JPH05343495A - Transferring apparatus for treated object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the transfer apparatus, of an object to be treated, wherein it can monitor, from a place at a distance from the transfer apparatus, the situation of the actual transfer operation of the transfer apparatus with reference to a support body for the object to be treated and it can always confirm the transfer operation of the transfer apparatus. CONSTITUTION:A transfer apparatus 20 by means of which a sheetlike object W to be treated is transferred with reference to a support body C for the object to be treated is provided with the following: a transfer apparatus main body 41 which is moved to a transfer operation position which is faced with the support body C for the object to be treated; a carrier member 45, for the object to be treated, which is installed at the transfer apparatus main body 41 so as to be capable of being advanced to, and retreated from, the advance direction and the retreat direction; and a monitor camera 30 which is installed at the transfer apparatus main body and whose angle of field is the advance-direction region of the carrier member 45 for the object to be treated. In addition, an image recording mechanism which records image information is connected to the monitor camera 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an object transfer device for transferring a plate-shaped object such as a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, it is necessary to heat-treat a semiconductor wafer which is a plate-shaped object to be processed, and recently, in order to achieve a required heat treatment with high efficiency, a large number of heat treatments have been performed. A heat treatment apparatus for batch-processing wafers is used. In such a heat treatment apparatus, a large number of wafers are usually loaded into a heat treatment container while being supported by a wafer boat made of quartz which is a wafer support. ,
The wafer, which is transferred from another carrier made of resin such as Teflon, which is another wafer support, and then subjected to predetermined heat treatment, is usually transferred from the wafer boat to the carrier.

Such wafer transfer is performed by the transfer device between the carrier arranged at a predetermined position and the wafer boat. The transfer work operation by this transfer device is performed in advance. According to the defined operation pattern,
By the control mechanism, the transfer device body is moved in the vertical direction and the turning direction, and at the same time, the wafer-carrying fork, which is the object-carrying member supporting member provided in the transfer device body, is moved in the horizontal front-back direction. Done by

Thus, in the actual transfer operation, the fork of the transfer device places the wafer in an accurate positional relationship with respect to the target position of the wafer support such as the installed carrier or wafer boat. And it is necessary to perform a fetch operation.

However, the installation position of the wafer support, the installation posture, and the state of the support groove of the wafer support are not always the same. For example, in a wafer boat,
There is a risk of thermal deformation in the heat treatment process,
It is practically impossible to install the wafer boat after the cleaning process, which is performed to remove the contaminants attached by the heat treatment, in the exactly same state as the previous installation state, and the wafer boat is not deformed or deformed by the cleaning process. Distortion may occur and the wafer boat may be replaced. Further, also in the carrier, since the material is a resin, the carrier is easily deformed as a whole or locally.

When such various displacements occur in the wafer support, even if the transfer device is controlled according to the basic operation pattern, the operating position of the fork of the transfer device is actually the wafer. Since it is relatively displaced with respect to the support, the intended transfer work operation is not sufficiently executed. That is, in the placement operation of the wafer with respect to the wafer support, a situation in which the wafer cannot be inserted accurately or at all into the wafer support groove occurs, and in the operation of taking out the wafer from the wafer support, the fork is moved between the wafers. A situation occurs in which the vehicle cannot be accurately entered into the gap. As a result, there is a possibility that the wafer support or the fork does not support the wafer completely and may fall, or the wafer may be collided or pressed and damaged, and in extreme cases, for example, the wafer boat is pushed down. There is a risk of serious accidents.

Due to the above-mentioned circumstances, when a wafer support such as a carrier or a wafer boat is newly installed, the transfer device of the transfer apparatus is configured so that the transfer operation aligned with the wafer support is executed. It is necessary to adjust the basic operation pattern in advance (teaching). And
Conventionally, the preliminary adjustment of the basic operation pattern of this transfer device is manually performed. That is, an operator enters the inside of a heat treatment apparatus or the like on which the transfer device is mounted, and each position in the actual transfer work operation of the fork of the transfer device is sufficiently appropriate for the target position of the wafer support. The transfer device main body is adjusted while the operator visually confirms the position, direction, and amount of each of the vertical movement and swing movement of the transfer device main body and the fork back-and-forth movement so that the position state is achieved. Also, work is being performed by trial and error by actually moving the fork by minute distances.

[0008]

However, since the adjustment work of the operation pattern of the transfer apparatus needs to be performed for all the target positions on all the wafer supports, the work load is very large and it takes a long time. In short, there is a problem that the result is greatly influenced by the skill level of the operator, the reproducibility is low, and high reliability cannot always be obtained.

Further, a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus such as a heat treatment apparatus usually has a very small internal space, and in practice, there is a very large space restriction for an operator to perform necessary adjustment work in the apparatus. However, the necessary parts have not been properly confirmed, and the work itself is extremely difficult. Moreover, there is also a problem that the inside of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus is contaminated by an operator entering the apparatus.

The basic operation pattern of the transfer device is
In reality, when the displacement from the proper state is included, even when the displacement amount is small and it does not matter itself, other factors overlap and the desired transfer work is performed. The operation may not be performed, and even an accident such as damage to the wafer or the fork may occur. However, under the present circumstances, until such an accident actually occurs, it is impossible to know at all that the basic operation pattern of the transfer device is in such an unsuitable state.

An object of the present invention is to visually check and confirm the state of the actual transfer work operation of the transfer device with respect to the workpiece support, at a place remote from the transfer device, and thus to confirm it visually. Even when the movement pattern of the transfer work operation includes a slight displacement, it is possible to accurately know such an unfavorable situation, and therefore always confirm the transfer work operation of the transfer device. An object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device for an object to be processed.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A transfer device for an object to be processed according to the present invention is a transfer device for transferring an object to be processed onto a target object support for supporting a plate-shaped object. In the mounting device,
A transfer device main body that is moved to a transfer operation position that directly faces the target object support, and a target object that holds the target object that is provided in the transfer device main body so as to be able to move forward and backward. An object carrying member and the transfer device main body,
It has a monitor camera which makes a field of view the advance direction of the processed material support member. It is preferable that a video recording mechanism for recording the video information is connected to the monitor camera.

[0013]

According to this structure, an image of the forward direction area of the workpiece carrying member of the transfer device, which is obtained from the monitor camera, can be displayed on an image device such as a cathode ray tube. The condition of the actual positional relationship between the position of the object-to-be-processed member and the target position of the object-to-be-processed support is visually confirmed at the place where the image device is installed with very high accuracy. can do.

In this confirmation work, when an unsuitable situation that causes an accident is found, the transfer device can be stopped to prevent an accident from occurring, and the transfer device can be prevented. It is possible to easily and surely perform the pre-adjustment work and the post-adjustment work of the basic operation pattern of the above. Moreover, since these operations can be performed in a freely set work place separated from the site where the transfer device is provided, there are few restrictions on the work.

Furthermore, by connecting a video recording mechanism to the monitor camera, it becomes possible to record the status of the transfer work operation of the transfer device as a video, and to reconfirm the status later freely.

[0016]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, a semiconductor wafer is used as the object to be processed, and a carrier and a wafer boat are used as the object support, but the object to be processed is not limited to the semiconductor wafer in the present invention. For example, an LCD or other plate-shaped object to be processed can be used, and the object support is not particularly limited.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a semiconductor wafer heat treatment apparatus equipped with a wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a mode in which a wafer is moved in the heat treatment apparatus. It is an explanatory perspective view. In this heat treatment apparatus 10, for example, the carrier C accommodating 25 wafers W at the entrance / exit 12 has the posture changing mechanism 1
The carrier C is mounted on the carrier 3, and the attitude changing mechanism 13 changes the attitude of the carrier C by 90 °. Then, the carrier C is carried into the transfer stage 15 by the carrier transferring mechanism 14.
Alternatively, it is carried into the carrier stocker 17 by the carrier elevator 16. Then, the wafer W in the carrier C on the transfer stage 15 is transferred to the wafer boat 21 by the transfer device 20. An automatic door 29 opens and closes the entrance 12.

The wafer boat 21 in which a predetermined number of wafers W are arranged is lifted by the wafer boat elevator 23 and loaded into the heat treatment container 27 from the lower end where the cap 25 is opened and opened. Then cap 25
The heater 2 is closed in the heat treatment container 27.
The heat from 8 heat-treats the wafer W. Then, after the predetermined heat treatment is completed, the wafer boat 21 is moved down from the heat treatment container 27 to the original position, and the wafer W on the wafer boat 21 is transferred by the transfer device 20 to the carrier on the transfer stage 15. Transferred to C.

In the wafer boat 21 or the carrier C, support grooves for supporting a large number of wafers W in a state of being overlapped with each other with a gap therebetween are formed so as to be spaced apart from each other at a constant pitch. Here, for example, the opening width of the support groove in the wafer boat 21 is, for example, 0.78 mm in diameter and 8 mm in diameter.
For an inch wafer, for example, 6.35 mm,
In the case of a wafer having a diameter of 6 inches and a thickness of 0.65 mm, the distance is, for example, 4.7625 mm.

3 and 4 show the fork 4 of the handling arm 41 which constitutes the transfer device main body of the transfer device 20.
5 shows a state in which the wafer W stored and supported in the carrier C is taken out. In this example, the transfer device 20 includes a ball screw 40 provided in an upright state,
A handling arm 41 provided on the ball screw 40 that moves in the vertical direction by the rotation of the ball screw 40.
And a pulse motor 42 that rotationally drives the ball screw 40.
And a control mechanism 43 having a storage function for controlling the pulse motor 42. The handling arm 41 can swivel around the ball screw 40, and the swivel angle is detected by a swivel angle sensor 44 provided at the lower end of the ball screw 40.

A fork 45, which is a wafer carrying member, is provided on the handling arm 41 so as to be movable in forward and backward directions within a horizontal plane. Although only one fork 45 is shown in the illustrated example, a plurality of forks can be provided to collectively process a plurality of wafers W.

The handling arm 41 of the transfer device 20 is provided with a support rod 31 extending upward at the base thereof, and the monitor camera 30 having the field of view in the forward direction of the fork 45 at the upper end of the support rod 31. Is provided. Further, the monitor camera 30 is integrally provided with a light projection mechanism 33 for illuminating a region including the field of view.

Specifically, the monitor camera 30 has a field of view in the forward direction of the fork 45 and including the front edge portion of the wafer W in the carrier C. That is, in the monitor camera 30, the plane projection line of the optical axis L thereof coincides with the movement line A extending in the forward direction at the center of the fork 45 in the width direction, and the depression angle θ formed by the optical axis L with respect to the horizontal direction. Is 30
It is arranged in a state of becoming °.

The operation of the transfer device having the above-described structure will be described below. For example, when the wafer W supported by the carrier C is taken out and transferred to the wafer boat, it is as follows. The handling arm 41 of the first-stage transfer device 20 is moved in the vertical direction, so that the level of the fork 45 is adjusted to a level suitable for the target wafer W to be transferred, and the handling arm 41 is swung. As a result, the handling arm 41 faces the carrier C, that is, the front center of the carrier C exists on the moving line A in the forward direction of the fork 45. As a result, the handling arm 41 is in the transfer work position state with respect to the carrier C. The second-stage fork 45 is advanced and inserted below the target wafer W. The third stage fork 45 is slightly raised, which causes
The wafer W is picked up and carried on the fork 45. The fourth stage fork 45 retracts, and thereby the target wafer W is taken out from the carrier C. Fifth stage The handling arm 41 is moved in the vertical direction, the level of the fork 45 is adjusted to a level suitable for the support groove in which the target wafer W is to be placed in the wafer boat, and the handling arm 41 is swung to the wafer boat. It is made to face each other. As a result, the handling arm 41 is brought into the transfer work position state with respect to the wafer boat. The sixth stage fork 45 is advanced to insert the target wafer W into the support groove of the wafer boat. The seventh stage fork 45 is slightly lowered, and the target wafer W
Remain on the support groove, whereby the target wafer W is placed on the wafer boat. Eighth stage Fork 45 retracts.

Thereafter, the transfer of the next wafer W is executed by the same operation as described above, and the wafer W is transferred from the carrier C to the wafer boat by repeating this series of operations. Here, the arranging operation and the taking-out operation with respect to the carrier C and the wafer boat are normally performed in order from above.

Since the handling arm 41 is provided with the monitor camera 30, the carrier C can be connected by connecting an image device to the monitor camera 30.
The situation when the fork 45 approaches the target wafer W can be visually monitored in the video device. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the uppermost wafer W in the carrier C is taken out, the monitor camera 30 is in a state in which the monitor camera 30 is directed obliquely downward. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 51 is carrier C
The arcuate images of the front edge portions of the wafers W that are vertically arranged in the front opening are projected in a state that they are vertically separated from each other. Therefore, from this image, it is possible to preliminarily confirm the accommodation state of the wafer W in the carrier C, that is, whether or not each wafer W is supported in a desired state.

Further, it is possible to confirm whether or not the advancing direction of the fork 45 is appropriate for the target wafer W. That is, the movement line A indicating the forward direction of the fork 45
And the frontal direction D of the target wafer W are matched, and when they are not matched, the magnitude of the displacement can be confirmed. Here, the handling arm 4
If 1 is at the intended transfer work position directly facing the carrier C, the movement line A naturally coincides with the front direction D of the target wafer W.

Further, it is possible to confirm the positional relationship between the fork 45 and the target wafer W in the vertical direction. That is, the fork 45 is moved forward and its tip F
At the position T (see FIG. 4) at which the front edge of the wafer W should be vertically aligned.
) Or the position immediately before that, the target wafer W is displayed on the screen 51 of the video device 50 in this state.
The upper / lower positional relationship between the front edge portion of the fork 45 and the tip F of the fork 45 is displayed as the upper / lower positional relationship on the screen 51. Therefore, if the tip F of the fork 45 is located at the just intermediate level of the gap G between the target wafer W and the wafer W1 below the target wafer W on the screen 51, the fork 45 is actually the target wafer W. It is confirmed that it can be inserted underneath without trouble.

As described above, by using the image captured by the monitor camera 30 in the image device, it is possible to determine from what kind of situation the fork 45 actually takes out the target wafer W of the carrier C by the transfer device. It can be visually monitored and confirmed at remote locations.

Further, since the monitor camera 30 is provided on the handling arm 41, the operation of arranging the wafer W on the wafer boat and the operation of unloading it from the wafer boat, which are sequentially performed following the operation of taking out the wafer W from the carrier C. , And all the transfer work operations by the placement operation on the carrier, all the operating states of the forks 45 can be confirmed in the same manner as above. And in all situations, if the position of the fork 45 is proper,
It is confirmed that the basic operation pattern of the transfer work operation in the transfer apparatus is in a sufficiently proper state for the installed carrier and wafer boat.

In the above confirmation work, when there is a case where the operating position of the fork 45 is displaced beyond the allowable range with respect to the target position of the wafer support composed of the carrier or the wafer boat, the screen is From the image of 51, the specific situation of the displacement can be known. Then, whether or not the displacement is allowed can be determined by comparing the displacement with a permissible range of a certain width set empirically as a reference.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are a flow chart of a process and a systematic diagram of the process in the case of processing the image information obtained by the monitor camera 30 in order to make the above determination. In this example, the monitor camera 30
The image information relating to the actual situation is transmitted from the image processing unit 61 to the input section 62 as an appropriate signal, and the image information from the input section 62 is read into the random access memory (RAM) 63. On the other hand, the memory unit 6
Reference information relating to the basic operation pattern is stored in 4, and the reference information is read into the RAM 63. The image information signal and the reference information signal stored in the RAM 63 are compared in the central processing unit (CPU) 65,
When it is determined that the image information signal is in the proper state, that is, when the position of the fork 45 is determined to be within the allowable range, a signal to that effect is sent to the output unit 66, and the transfer device control device. The transfer device is driven by 67 according to the basic operation pattern. Then, in the case where a sufficient determination is not made by one confirmation work, the reset mechanism is driven and the same confirmation work is repeated. 68 is a bus line.

On the other hand, in the above confirmation work, when it is judged that the image information signal is in an unsuitable state in light of the reference information signal, that is, the position of the fork 45 is actually displaced beyond the allowable range, Alternatively, when it is determined that such a situation is reached, the abnormal signal generation mechanism 70
A more abnormal signal is output, the alarm generating mechanism 71 is driven, an alarm is issued, and the operation of the transfer device is stopped at that time. Therefore, when the basic operation pattern of the transfer device includes a case in which the relationship with the wafer support body is unsuitable, it is necessary to easily recognize that fact and correct the position of the fork 45. It is possible to prevent an accident from occurring by notifying the user of the situation and stopping the transfer device before actually reaching such an unsuitable situation.

The fork 45 is attached to the wafer support.
Is in an unsuitable situation, or is found to be unsuitable, the modification instructing section 75 issues an instruction to modify the position of the fork 45 to the input section 62.
When input to, the position information of the fork 45 corrected by this correction instruction is compared with the reference information signal as a correction information signal, and if it is determined that it is within the allowable range, a signal to that effect is output. The transfer device is sent to the section 66, and the transfer device controller 67 drives the transfer device in accordance with the correction information signal. At the same time, the correction information signal is stored in the correction information memory unit 76, and the reference information signal is corrected by this correction information signal. The correction information signal or the reference information signal including the correction information signal can be recorded on a separable information medium such as the disk 77 and used as necessary. Then, when the proper state is not realized by one correction work, the correction work is performed again.

As described above, the basic operation pattern is adjusted so that an appropriate position state can be obtained in all the transfer work operations of the transfer apparatus, whereby the advance adjustment is completely performed, and as a result, In the transfer apparatus, a state in which the desired wafer arranging operation and unloading operation with respect to the carrier and the wafer boat are reliably and smoothly executed is realized with extremely high reliability.

As described above, the basic operation pattern of the transfer device 20 can be adjusted in advance by the monitor camera 30 and the video device 50, but with the same adjustment, the actual transfer work operation is started. After that, it can be executed appropriately. That is, when a situation to be corrected is found in the confirmation work by the video device 50 which is appropriately performed, adjustment for correcting the unsuitable situation can be executed each time.

The above-described confirmation work and pre- or post-adjustment work are performed by the video device 50. Since the video device 50 can be connected to the monitor camera 30 by a normal means, its installation location can be changed from the site. They can be freely separated and selected, so that the actual work can be easily performed with a very small load, and high reliability can be obtained, which is extremely high compared with the case of visual observation in the field. A great advantage is obtained.

It is preferable to connect a video recording mechanism such as a video recording mechanism to the monitor camera 30. With this, it is possible to record the status of the transfer work operation of the actual transfer device. Then, by reproducing the recorded video, it is possible to confirm the status of the transfer work operation at a later point in time, and therefore, when an accident occurs, it is possible to investigate the status of the accident in detail. Therefore, it is possible to obtain extremely useful information for investigating the cause of the accident, preventing recurrence, and other measures. If no accidents occur and the records are unnecessary,
Of course, the recording medium can be repeatedly used.

Further, since the monitor camera is small, the monitor camera can be provided at an optimum position for confirming the status of the transfer work operation, and therefore, when the operator directly looks at the monitor camera, it can be sufficiently checked. Even for difficult locations, it is easy to realize a state where the situation at the relevant location can be reliably confirmed, and it is possible to perform the adjustment work of the basic operation pattern of the transfer operation of the transfer device extremely accurately. The work reliability is greatly improved. Such an advantage is more remarkable when the monitor camera has an image enlarging function such as a zoom mechanism.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been mainly described above, various modifications can be made to the present invention. For example, a plurality of monitor cameras can be provided at different positions, and in this case, the status of the actual transfer work operation of the transfer apparatus can be monitored in a plurality of directions, and the status can be confirmed more accurately. It is effective in the above.

Further, in the present invention, the transfer device is not limited to the specific configuration in the above embodiment,
For example, the handling arm, the shape of the wafer-carrying fork, the drive mechanism, and the like can be appropriately selected.
Further, the wafer support is not limited to what is called a carrier or a wafer boat that supports the wafers so that they are vertically separated from each other and overlaps each other, and can be applied to various wafer supports.

Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a transfer device for transferring a plate-shaped object to be processed other than a semiconductor wafer, such as an LCD, to the support thereof. ..

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the transfer work operation of the transfer device with respect to the workpiece support can be visually monitored and confirmed by the monitor camera at a place separated from the site. Therefore, if the operation pattern of the transfer device does not include an unsuitable situation with respect to the installed object support, the operator can feel a great sense of security, while the unsuitable situation may occur. If it is included, the situation can be confirmed concretely, and therefore it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an accident in advance, and at the same time, perform the adjustment work before or after the basic operation pattern of the transfer device. This can be easily performed, and a state in which the transfer work operation by the transfer device is always reliably executed can be realized with high reliability. Furthermore, by providing a video recording mechanism in the monitor camera, the status of the actual transfer work operation can be confirmed later, and the status can be investigated in detail when an accident occurs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a semiconductor wafer heat treatment apparatus equipped with a transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

2 is an explanatory perspective view showing a mode in which a wafer is moved in the heat treatment apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view showing a configuration example of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view showing a configuration example of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen of a video device connected to a monitor camera of the transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an operation pattern confirmation work in the transfer device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram of an information processing process for operation pattern confirmation work in the transfer apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Heat Treatment Device W Wafer C Carrier 12 Inlet / Outlet 13 Posture Change Mechanism 14 Carrier Transfer Mechanism 15 Transfer Stage 16 Carrier Elevator 17 Carrier Stocker 20 Transfer Device 21 Wafer Boat 23 Wafer Boat Elevator 25 Cap 27 Heat Treatment Container 28 Heater 29 Auto Door 30 Monitor Camera 31 Support rod 33 Light projection mechanism 40 Ball screw 41 Handling arm 42 Pulse motor 43 Control mechanism 44 Swing angle sensor 45 Fork L Optical axis A Moving line 50 Imaging device 51 Screen D Front direction of target wafer F Tip G Gap 61 Image processing unit 62 Input Part 63 Random access memory 64 Memory part 65 Central processing part 66 Output part 67 Transfer device control device 68 Bus line 70 Abnormal signal generation mechanism 71 Arra Beam generating mechanism 75 correction instruction unit 76 correction information memory section 77 disk

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transfer device for an object to be transferred, which transfers an object to be processed to a substrate-to-be-processed support which supports a plate-shaped object to be processed, and a transfer operation directly facing the object to be processed support. A transfer device main body that is moved to a position, an object-to-be-processed member that carries an object to be processed and that is provided in the transfer device main body in a forward and backward direction, and the transfer device main body. Was
A transfer device for an object to be processed, comprising: a monitor camera having a field of view in a forward direction region of the object to be processed member. 2. The transfer device for an object to be processed according to claim 1, wherein a video recording mechanism for recording video information of the monitor camera is connected to the monitor camera.