JPH0546966U - Quartz crucible cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] Based on the maximum breaking pressure of the materials that make up the crucible, a clamping mechanism is added to the holding force, and a crucible of mixed sizes can be conveyed by the same means. To provide a means for cleaning a quartz crucible containing fine bubbles. [Structure] Through a member and a mechanism attached thereto, or together with them, a pair of downwardly downwardly movable members that can be moved symmetrically in the centripetal or centrifugal directions A transport mechanism including a drive system configured as described above is configured such that the member holds a crucible to be transported by a drive source including a torque motor capable of generating a predetermined torque, and the crucible can be transported to an adjacent process location. Along with this, the crucible is configured such that the member can always be urged with a clamping pressure that is equal to or lower than the maximum crucible breaking pressure, and the transport mechanism is composed of a pair of loading side and unloading side, and a crucible setting portion. A pair of support rods arranged horizontally and in parallel are provided, and a part of the crucible opening end face can be held through the support rods.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a crucible for pulling a single crystal used in semiconductor manufacturing, to an apparatus having a conveying means used in a cleaning / drying step in manufacturing the crucible, and more particularly to a cleaning apparatus for a quartz crucible containing fine bubbles.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In the conventional quartz crucible for pulling a single crystal for semiconductor production, maintaining a good temperature distribution on the surface of the crucible is one of the factors for producing a good quality single crystal, so in order to realize that temperature environment. In addition, a quartz crucible containing fine bubbles is manufactured so that fine bubbles are intentionally included in the crucible (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-215534). On the other hand, if the inner surface layer of the quartz crucible is contaminated, especially if it contains impurities, it will have a great adverse effect on the single crystal to be pulled, so chemical cleaning (eg, using a hydrofluoric acid solution) will occur in the final manufacturing process. ) Is performed. In this chemical cleaning, the crucible is allowed to stay in the chemical cleaning liquid for a certain period of time, the surface is eroded, and the chemical cleaning liquid is dewatered with pure water. Be transferred. The conventional cleaning / drying process of a quartz crucible consists of a series of processes of carrying-in → HF cleaning → pure water cleaning → drying → carrying out, during which the crucible is carried to a required place and transferred.

Conventionally, a transfer mechanism used for carrying in and out of the crucible has a string-like anti-slip on its surface, and the left and right bottom surfaces of the crucible are evenly arranged on a pedestal formed in an arc shape according to the outer shape of the crucible to be transferred. The crucible holding arm to prevent the crucible from falling from the cradle (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-62543), and the crucible holding arm so that it does not become the source of contamination on the crucible surface. In some cases, the arm was coated and the crucible was held on the arm so that it could be transferred by a mobile crane. After all, they had a structure adapted to a certain size of the crucible and its weight, and it was general that the transport mechanism was changed if the shape of the crucible was changed. By the way, it is known that once a crack is generated on the outer surface of a quartz crucible, the crack tends to spread rapidly to the dense inner surface (the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-215534). , It is a factor that makes the handling careful. In the above-mentioned crucible manufacturing, the crucible itself becomes larger year by year, and due to the trend toward larger size, as well as the liquid tank for cleaning and the device for drying, the jigs / devices used for them in the carry-in / out device as well. On the other hand, various improvements and investments have been made, but nevertheless, for example, increasing the weight of the crucible and the danger of chemical cleaning liquid to be handled, as well as giving cracking factors to the crucible surface by the loading and unloading device, and falling obstacles. However, the negative factors including contamination of the crucible are not diminished, and the deterioration of the mental and physical working environment for the workers, who have to pay much attention to them, cannot be ignored. In other words, the improvement efforts in these conventional techniques have been limited to technically minor improvements, even if they are accompanied by large scale. In other words, the conventional technology of the cleaning device was within the range of symptomatic improvement, such as changing the related devices and jigs each time the crucible was upsized.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the conventional quartz crucible cleaning device, the transfer mechanism deals with a certain size or weight, and the holding capacity of the transfer mechanism is adjusted in response to the internal stress or strength of the structure of the crucible. Was not made from the concept of setting. Therefore, even if the crucible has the ability to hold the entire weight of the crucible, if the unit load at the contact position between the carry-out mechanism and the crucible does not match the internal strength per unit of the constituent material of the crucible part, the crack does not occur. It is possible to accumulate the factors of occurrence, or to generate a crack in the crucible part that comes into contact with it once with the loading or unloading, or to make the crucible unusable as time passes and the frequency of holding increases. Become.

By the way, as the size of the crucible becomes larger, if the same transport mechanism is continuously used, the above-mentioned unbalanced state becomes larger and larger, and when the crucible was small, some of them were aligned and the weight, Even when the size of the crucible has a surplus capacity, the relationship with the strength of the crucible may change to an inconsistent state. Therefore, the size of the quartz crucible changes in a short cycle, which keeps the size of the equipment and jig of the transfer mechanism constant, and on the other hand, the size of the transfer mechanism changes every time the size of the crucible changes. In addition to having to change the above, the technical method of the above-mentioned conventional transportation means has been one of the obstacles for promoting efficient automation.

In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to effectively consider the characteristics of the structure of the quartz crucible and increase the size of the crucible so as to meet social demands while effectively transporting the quartz crucible. By adopting the method, the quartz crucible has a transport mechanism that does not inadvertently damage the quartz crucible by means that is unrelated to the diameter of the crucible, and an automated mechanism is introduced in the transport process to create a good manufacturing environment. Another object of the present invention is to provide a quartz crucible cleaning device with reduced idle time and improved working environment.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 According to the present invention, the crucible is installed with the opening face downward, and the crucible is conveyed to each step of the cleaning step, that is, the adjoining processing steps of the loading section, the cleaning tank, the drying tank and the unloading section. Alternatively, in a quartz crucible cleaning device equipped with a plurality of transfer mechanisms, the transfer mechanism 6 can be separated from the outer peripheral surface of the crucible 1 to the left and right, and the pair of arm members 46 hanging downward. It is composed of a drive system 39 to be swung and a drive source 40 of the drive system 39 capable of generating a torque of a predetermined pressure, and the arm member 46 is held between the outer peripheral surface of the crucible 1 by the drive of the drive system 39. In this state, the crucible 1 can be transferred to an adjacent processing step, and at the time of the transfer, the clamping pressure smaller than the crucible breaking pressure can be constantly applied to the crucible 1 by utilizing the torque pressure of the drive source 40. That you have configured It is an butterfly. Further, in the cleaning device having a plurality of cleaning chambers and a plurality of drying chambers, the transfer mechanism 6 is arranged on the loading section 4 side and the unloading section 8 side, respectively, and these are moved along the same moving rail 42. It is characterized in that it is independently movable. Further, the crucible 1 installation portions of the carry-in section 4, the cleaning tank 2, the drying tank 3 and the carry-out section 8 are arranged horizontally and in parallel. In the cleaning tank 2, a pair of support rods 7 are formed. The cleaning device is characterized in that a part of the opening end face of the crucible 1 can be held via the support rod 7. In the drying tank 3, the quartz crucible support 26 is configured to be capable of holding the same action as the support rod 7. In this case, it is not necessary to fixedly arrange each crucible 1 installation site including the support rod 7, and if necessary, the crucible installation surface is kept horizontal, and the crucible 1 is moved to a predetermined position and stopped. The entire structure may be movable as long as it is capable of locking and has a reliable locking means.

In the present invention, claim 1 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, claim 2 is shown in FIG. 5, and claim 3 is shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, respectively.

[0009]

[Action]

 According to the technical means, unlike the conventional invention, the crucible is not transported with the holding ability based only on the weight and the size of the crucible, but the size of the crucible is changed as shown in FIG. Also has a holding mechanism that can cope with this, that is, the crucible is held between the left and right sides so that the torque at that time can be controlled and held, so that it can be held regardless of the diameter of the crucible and the capability of the carry-out mechanism. Can always be regarded as a numerical value and can be conveyed at a pressure equal to or lower than the predicted breaking pressure of the crucible. Since the device of the present invention can be linked and separately arranged on the same moving rail that is common to the cleaning tank and the drying tank, it is possible to perform a free transfer operation exclusive to the cleaning and drying processes. In addition, the idle time in the adjacent process due to the delay in the processing operation of the preceding process or the following process is minimized, and one of them is used as a standby machine in case of failure or during an adjustment period and the other is used for the actual process for process control. It can be maintained. Furthermore, the setting part of the crucible 1 which is always fixed and is stable for placing on the crucible and convenient for the transportation of the transport mechanism is composed of a pair of support rods. Since the placement position is fixed regardless of this, the control operation of the transfer mechanism can be performed easily and reliably, the management of the transfer process is facilitated, and this transfer mechanism is combined with the publicly known automation technology. , It is possible to link with time management of other adjacent processes. As a result, it is possible to provide a transfer mechanism capable of coping with both the size increase of the crucible and the cleaning process in which large and small crucibles coexist. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly control the manufacturing process related to the device of the present invention. You can do it.

[0010]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, etc. of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to them, unless otherwise specified. It's just an example. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of a transfer mechanism in a drying chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention. A crucible 1 placed on a quartz crucible support 26 is provided with a pair of holding members of a transfer mechanism 6 on the bottoms of both side ends thereof. A block 47 is inserted in close contact, and the crucible 1 is sandwiched from the left and right sides together with an auxiliary block 48 that also comes into close contact with the side surface of the crucible 1, so that the crucible 1 can be moved up and down and conveyed. The movement of the holding block 47 can be controlled by a drive source 40 including a torque motor 40 via an arm member 46 supported by a support frame 44, which constitutes a drive system 39, a drive shaft 45, and a reversing gearbox 39a. ing. At this time, the holding torque generated via the contact surface can be controlled by a known technique (not shown) so that the holding torque is equal to or lower than the predicted crucible breaking pressure. The outer surfaces of the holding block 47 and the auxiliary block 48 are resin-coated with a physical material that does not cause contamination when coming into contact with the surface of the crucible 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the main part of the transport mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention. The drive source 40 is a shaft whose end is fitted to the girders 44a and 44b of the support frame 44 via a reversing gear box. By reversing the respective shafts 45a and 45b of the drive shaft 45 held by the receiver 51a, the respective shafts can be rotated in the opposite directions, and the left and right horizontal rails 46a connected to the drive shaft 45 46b and can be moved centripetally or centrifugally. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the entire carrying mechanism at the carry-in section according to the embodiment of the present invention. The carrying mechanism 6 is provided such that two pairs of quartz crucibles 1 can be individually held. The series of unloading mechanisms 6 can be moved back and forth on the moving rail 42 on the moving pedestal beam 38 that is commonly formed in the cleaning / drying process apparatus via the rail member 43 provided with the wheels 42a and 42b. The control operation is performed by an operating means (not shown) outside the device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the entire cleaning / drying process apparatus of the present invention for a quartz crucible. From right to left, a loading section 4, a cleaning tank 2, a drying tank 3 and an unloading section 8 are provided. Has been. Each of the above-mentioned tanks is divided so that a pair of quartz crucibles 1 can be installed to form each chamber, and the cleaning tank 2 is provided with an exhaust port 31 for each chamber so that it can be processed outside the machine. It is connected to the exhaust main pipe 33. For each room in the drying tank 3, an air inlet 28 is provided on one side wall surface so that fresh air J can be taken in, and an exhaust port 36 having an automatic opening / closing type exhaust damper 35 is provided on the other side wall surface. The indoor air is guided to the exhaust main pipe 37 so that it can be exhausted and treated outside the machine. In each chamber, crucible installation portions 1a to 1q on which the quartz crucible 1 is to be placed are provided at respective process portions by attaching a pair of parallel and horizontal support rods 7. The carry-out section 8 is provided with a detector 8a including a photosensor for detecting the presence of the crucible 1. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the entire cleaning / drying process apparatus of the present invention for a quartz crucible, including a partially broken surface. The above-mentioned carry-in section 4 and carry-out section 8 have carry-out mechanisms 6a and 6b. The crucible 1 is held and can be transported, and the crucible 1 is arranged on a pair of moving rails 42 connected to each other through the cleaning tank 2 and the drying tank 3, and can be moved left and right by a timing belt 41. The cleaning tank 2 is provided with crucible installation portions 1g and 1h, respectively, and a rotating device 10 provided with a cleaning device 13 including a spray nozzle is rotatably arranged with the crucible 1 mounted thereon. The tank 3 is provided with a drying device 20 provided with crucible installation portions 1k and 1l, respectively. A shutter 54 for shutting off the space is provided at a point inside the tank, and an inspection door 69 is provided at a point on the wall surface of the tank. A pit 15 for collecting drainage water is provided at the bottom of each of the tanks 2 and 3, and the entire washing / drying process apparatus is firmly mounted on a moving vehicle 52 for the convenience of carrying in / out. It is placed on the basic foundation 53.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a main part of a cleaning device for a quartz crucible, which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is rotatable by a motor box 19 around a cleaning device 13 fixed by a rotating device 10. It is arranged. FIG. 7 is a plan view of an essential part showing the operation of the rotating device of the cleaning device for the quartz crucible, which is related to the embodiment of the present invention. The turntable 11 of the pair of rotating devices 10 is rotated by the motor 19a to transmit the rotation transmission gear 18a. , 18b so that it can be rotated. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the main part for explaining the operation of the drying device for a quartz crucible, which is related to the embodiment of the present invention. The infrared heater 21 having a heat radiation area r, in which a heat reflector 22a is arranged in a semi-circular shape below the outside wire heater 21, is provided on a quartz crucible support 26 made of transparent quartz glass that transmits infrared rays without loss. The quartz crucible 1 having the maximum projected space size R of the crucible and containing the micro bubbles is capable of effectively heating with less heat loss. FIG. 9 is a side view for explaining the whole of the drying apparatus related to the embodiment of the present invention. The drying unit 1 is divided in the drying tank 3 and has the opening / closing ceiling 16 by the ceiling opening / closing mechanism 17. The inside of the room can be ventilated by passing through the high-performance filter 29 and the light-shielding louver 30 to the room 9 and discharging from the exhaust port 34. The floor is provided with an infrared heater 21 on a heater support 23, the terminals of which are protected by a terminal cover 24, and a base plate 25 holds a support base 27 above the infrared heater 21 so that the heater is in a parallel and horizontal state. A pair of quartz crucible supports 26 are fixedly provided to form a crucible installation site, and when the crucible 1 is transferred, it can be placed in a regular position.

FIG. 10 is a flow sheet of a cleaning device-related pipe for a quartz crucible according to the present invention, which is arranged so that it can be inserted into the crucible 1 and the outer surface of the crucible 1 can be cleaned. A cleaning device 13 including a HF and a spray nozzle capable of supplying pure water is connected to a common pipe 12, and the common pipe 12 is connected to a pure water pipe 63 and a circulating water supply pipe 66 by a valve switching operation. It is possible to communicate. At the time of supplying the HF, in particular, the supply valves 12m, 12n, 64a, 64b are opened, the supply valve 63a is closed, and the other related valves are opened, and the circulation tank is operated by the HF supply tank 56 and the supply pump 59. The HF transferred to 55 is controlled by a circulation pump 58 by a flow meter 60, and the HF can be supplied to the cleaning device 13 by the circulating liquid supply pipe 66. Further, when the pure water is supplied, the supply valves 12m, 12n, 63a and 64a are opened and the supply valve 64b is closed so that the pure water can be supplied by the pure water supply means (not shown). ing. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a working process for a quartz crucible, which is related to the embodiment of the present invention. The crucible 1 is introduced into the cleaning tank 2 by the carrying-in process 1A. The HF cleaning process 1B to the pure water cleaning process 1C are followed by a N2 spraying process and then a transfer process 1E to the drying tank 3 to form the drying process 1F. One of the pair of transport mechanisms 6 is operated, and at the time of the drying step 1F, the next loading step 2A is started in parallel. After the completion of the drying step 1F, the extracting step 1G is performed to complete the series of washing / drying steps.

Next, the operation of the device of the present invention will be described. The crucible 1 is transferred by means not shown here, and when the crucible 1 is placed at a predetermined position of the crucible installation portions 1a or 1b of the carry-in section 4 with its opening face down, the periphery of the opening face is closed. The edges are placed on the horizontal upper surfaces of the pair of support bars 7. That position becomes the work table of the transport mechanism 6a. Then, the shutter, which shuts off the internal space of the cleaning / drying process apparatus from the outside, is fully opened, and the transfer mechanism 6a, which is responsible for the transfer between the carry-in section 4 and the drying section 3, is connected to the transfer rail 42 via the transfer rail 42. The carry-in section 4 is moved to the crucible installation site where the crucible 1 is placed. The transferred transfer mechanism 6a moves the arm member 46 to the periphery of the crucible 1. That is, a set of left and right moving members 46a and 46b is spread to the left and right by a well-known operation control unit related to the entire transport mechanism 6 (not shown). The shaft is drooped to the height of the edge of the crucible 1.

After that, the members 46e and 46f are brought closer to the crucible 1 from the left and right by the driving force of the driving source 40 composed of a torque motor, and the ridge line of the above-mentioned edge is fitted to the L-shaped jaw section of the holding block 47. Then, it is tightly sandwiched together with the auxiliary block 48 above it. The sandwiching pressure is detected as a torque, and when the crucible holding force below a predetermined crucible breaking pressure is reached, the sandwiching operation ends. Here, the auxiliary block 48 can be set and changed according to the crucible size by a spring 49 and a spring receiver 50. Upon completion of the sandwiching operation, the crucible 1 is lifted to a predetermined height by the transport mechanism 6a, passes through the opened shutter, and is transported to the crucible installation site in the next step. The predetermined transfer destination is a crucible installation site in which the regular configuration of the present invention is installed, and in the same way as the transfer means in the carry-in section 4 described above, a pair of horizontal and parallel work tables is used. Gently place it on the support rod 7. In the case of transporting from the cleaning tank 2 to the drying tank 3, the work table is a crucible installation site provided on the quartz crucible support 26. When the drying process is completed, the transport mechanism 6b is operated in the same manner as the transport mechanism 6a in place of the transport mechanism 6a, and the same action is exhibited.

[0016]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, a quartz crucible cleaning device, which requires careful handling, is provided with a transfer mechanism having a holding capacity that gives priority to consideration of crucible breaking pressure, thereby ensuring safe handling. The efficiency of the operation that prevents the manual operation from being mixed and enables the drying process and the cleaning process to be used together while improving the operability by the mechanism that can secure and secure the crucible in which the sizes are mixed can be freely transported. Also, it has various advantages such as being able to provide a cleaning device for a quartz crucible containing fine bubbles with a good working environment. It is possible to provide an enhanced quartz crucible cleaning device, and its practical value is extremely large. Although the quartz crucible cleaning apparatus has been described in detail in the above-mentioned embodiment, the manufacturing apparatus is not limited to this, and includes other steps that require careful handling and should be conveyed in consideration of the breaking pressure of the constituents. It is also applicable to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of a transfer mechanism in a drying chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a main part of a transport mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the entire carrying mechanism at the carry-in section according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the entire cleaning / drying process apparatus of the present invention for a quartz crucible.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the entire cleaning / drying process apparatus of the present invention for a quartz crucible, including a partially broken surface.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a main part of a cleaning device for a quartz crucible, which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of relevant parts showing the operation of the rotating device of the cleaning device for the quartz crucible, which is related to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of relevant parts for explaining the operation of the drying device for a quartz crucible, which is related to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating the entire drying apparatus for the quartz crucible, which is related to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow sheet of a cleaning device-related pipe for a quartz crucible, which is related to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a work process for a quartz crucible, which is related to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Quartz crucible 1a to 1r Crucible installation site 2 Cleaning tank 3 Drying tank 4 Carry-in section 6 Transfer mechanism 7 Support rod 8 Carry-out section 13 Spray nozzle or cleaning device 39 Drive system 40 Drive source 42 Moving rail 46 Arm member 47 Holding block 48 Auxiliary block

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. Cleaning of a quartz crucible having one or a plurality of transfer mechanisms for transferring a crucible having an opening face downward to an adjacent processing step of each of a loading section, a cleaning tank, a drying tank and an unloading section. In the apparatus, a pair of arm members 46 that hang down the transport mechanism 6 and a drive system 3 that swings the arm members 46 from the outer peripheral surface of the crucible 1 so as to be separable left and right.
9 and a drive source 40 of the drive system 39 capable of generating a torque of a predetermined pressure, and the crucible 1 is held in a state where the arm member 46 is sandwiched by the outer peripheral surface of the crucible 1 by the drive of the drive system 39, It is configured such that it can be conveyed to an adjacent processing step, and at the time of the conveyance, a clamping pressure smaller than a crucible breaking pressure can be constantly applied to the crucible 1 by utilizing the torque pressure of the drive source 40. Cleaning equipment for quartz crucible. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of cleaning chambers and a plurality of drying chambers are provided, and the transfer mechanism 6 is provided on each of the carry-in section 4 side and the carry-out section 8 side, and these are arranged on the same moving rail. A cleaning device for a quartz crucible, which is configured to be movable independently of each other along 42. 3. The crucible 1 installation site of each of the carry-in section 4, the cleaning tank 2, the drying tank 3 and the carry-out section 8 is formed by a pair of support rods 7 arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, and the support rods 7 are also provided.
The quartz crucible cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of the opening end surface of the crucible 1 can be held via the above.