JPH03287766A - Substrate conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To convey a substrate to each chamber with simple operation without exposing a truck to the film forming atmosphere when the substrate is sent to a load lock chamber, plural film forming chambers and an unloading chamber and a vapor-deposited film, etc., are formed on the surface by charging and discharging the substrate by a guide frame provided on the truck reciprocating between the adjacent chambers. CONSTITUTION:When a film is formed on the surface of a substrate 106 in a vacuum vessel 104 by chemical vapor deposition, etc., the substrate 106 is passed through a load chamber 201, first, second and third film forming chambers 202, 203 and 204 and an unloading chamber 205 to form the film and discharged. The substrate is conveyed only in the guide frame 121A extending in the conveying direction in each chamber by four trucks 206-209 respectively reciprocating between the adjacent chamber 201 and 202, 202 and 203, 203 and 204 and 204 and 205. The substrate 106 to be film-coated is supported into the guide frame 121A and successively passed through each chamber consisting of a sheeted vacuum chamber 104 by the trucks, a film is formed in the film forming chambers 202-204, and the substrate is discharged from the unloading chamber 205. Since the truck main body 101 does not pass through the chamber 201-105, the film forming substance is not deposited on the truck, the yield of the film forming material is not decreased, the truck need not be passed through the five chambers, the equipment for the purpose is not required, and the equipment is simplified.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application> The present invention can be used in a vacuum vessel such as a CVD (chemical milliliter) apparatus or a vacuum evaporation or sputtering apparatus applied to solar cells, liquid crystals, thermal heads, etc. This invention relates to a transport device used for transporting substrates.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, when loading and unloading substrates into a vacuum container, a method has generally been adopted in which the substrates are attached to a substrate carrier and the substrate carrier is driven from the outside.

An example of such a conveying device will be described with reference to FIGS. 148 to 16.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram of a multi-chamber pre-forming plasma CVD film forming apparatus, in which the vacuum chamber 10 is divided into shade lock chambers 11. Heating chamber 12° First film forming chamber 13. Second film forming chamber 14.
Third film forming chamber 15. 7 of cooling chamber 16 and unloading chamber 17
The chambers are conveniently arranged in series, and each chamber is separated by a gate valve 18. Such a vacuum container is
For example, when forming a film on a 70 an square glass substrate, the total length is about 25 m. Further, in the figure, 19 is an operator console panel, 2o is an automation device, and 21 is a box for a power supply and auxiliary equipment.

In order to transport the substrate in such vacuum chambers,
Usually, a transport vehicle 21 as shown in FIG. 15 is used. This carrier 21 has two substrate support plates 23 standing on a base 22, and six wheels 24 for support and a driving rack 25 on the underside of the base 22. be. Then, substrates 26 are attached to both sides of each substrate support plate 23.

On the other hand, a substrate heating beater 27 is located in the center of the film forming chamber;
Electrodes 28 are arranged on both sides, and the carrier 21 is installed like a rock so that its substrate support plate 23 moves between the substrate heater 27 and the electrodes 28. More specifically, the carriage 21 is installed on a rail 29 disposed at the lower center of the film forming chamber, and a pinion 3° is engaged with the rack 25. pinion 30
are provided at a plurality of locations at certain intervals, and each pinion 30 is fixed to a rotating shaft 32 that is connected to an external rotational drive source (not shown) via a rotation introduction terminal 31.

In such a configuration, when the binion 30 is rotationally driven, the driving force is transmitted to the transport vehicle 21 via the rack 25, and this power is 9W! The carriage 21 moves between the rooms along the rails 29. Then, while the transport vehicle 21 is stopped between the substrate heater 27 and the electrode 28, a film is formed on the substrate 26.

Further, as shown in FIG. 16, direction changing portions 33a and 33b are provided before and after the vacuum container 100 consisting of the seven chambers described above, so that the direction of the transport vehicle 21 can be changed. The carriage 21 carrying the substrate 26 on which film formation has been completed is carried out to the direction changing section 33b, the direction of which is changed, and then carried to the substrate detaching section 34. If all the film formation is completed, it is replaced with a new substrate here, or if further film formation is to be performed, it is transported as it is to the direction change part 33a via the direction change part 33c and the direction change part 33d, It is designed to be carried into the vacuum container 10 again.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The conventional substrate transfer apparatus described above is particularly difficult to handle in multi-chamber multi-layer film formation (
In the case of a mass-produced type), there are the following problems.

■ Since the board 26 is built into the transport vehicle 21,
The carrier 21 can only move in one direction from the load lock chamber 11 of the vacuum container 10 to the unload chamber 17, and as shown in FIG. The trolley 21 must be returned to the vacuum vessel 1° again.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, it is necessary to provide a transport vehicle return device 35, which increases the area occupied by the equipment 9 and increases costs.

■ Also, in the film forming chambers 13, 14, 15, the transport cart 2
1 itself is exposed to the film-forming environment, the film also adheres to the transport vehicle 21. Then, like this, transport vehicle 2
If the film attached to the substrate 1 is peeled off during film formation, it may have an adverse effect on the film-forming surface of the substrate 26, so the carrier 21 must be cleaned periodically, which increases maintenance costs.

In view of these circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transport device that does not expose the trolley for transporting the substrate to a film-forming environment and does not require a trolley return device provided outside the vacuum container. do.

Means for Solving the Problems> A substrate transport device according to the present invention that achieves the above object is a device that automatically transports a substrate to be film-formed in a vacuum container, and includes the above-mentioned substrates placed below the vacuum container. a plurality of carts disposed movably along the transport direction of the substrate and capable of transporting the substrate; and a guide frame provided on each of these carts and extending inside the vacuum container along the transport direction. a support frame that supports the lower end of the substrate, the upper end of which is supported by the substrate, during transport; a film-forming support frame that is provided at a film-forming position in the vacuum container and supports the lower end of the substrate during film-forming; Substrate transfer means for changing the relative position in the vertical direction of the support frame and the support frame for film formation in order to transfer the substrate between the support frame of the trolley and the support frame for film formation; It is characterized by

Function> The substrate carried in from one side of the vacuum container is held with its upper end supported by the guide frame and its lower end supported by the support frame of the first cart. By moving the cart in this state, the substrate is transported to the initial film forming position. At this time, the film-forming support frame disposed at this film-forming position is located relatively below the support frame of the cart.

Here, when the relative position between the film-forming support frame and the support frame is changed by the substrate transfer means, the lower end of the substrate is transferred from the support frame to the film-forming support frame.

After this, the first truck returns to the rear and is replaced by the second truck. After film formation, when the relative positions of the support frame of the second cart and the support frame for film formation are changed, the lower end of the substrate is transferred to the support frame of the second cart. In this state, the substrate is transported to the second film forming position by moving the second cart.

By repeating such operations, the cart can transport substrates one after another simply by repeating back and forth movements within a certain range.

Example of implementation Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

First, the overall concept of the apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. In the substrate transport device according to the present invention, several carts for transporting the substrate are provided below the vacuum container and are movable back and forth in the transport direction. For example, as shown in the figure, the vacuum vessel is a load lock chamber 201. First film forming chamber 202° Second film forming chamber 2
03. When the third film forming chamber 204 and the unloading chamber 205 are provided, for example, five carts 206 to 209 may be provided.

Here, each of the carts 206 to 209 is capable of transferring substrates to and from each film forming position. therefore,
The first cart 206 is responsible for carrying the substrate into the load lock chamber 201 and transporting the substrate from the load lock chamber 206 to the film forming position in the first film forming chamber 202. In addition, the second trolley 20
7 is responsible for transporting the substrate at the film forming position in the first film forming chamber 202 to the film forming position in the second film forming chamber 203. Similarly, the third carts 208 share the responsibility of transporting the substrate from the film forming position in the second film forming chamber 203 to the film forming position in the third film forming chamber 204, respectively. The fourth cart 209 is the third film forming chamber 2.
The unloading chamber 205 from the film forming position No. 04 and the unloading of the substrate from the unloading chamber 205 to the outside are shared.

In this way, by reciprocating each of the carts 206 to 209 and sharing the transport duties for each predetermined area, there is no need to return the carts themselves externally. Furthermore, since the trolley only delivers the substrate to the film forming position, it is not constantly exposed to the film forming environment.

Next, a substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view during substrate transport, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view during film formation, Fig. 3 is a side view during substrate transport, Fig. 4 is a side view during film formation, and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view during film formation. An external view of the trolley for transporting the substrate is shown.

As shown in these drawings, the trolley 100 is supported by four wheels 102 rotatably provided on the lower surface of a trolley body 101, like conventional trolleys. A rack 103 extending in the direction of movement is fixed. This trolley 100 has rails 10 extending in the feeding direction of the substrate 106w1 below the heater 105 provided in the center of the vacuum volume @104.
7, and at this time, a pinion 108 is engaged with the rack 103. The pinions 108 are provided at several locations at certain intervals in the transport direction, and each pinion 108 is connected to the rotation introduction terminal 10.
It is fixed to a rotating shaft 110 that is connected to a stepping motor, which is an external rotational drive source (not shown), through a shaft 9', and is rotationally driven.

In such a configuration, when the binion 108 is rotationally driven, the driving force is transmitted to the truck 100 via the rack 103, thereby causing the truck 100 to reciprocate on the rail 107.

On the truck body 101 of the truck 100, the truck body 1 is mounted.
Two movable stands 111A that can move up and down with respect to 01
, 111B are attached, and movable bases 111A, II
A gap is provided between the IBs in the transport direction through which the heater 105 can pass.

Here, the movable base 111A is the first link 112a.

Three sets of links, the second link 112b and the third link 112C, and the movable base 111B are connected to the first link 112C.
m, the second link 113b, and the third link 113c, each of which is connected to the truck body 101. That is, the movable platforms 111A and 111B are movable in the vertical direction while maintaining a state parallel to the trolley body 101 by tilting the links 112a to 112c and the links 113a to 113c. Further, the first link 112a and the first link 113a are connected by a connecting rod 114 so that the vertical movements of both the rotating tables 111A and 111B are interlocked. Furthermore, the trolley body 101 of the central second link 112b provided on the movable base 111A
The side is connected to the truck body 101 by a hexagonal sleeve 115 instead of a bottle. The hexagonal sleeve 115 has a hexagonal hole on the inside and a cylindrical shape on the outside, and is rotatable through the truck body 101 side, and both ends are connected to the second link 112b.
is fixed to. That is, when the hexagonal sleeve 115 is rotated, the second link 112b tilts, and the movable bases 111A and IIIB move up and down accordingly.

Such vertical movement of the movable tables 111A and IIIB is performed by a hexagonal bar 117 driven via a linear rotation introduction terminal 116 provided on the side wall of the vacuum container 104. This hexagonal bar 117 is freely movable linearly in its longitudinal direction via a linear rotation introduction terminal 116, and is rotationally driven around an axis. This hexagonal bar 117 is adapted to fit into the hexagonal hole of the hexagonal sleeve 115.

Therefore, by moving the hexagonal bar 117 straight and inserting it into the hexagonal sleeve 115, and then rotating the hexagonal bar 117, the hexagonal sleeve 115 is rotationally driven, and the movable bases 111A and IIIB are moved up and down accordingly. .

On the other hand, the trolley body 101 includes a movable base 111A.

A stopper 118 is provided to position 111B at the upper end position. As shown in FIG. 6, the stopper 118 is
At the tip of the support rod 118a fixed to the trolley body 101,
A locking portion 118b formed of a leaf spring and capable of engaging with the connecting rod 114 is provided. Therefore, link 1
When the connecting rod 114, which moves with the tilting of the links 12a to 112c and 113a to 113c, moves to its upper end position, it engages with the locking portion 118b. 113a-113
It is designed to be held as long as c is not tilted in the opposite direction.

In this embodiment, the movable base 111A of such a trolley 100,
Support frames 119A and 119B are provided inside IIIB, respectively. The support frames 119A and 119B each support the lower end of the substrate 106 on both sides in the transport direction, and the movable base 11
A notch 120 is formed in each of 1A and IIIB. On the other hand, a guide frame 121 is provided at the upper part of the vacuum container 104 to guide and support the upper end of the substrate 106 being transported.

Therefore, the substrate 106 has its lower end connected to the support frames 119A, 11
9B, and is transported by the trolley 100 with the upper end supported by the guide frame 121. During this transportation, as shown in FIG. 1, the movable platforms 111A and IIIB of the cart 100 are held at the upper end positions.

On the other hand, film-forming support frames 122 are fixedly provided on both sides in the thickness direction of the lower part of the heater 105 disposed at the film-forming position. This support frame 122 for film formation is the support frame 119A, 119 of the movable table 111A, IIIB held at the upper end position.
B, and the trolley 100 is located relatively below the board 1.
When moved to the film forming position No. 06, the movable tables 111A and IIIB are positioned below the notches 120 of the movable bases 111A and IIIB, that is, below the central portion of the substrate 106, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, after the substrate 106 is transported to the film forming position by the trolley 100, the links 112a to 112c and 113a to 113c are tilted via the hexagonal bar 117 to move the movable platforms 111A and IIIB downward. When the substrate 106 is moved to , the lower center of the substrate 106 comes into contact with the support frame 122 for film formation, and when the substrate 106 is moved further downward, the substrate 106 is moved to the support frames 119A and 119 as shown in FIGS.
The film is separated from B and delivered to the film-forming support frame 122. Note that the lower end of the guide frame 121 supporting the upper end of the substrate 106 is the film-forming support frame 119A.

It has a depth that supports the upper end even when it is supported by 119B.

On the other hand, in order to transport the film-formed substrate after film formation, the carriage 10 with the movable stands 111A and IIIB positioned at the lower end is used.
0 below the substrate 106 supported by the film-forming support frame 122 (FIGS. 2 and 4), and then the hexagonal bar 11
7 via links 112a-112c, 113a-1
The movable bases 111A and 111B may be moved upward by tilting the movable base 13C. As a result, the lower end of the substrate 106 is moved from the film-forming support frame 122 to the support frames 119A and 119.
It is handed over to B.

In this way, in this embodiment, the support frame 119A.

119B is provided on the movable bases 111A and IIIB, and the movable base 111A is connected via the hexagonal bar 117.

By making the support frame 111B vertically movable, the support frame 119
The substrate 106 is placed between A and 119B and the support frame 122 for film formation.
These components constitute the substrate transfer means of this embodiment.

Next, other embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12. Note that members having the same functions as those of the above-mentioned embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

7 and 8 are a plan view and a side view of the truck 100A of this embodiment, and as shown in both figures, support frames 123A and 123B for supporting the lower end of the board 106 are fixed to the truck body 101. It is set up. That is, the support frame 123A.

123B does not move up and down with respect to the truck body 101.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 12,
A film-forming support frame 124 that supports the lower end of the substrate 106 at the film-forming position is movable up and down. That is, the vacuum container 10 is placed before and after the heater 105 in the substrate transport direction.
A movable frame 126 is provided which is movable in the vertical direction via a straight introduction terminal 125 provided on the upper part of the frame 12. A film-forming support frame 124 is provided so as to provide a film-forming support frame 124. Therefore, when the movable frame 126 is moved up and down via the straight introduction terminal 125, the support frame 126 for film formation
is adapted to move up and down together with the bottom plate 127. Note that the film forming support frame 124 is connected to the support frame 123A at the lower end position.
.

It is located relatively below 123B, and is located above at the upper end position. In addition, the fixed frame 12 is installed in parallel with the movable frame 126.
8 is provided, and the lower part of the movable frame 126 is the fixed frame 12.
It is guided and supported by a movable frame guide 129 provided at the bottom of 8.

On the other hand, a movable guide frame 121A for supporting the upper end of the substrate 106 is provided at the film forming position. Movable guide frame 1
21A is provided so as to be vertically movable by being penetrated by a fixed frame 128 at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and is usually supported while being placed on a movable frame guide 129. That is, the movable guide frame 121A does not move downward from the state placed on the movable frame guide 129, but is movable upward, and communicates with the guide frame 121 at the lower end position. There is.

In the configuration shown in B, first, when the substrate 106 is transported to a predetermined position by the trolley 100A with the film forming support frame 124 at the lower end position, both ends are moved to the support frames 123A, 12.
The center portion of the substrate 106 supported by 3B is positioned above the film-forming support frame 124. In this state, when the movable frame 126 is moved upward via the straight introduction terminal 125, the film forming support frame 124 is moved upward accordingly.
The lower end of the substrate 106 is transferred from the support frames 123A and 123B to the film-forming support frame 124 and supported at the film-forming position.

Further, at this time, the guide frame 121A is also moved upward by being pushed up from below by the substrate 106 transferred to the film-forming support frame 124.

Next, after the film formation is completed, the cart 100A that receives the substrate 106 is moved below the substrate 106, and the straight introduction terminal 1
When the movable frame 126 is moved downward via 25, the film forming support frame 124 is also moved downward, and the substrate 106 is moved downward.
The lower end of is transferred from the film-forming support frame 124 to support frames 123A and 123B provided on the trolley 100A.

As described above, in this embodiment, the film forming support frame 124 is made vertically movable by the movable frame 126, so that the support frame 123
The substrate 106 is placed between A and 123B and the support frame 124 for film formation.
These components constitute the substrate transfer means of this embodiment.

In the example explained above, since the substrate transported by the trolleys 100 and 100A can be delivered to the film forming support frames 122 and 124 at the film forming position, the trolleys 100 and 100A
can be returned to the outside of the film-forming environment.

Further, since the carts 100 and 100A only need to be moved back and forth within a certain range, there is no need to provide a return device for the carts outside the vacuum volume 104, and space can be saved.

<Effects of the Invention> 9 As explained above, in the substrate transport device according to the present invention, the substrate transported by the trolley is cut off from the trolley and delivered to the film forming position, so that the trolley itself is not exposed to the film forming environment. In addition, there is no need to provide a return device for taking the trolley out from the exit and returning it to the entrance, which has the effect of reducing maintenance costs and reducing the installation area. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 13 relate to embodiments of the present invention, Figures 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views of one embodiment, Figures 3 and 4 are side views thereof, and Figure 5 is a perspective view of the truck. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the stopper, FIGS. 7 and 8 are plan and side views of the cart of other embodiments, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are cross-sectional views.
12 is a side view thereof, FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment, and FIGS. 14 to 16 are explanatory diagrams showing a substrate transfer apparatus according to the prior art. In the drawings, 100.100A is a trolley, 101 is a trolley body, 102 is a wheel, 103 is a rack, 104 is a vacuum container, 105 is a heater, 106 is a board, 107 is a rail, 10B is a pinion, 109 is a rotation introduction terminal, 111A, 111B are movable tables, 112a to 112c are links, 113a to 113c are links, 118 is a stopper, 119A, 119B, 123A, 1 is a support frame, 121.121A is a guide frame, 122.124 is a support frame for film formation , 125 is a linear introduction terminal, and 126 is a movable frame. 3B

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A device that automatically transports a substrate to be film-formed in a vacuum container, which is disposed below the vacuum container so as to be movable along the transport direction of the substrate, and is capable of transporting the substrate. a plurality of carts; a support frame that supports the lower end of the substrate during transport, the upper end of which is supported by a guide frame provided on each of the carts and extending along the transport direction within the vacuum container; A film-forming support frame is provided at a film-forming position in the vacuum container and supports the lower end of the substrate during film formation, and the substrate is transferred between the support frame of the trolley and the film-forming support frame. A substrate transfer device comprising: substrate transfer means for changing the relative position of the support frame and the film-forming support frame in order to transfer the film. (2) In claim 1, by arranging the support frame on a support stand provided on the main body of the truck so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and providing a support movement mechanism for moving the support stand in the up-down direction. A substrate transfer device that constitutes substrate transfer means. (3) In claim 1, the substrate transfer means is configured by providing a film-forming support frame that is movable in the vertical direction and a film-forming support frame moving mechanism that moves the film-forming support frame in the vertical direction. board transfer equipment.