JPH0439953A - Semiconductor transport system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable full-automatic transport of a cassette without intervention of operators by providing the function of orientation flat alignment in any of a cassette stocker, in-process transport equipment, and processing equipment. CONSTITUTION:In the case where an orientation flat mechanism 4 is provided in a cassette stocker 1, a cassette 6 transported from a process-to-process transport 5 is stored into a cassette stocker l, and the orientation of the wafer is trimmed in one direction by an internal mechanism 4. In the case where the mechanism 4 is provided in an in-process transport equipment 3, the mechanism 4 is incorporated in a transport vehicle. During process-to-process transport, the orientation flat in a wafer in the cassette 6 is trimmed by the mechanism 4 on the transport vehicle. Further, in the case where the mechanism 4 is provided on the cassette stage of each equipment 2, treatment is made after the orientation of a wafer is trimmed by this mechanism 4. Therefore, a cassette can be transported full-automatically between the stocker 1 and the device 2 without intervention of workers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a conveyance system in a semiconductor manufacturing line.

[Prior art] As shown in Fig. 2, as a conventional technology, an in-process transport system that connects a cassette stocker and each manufacturing device has been known.6 There are various types of transport equipment, including tracked truck type, It consists of a transport mechanism such as a trackless trolley type or a conveyor type, and a transfer mechanism such as a transfer robot, a transfer fork, etc.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional semiconductor transport system, both the cassette stocker and the transport device only have the functions of transferring and transporting cassettes, and the manufacturing equipment side also has only the functions necessary for receiving the cassettes. I don't have it.

Therefore, if the manufacturing equipment to which the cassettes are transported is a diffusion furnace or other equipment that requires the wire to be connected with the wafer orientation flats aligned, the wafer orientation flats should be aligned in the preliminary process. It is necessary to either transport the wafer while the wafer is in the same position, or to align the orientation flats of the wafer at some point during transport. However, in the former case, there is a problem that the orientation flat of the wafer is moved due to vibrations during long-distance transport from the previous process, and in the latter case, the orientation flat is automatically moved during transport within the process. The problem was that the operator had to intervene because the machine did not have a function to align the parts.

Therefore, in order to solve these conventional problems, the present invention aims to provide a semiconductor transport system that fully automatically transports and processes cassettes from a cassette stocker to manufacturing equipment without operator intervention. do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the semiconductor transport system of the present invention is an in-process transport system that transports cassettes between a cassette stocker and manufacturing equipment in a semiconductor manufacturing line. The present invention is characterized by having an orientation flat alignment function for aligning the orientation flat of the wafer in the cassette with any one of the stocker, the in-process transport device, and the manufacturing device.

[Example] Examples of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. In FIG. 1, a cassette stocker 1 and each manufacturing device 2 are connected by an in-process transport device 3, forming one in-process transport system.

FIG. 1(a) shows a case where the cassette stocker 1 is provided with an orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 inside. Inter-process transport 5
The cassette 6 transported by the cassette 6 is stored in the cassette stocker l. At this time, the orientation flats of the wafers in the cassette 6 are not all aligned in one direction. Therefore, the cassette 6 stored in the cassette stocker 1
The orientation flats of the wafers are aligned in one direction by an orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 built into the cassette stocker 1. After that, the cassette 6 is transported to the cassette stage section of each manufacturing device 2 by the in-process transport device 3,
Processed by each manufacturing device 2.

FIG. 1(b) shows a case where the in-process transport device 3 is equipped with an orientation flat alignment mechanism 4. The in-process transport device 3 is an example of a track-type transport vehicle, and an orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 is incorporated in a cassette mounting portion on the transport vehicle. The cassette 6 that has been transported to the cassette stocker 1 by the inter-process transport 5 is transported to each manufacturing apparatus 2 by the intra-process transport device 3 without the orientation flats of the wafers being aligned.

While being transported by this intra-process transport, the orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 on the transport vehicle aligns the orientation flats of the wafers in the cassette 6 and transports them to each manufacturing apparatus 2 . The same applies even if the in-process transport device 2 is of another type, such as a trackless transport vehicle.

FIG. 1(C) shows a case where the cassette stocker of each manufacturing apparatus 2 is equipped with an orientation flat alignment mechanism 4. The cassette 6 is transported to each manufacturing apparatus 2 in the same manner as in the above case, but the orientation flats of the wafers are not aligned in the same direction. Therefore, the orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 incorporated in the cassette stage section of each manufacturing apparatus 2 aligns the orientation flats of the wafers before processing.

In the embodiments described above, the cassettes 6 that have been transported from the previous process to the cassette stocker 1 with their orientation flats not aligned are transported to the cassette stocker 1 and the in-process transport device 3.
Orientation flat alignment is automatically performed by an orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 installed in any one of the manufacturing apparatuses 2. In this way, from the cassette stocker 1 to the manufacturing device 2,
Fully automatic transport of cassette 6 without operator intervention
An in-process transportation system for processing can be constructed.

In this embodiment, rather than installing the orientation flat alignment mechanism 4 in each manufacturing device 2, it is better to install it in the cassette [stocker 1 or in-process transport device 3] in terms of cost, cycle time of the manufacturing device 2, and processing capacity. From this point of view, it is more effective.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the semiconductor transport system of the present invention has the following features.
Cassettes are transferred between the cassette stocker and the manufacturing equipment fully automatically without operator intervention by providing an orientation flat alignment function that aligns the orientation flat of the wafer in the center to any of the cassette stocker, in-process transport equipment, and manufacturing equipment. It has the effect of making it possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1(a), 1(b), and 1(c) are block diagrams of a semiconductor transport system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional semiconductor transport system.・Cassette stocker ・Manufacturing equipment ・Intra-process transport device ・Orientation flat alignment mechanism ・Inter-process transport ・Cassette

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an in-process transport system that transports cassettes between a cassette stocker and manufacturing equipment on a semiconductor manufacturing line, the orientation flat of the wafer in the cassette is placed in any one of the cassette stocker, the in-process transport equipment, and the manufacturing equipment. A semiconductor transport system characterized by having an orientation flat alignment function.