, the support pins 8a are moved up by the cylinder driving portion 8b, and the substrate G is supported from below by the four support pins 8a (see FIG. 5 step S2).
When the substrate G is held at a predetermined position by the support pins 8a, as shown in FIG. 6C, the hand member 7a of the alignment device 7 is moved downward by the cylinder driving portion 7b, and is further moved by the cylinder driving portion 7c. It moves in the left-right direction of G and returns to its standby position (step S3 in FIG. 5). The standby position of the alignment device 7 is set at a position where it does not interfere with the substrate carrier 6.

  Here, after step S3, the alignment device 7 has returned to the standby position, but since the substrate G is supported by the support pins 8a from below, the flow of inert gas formed on the levitation stage 3 is maintained. Will not move. That is, the substrate G is held at a predetermined position without being displaced. Further, the substrate G is not bent because it is supported from below by the flow of inert gas formed on the levitation stage 3.

When the hand member 7a of the alignment apparatus 7 surely returns to its standby position as in step S3, the substrate carrier 6 completes the movement to the substrate carry-in position H without interfering with the alignment apparatus 7.
In the substrate carrier 6 returned to the substrate carry-in position H, the suction member 6b is moved upward by the cylinder driving portion 6c, and the edge of the substrate G is sucked and held from below by the suction member 6b as shown in FIG. (Step S4 in FIG. 5).

When the substrate G is held by the substrate carrier 6, the control unit 50 moves the support pins 8a downward by the cylinder driving units 8b in each support pin mechanism 8 to release the support state by the support pins 8a.
Then, the substrate G is moved by the substrate carrier 6 on the floating stage 5 along the guide rail 5 as shown in FIG. 7B (step S5 in FIG. 5), and the resist solution is discharged from the nozzle 9, A resist solution is applied to the substrate surface.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the support pin mechanism 8 for temporarily holding the substrate G after alignment is provided, the substrate carrier 6 is placed at the substrate carry-in position H of the levitation stage 3. Before returning, alignment of the board | substrate G to convey next can be implemented.
That is, it is not necessary to perform alignment of the substrate G to be transported next after the substrate carrier 6 returns to the substrate carry-in position H of the levitation stage 3 as in the prior art, and as soon as the substrate carrier 6 returns to the substrate carry-in position H, the substrate Since the substrate 6 can be held and started to be transported by the carrier 6, the tact time from the substrate loading to the transport start can be shortened, and the throughput can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the resist coating unit has been described as an example. However, the substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this unit. It can be suitably used also in other substrate processing units.

Claims (6)

A substrate transfer apparatus for transferring and transferring a substrate to be processed one by one in a sheet format,
A levitation stage for levitating the substrate by gas injection or injection and suction, a pair of guide rails arranged parallel to the left and right sides of the levitation stage, and a pair of guide rails movably provided along the pair of guide rails A plurality of substrate carriers capable of adsorbing and holding the edge of the substrate from below; and a substrate loading position of the levitation stage, wherein the substrate loaded is movably provided from a standby position to a predetermined position. An alignment means for placing the substrate at a predetermined position in contact with the substrate; a substrate support means for supporting the substrate placed at a predetermined position by the alignment means from below the substrate at the substrate loading position of the floating stage; A substrate carrier, the alignment means, and a controller for controlling the operation of the substrate support means,
The control unit performs alignment so that the alignment unit arranges the substrate at a predetermined position until the substrate carrier that has completed the transfer of the substrate to be processed returns to the substrate carry-in position of the levitation stage. A substrate transport apparatus, wherein the substrate support means supports the aligned substrate from below and controls the alignment means to return to a standby position where it does not interfere with the substrate carrier. The substrate support means includes a plurality of support pins provided so as to protrude upward from the surface of the levitation stage, and an elevating drive unit configured to raise and lower the plurality of support pins.
2. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the lift driving unit raises the plurality of support pins to a predetermined height from the surface of the levitation stage, whereby the substrate is supported by the plurality of support pins. Substrate transfer device. The controller is
When the substrate supported by the plurality of support pins is sucked and held by the plurality of substrate carriers, the lift drive unit controls the plurality of support pins to move downward,
The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the support of the substrate by the plurality of support pins is released. A levitation stage for levitating the substrate by gas injection or injection and suction, a pair of guide rails arranged parallel to the left and right sides of the levitation stage, and a pair of guide rails movably provided along the pair of guide rails A plurality of substrate carriers capable of adsorbing and holding the edge of the substrate from below; and a substrate loading position of the levitation stage, wherein the substrate loaded is movably provided from a standby position to a predetermined position. An alignment means for placing the substrate at a predetermined position in contact with the substrate; a substrate support means for supporting the substrate placed at a predetermined position by the alignment means from below the substrate at the substrate loading position of the floating stage; In a substrate transport apparatus comprising a substrate carrier, the alignment means, and a controller for controlling the operation of the substrate support means. One by one, sheets Form A substrate transfer method for transporting a processed substrate flat flow,
Until the substrate carrier that has completed the transfer of the substrate to be processed along the guide rail returns to the substrate loading position of the floating stage for receiving the substrate to be processed next to be transferred,
A step of aligning the target substrate newly loaded at the substrate loading position on the levitation stage by placing the substrate at a predetermined position by the alignment unit;
Supporting the aligned substrate from below by the substrate support means;
Returning the alignment means to a standby position in a state where the substrate is supported by the substrate support means. The substrate support means includes a plurality of support pins provided so as to protrude upward from the surface of the levitation stage, and an elevating drive unit configured to raise and lower the plurality of support pins.
The said raising / lowering drive part raises these support pins to the predetermined height from the surface of the said levitation | floating stage, The said board | substrate is supported by these support pins. Substrate transport method. After the step of returning the alignment means to the standby position in a state where the substrate is supported by the substrate support means,
Sucking and holding the substrate by the substrate carrier returned to the substrate loading position of the floating stage;
The substrate transport method according to claim 5, further comprising a step of moving down the plurality of support pins by the lift driving unit and releasing the support of the substrate by the plurality of support pins.

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