JP6521892B2 - Wafer reversing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wafer reversing device for gripping and reversing a semiconductor wafer.

  In the semiconductor manufacturing process, there is a process of reversing the wafer and treating the other side after processing the one side of the wafer. After the processing is completed, the wafer is inverted again to invert the wafer so that the one surface is the front side and is returned to the original state. Patent Document 1 describes a wafer reversing device capable of reversing a wafer. The wafer reversing device has a claw portion for gripping the wafer and a reversing portion for reversing the wafer.

JP 2005-203452

The wafer reversing device described in Patent Document 1 requires two power sources, that is, a power source of a claw for gripping a wafer and a power source of a reversing part for reversing a wafer. Therefore, the wafer reversing apparatus has a problem when trying to miniaturize the apparatus by complicating the apparatus configuration.
An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer reversing apparatus which can simplify the apparatus configuration and miniaturize the apparatus.

One aspect of the present invention is a wafer reversing device for gripping and reversing a wafer,
A gripping portion having a claw portion for gripping the wafer;
A drive unit having a first pulley and a cam to which power from the output shaft of the power source is transmitted;
And a link portion that releases the gripping of the wafer gripped by the claw portion in conjunction with the movement of the cam.
The driving unit is interlocked with the rotation of the first pulley in a state in which the power is transmitted, causes the gripping unit to reverse after being turned and then stops the operation, and operates the cam in such a state to interlock the link unit. Release the gripping of the wafer gripped by the claws by
It is a wafer reversing device.

  According to the present invention, the power source for releasing the claws gripping the wafer and the power source for reversing the grippers are integrated into one system of power transmitted to the first pulley of the drive unit and the cam. The first pulley reverses the grip portion in a powered state, and then stops in a state in which the grip portion is reversed. The cam operates as it is powered even after the first pulley is stopped to operate the link portion. Thereby, the link part can release the claw part from the wafer.

  According to the wafer reversing device of the present invention, the device configuration can be simplified and the device can be miniaturized.

It is a perspective view of the wafer reversing device concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view which showed the internal mechanism of the wafer inversion apparatus. It is a figure showing composition of the 1st pulley and cam. It is the figure which showed the operation state of the 1st pulley and cam. It is a figure explaining composition of a link part. It is an enlarged view of a part of structure of a link part. It is an enlarged view of a part different state of composition of a link part. It is the figure which showed the middle of operation of the link section. It is the figure which showed the middle of operation of the link section. It is the figure which showed the middle of operation of the link section. It is the figure which showed the state which operation | movement of the link part completed. It is a figure showing a modification of a wafer reversal device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a wafer reversing device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer reversing device 1 is a device for gripping and inverting the wafer W and then releasing the gripping of the wafer W. The wafer reversing device 1 has a gripping unit 2 for gripping the wafer W, and a drive unit 10 for reversing the gripping unit 2. The grip 2 is provided on the front side of the main body frame F. The drive unit 10 is provided on the back side of the main body frame F.

  The holding unit 2 is configured to hold, for example, a disk-shaped wafer W. The gripping portion 2 has a rotating frame 3 which rotates 180 degrees in the normal direction P and the reversing direction Q, and a claw portion 4 which grips the wafer W in the vertical direction. The rotating frame 3 is a rectangular plate-like body. The rotating frame 3 is provided on the front side of the main body frame F so as to be rotatable about an axis H. The rotating frame 3 rotates with respect to the plane in the vertical direction (Z direction). A pair of claws 4 are provided on both ends of the rotary frame 3 so as to protrude forward (in the X direction).

  The claw portion 4 has a claw frame 5 projecting forward and a pair of forks 6 rotatably provided on the claw frame 5. The pair of forks 6 are juxtaposed in the vertical direction. A guide 8 formed to conform to the outer peripheral shape of the wafer W is disposed between the pair of forks 6. The fork 6 is provided with a pair of claws 7 juxtaposed in the direction of the axis G. The pair of claws 7 provided on the upper fork 6 is formed to be bent so as to grip the lower surface of the wafer W.

  On the other hand, the pair of claws 7 provided on the lower fork 6 is formed to be bent so as to grip the upper surface of the wafer W. That is, the pair of claws 7 is formed to cross and rotate like a hook. Thus, when the lower fork 6 rotates around the axis G, the upper pair of claws 7 grips or releases the upper surface of the wafer W. The gripping and releasing of the pair of claws 7 is interlocked with the driving force for rotating the rotating frame 3. Detailed operations of gripping and releasing the pair of claws 7 will be described later. The driving force for rotating the rotating frame 3 is transmitted by the drive unit 10 on the back surface of the main body frame F.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the cover 11 (see FIG. 1) of the drive unit 10 is removed, the device configuration constituting the drive unit 10 appears. Between the drive unit 10 and the grip unit 2, a link unit 25 that operates the pair of claws 4 in conjunction with the drive unit 10 is provided. The drive unit 10 holds a motor M that generates power serving as a drive source, a gear box 12 that reduces the power of the motor M to change the output direction, and the rotational power output from the output shaft R of the gear box 12 And a rotation mechanism unit 13 for transmitting the information.

  The rotation mechanism unit 13 includes a first pulley 14 transmitting rotational power of the output shaft R, a second pulley 15 transmitting rotational power of the first pulley 14 to the grip 2 by the belt B, and rotational power of the output shaft R. And a cam 17 operating at The belt B is tensioned by the tensioner T.

  The reduction ratio of the second pulley 15 and the first pulley 14 is set, for example, to 5: 3. Accordingly, when the output shaft R rotates by 54 °, the first pulley 14 rotates by 54 °, and the second pulley 15 rotates by 90 °. The second pulley 15 is disposed concentrically with the rotating frame 3 of the grip portion 2. The rotation of the second pulley 15 causes the grip 2 to rotate. The rotation of the grip portion 2 can be performed by rotating a stopper 3a (see FIG. 5) provided on the rotary frame 3 into contact with a protrusion D (see FIG. 5) provided on the main body frame F for 180 ° normal rotation and reverse rotation. Regulated to turn.

  A cam 17 is provided between the first pulley 14 and the main body frame F. The cam 17 rotates in conjunction with the output shaft R. The cam 17 is provided with a pair of rollers 18. The roller 18 smoothly transmits the movement of the cam 17 to the link plate 26 of the link 25.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cam 17 is fixed to the output shaft R and rotates in conjunction with the output shaft R. A screw spring S is further wound and fixed on the output shaft R, and the screw spring S rotates in conjunction with the output shaft R. The first pulley 14 is inserted into the output shaft R and rotates with respect to the output shaft R. The first pulley 14 is provided with a pair of pins 14 a and 14 b projecting toward the cam 17 side. A screw spring S is hooked on the pair of pins 14a and 14b. Thus, when the output shaft R rotates, the first pulley 14 also rotates in conjunction with the torsion spring S. Therefore, when the output shaft R rotates, the cam 17 and the first pulley 14 rotate.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in a state where the rotational power from the output shaft R is transmitted in the rotational direction Q, when a force to stop the rotation is applied to the first pulley 14, the first pulley 14 is operated by the action of the torsion spring S. The cam 17 can continue to rotate in the rotational direction Q while the cam 17 is stopped. The rotation of the cam 17 is restricted by the abutment of a stopper 17a provided on the cam 17 with the pin 14b (14a). The first pulley 14 and the cam 17 operate similarly for rotation in the opposite direction.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows the relationship between the rotation mechanism 13 and the link 25. The cam 17 operates the link unit 25 by rotation. The link portion 25 has a link plate 26 which can slide up and down, and a plurality of claw cams 27 which rotate in conjunction with the vertical movement of the link plate 26. The link plate 26 is disposed above the cam 17. A plurality of claw cams 27 are provided on the back side of the rotary frame 3 of the grip portion 2. The claw cam 27 is provided on the rotation shaft G of the fork 6 (see FIG. 6) of the claw portion 4.

  When the first pulley 14 is stopped and the cam 17 is rotated upward (see FIG. 4), the cam 17 is in contact with one of the pair of leg portions 26 a of the link plate 26 and pushed up. At this time, the pair of arm portions 26 b provided above the link plate 26 is in a state in which the pair of lower claw cams 27 are rotated upward. At this time, the lower fork 6 is rotated, and the upper claws 7 are released (see FIG. 6).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the proximal end of the claw cam 27 rotates about the axis G. A roller 28 is provided at the tip of the claw cam 27 to facilitate the contact of the tip of the arm 26b. When the arm 26 b is pushed upward by the cam 17, the tip of the arm 26 b rotates the claw cam 27 upward while in contact with the roller 28. The claw cam 27 is biased in a direction in which the claw 7 of the fork 6 grips the wafer W by a torsion spring 30 wound around the rotation shaft. One end of the torsion spring 30 is hooked on a pin provided on the claw cam 27. The torsion spring 30 is biased at, for example, a rotation angle of 50 °.

  The other end of the torsion spring 30 is hooked in a groove (not shown) provided in the rotating frame 3. Thus, the pair of upper and lower claw cams 27 are biased by the pair of screw springs 30 in a direction to be separated from each other and to rotate. The rotation of the claw cam 27 is regulated by a stopper J provided to project from the rotary frame 3. Therefore, in this state, the lower claw 7 is in a closed state so that the wafer W can be placed thereon, and the upper claw 7 is released upward by pushing up the arm 26 b.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the output shaft R is reversed from 0 ° to 12 ° after the wafer W is mounted on the lower claw 7, the first pulley 14 is stopped by the biasing force of the screw spring S. In this state, the cam 17 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) rotates downward. Then, the link plate 26 is lowered, and the lower claw cam 27 is rotated downward. Then, the wafer W is held by the pair of forks 6 while the holding unit 2 is kept stopped. Then, when the output shaft R is rotated from 12 ° to 36 °, the first pulley 14 also starts to rotate. In conjunction with this, the second pulley 15 rotates, and the gripping portion 2 also starts to rotate. That is, with the above configuration, the wafer reversing device 1 can shift the timing of the gripping operation of the wafer W and the rotation operation of the gripping unit 2.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the output shaft R is rotated from 36 ° to 90 °, the grip portion 2 is rotated 90 ° by the reduction ratio of the second pulley 15 and the first pulley described above. The link plate 26 descends in conjunction with this.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the output shaft R is rotated from 90 ° to 144 °, the stopper 3 a abuts on the projection D, and the rotation of the grip 2 stops. The force for stopping the rotation is transmitted to the first pulley 14 via the second pulley 15 and the belt B to stop the first pulley 14. At this time, the link plate 26 is lifted upward by the cam 17.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the output shaft R is rotated from 144 ° to 168 °, the cam 17 rotates while the first pulley 14 is stopped, and the pair of arm portions 26b of the link plate 26 is on the lower side. It comes in contact with the pair of rollers 28 of the pair of claw cams 27 that have come.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when the output shaft R is rotated from 168 ° to 180 °, the cam 17 further rotates while the first pulley 14 is stopped, and the pair of arm portions 26 b of the link plate 26 is on the lower side. The upper claws 7 are released upward by pushing up the pair of claw cams 27 which have come to the front, and the wafer W held by the holding portion 2 is released. Then, the wafer reversing device 1 can realize the same operation as described above by giving the rotation in the opposite direction to the above to the output shaft R.

  As described above, according to the wafer reversing device 1, the power source for releasing the claw portion 4 for gripping the wafer W and the power source for reversing the gripping portion are transmitted to the first pulley 14 and the cam 17 of the driving portion 10. Are integrated into one system of power output from the motor M. Thus, the wafer reversing device 1 can simplify and downsize the device configuration.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the mounting position of the motor M may be changed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wafer inversion apparatus 2 ... Gripping part 3 ... Rotation frame 3a ... Stopper 4 ... Claw part 5 ... Claw frame 6 ... Fork 7 ... Claw 8 ... Guide 10 ... Drive part 11 ... Cover 12 ... Gear box 13 ... Rotation mechanism part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Pulley 14a, 14b ... Pin 14b ... Pin 15 ... Pulley 17 ... Cam 17a ... Stopper 18 ... Roller 25 ... Link part 26 ... Link board 26a ... Leg part 26b ... Arm part 27 ... Claw for claws 28 ... Roller 30 ... Screw spring B: Belt D: Protrusion F: Body frame G: Rotational axis G: Axis line H: Axis line J: Stopper M: Motor forward direction Q: Reverse direction R: Output axis S: Torsion spring T: Tensioner W: Wafer

Claims (1)

A wafer reversing apparatus for gripping and reversing a wafer, comprising:
A gripping portion having a claw portion for gripping the wafer;
A driving unit having a first pulley that receives power from an output shaft of the power source via a torsion spring to rotate and a cam that receives power from the output shaft of the power source to rotate ;
And a link portion that releases the gripping of the wafer gripped by the claw portion in conjunction with the movement of the cam.
In the state in which the drive unit operates and the first pulley and the cam rotate, the gripping unit is reversed according to the operation of the first pulley ,
The rotation of the first pulley is stopped by the gripping portion being in contact with a stopper that restricts rotation.
The cam is rotated by the biasing force of the torsion spring in a state where the first pulley is stopped, and the rotation operation of the cam interlocks with the operation of the link portion to release the gripping of the wafer gripped by the claw portion Do,
Wafer reversing device.

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