JPH03783B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting a photomask or reticle for manufacturing semiconductor devices.

In recent years, in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, demands for reliability in mass production, etc. have been increasing. This requirement is particularly high for highly integrated devices such as LSIs. Generally, glass substrates such as photomasks or reticles are used to manufacture such LSIs. A circuit pattern is drawn on this photomask (hereinafter simply referred to as a mask) or reticle.

Usually, several types or more of these circuit patterns are required to make one LSI chip.

A mask or reticle is used for printing by being brought into close contact with the wafer to be printed in the contact method, or by being placed over the wafer at a slight distance from the wafer in the proximity method. However, as mentioned earlier, manufacturing one LSI chip requires several types of circuit patterns, that is, multiple masks or reticles, which must be replaced every time exposure and printing are performed. Become. As described above, devices for automatically exchanging masks or reticles one after another, such as automatic mask conveyance devices, have been proposed.

In this device, a plurality of masks are stored in a cartridge, and the cartridge is moved up and down to select a specific mask, take it out of the cartridge, and transport it to a predetermined position. Note that a similar device has been proposed for conveying a reticle.

However, if there is dust or scratches on the mask or reticle, it will naturally be printed as a pattern error in the circuit, which will not only reduce the reliability of the device but also, in the worst case, cause disconnections or short circuits in the circuit pattern. invite. Therefore, if dust or scratches are found on the mask or reticle, immediately remove the mask or reticle and maintain it (in the case of dust, remove the dust, and in the case of scratches, replace it with a new one, depending on the severity). Replace with the same type.) Work is required. However, with conventional conveyance devices, this work was all done manually.
In this way, it is not desirable to directly handle the mask or reticle manually in order to prevent dust. Furthermore, when a mask or reticle is inserted into or removed from a cartridge for transportation, it is undesirable for the mask or reticle to be used as a holding member, etc., as this may cause scratches and dust. in this way,
The reason why sufficient consideration must be given to dust and scratches is that masks and reticles are expensive, and it takes time to manufacture them. However, in conventional devices, the mask and reticle were installed in the cartridge with them exposed, so it was not easy to replace the mask and reticle in the cartridge for maintenance, considering the dirt and dust from the human body. It had the following drawback.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transport device that transports a necessary mask or reticle from a container containing a mask or reticle to a transport destination without sliding the mask or reticle from the container to the transport destination. It's about doing.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, in order to horizontally store a rectangular substrate such as a mask or reticle in a cassette case, a predetermined gap is created between the opening 9 for horizontally taking in and taking out the rectangular substrate, and the upper and lower surfaces of the rectangular substrate. A cassette case having a holding part (step part 3a) for holding a peripheral part of a rectangular board, and a plurality of cassette cases are arranged in a predetermined vertical direction with the openings aligned in one direction so that the rectangular board is positioned horizontally. Case mounting members that are detachably attached so as to be stacked at intervals [cart cartridges 14, 15]
Then, a desired one of the plurality of cassette cases mounted on the case mounting member enters the gap between the rectangular board and the cassette case through the opening of the cassette case, and the rectangular board stored in the cassette case is inserted. a horizontal transport member [transport arm 16] that holds the substrate and is movable back and forth so as to horizontally take out the rectangular substrate out of the cassette case through the opening;
a position setting means for setting the rectangular substrate taken out of the cassette case by the horizontal conveying member to a predetermined first position by moving the horizontal conveying member relative to the case device member in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the rectangular substrate; [30, 32 to 37], and when the rectangular substrate is set to the first position by this position setting means, the rectangular substrate is arranged to face each of the two orthogonal end face portions of the rectangular substrate held by the horizontal conveyance member. abutting members [claw members 65a, 65b, stoppers 66a, 66b, roller 69] and a pressing member [claw members 65c, 65d, roller 69] that presses the rectangular substrate in the direction of the abutting members, positioning means for positioning the rectangular substrate relative to the horizontal conveyance member by bringing the rectangular substrate into contact with the abutment member, and moving the rectangular substrate positioned by the positioning means from the first position to a desired position. The rectangular substrate was moved to a processing device such as an exposure device and a device for inspecting dust, scratches, etc. placed at the second position, and the rectangular substrate returned from the processing device in the reverse sequence was again positioned by the positioning means. Afterwards, it is configured to be stored in a cassette case using a horizontal conveyance member.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dustproof cassette that can be attached to a transport position according to an embodiment of the present invention. Usually, the size of a mask or reticle is standardized to specific dimensions. Further, the circuit pattern is drawn with a predetermined margin provided around the mask or reticle.

Now, a mask or reticle (hereinafter collectively referred to as a glass substrate) is housed in a dustpan-shaped bottom lid 3 in FIG. This bottom cover 3 is provided with a wall around the area other than the opening end surface 9 as shown in the figure. Two steps 3a and 3b are provided at the top of this wall. This stepped portion 3a holds the edge of the glass substrate. Further, an upper lid 2 is attached to the bottom lid 3 on the opposite side of the opening end surface 9 by a hinge 7 so that it can be opened and closed as shown by arrow A in the figure. The bottom cover 3 is fitted into the stepped portion 3b of the
Close the top side. Furthermore, a door member 1 (hereinafter referred to as the opening/closing member 1) is attached to the opening end surface 9 side of the upper lid 2 via a hinge 6 so as to be rotatable with respect to the upper lid 2 as shown by mark B in the middle of the figure. There is.

Then, the top cover 2 rotates and fits into the stepped portion 3b,
By closing the opening end surface 9 with the opening/closing member 1, the glass substrate is housed in a substantially hermetically sealed state. Further, a groove 8 is provided in the end face of the opening/closing member 1 as shown in the figure in order to operate in conjunction with a conveyance device to be described later.

Furthermore, protrusions 4 and 5 are provided on the outer surface of the wall of the bottom cover 3 in order to hold the cassette in a predetermined transport position. The functions of the protrusions 4 and 5 will also be described in detail later.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the cassette showing the state in which the top cover 2 is closed and the opening/closing member 1 is opened. As described above, the upper lid 2 overlaps the stepped portion 3b, and the glass substrate (not shown) is placed on the stepped portion 3a.
Since the opening/closing member 1 is provided so that it can be opened and closed by a hinge 6, a magnet 13 is embedded in the end of the open end surface 9 of the bottom cover 3 as shown in FIG. 2 in order to prevent the opening/closing member 1 from opening accidentally. Keep it packed. If the opening/closing member 1 is made of synthetic resin, this magnet 1
A magnetic material is fixed to the surface facing 3, the back surface of the opening/closing member 1 in FIG. In this embodiment, the back surface of the opening/closing member 1 and the opening end surface 9 need to be in close contact with each other, so the magnet 13, magnetic material, etc. are buried slightly below the surface that is in close contact with them, so that their surfaces are not exposed. do not have.

Figure 3 shows a glass substrate stored in a cassette.
FIG. 2 is a partial end view showing a state in which the upper lid 2 is closed. By placing the end portion of the glass substrate 10 on the step portion 3a, a predetermined space is formed on each of the upper and lower surfaces of the glass substrate 10. That is, by making the height of the stepped portion 3a and the stepped portion 3b larger than the thickness of the glass substrate 10, the upper lid 2 and the glass substrate 10 are
A predetermined gap can be formed between the bottom part 3c of the top lid 3
Depending on the height from the step part 3a to the glass substrate 1
A predetermined gap can be formed between the bottom portion 3c and the bottom portion 3c. Further, a magnet 12 is embedded in a predetermined position of the stepped portion 3b as shown in the figure to prevent the top cover 2 from being opened inadvertently. As described above, when the top cover 2 is made of synthetic resin, the magnetic body 11 is embedded in a position facing the magnet 12 that is in close contact with the stepped portion 3b. A plurality of these magnets 12 and magnetic bodies 11 are provided at predetermined positions on the step portion 3b.

To store a glass substrate in a cassette as described above, first open the top lid 2 and place the glass substrate on the stepped portion 3a of the inner wall of the bottom lid 3, as shown in FIG. Then, by closing the upper lid 2 and closing the opening/closing member 1, the glass substrate is stored in a substantially hermetically sealed state. If this cassette is installed in a cartridge of a transport device, etc., when replacing the mask or reticle due to dirt or dust, the entire cassette can be replaced, so it is easier to remove dust than directly replacing the mask or reticle. It has the advantage of being difficult to adhere to.

Next, a description will be given of an apparatus that mounts a plurality of cassettes, takes out glass substrates from the cassettes, and transports them.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a cartridge section that holds a plurality of cassettes, a transport arm that takes out glass substrates, and its drive mechanism.

A column 43 is provided in parallel on the fixed base 18 for fixing the cartridge 15 and a plurality of cartridges 14 in a line as shown in the figure. Each of the cartridges 14, 15 has grooves formed on opposite sides thereof, into which the protrusions 4, 5 of the cassette as described above are fitted. As mentioned earlier, the protrusions 4 and 5 are provided at predetermined positions on the cassette, so that the protrusions 4 and 5 do not touch the cartridge 1.
When the cassettes are inserted into the grooves 4 and 15, all the cassettes are aligned. In addition, the cartridge 14 is
A plurality of cassettes are provided depending on the thickness of each cassette, and the details will be described later.

The U-shaped vertically moving member 30 is attached to the side wall of the cartridge 15 so that it can freely move only up and down along a guide rail (not shown) provided in the height direction of the cartridge 15. A belt 34 is provided in the cartridge 15 via pulleys 32 and 33 on the back side of the groove in which the cassette is mounted. The pulley 32 is provided at the top of the cartridge 15, and the pulley 33 is provided at the bottom.
3 rotation is worm gear 36, war wheel 35
This is done by the rotation of the motor 37 via the . The rotation of the pulley 33 is then transmitted to the pulley 32 by the belt 34. In order to prevent the pulleys from slipping, the inner side of the belt 34 and the outer peripheral surface of the pulleys are provided with projections and depressions that mesh with each other.

Further, the vertically moving member 30 has a belt 3 inside it.
4, and is moved up and down by the feed of the belt 34, that is, by the rotation of the motor 37.

A horizontal guide member 31 extending in a direction orthogonal to the height direction of the cartridge 15 is fixed to the vertically moving member 30. The horizontal guide member 3
1 is also provided with a U-shaped horizontal movement member 41, which is movable only horizontally along a guide rail (not shown) provided on the horizontal guide member 31.
Although not shown in FIG. 4, the horizontal guide member 3
A belt and a pulley are also provided on the inner side 31a of the vertically moving member 30, and the horizontally moving member 41 is moved as described above by a motor (not shown) attached to the vertically moving member 30.
move. A transport arm 16 on which a glass substrate is placed via a support member 42 is provided on the horizontal movement member 41 so as to face the cassette.
The transfer arm 16 has a fork shape as shown in FIG. 4, with fork portions 16a and 16b facing toward the cassette opening/closing member 1. Further, an intake hole 17 is provided above the fork parts 16a, 16b for sucking the back surface of the glass substrate with vacuum, and the interval between the fork parts 16a, 16b is wider than the pattern drawing area on the glass substrate. It is formed like this.

Note that the above-described vertical movement by the vertically moving member 30 will hereinafter be referred to as movement in the Z direction, and the horizontally moving member 4
Let the horizontal movement by 1 be the movement in the X direction.

By configuring as described above, the transport arm 16 can freely move in the Z direction and the X direction by controlling each motor.

There are two limit switches on the pulley 32 side and the pulley 33 side of the cartridge 15 to limit the movement of the vertically moving member 30, and on the horizontal guide member 3 side.
1 is also provided with two limit switches for limiting the movement of the horizontally moving member 41, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, each cassette opening/closing member 1
A groove 8 is provided in the side surface of. This groove 8
is engaged with an opening/closing device for opening/closing the opening/closing member 1. This opening/closing device consists of an opening/closing mechanism section 26 shown in FIG. 4, and an air cylinder 27 that provides driving force for opening/closing. The opening/closing mechanism section 26 is attached to the vertical movement member 30 and moves together in the Z direction.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the opening/closing mechanism section 26 seen from the side. This figure shows the state in which the vertically moving member 30 is moved by the motor 37 to a predetermined position corresponding to an arbitrary cassette. Air cylinder 2
A slide member 24 having a U-shaped notch 24a at the bottom is fixed to the piston 25 of No. 7. A ball 22a formed at the tip of the lever 22, which is supported by the shaft 19, is fitted into the notch 24a. This shaft 19 is connected to the support member 23
It is rotatably installed. Furthermore, a lever 21 is fixed to the opposite side of the shaft 19, and an opening/closing pin 20 that can be engaged with the groove 8 of the cassette is attached to the tip of the lever 21.
is provided. The length and diameter of the opening/closing pin 20 are determined so that it does not come into contact with the inside of the groove 8 when the opening/closing member 1 is open as shown in the figure. The state of the lever 22, shaft 19, lever 21, etc. is as shown in the perspective view of FIG.
When the lever 22 rotates clockwise about the shaft 19, the opening/closing pin 20 also rotates clockwise. Therefore, in FIG. 5, the air cylinder 27 is activated,
When the slide member 24 moves to the right from the position shown in the figure, the ball 22a moves to the right while being fitted into the notch 24a, the lever 22 turns clockwise, and the opening/closing pin 20 also turns clockwise.

Further, since the vertical movement member 30 and the transport arm 16 always move in the Z direction, the difference between the height of the transport arm from the fixed base 18 and the height of the shaft 19 from the fixed base 18 is always constant. . Although not shown in the embodiment, when the opening/closing pin 20 is engaged with the groove 8 as shown in FIG. It is arranged in advance between the bottom part 3c of the bottom cover 3 and facing the cassette. Since the groove 8 is provided to pass through the end of the opening/closing member 1, the opening/closing pin 20 can be moved to any cassette in the state shown in FIG.

Then, when the air cylinder 27 is activated and the ball 22a moves to the right in FIG.
By rotating clockwise, the cassette opening/closing member 1
is opened to approximately 90° from the position shown in Figure 5.

As described above, when the opening/closing member 1 is opened, the horizontal moving member 41 shown in FIG.
a and 16b are inserted into the cassette. As described above, when the air cylinder 27 is activated and the cassette opening/closing member 1 is opened, the fork portions 16a, 1
The height of the cassette 6b from the fixed base 18 is approximately at the center of the gap below the glass substrate of the cassette. Therefore, the fork parts 16a, 16b
is inserted into the space below the glass substrate in the cassette.

This situation is shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the cassette containing the glass substrate 10, viewed from above, and the upper lid 2, opening/closing member 1, etc. are omitted. As described above, the glass substrate 10 is held at the end by the stepped portion 3a. Further, a circuit pattern 10a is drawn on the glass substrate 10, leaving a predetermined margin around the glass substrate 10. Therefore, the fork parts 16a, 16b
is inserted so that it can touch the surface corresponding to this margin. Also, as is clear from Figure 7,
The fork parts 16a and 16b are inserted into the lower side of the glass substrate 10, that is, into the space between the glass substrate 10 and the bottom cover 3c of the bottom cover 3 shown in FIG. Therefore, the height of the surfaces of the step portion 3a and bottom portion 3c shown in FIG.
The thickness is set to be larger than the thickness of b. This is because when the fork parts 16a and 16b are inserted under the glass substrate 10, the glass substrate 1
0. This is to prevent the bottom cover 3 from being rubbed.
When these fork parts 16a and 16b are inserted into the cassette to a predetermined position, the transport arm 1
6 is moved upward by the drive of the motor 37. Then, the fork parts 16a and 16b come into contact with the blank space on the back surface of the glass substrate 10, and at the same time, the suction holes 17 also perform vacuum suction. The transport arm 16 further moves upward slightly and then stops. This operation is necessary to slightly lift the glass substrate 10 from the stepped portion 3a. Therefore, the gap between the glass substrate 10 and the upper lid 2 shown in FIG. 3 is determined at least according to this lifting amount. The glass substrate 10 thus lifted is transported out of the cassette by moving the transport arm 16 in the direction of pulling it out from the cassette. After that, the air cylinder 27
operates to close the opening/closing member 1. The glass substrate 10 is then sent to an exposure device for printing and an inspection device for masks and reticles. thus,
The glass substrate 10 that has been processed is placed back into the cassette by a reverse operation to the previous take-out operation.

As described above, by creating a cassette with a predetermined space formed on the top and bottom surfaces of the glass substrates and by carrying out the transport operation as shown in the example, the glass substrates can be slid and inserted. Prevents you from falling out.

Note that the transport arm 16 as shown in FIG.
It only moves in the X and Z directions. Therefore, the glass substrate can only be transported up and down after being removed from the cassette. Therefore, when transporting a glass substrate to an exposure device or an inspection device, it is usually necessary to move the glass substrate in the Z direction and
It is necessary to move in a direction perpendicular to each direction. This orthogonal direction is defined as the Y direction, and the conveyance device is defined as a loader mechanism. The loader mechanism, which will be described in detail later, is provided at the top of the device shown in FIG. 4.

As mentioned above, when the vertical moving member 30 moves up and down and stops at a desired cassette position, the cassette opening/closing member 1 is opened by the opening/closing pin 20, and then the fork portion 16 of the transport arm 16 is opened.
a, 16b are inserted into the cassette. At this time,
It is sufficient if the fork parts 16a and 16b are inserted into the space below the glass substrate in the cassette without sliding, but for example, the belt 3 that drives the vertically moving member 30
When the fork parts 16a and 16b are inserted due to an error in the amount of movement caused by the expansion and contraction of the fork parts 4,
It is also conceivable to slide the back surface of the glass substrate.
Therefore, in the device of the embodiment, the fork portion 16a,
A mechanism for detecting the height of the transport arm relative to the glass substrate is provided so that the transport arm 16b is surely inserted into the space below the glass substrate without sliding.

This detection mechanism will be explained with reference to FIG. 8th
The figure is a partial sectional view showing the relationship between the transport arm 16 and the position of the cassette. Although the opening/closing member 1 provided on the upper lid 2 of the cassette is in an open state, it is omitted in the figure. As described above, when the horizontal moving member 41 moves toward the cassette, the carrying arm 16 is moved by the support member 42 to the position shown in FIG. 8. That is, the tip of the fork portion 16b moves to a position slightly inserted beyond the opening end surface 9 of the cassette and then stops.

The transport arm 16 is attached to the support member 42 via a hinge 51, and is rotatably provided around the hinge 51. The stopper member 52 also functions to prevent the transport arm 16 from rotating clockwise from the position shown in the figure, and to determine the horizontality of the transport arm 16 so that it is approximately parallel to the glass substrate in the cassette. do. In the state shown in FIG. 8, the transport arm 16 is in contact with the stopper member 52 due to its own weight. Further, the limit switch 50 detects the rotation of the transport arm 16 in the counterclockwise direction.

As mentioned above, the tip of the fork portion 16b is slightly inserted into the cassette and then stopped, but the insertion amount of this tip is shorter than the length from the side end surface of the glass substrate 10 to the opening end surface 9. This is desirable. If you do this, transport arm 1
The positioning in the vertical movement of the cassette 6 only needs to be between the inner surface of the top cover 2 of the cassette and the bottom part 3c of the bottom cover 3, and the positioning accuracy is not required so much.

Next, the operation of determining the correct position (between the glass substrate 10 and the bottom part 3c) from the state shown in FIG. 8 will be explained. In this state, first of all, the vertically moving member 30 is moved slightly downward. Then, the support member 42 also moves downward, but at this time, the tip of the fork portion 16b catches on the bottom portion 3c of the cassette. When the support member 42 is further moved downward, the transfer arm 16 is separated from the stopper member 52, the limit switch 50 is opened or closed, and the transfer arm 16 is slightly rotated counterclockwise as shown by the arrow in the figure. Detect. This detection is performed by a detection circuit (not shown) that detects a change in the state of the limit switch 50. Next, the downward movement of the transport arm 16 is stopped in accordance with the output of this detection circuit. The state at this time is shown in FIG. As shown, the fork portion 16b is attached to the bottom 3c of the cassette and is slightly inclined. The amount of inclination at this time is always set to a constant value depending on the mounting position of the limit switch 50 with respect to the transport arm 16. Therefore, the height difference h between the tip of the stopper member 52 and the bottom 3c of the cassette is always a predetermined value. That is, limit switch 5
0 works to detect this difference h and stop the downward movement of the transport arm 16. thus,
When the difference h is detected, the transport arm 16 moves upward. This amount of movement is a predetermined amount. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the fork portion 16b
(16a is the same) If the thickness of the glass substrate 10 and the bottom part 3c is d, and the distance between the glass substrate 10 and the bottom part 3c is t, then since t>d is determined as described above, the ninth
The amount of movement upward from the position shown in the figure is approximately h+(t-
d)/2, fork parts 16b, (16a)
is located approximately at the center of the space between the glass substrate 10 and the bottom portion 3c. In the above equation, the difference h, the thickness d, and the interval t are all predetermined constant values. Therefore, from the state shown in FIG. 9, the fork portion 16b
In order to accurately determine the height of (16a) relative to the cassette, the transfer arm 16 must be adjusted by a certain amount according to the above formula.
All you have to do is move it upwards.

In this way, once the height of the transport arm 16 is determined,
After that, as described above, attach the fork parts 16a, 16.
b is inserted into the cassette and the glass substrate 10 is taken out.

Note that the opening end surface 9 side of the bottom portion 3c serves to define a reference position spaced apart from the back surface of the glass substrate by a distance t for this positioning.

By the way, as mentioned earlier, in order to hold the cassette, the cartridge 14, which has grooves into which the protrusions 4 and 5 provided on the side surfaces of the cassette fit, is used.
15 is required. However, if the cassettes are pillar-shaped cartridges that are simply provided with grooves, it is difficult to remove a specific cassette from the cartridge when stacked as shown in FIG. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cartridge 14 is divided into individual cassettes as shown in FIG.
Each of the divided cartridges has a lock member composed of a hinge, a spring member, and the like. This situation is shown in FIG. 10th
The figure shows one cassette in cartridges 14 and 15.
FIG.

When the cassettes are piled up, the plate members 14a and 15a on which the protrusions 4 and 5 of the cassettes are placed are placed on the cartridges 14 and 15 so that the cassettes do not come into contact with each other and maintain a certain distance as shown in FIG. A plurality of grooves are provided at regular intervals in the 15 grooves. The cartridge 14 is provided with a lock member 14c as shown. This lock member 14
c is rotatable around the hinge 14b and is biased in the direction of the arrow by a spring or the like (not shown). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, if the locking member 14c is opened so that the protruding part 4 of the cassette is engaged with the groove of the cartridge 15, and the cassette body is rotated so that the engaged part is centered. , the cassette can be installed and removed individually. At this time, even if the opening/closing pin 20 is engaged with the groove 8 of the opening/closing member 1 of the cassette, the opening/closing pin 20 rotates around the engaging portion of the cartridge 15 and the protrusion 4 as shown in the figure. 20 is also removed from the groove 8.

By housing the mask or reticle alone in the cassette as described above, it can be easily attached to or removed from the cartridge by hand. In other words, if a mask or reticle becomes unusable due to scratches, dust, etc., the whole cassette can be replaced on the spot, allowing you to work without touching the mask or reticle directly as in the past, and eliminating the possibility of dust adhesion. The effect of prevention is extremely large.

Next, the loader mechanism described above will be described. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a loader mechanism located above the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.

As mentioned above, the transport arm 16 carries the glass substrate 1
0 is loaded and taken out of the cassette by driving the horizontal moving member 41. Thereafter, the opening/closing mechanism section 26 operates to close the opening/closing member 1. FIG. 4 shows the state at that time. The loader mechanism includes a loader guide member 60 arranged to connect the upper part of the cartridge 15 and the support column 43, and a loader movable along a guide rail (not shown) provided in the longitudinal direction of the loader guide member 60. It is composed of a moving member 61, a loader section 62 located above the transport arm 16 on the distal end side of the loader moving member 61, and the like. Inside 6 of loader guide member 60
A drive system similar to the pulleys 32, 33 and belt 34 provided on the back side of the cartridge 15 described above is housed in 0a, and the belt is fed by a motor. (Not shown) The loader moving member 61 is the loader guide member 6
0 via a U-shaped member 61a,
The member 61a is provided with a plurality of rollers so that it can move only in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 11 along the aforementioned guide rail (not shown). Also,
The loader section 62 is provided on the tip side of the loader moving member 61, and the loader section 62 has a box shape as shown in the figure, and is arranged at a predetermined distance from the loader guide member 60. That is, the transport arm 16 is placed almost directly above the position where the glass substrate 10 is placed and taken out from the cassette.

A support plate 63 having a substantially similar shape to the glass substrate 10 is suspended inside the loader section 62 . Four claw members 65a, 65b, 65c, and 6 are pivotably supported at positions corresponding to the four sides of the support plate 63 by shafts (not shown) parallel to each side.
5d are provided respectively. In addition, when simply using the claw member 65, the claw members 65a, 65b, 65
c, 65d shall be collectively referred to.

Further, the pistons of four air cylinders 67 are respectively engaged with the portions of the claw members 65 that protrude above the support plate 63, thereby causing the claw members 65 to swing. Furthermore, rollers 69 are rotatably provided at the portions of the claw members 65 that protrude below the support plate 63, respectively. This roller 69 is provided so that its rotation axis is parallel to each side of the support plate 63, as shown by the claw member 65c in the figure. The operation of the claw member 65 will be described in detail later, but this roller 69
Since the circumferential surface portion of the roller 69 comes into contact with the glass substrate 10 when sandwiching it from four directions, the roller 69 is made of synthetic resin so as not to damage the end surface of the glass substrate 10.

In addition, by the claw member 65 and a spring member (not shown),
The roller 69 portion is constantly urged to open outward. Furthermore, the four air cylinders 67 are operated by air from a common air tube (not shown), and the air cylinders 67 are operated simultaneously. Furthermore, the claw members 65a, 65b are prevented from closing inward at the roller 69 portion by the operation of the air cylinder 67 by stoppers 66a, 66b. Note that the claws 65c and 65d are not subject to such restrictions.

Below the support plate 63 provided with the claws 65, air cylinders 67, etc., a suction plate 64, which is approximately the same size as the glass substrate 10, is suspended from the support plate 63 via a spring member (not shown). There is. Therefore, the suction plate 64 is provided so as to be elastically displaceable with respect to the support plate 63. The back surface of the suction plate 64 is provided with suction holes for vacuum suction, which are in contact with the top surface of the glass substrate 10 . The positions of the intake holes are provided in the blank space outside the pattern drawing area of the glass substrate 10, but in the embodiment, as shown in the figure, four intake pipes 68 corresponding to the positions of the intake holes penetrate the support plate 63. and is fixed to the intake plate 64.
The suction pipes 68 are connected to each other by pipes (not shown), and the vacuum suction operation of the glass substrate 10 is performed simultaneously.

Next, the glass substrate 10 placed on the transfer arm 16
The operation of transferring the data to the loader unit 62 is shown in FIGS.
6 will be explained. The transport arm 16 takes out the desired glass substrate 10 from an arbitrary cassette.
It moves a predetermined amount in the horizontal direction and stops at the position shown in FIG. At the same time, the opening/closing mechanism section 26 operates to close the opening/closing member 1 of the cassette. This predetermined amount of movement in the horizontal direction is such that the glass substrate 10 placed on the transport arm 16 is
It is set to be almost directly below.

Thereafter, the transport arm 16 is moved in the vertical direction, and the glass substrate 10 placed on the transport arm 16 is set at a predetermined first position, that is, at a height slightly below the suction plate 64 as shown in FIG. . At this time, vacuum suction on the transfer arm 16 side is stopped. Next, as shown in FIG. 14, the air cylinder 67 is operated to close the roller 69 portion of the claw 65 inward. Then, the roller 69 comes into contact with the end surface of the glass substrate 10, but at the same time, the roller 69 comes into contact with the end surface of the glass substrate 10.
0 to the loader section 62. This positioning is determined by the aforementioned stoppers 66a and 66b. That is, air cylinder 67
Even if the support plates 6 of the claw members 65a and 65b are activated,
3 are locked by the stoppers 66a, 66b, the roller 69 portions of the claw members 65a, 65b will not close inward beyond a predetermined value.

Therefore, these claw members 65a, 65b, stoppers 66a, 66b, and roller 69 constitute a contact member, and the reference of the glass substrate 10 is determined by the circumferential surface of the roller 69 provided on the claw members 65a, 65b. The position is determined. In addition, claw members 65a, 65b
are provided on the mutually orthogonal peripheral parts of the support plate 63, so that the mutually orthogonal end face parts of the glass substrate 10 are connected to the rollers 6 of the claw members 65a and 65b.
By coming into contact with 9, it becomes possible to position the glass substrate 10 in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, the claw member 6
5c and 65d, the roller 69 portion closes inward as long as the stroke of the piston of the air cylinder 67 allows, so that the mutually orthogonal end surfaces of the glass substrate 10 are moved by the rollers 69 of the claw members 65c and 65d. It is pressed in the direction of the claw members 65a, 65b. These claw members 65c, 65d and roller 69 constitute a pressing member, and the glass substrate 1
0 is positioned and simultaneously chucked by a positioning means including an abutting member and a pressing member.

At this time, the abutment position between the roller 69 and the end surface of the glass substrate 10 is such that the shaft 69a of the roller 69 and the glass substrate 10 are approximately horizontal, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the claw 65 is attached to the glass substrate 1.
The length of the claw 65 below the support plate 63 may be determined so that when the end face of the claw 65 is held in the mouth, it will be in a state as shown in FIG. Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the protrusion 70 below the roller 69 of the pawl 65
protrudes inside the circumferential surface of the roller 69 (on the glass substrate 10 side) as shown in FIG. This protrusion 7
0 is for preventing the glass substrate 10 from falling off when it comes out of contact with the roller 65.

When the positioning and chucking are completed in the above manner, the transport arm 16 is raised by the slight gap between the suction plate 64 and the glass substrate 10, as shown in FIG. At this time, glass substrate 1
0 comes into contact with the suction plate 64, but since the suction plate 64 is attached to the support plate 63 via the leaf spring 71 as described above, the suction plate 64 moves slightly upward and touches the glass substrate 10. No large locking force is applied. In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, the roller 6
Since 9 is checking the end face of the glass substrate 10, a slight rise of the glass substrate 10 causes
Roller 69 rotates slightly. At the same time, vacuum suction is performed by the suction holes provided on the back surface of the suction plate 64, that is, the surface in contact with the glass substrate 10, as described above. Although the glass substrate 10 and the suction plate 64 are shown to be in close contact with each other in FIG. A portion is slightly raised and is in close contact with the glass substrate 10. Therefore, the suction plate 64 does not come into contact with the pattern drawing area.

Further, as mentioned earlier, the vertically moving member 30 that moves the transport arm 16 up and down is connected to the cartridge 15.
A limit switch 40 is provided at the top of the cartridge 15 to detect when the top of the cartridge has been reached. This limit switch 40 is shown in FIG.
With the arrangement shown in FIG. 11, it is provided to operate in the state shown in FIG. 15, that is, when the glass substrate 10 comes into contact with the suction plate 64 and further rises slightly.

Therefore, the raising of the transport arm 16 may be stopped by operating the limit switch 40.

Next, as shown in FIG. 16, the transport arm 16 is lowered by a certain amount and then stopped. This is to prevent the transport arm 16 from colliding with each other when the loader section 62 moves in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG.

As described above, the glass substrate 10 placed on the transport arm 16 is transferred to the loader section 62. When the delivery is completed, the loader section 62 moves in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. There is a belt (not shown) driven by a motor inside 60a of the loader guide member 60, and the loader moving member 61 moves the glass substrate 10 between the transport arm 16 and the loader section 62 as the belt feeds. It is transported to a processing device such as an exposure device for printing and a device for inspecting dust, scratches, etc. on a mask or reticle, which is disposed at a second position different from the first position, which is a delivery position.
Note that the loader section 62 moves and loads the glass substrate 1 again.
The transfer arm 16 remains at the position shown in FIG. 17 until it comes back to its original position after checking 0.

The configuration and operation of the transport device according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described above, and each motor for moving the transport arm 16 and the loader section 62 may be a pulse motor in order to improve the precision of positioning, etc. Therefore, the motor 37 (shown in FIG. 4) that raises and lowers the transfer arm 16 is a Z motor,
It is assumed that the motor for horizontally moving the transport arm 16 is an X motor, and the motor for moving the loader section 62 is a Y motor, and the amount of rotation of each motor is controlled by the number of pulses. Further, the operation of the limit switch 40 and the limit switch 50 described above is detected, and the order of operation of each air cylinder, drive of the motor, etc. is sequenced according to a program on a small computer. Next, the simplest flowcharts of the main parts of this program are shown in FIGS. 18 and 19.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart 200 when taking out a glass substrate from a cassette, and FIG. 19 is a flowchart when storing a glass substrate into a cassette.
It is 300.

Therefore, let us consider a case where the transport arm 16 operates from a position as shown in FIG. In FIG. 18, the transport arm 16 performs an arm raising operation. That is, a pulse signal is applied from the computer to the Z motor to raise the transport arm 16. At this time, between the pulses of the pulse signal, the arm 16
The calculator reads the state of the limit switch 40 that limits the upper limit of movement of the computer. Then, when the arm 16 rises the most and the limit switch 40 closes, the calculator stops outputting pulse signals to the Z motor. The vertical position of the arm 16 at this time is defined as the origin.

At this time, the counter in the calculator is reset. This counter is, for example, an up-down counter that counts the number of pulses of a pulse signal sent to the Z motor, and the number of pulses is a value proportional to the amount of rise and fall of the arm 16. Next, the calculator inputs the address of the cassette from the input device, that is, the number of the required cassette from the top of the stack of cassettes. This input device allows the operator to arbitrarily specify the address, or to automatically specify the addresses sequentially. The calculator calculates the distance from the origin of arm 16 to its cassette according to this address. Then, a signal with the number of pulses based on the calculation result is applied to the Z motor. At this time, the Z motor is rotated in the opposite direction to that described above. The arm 16 thus descends and stops in front of a given cassette. Incidentally, the approximate value of this amount of descent L is calculated by the following formula.

L=l _c (n-1) + l _p n: address of the required cassette (from top to bottom,
n=1, 2...) l _c : Distance between cassettes l _p : Distance from the origin to the back surface of the glass substrate in the cassette at address 1 Therefore, the calculator calculates Z by the number of pulses proportional to the calculated value L. Output to motor. The relationship between the number of pulses and the value L is a predetermined ratio based on the amount of rotation of the motor per pulse, the ratio of the worm gear to the wheel, and the like.

When the arm 16 is positioned in front of a predetermined cassette, a cassette opening operation is then performed to open the opening/closing member 1 of the cassette. As mentioned above, this operation is performed by the air cylinder to open and close the opening/closing member 1.
from the closed state to the open state of approximately 90°.

Next, the arm 16 moves toward the cassette,
An arm positioning operation is performed to adjust the arm height to an appropriate amount as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. At this time, the calculator outputs a predetermined number of pulses to the X motor to move the arm to the position shown in Figure 8.
Move 6. Then, as mentioned above, arm 16
In order to lower the arm 16 slightly, the calculator sequentially inputs the state of the limit switch 50 while outputting a pulse signal to the Z motor in the direction of lowering the arm 16. Then, at the moment when the state of the limit switch 50 changes (for example, from closed to open), the calculator stops outputting the pulse signal in the downward direction, and immediately after that, the arm 16 rises slightly as described above. . This slight increase is approximately h+(t-
d) is a constant amount expressed as /2, and the calculator outputs a pulse signal to the Z motor in the direction in which the arm 16 rises. The number of pulses of the pulse signal is, of course, proportional to h+(t-d)/2.

The calculator then outputs a pulse signal to the X motor that causes arm 16 to move toward the cassette. The number of pulses at this time is also a predetermined constant number. Then, when the fork part of the arm 16 is located below the glass substrate, the calculator further moves the arm 16 to slightly lift the glass substrate.
Output a certain number of pulses to the Z motor.

Once the height of the arm 16 is determined in this way,
The calculator stores the count value of the aforementioned counter.

Then, the calculator outputs a predetermined pulse signal to the X motor to move the arm 16 out of the cassette, and the glass substrate is removed. Further, after the cassette closing operation for closing the cassette opening/closing member 1 is performed, the calculator outputs a pulse signal to the Z motor to raise the arm 16 again toward the origin.

The glass substrate taken out of the cassette as described above is transferred to the loader section 62 as described above. Also, when the handover is completed, arm 1
6 is waiting in a slightly lowered position.

Next, referring to FIG. 19, the operation of storing a glass substrate in a cassette will be explained.

When the loader section 62 comes directly above the waiting arm 16, the calculator outputs a pulse signal to the Z motor to raise the arm 16. At this time, the calculator also inputs the state change of the limit switch 40 at the same time. Then, when the state of the limit switch 40 changes, the calculator stops outputting pulse signals to the Z motor and the counter is reset. Next, with the positioning performed by the loader section 62, the first
A receiving operation is performed in which the glass substrate returned to the position is transferred from the loader section 62 to the transport arm 16 at the first position. This is the loader section 62 mentioned above.
This is sometimes done by stopping the vacuum suction of the air cylinder, stopping the operation of the air cylinder, and opening the four claws.
When the receiving operation is completed, the arm 16 starts vacuum suction of the glass substrate. And arm 16 is
It descends to the cassette from which the glass substrate was taken out. At this time, the calculator outputs a pulse signal for lowering the arm 16 to the Z motor, but at the same time, it compares the number of pulses of the pulse signal with a previously stored value proportional to the arm height. Then, when the two match, the output of the pulse signal is stopped. Thereafter, a cassette opening operation is performed to open the opening/closing member 1 of the cassette. moreover,
The calculator outputs a predetermined pulse signal to the X motor to move the arm 16 toward the cassette, and then outputs a pulse signal to the Z motor to lower the arm 16 slightly. The glass substrate is thus held by the step within the cassette, and the arm 16 is placed at the proper height determined by the arm positioning operation described above. Then arm 16
is pulled out of the cassette to complete the storage operation of the glass substrate, and then the cassette close operation is performed to complete the series of steps.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various changes can be made to the positioning mechanism of the transport arm, the shape of the cassette, etc. Next, we will briefly discuss these changes.

In the example, the glass substrate is taken out from the required cassette by moving the transport arm up and down.
Of course, the cartridge with the cassette attached may be moved up and down. Furthermore, the conveyance device shown in the embodiment can be applied as is to a conventional cartridge that holds a plurality of glass substrates as is. At this time, as shown in FIG. 20, the steps 101 and 102 provided on the inner wall of the cartridge 100 are made to protrude slightly inward so that only the edge of the glass substrate 10 rests on it. Make it possible to enter the lower side of the board 10. Further, the thickness of the step portions 101 and 102 is also made larger than the thickness of the transfer arm. Further, when the conveyance arm performs height positioning, projections 103 and 104 may be provided on the opening surfaces of the stepped portions 101 and 102 for pulling the tips of the fork portions to set the reference positions. In Figure 20, it is only provided on one step, but there is one protrusion on each step.
03 and 104 are provided. Note that the gap between the glass substrates is not so narrow that the stepped portion 10
In the case where the thickness of the transfer arm 1 and 102 is considerably larger than the thickness of the transfer arm, only one of the protrusions 103 and 104 is sufficient. Additionally, to determine the height of the transfer arm, a limit switch is used to detect when the transfer arm has swung upwards, but a vacuum detector (vacuum sensor) is used to detect this.
You can also use In that case, as shown in FIG. 21, a small block 105 is provided where the limit switch was located, and the upper end surface 105a of the block 105 is brought into close contact with the back surface of the transfer arm 16. Further, an airtight chamber 105b is formed inside the block 105, and the air pressure in the airtight chamber 105b is lowered by the tube 106. Then, the transport arm 16 swings around the shaft 51,
The moment the block 105 leaves the upper end surface 105a, the pressure in the hermetic chamber 105b rises to approximately atmospheric pressure. Therefore, by providing a vacuum sensor at the tip of the tube 106 and detecting this pressure change, it becomes possible to position the transfer arm. Incidentally, at this time, the transfer arm is vacuum-adsorbed to the block 105, which has the advantage of preventing the transfer arm from swinging inadvertently.

Further, in the embodiment, the driving force for opening and closing the opening/closing member of the cassette is provided by an air cylinder, but a solenoid may also be used. Further, although the opening/closing member and the opening/closing pin are engaged with each other through a groove, this may be formed by a protrusion other than the groove, for example, depending on the opening/closing mechanism.

Furthermore, an electromagnet can be provided in place of the opening/closing pin, and a magnetic material can be provided at the end of the opening/closing member, and the electromagnet can be activated to attract the magnetic material to open the opening/closing member at the required cassette. .

In addition, the timing for opening and closing the opening/closing member of the cassette is such that in the sequence explained in the example, the transport arm is raised or lowered to the front of the required cassette, and then the transport arm is moved horizontally toward the cassette. It goes without saying that the fork portion of the transfer arm can be opened and closed at a point where the tip of the fork portion of the transfer arm is slightly protruding from inside the cassette, just before the transfer arm is moved, but even during horizontal movement.

As described above, according to the conveyance device according to the present invention,
A plurality of cassette cases each containing a single rectangular substrate such as a mask or reticle are stacked vertically, and the rectangular substrate taken out from a desired cassette case by a horizontal conveyance member is transported in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the rectangular substrate. and set it to the first position,
Since this rectangular board is positioned by the positioning means, it is possible to make the transport device for the rectangular boards in multiple cassette cases more compact, and also to transport all the rectangular boards in the cassette cases in the same sequence. It becomes possible to control the transport operation. Furthermore, after the rectangular substrate is positioned by the positioning means, it is transported to a processing device such as an exposure device placed at the second position, so that the processing device can always receive the rectangular substrate in a predetermined state. can. Furthermore, when storing the rectangular substrates returned from the processing equipment into the cassette case, the horizontal conveyance member always receives the rectangular substrates positioned at a fixed position by the positioning means and stores them into the cassette case. . Therefore, all the rectangular substrates are always housed in each cassette case in a constant state, so that the positions of the rectangular substrates within the cassette cases are unified, and the transportation of the rectangular substrates can be stabilized. Of course, since rectangular substrates are taken in and out of the cassette case so that a gap is created between the cassette case and the rectangular substrate, dust and scratches are less likely to adhere to the rectangular substrates, and rectangular substrates can be transported in an extremely clean environment. It can be carried out. In addition, when replacing any rectangular board, the entire cassette case can be removed from the cartridge, so there is no need to touch the rectangular boards in other cartridges.
A good clean environment can be maintained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a needle perspective view of a dustproof cassette that can be attached to a transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of its main parts, and Fig. 3 is a state in which glass substrates are stored in the cassette and the top cover is closed. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the transfer arm and its drive mechanism; FIG.
The figure is a partial cross-sectional view of the opening/closing mechanism, Figure 6 is an enlarged view of its main parts, Figure 7 is a plan view showing the fork section inserted under the glass substrate, and Figure 8 is a front view of the detection mechanism. , Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram of its operation, Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the lock member, Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the loader mechanism, and Figs. 12 to 16 are explanations of the operation of transferring the glass substrate to the loader section. Figure 17 is a perspective view showing the loader mechanism with a glass substrate loaded, Figure 18 is a flowchart for taking out a glass substrate from a cassette, and Figure 19 is a flowchart for storing a glass substrate in a cassette. , FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a cartridge holding a plurality of Ganas substrates, and FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a transfer arm when a vacuum detector is used. [Description of symbols of main parts] 10...Glass substrate, 16...Transport arm, Fig. 11...Loader mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In order to store a rectangular substrate such as a mask or a reticle approximately horizontally, an opening formed at a position where the rectangular substrate is taken in and out approximately horizontally, and a predetermined opening on the upper and lower surfaces of the rectangular substrate. a cassette case having a holding part that holds the peripheral portion of the rectangular substrate so that a gap is created; a case mounting member that is detachably mounted so that the openings are aligned in one direction and stacked at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction; Entering into the gap between the rectangular substrate and the cassette case through the opening and holding the rectangular substrate housed in the cassette case;
a horizontal conveying member that is movable back and forth so as to take out the rectangular substrate substantially horizontally out of the cassette case through the opening; position setting means for moving a conveyance member relative to the case mounting member to set the rectangular substrate at a predetermined first position;
When the rectangular substrate is set at the position, a contact member is arranged to face each of two orthogonal end surfaces of the rectangular substrate held by the horizontal conveying member, and the rectangular substrate is moved in the direction of the corresponding contact member. a pressing member for pressing, and positioning means for positioning the rectangular substrate relative to the horizontal conveying member by bringing the rectangular substrate into contact with the corresponding contact member; The rectangular substrate that has been positioned is moved from the first position to a desired second position.
After moving the rectangular substrate to a processing device located at the same position and positioning the rectangular substrate returned from the processing device again by the positioning means,
1. A rectangular substrate conveyance device, wherein the rectangular substrate is stored in the cassette case by the horizontal conveyance member. 2. The horizontal conveyance member is configured to hold the rectangular substrate at a peripheral portion other than a region where a predetermined pattern is formed on the rectangular substrate. Conveying device for rectangular substrates.