JP7193971B2 - Substrate holder - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate holding device that holds a substrate such as a silicon wafer.

Conventionally, a plurality of substrates such as silicon wafers are transferred from a FOUP in which a plurality of substrates such as silicon wafers are stored so as to be arranged in a predetermined first pitch in the thickness direction in a semiconductor processing process to a boat in which these substrates are stored at a second pitch. There is known a substrate holding device capable of holding the substrate (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The second pitch is different from the first pitch due to necessity in the preceding and succeeding processing steps, and the substrate holding device is configured to change the pitch when transferring the substrate.

The substrate holding device of Patent Document 1 is provided with a pitch conversion mechanism 3 that changes the spacing between the five substrates. Specifically, an end effector mounting plate is attached to one end of the end effector that holds the substrate, and each end effector mounting plate is connected to the pitch changing cylinder. In such a configuration, the end effector mounting plate can be reciprocated in the thickness direction of the substrate by the expansion and contraction of the pitch conversion cylinder, so that the interval between the end effectors, that is, the pitch of the substrate can be changed. ing. In addition, the pitch is changed to two stages of a wide pitch and a narrow pitch.

JP 2006-313865 A

However, although the substrate holding device of Patent Document 1 can change the pitch of 5 substrates, for example, when changing the pitch of 10 or 20 substrates, the driving force required to change the pitch is required. It is necessary to let only the pitch conversion cylinder take charge. As a result, the size of the pitch changing cylinder becomes large, which complicates the structure, increases the weight, and increases the cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate holding device that is compact and can be manufactured at a low cost.

A substrate holding device according to the present invention is a substrate holding device that changes the spacing between substrates to a first pitch that is the minimum spacing or a second pitch that is the maximum spacing, comprising: a plurality of substrate holders; a supporting portion for supporting the substrate holders so as to line up in one direction corresponding to each of the substrate holders; and a driving device for moving the supporting portion to one side and the other side in the one direction, and when the supporting portion arranged at the end is moved to the one side in the one direction by the driving device, The other support portion adjacent to the one support portion is moved by being pulled by the one support portion when the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion becomes the second pitch. When the support portion arranged at the end is moved to the other side in the one direction by the driving device, the other support portion is divided into the one support portion and the other support portion. When the distance from the first support portion becomes the first pitch, it is configured to be pushed down by the one support portion and move.

According to the present invention, when the support portion arranged at the end is moved to one side in one direction by the driving device, the other support portion adjacent to the one support portion is moved from the one support portion to the other support portion. can be moved by being pulled by one support portion when the distance from the other support portion becomes the second pitch. To give a specific example, when the top support is lifted by the driving device, the two supports begin to rise together because the hook is caught by the second support. When the second support rises, its hook catches on the third support and the three supports begin to rise together. In this way, the lower support portions are successively raised in a chain, and finally the pitch of all the support portions becomes the second pitch (maximum interval).

On the other hand, when the support portion arranged at the end is moved to the other side in one direction by the driving device, the other support portion is moved to the first position by the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion. It can be moved by being pushed down by one support portion when it becomes a pitch. To give a specific example, when the uppermost support portion is lowered by the driving device, the second support portion is also lowered because it comes into contact with the second support portion and pushes down the second support portion. Then, when the second support portion descends, it contacts the third support portion and pushes down the third support portion, so the third support portion also descends. In this way, the lower support portions are successively lowered in succession, and finally the pitch of all the support portions becomes the first pitch (minimum interval).

With the above configuration, it is not necessary to have only one driving device bear the driving force for changing the pitches of the plurality of support portions. This makes it possible to avoid an increase in the size of the driving device. As a result, the substrate holding device can be made compact, and the cost of the substrate holding device can be reduced.

In the above invention, the one support portion is provided with an engaging portion, and when the support portion arranged at the end is moved to one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other support portion When the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion becomes the second pitch, the engaging portion of the one support portion engages the other support portion, thereby moving the may be configured to perform

According to the above configuration, with a simple configuration, each supporting portion can be linked and moved to one side and the other side in one direction.

In the above invention, the engaging portion of the one support portion is formed in a hook shape to be hooked on the other support portion when moving in the one direction, and the one support portion and the other support portion are hooked together. It is preferable that a notch for avoiding interference when the one support portion moves to the other side in the one direction is provided in the other one support portion sandwiching the other support portion.

According to the above configuration, by providing the notch, it is possible to prevent interference with the other one support portion when the one support portion moves to the other side in one direction. can.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate holding device that is compact and can achieve cost reduction.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a substrate transfer system including a substrate holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of each supporting portion that supports each substrate holder; FIG. (a) is a diagram showing a state in which the spacing between the support portions is the second pitch, and (b) is a diagram showing the state in which the spacing between the support portions is the first pitch. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration for gripping a substrate; It is a figure which shows the modification of each support part.

A substrate holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The substrate holding device described below is merely one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and additions, deletions, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a substrate transfer system 1 including a substrate holding device 100. As shown in FIG.

Examples of substrates transported by the substrate transport system 1 include semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for thin displays (liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, etc.) processed by semiconductor processes. Examples of semiconductor wafers include silicon wafers, silicon carbide wafers, sapphire wafers, and the like.

The substrate transport system 1 is not particularly limited as long as it transports substrates. A substrate transport system 1 transports silicon wafer substrates from a FOUP 2 to a boat 3 in a semiconductor manufacturing line, for example. The substrate transport system 1 of this embodiment unloads circular substrates stored in the FOUP 2 and loads the substrates into the boat 3 . The FOUP 2 is formed with an opening 2a for loading and unloading substrates, and the boat 3 is also formed with an opening 3a for loading and unloading substrates. The hoop 2 and boat 3 are arranged such that their openings 2a, 3a face each other. The FOUP 2 accommodates the substrates so that the substrates are arranged vertically at a pitch P1. The boat 3 stores the substrates so that the substrates are vertically arranged at a pitch P2 smaller than the first pitch P1.

The substrate transport system 1 includes a robot 4 having a substrate holding device 100 attached to its tip, which transfers substrates stored in a FOUP 2 to a boat 3 , an elevator 5 for raising and lowering the robot 4 , and the substrate holding device 100 . and a control unit (not shown) that controls the robot 4 and the platform 5 .

The robot 4 is, for example, an industrial robot, and has a substrate holding device 100 attached to the tip of its arm. In this embodiment, the robot 4 is a so-called horizontal articulated robot whose arm moves in a horizontal plane. Since the robot 4 can be configured by a well-known horizontal articulated robot, further explanation is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate holding device 100 includes five substrate holders 10a to 10e arranged vertically (in one direction) and a support mechanism for supporting the base ends of these substrate holders 10a to 10e. 12. In the following, for the sake of convenience, the direction from the base end side to the tip end side of the substrate holders 10a to 10e is referred to as front, and the opposite direction is referred to as rear.

Each of the substrate holders 10a to 10e is formed in a plate shape and is formed in a U shape with an open front side. However, the shape of the substrate holders 10a to 10e is not limited to this. A notch 11 is provided at the proximal end of each of the substrate holders 10a to 10e. Further, two fixed holding members (not shown) are provided on the upper surfaces of the substrate holders 10a to 10e to hold the substrate together with a movable holding member 24 (FIG. 4), which will be described later. Since the movable holding member 24 and the fixed holding member are well known, further explanation is omitted.

The support mechanism 12 supports the substrate holders 10a to 10e as described above, and changes the distances between the substrate holders 10a to 10e in the direction in which the substrate holders 10a to 10e are arranged (that is, the vertical direction). . In the present embodiment, each spacing between the substrate holders 10a to 10e is finally changed to either the first pitch, which is the minimum spacing, or the second pitch, which is the maximum spacing.

The support mechanism 12 includes support portions 50a to 50e provided corresponding to the substrate holders 10a to 10e to support the substrate holders, and a support portion 50e positioned on the upper stage to vertically move the support portion 50e. and a pair of drive shafts 22 (the drive shafts in the lower part of FIG. 2 are omitted) that movably support the drive belt 23 . Although the details will be described later, when the support portion 50e is moved vertically by the drive belt 23, the support portions 50d to 50a are also moved vertically accordingly. Of the pair of drive shafts 22, the drive shaft (not shown) is connected to a drive motor (not shown) for rotating the drive shaft. A pair of drive shafts 22 are rotated by the operation of the drive motor to rotate the drive belt 23, thereby moving the support portion 50e in the vertical direction. The drive shaft 22, the drive belt 23 and the drive motor correspond to the drive device. A support wall 20 that rotatably supports the drive shaft 22 is provided on the side of the support portion 50e. The support wall 20 is provided with a pair of guides 21 for regulating the upper limit position of the support portion 50e.

The supporting portions 50a to 50e are formed in the shape of thick plates and arranged so as to extend parallel to the extending direction of the substrate holders 10a to 10e. Hook-shaped engagement portions 51a to 51e are provided at the rear ends of the support portions 50a to 50e. The body portions of the engaging portions 51a to 51e extend vertically, and the claw portions protrude forward.

Further, the arrangement of the engaging portions is set as follows in order to prevent interference between the engaging portions. That is, the engaging portion 51d is displaced from the engaging portion 51e to one side in the direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction. are staggered to one side of the On the other hand, the engaging portion 51b is displaced from the engaging portion 51c to the other side in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction, that is, the engaging portion 51b is arranged immediately below the engaging portion 51e. Further, the engaging portion 51a is arranged so as to be displaced from the engaging portion 51b to one side in the direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

At least a portion of the rear end of the support portion 50d extends to a position (engageable position) where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engaging portion 51e can contact the lower surface of the support portion 50d. Similarly, at least a portion of the rear end of the support portion 50c extends to a position where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engaging portion 51d can abut against the lower surface of the support portion 50c. At least a portion of the rear end of the support portion 50b extends to a position where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engaging portion 51c can contact the lower surface of the support portion 50b. At least a portion of the rear end of the support portion 50a extends to a position where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engaging portion 51b can contact the lower surface of the support portion 50a. In addition, what the engaging part of one support part engages corresponds to another support part. For example, since the support portion 50d is engaged with the engagement portion 51e of the support portion 50e, it is another support portion for the support portion 50e which is one support portion. Since the portion 51d is engaged with the support portion 50c, it becomes one support portion with respect to the support portion 50c which is another support portion.

Here, a notch 52e is provided at the rear end of the support portion 50c to avoid interference when the engaging portion 51e of the support portion 50e moves downward. Similarly, the rear end of the support portion 50b is provided with a notch 52d for avoiding interference when the engaging portion 51d of the support portion 50d moves downward. A notch 52c is provided at the rear end of the support portion 50a to avoid interference when the engaging portion 51c of the support portion 50c moves downward.

In the configuration as described above, when the intervals between the substrate holders 10a to 10e are set to the second pitch (maximum interval), the drive belt 23 moves the support portion 50e upward. As a result, the one support portion and the other support portion are finally shifted to the second pitch while changing the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion between the first pitch (minimum distance) and the second pitch. Move to the pitch position. Specifically, when the support portion 50e begins to move upward due to the operation of the drive belt 23, the engaging portion 51e of the support portion 50e engages the rear end of the support portion 50d in the middle of the movement, so the support portion 50d also rises. Then, when the support portion 50d starts to move, the engagement portion 51d of the support portion 50d engages with the rear end of the support portion 50c, so that the support portion 50c also rises. Similarly, the support portions 50b and 50a also rise. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the supporting portions are chained and raised one after another, and finally the interval between all the substrate holders becomes the second pitch.

On the other hand, when setting the intervals of the substrate holders 10a to 10e to the first pitch, the driving belt 23 moves the supporting portion 50e downward. As a result, the one support portion and the other support portion are positioned so that the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion is changed between the first pitch and the second pitch, and finally becomes the first pitch. move up to Specifically, when the support portion 50e begins to move downward due to the operation of the drive belt 23, the support portion 50e contacts the support portion 50d and pushes down the support portion 50d, so that the support portion 50d also descends. Then, when the support portion 50d starts to move, the support portion 50d comes into contact with the support portion 50c and pushes down the support portion 50c, so that the support portion 50c also descends. Similarly, the support portions 50b and 50a also descend. Based on the above, as shown in FIG. 3B, the supporting portions are chained and lowered one after another, and finally, the interval between all the substrate holders becomes the first pitch.

Next, a configuration for holding the substrate and releasing the grip of the substrate will be described.

The substrate holding device 100 includes a movable body 16, a biasing member 18, and a pushback member 60, as shown in FIG. The movable body 16 has a rod-shaped body portion 16a extending in the front-rear direction, and a rod-shaped lever portion 16b provided on the body portion 16a and extending in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the body portion 16a extends. Guide grooves 57 for guiding the body portion 16a of the movable body 16 are formed in the support portions 50a to 50e. The guide groove 57 is formed by notching the thick portion of each support portion toward the inside from the front end thereof.

The rear end portion of the main body portion 16a is arranged in the guide groove 57, and the main body portion 16a is guided by the guide groove 57 to move toward the substrate gripping position and away from the substrate gripping position. A front end of the body portion 16 a is attached to a rear end of the movable holding member 24 . As a result, the movable holding member 24 moves forward and backward together with the movable body 16 . Further, the lever portion 16b is pushed back rearward by a push-back member 60 as will be described later.

The biasing member 18 biases the movable body 16 forward. As a result, the movable holding member 24 comes into contact with the substrate and presses and grips the substrate. A compression coil, for example, can be used as the biasing mechanism 18 . In this case, the push-back member 60 is retracted to a position within the notch 11 where it does not come into contact with the lever portion 16b.

The support portions 50a to 50e are provided with stoppers 6 for restricting movement of the lever portion 16b. The stopper 6 is formed in an L shape in a side view so as to protrude forward from the front surfaces of the support portions 50a to 50e, and is disposed so as to abut on the lever portion 16b. In such a configuration, when no substrate is placed on the substrate holder, the movable body 16 moves further forward than the substrate gripping position, and the lever portion 16b abuts against the stopper 6. Further forward movement of the movable body 16 is restricted.

On the other hand, the case of releasing the grip of the substrate is as follows. The push-back member 60 is configured to be movable in the front-rear direction within the notch 11 by the operation of an actuator such as a cylinder. When the push-back member 60 is moved rearward by the operation of the actuator, the push-back member 60 comes into contact with the lever portion 16b, and then the lever portion 16b moves rearward against the biasing force of the biasing member 18. FIG. Accompanying this, the movable holding member 24 moves backward, releasing the grip of the substrate.

As described above, according to the substrate holding device 100 of the present embodiment, when the first-stage support portion 50e is lifted by the drive belt 23, the engagement portion 51e is caught by the second-stage support portion 50d. The supporting portions 50e and 50d begin to rise together. When the first stage support portion 50e is further raised, the engaging portion 51d of the second stage support portion 50d is caught by the third stage support portion 50c, and the three support portions 50e, 50d, and 50c begin to rise together. In this way, the lower support portions are successively raised in a chain, and finally the interval between all the support portions becomes the second pitch.

On the other hand, when the first-stage support portion 50e is lowered by the driving belt 23, the first-stage support portion 50e contacts the second-stage support portion 50d and pushes down the second-stage support portion 50d. The step support portion 50d also descends. When the second stage support portion 50d descends, the second stage support portion 50d comes into contact with the third stage support portion 50c and pushes down the third stage support portion 50c. The portion 50c also descends. In this way, the lower support portions are successively lowered in succession, and finally the interval between all the support portions becomes the first pitch.

With such a configuration, it is not necessary to have only one driving device bear the driving force for changing the pitches of the plurality of support portions, so it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the driving device. Accordingly, the substrate holding device 100 can be configured compactly, and the cost of the substrate holding device 100 can be reduced.

(Other embodiments)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modification of the supporting portion. As shown in FIG. 5, the support portions 70e, 70d and 70c have pressing portions 71e, 71d and 71c at their rear ends which are thicker than the other portions. Adjacent pressing portions are connected by a connecting member 72 such as a string. The connection member 72 has slack in a state where the pressing portions are in contact with each other. That is, when the pressing portion moves, the length of the connection member 72 in the vertical direction (one direction) changes. Although FIG. 5 exemplifies a three-stage support portion, the number of stages of the support portion is not limited to this.

In such a configuration, when the upper support portion 70e is lifted by the drive belt 23, the support portion 70d is pulled via the connecting member 72 and lifted. When the support portion 70d is lifted, the support portion 70c is pulled via the connection member 72 and lifted. In this way, while the interval between one support portion and another support portion changes between the first pitch and the second pitch, the lower support portions are chained up one after another, and finally all The interval between the support portions is the second pitch. On the other hand, when the upper support portion 70e is lowered by the driving belt 23, the support portion 70d is pushed down by the pressing portion 71e of the support portion 70e and lowered. When the support portion 70d descends, the support portion 70c is pushed down by the pressing portion 71d of the support portion 70d and descends. In this way, while the interval between one support portion and another support portion changes between the first pitch and the second pitch, the lower support portions are chained down one after another, and finally all The interval between the support portions is the first pitch.

With such a configuration, as in the above-described embodiment, it is not necessary to have only one driving device bear the driving force for changing the pitches of the plurality of support portions, so that the size of the driving device can be avoided. can be done. Accordingly, the substrate holding device 100 can be configured compactly, and the cost of the substrate holding device 100 can be reduced.

In addition, the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the number of stages of the substrate holder, that is, the number of stages of the supporting portions is set to five (supporting portions 50a to 50e), but the number of stages is not limited to this. You may provide and comprise a part.

In the above-described embodiment, the drive belt 23 is used as a drive device for vertically moving the upper support portion 50e, but the configuration of the drive device is not limited to this. A drive may be employed.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the U-shaped substrate holder is used, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a rectangular substrate holder or a circular substrate holder may be used. body can be adopted.

10a to 10e substrate holder 22 drive shaft 23 drive belt 50a to 50e support portion 51a to 51e engagement portion 52c, 52d, 52e notch 70c to 70e support portion 72 connecting member 100 substrate holding device

Claims (3)

A substrate holding device that changes the spacing between substrates to a first pitch that is the minimum spacing or a second pitch that is the maximum spacing,
a plurality of substrate holders;
a support unit that supports each of the plurality of substrate holders so as to line up in one direction, corresponding to each of the plurality of substrate holders;
a driving device connected to a support portion arranged at one end in the one direction among the plurality of support portions and moving the support portion to one side and the other side in the one direction;
When the support portion arranged at the end is moved to one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other support portions adjacent to the one support portion are separated from the one support portion and the other support portion. is configured to move by being pulled by the one support portion when the distance from the support portion becomes the second pitch,
When the supporting portion arranged at the end is moved to the other side in the one direction by the driving device, the other supporting portion has a gap between the one supporting portion and the other supporting portion. The substrate holding device is configured to be pushed by the one support portion and move when the first pitch is reached. The one support portion is provided with an engaging portion,
When the supporting portion arranged at the end is moved to one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other supporting portion has the distance between the one supporting portion and the other supporting portion. 2. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein said engaging portion of said one supporting portion is engaged with said other supporting portion when said second pitch is reached, thereby performing said movement. . The engaging portion of the one support portion is formed in a hook shape that is hooked on the other support portion when moving in one direction in the one direction,
A notch for avoiding interference when the one support portion moves to the other side in the one direction is provided in the other one support portion sandwiching the other support portion together with the one support portion. 3. The substrate holding device of claim 2, wherein the substrate holding device is

Images