JP4980761B2 - Conveying apparatus and conveying method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus and a transport method, and more particularly to a transport apparatus and a transport method that can transport a plate-shaped member such as a semiconductor wafer without damaging the plate-shaped member.

As a transfer device for a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”), a suction holding means including a suction cup capable of sucking a central portion or a plurality of circumferential directions of the wafer is known. However, in the present situation where the thickness is reduced to several tens of μm by backside grinding, if the suction holding method using the conventional apparatus is adopted, the wafer is broken by the local suction force acting on the wafer. , Inconvenience.
Therefore, a porous body capable of attracting and holding a wafer by a surface has been frequently used. Such a porous body sinters a metal ball having a very small diameter and has a highly accurate holding surface by polishing, so that a local force is hardly applied to the wafer. However, since it is made of metal, there arises a disadvantage that the porous body is inclined and comes into contact with the wafer, or that the wafer is damaged by an impact at the time of contact.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a transfer device including a suction pad having a suction surface that sucks and holds a wafer, a support mechanism that supports the suction pad in a displaceable manner, and a moving arm that moves the suction pad. Has been. In this transfer device, when the table having the wafer mounting surface is inclined with respect to the suction surface of the suction pad, the support mechanism is provided in advance so as to be adjustable according to the tilt.

JP 2003-158167 A

  However, in the transfer device described in Patent Document 1, the effect can be exhibited only between two tables. Therefore, when a wafer is transferred between three or more tables, if each table has a unique inclination, the inclination cannot be accommodated, and as a result, the wafer can be protected from damage. Can not. In addition, an operation for adjusting or setting the moving mechanism in advance is required, and the operation becomes complicated.

[Object of invention]
The present invention has been devised by paying attention to such inconveniences. The purpose of the present invention is to carry a plate-like member mounting surface or a plate-like member when a plate-like member such as a wafer is transferred. Even if the surface is inclined, the holding member and the surface to be held of the plate-like member are automatically made parallel so that the displacement following the inclination can be made, and the holding member is prevented from inclining and contacting the wafer. It is providing the conveying apparatus and conveying method which can convey a plate-shaped member.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a holding means for holding a plate-like member placed on a placement surface, and the holding means is slidably connected, and the holding means is moved to move the plate. In a conveying apparatus provided with a driving means for conveying a shaped member,
The holding means includes a holding surface for holding the plate-like member, and includes a parallel adjusting means for adjusting the relative position between the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member in parallel.
The parallel adjustment means is a contact member that contacts the mounting surface before the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member contact to keep the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member parallel to each other. It is configured to be equipped with.

The present invention also provides a mounting means having a mounting surface for a plate-like member, a holding means having a holding surface for holding the plate-like member, and transporting the plate-like member by moving the holding means. And a driving device including:
The holding means and / or the placing means includes parallel adjusting means for adjusting the relative position of the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member in parallel,
The parallel adjusting means abuts on the mounting surface and / or the periphery of the holding surface before the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member come into contact with each other, and the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted in which a contact member that keeps the two in parallel is provided.

  Furthermore, the holding means may be configured to be supported by the driving means via a buffer means.

Further, the present invention is provided in a mounting means having a mounting surface for a plate member, a holding means having a holding surface for holding the plate member, and the mounting means and / or the holding means. In the transport method of transporting the plate member using a transport device including a parallel adjusting means including a contact member that adjusts the relative position of the holding surface and the held surface of the plate member in parallel.
Before the holding surface and the held surface come into contact with each other, the contact member is brought into contact with the mounting surface and / or the holding surface to keep the holding surface and the held surface in parallel. Bringing the holding surface and the held surface into contact with each other;
Next, a method is adopted in which the holding surface of the plate-like member is held and transported by the holding surface.

  In the transport method, a method of buffering an impact when the holding surface is brought into contact with the held surface of the plate-like member may be adopted.

According to the present invention, the abutting member of the parallel adjusting means abuts on the mounting surface prior to the contact between the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member, and the holding surface is adjusted so that they are parallel. Will always contact the plate-like member in a parallel state. Therefore, the holding surface is not inclined and comes into contact with the held surface of the plate-like member, and damage such as cracking of the plate-like member can be effectively prevented.
In addition, even when the placement surface that is the transport destination is inclined, the contact member comes into contact with the placement surface first, and the placement surface and the placement surface of the plate-like member are in a parallel state. Since it is transferred, cracking of the plate-like member is prevented.
Further, the configuration in which the contact member is provided in a shaft shape so as to be able to advance and retreat enables smooth parallel adjustment without an impact when the contact member hits the placement surface.
Further, since the holding means and the driving means are connected via the buffer means, when the holding surface comes into contact with the held surface of the plate-like member, or when the mounting surface and the plate-like member placed surface Since the impact when the contact is made is also absorbed, there is no inconvenience of breaking the plate member.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a transfer apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of a main part with a part thereof cut. In these drawings, the transfer device 10 can hold the holding means 11 that holds the wafer W as a plate-like member, the driving means 12 that transfers the wafer W via the holding means 11, and the holding means 11 can be swung. The connecting unit 13 is supported by the driving unit 12 in a state, and the buffer unit 14 absorbs or reduces the impact when the holding unit 11 contacts the wafer W. Here, the wafer W is placed with the upper surface of the table T as the placing means as the placement surface TS, and the upper surface is the held surface Wa and the lower surface is the placement surface Wb.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the holding unit 11 is substantially in plan view for supporting the suction plate 15 via a suction plate 15 formed by a porous body having a holding surface 15 </ b> A of the wafer W on the lower surface side and a spacer 16. It includes a disk-shaped support plate 17 and parallel adjusting means 18 for adjusting the holding surface 15A and the wafer W in parallel. The holding surface 15A is formed with a plurality of suction ports (not shown) for sucking and holding the wafer W, and these suction ports are connected to a decompression device (not shown). In this embodiment, the suction plate 15 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the wafer W is employed, but at least a suction plate 15 having a size substantially corresponding to the planar shape of the wafer W is sufficient. .

  The parallel adjusting means 18 is in contact with the mounting surface TS before the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa come into contact with each other, and holds the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa in parallel. It is comprised by. The abutting member 20 is provided in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the support plate 17 at a position spaced approximately 120 degrees in the circumferential direction of the support plate 17. Here, the contact member 20 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat along the axial direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) via a bush 21 fixed to the support plate 17, and a stopper 23 is fixed to the upper end side. On the other hand, a spring receiving member 24 is fixed to the lower end side. A coil spring 25 is interposed between the spring receiving member 24 and the bush 21. The state where the lower surface of the stopper 23 is seated on the upper end surface of the bush 21 by the biasing force of the coil spring 25 is the initial position. In this initial position, the tip of the contact member 20, that is, the lower end in FIG. 2, protrudes from the holding surface 15A toward the placement surface TS.

  The driving means 12 includes an X-axis robot 30 extending in the X-axis direction, a slider 31 supported so as to be movable in the X-axis direction via the X-axis robot 30, and a Z-axis fixed to the front surface of the slider 31. One end side is supported by the Z-axis robot 33, and the other end side (front end side) is configured by a plate-like arm member 34 provided to support the holding means 11. Accordingly, the suction plate 15 can be moved in the X-axis and Z-axis directions via the arm member 34 by driving the X-axis robot 30 and the Z-axis robot 33.

  The connecting means 13 is provided between the support plate 17 and the buffer means 14 located on the distal end side of the arm member 34. The connecting means 13 is constituted by a universal joint 36 shown schematically, and a shaft 37 protruding downward is connected to the central portion of the support plate 17 to support the holding means 11 so as to be able to rotate flexibly. ing. Accordingly, the held surface Wa and the holding surface 15A are set to be parallel when all the contact members 20 are in contact with the placement surface TS.

  The buffer means 14 is erected at a position separated from the connecting plate 40 connected to the upper end of the universal joint 36 by an interval of about 120 degrees in the circumferential direction of the connecting plate 40, and penetrates the arm member 34. The three elevating shafts 42 extending in parallel, the bush 43 provided between the elevating shaft 42 and the arm member 34 in a state where the elevating shaft 42 penetrates, and the upper ends of the elevating shafts 42 are connected to each other. And a coil spring 45 having both ends fixed to the top plate 44 and the arm member 34. The coil spring 45 has an urging force that urges the top plate 44 upward. However, due to the weight of the holding means 11 and the connecting means 13, the coil spring 45 is somewhat contracted against the urging force as an initial state.

  Next, a wafer transfer method using the transfer apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, it is assumed that the mounting surface TS of the table T and the holding means 11 in the initial state are not parallel, and the mounting surface Wb and the held surface Wa of the wafer W are parallel (see FIG. 2). ).

  When the Z-axis robot 33 is driven to lower the holding unit 11 in a state where the holding unit 11 is positioned above the table T by driving the driving unit 12, the holding surface 15A is moved to the wafer W as shown in FIG. Before the contact, the front end (lower end) of the contact member 20 located on the right side in FIG. When the holding means 11 is further lowered, as shown in FIG. 4, the entire holding means 11 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing via the universal joint 36, and other abutments that have not been abutted until then. The members 20 are sequentially brought into contact with the placement surface TS. At this time, the holding surface 15A and the wafer W are still kept in contact with each other.

When the tips of all the contact members 20 are in contact, the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa are in a state of facing each other in parallel. If the holding means 11 is further lowered in this state, the holding surface 15 </ b> A is pushed downward against the urging force of the coil spring 25. Here, the holding surface 15 </ b> A approaches the wafer W while maintaining parallelism with the held surface Wa with high accuracy as each contact member 20 slides along the bush 21.
As shown in FIG. 5, the held surface Wa comes into contact with the holding surface 15A, and the wafer W is held by the suction plate 15 by suction of a decompression device (not shown). The impact at the time of contact between the suction plate 15 and the wafer W is buffered by the coil spring 45 of the buffer means 14 extending and the holding means 11 rising, thereby preventing the wafer W from being damaged.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the holding means 11 is raised by driving the Z-axis cylinder 33 in a state where the wafer W is attracted and held on the holding surface 15 </ b> A, the holding means 11 is neutralized via the universal joint 36. It returns to the position, and in this state, it is transferred to a mounting surface such as a separate table (not shown). At this time, even if the placement surface of the transfer destination and the holding means 11 are not parallel, the contact member 20 first contacts the placement surface before placing the wafer W, and the placement surface Wb and the placement surface are placed in a parallel state.

Therefore, according to such an embodiment, prior to the contact between the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa, the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa are brought into contact with each other by the contact between the tip of the contact member 20 and the placement surface TS. Since it can be adjusted to be parallel, the holding surface 15A comes into contact with the held surface Wa in a parallel state. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the wafer from being cracked due to contact with the tilt.
Further, since the buffer means 14 reduces the impact when the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa or the placement surface and the placement surface Wb come into contact with each other, damage to the wafer W can be avoided.

  Furthermore, the abutting member 20 has a tip protruding from the holding surface 15A toward the placement surface TS, and is displaced in the axial direction according to the inclination of the placement surface TS to maintain parallelism. Regardless of the state of the surface on which the wafer W is placed, it automatically follows this, and it is possible to avoid complicated operations without any setting by the operator.

As described above, the best configuration, method and the like for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this.
In other words, the present invention has been illustrated and described mainly with respect to specific embodiments, but without departing from the scope of the technical idea and object of the present invention, the shape, position, or With respect to the arrangement and the like, those skilled in the art can make various changes as necessary.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the parallel adjusting means 18 is provided in the holding means 11 is illustrated and described, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, an abutting member constituting the parallel adjusting means 18 is provided in the table T, and the tip end side of the abutting member protrudes from the mounting surface TS so as to advance and retreat in the axial direction. It is also possible to maintain parallelism so as to be able to come into contact with the outer peripheral side of 15. Further, the parallel adjusting means 18 can be provided on both the holding means 11 and the table T in a state where they do not interfere with each other.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the mounting surface Wb and the held surface Wa of the wafer W are parallel to each other has been described. However, if they are not parallel as shown in FIG. The contact member 20 and the stopper 23 may be adjusted so that the holding surface 15A and the held surface Wa are parallel when the 20 comes into contact with the placement surface TS.

  Moreover, although the drive means 12 employ | adopted what can move the adsorption | suction plate 15 to the orthogonal | vertical biaxial direction of an X-axis and a Z-axis, this invention is not limited to this, It moves also to a Y-axis direction. It can also be possible. In addition, the structure of the driving means 12 may be other than the configuration example shown in the figure. For example, a robot arm whose free end is movable in a three-dimensional direction may be used.

  Furthermore, the plate-like member in the present invention is not limited to the semiconductor wafer W, and other plate-like members such as a glass plate, a steel plate, or a resin plate can also be targeted. The semiconductor wafer is a silicon wafer. Or a compound wafer

The schematic perspective view of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. The principal part schematic side view which cut down a part of said conveying apparatus. The principal part schematic side view which shows the initial stage in which one contact member contact | abutted to the mounting surface. The principal part schematic side view which shows the step which all the contact members contacted the mounting surface. The principal part schematic side view which carried out the partial cross section of the state which the holding surface contacted the wafer. The principal part schematic side view which shows the state which the holding means holding the wafer left | separated upwards from the table. Explanatory drawing of the modification which shows the step which all the contact members contact | abutted to the mounting surface, when the mounting surface of a wafer and a to-be-held surface are not parallel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyance means 11 Holding means 12 Drive means 13 Connection means 14 Buffer means 15 Suction plate 15A Holding surface 18 Parallel adjustment means 20 Contact member 36 Universal joint T Table (mounting means)
TS mounting surface W Semiconductor wafer (plate-like member)

Claims (5)

A holding means for holding the plate-like member placed on the placement surface, and a driving means for moving the holding means to convey the plate-like member while connecting the holding means so as to be swingable. In the transport device,
The holding means includes a holding surface for holding the plate-like member, and includes a parallel adjusting means for adjusting the relative position between the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member in parallel.
The parallel adjustment means is a contact member that contacts the mounting surface before the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member contact to keep the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member parallel to each other. A conveying apparatus comprising: A mounting unit having a mounting surface for the plate-like member; a holding unit having a holding surface for holding the plate-like member; and a driving unit for moving the holding unit to convey the plate-like member. In the transport device,
The holding means and / or the placing means includes parallel adjusting means for adjusting the relative position of the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member in parallel,
The parallel adjusting means abuts on the mounting surface and / or the periphery of the holding surface before the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member come into contact with each other, and the holding surface and the held surface of the plate-like member A conveying device comprising a contact member that keeps them parallel to each other. Said holding means, according to claim 1 or 2 SL placing conveying device, characterized in that it is supported by the drive means via the damping means. A mounting means having a mounting surface for a plate-like member, a holding means having a holding surface for holding the plate-like member, and the holding surface and the plate-like provided on the mounting means and / or the holding means. In a transport method of transporting the plate-shaped member using a transport device including a parallel adjusting means including a contact member that adjusts the relative position of the member to the held surface in parallel.
Before the holding surface and the held surface come into contact with each other, the contact member is brought into contact with the mounting surface and / or the holding surface to keep the holding surface and the held surface in parallel. Bringing the holding surface and the held surface into contact with each other;
Then, the holding method of the plate-like member is held by the holding surface and transferred. The transport method according to claim 4 , wherein an impact when the holding surface is brought into contact with the held surface of the plate-like member is buffered.

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