JPH06235066A - Transfer device for substrate for film formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make constitution simple and cost low and to shorten vacuum evacuation time without using a driving source for elevating/lowering of a tray placing body. CONSTITUTION:This transfer device has a freely rotatable front shaft 18 and rear shaft 19 which are disposed parallel with a horizontal plane, a front link 20 and rear link 21 which are fixed in the direction prependicular to these shafts 18, 19 respectively, the tray placing body 22 for the substrate for film formation which are connected to the front ends of these links 20, 21 and exist on a horizontal plane, a front roller 23 and rear roller 24 of a nearly semicircle which are fixed to both shafts 18, 19 respectively and are shifted in the positions of lacking parts 25, 26, a holder 27 which holds the placing body 22 in the upper position of the shafts 18, 19, a transporting arm 7 which puts a tray supporting part 29 at the front end in and out above the shafts 18, 19 and an engaging body 28 which is projectingly provided at the rear surface at the front end of this transporting arm 7 and rotates the rollers 23, 24 by engaging with the rollers 23, 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film formation substrate transfer device for transferring a film formation substrate to a transfer arm in a load lock chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional transfer device of this type has a structure shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a film forming chamber for performing a film forming process, 2 is a load lock chamber provided on one side of the film forming chamber 1 via a gate valve 3, and 4 is a film forming chamber via a magnetic fluid seal 5. 1 is a spindle introduced, 1 is a servomotor for an arm that rotates the spindle 4, 7 is a transfer arm fixed to the upper end of the spindle 4, 8 is a C-shape formed at the tip of the transfer arm 7. Of the load lock chamber 2 and the film forming chamber 1 via the support shaft 4 and the transfer arm 7 by the rotation of the arm servo motor 6.

Reference numeral 9 is a ball screw rotated by a lifting servomotor 10, 11 is a lift plate which is screwed into the ball screw 9 and lifts and lowers by the rotation of the ball screw 9, 12 is planted in the lift plate 11 and placed in the load lock chamber 2. The elevating shaft introduced, 13 is a tray mount fixed to the upper end of the elevating shaft 12 and provided in the load lock chamber 2, and 14 is provided between the elevating plate 11 and the load lock chamber 2 to surround the base of the elevating shaft 12. Bellows, 1
5 is a tray on which the substrate 16 is placed and which is placed on the placing body 13,
Reference numeral 17 is a lid of the load lock chamber 2.

Next, the transfer of the substrate 16 will be described. First, the lid 17 of the load lock chamber 2 is opened with the gate valve 3 closed, the substrate 16 is placed on the tray placing body 13 located above, and the lid 17 is closed and vacuum exhausted. . Next, the gate valve 3 is opened,
The arm servo motor 6 rotates, and the support portion 8 of the transfer arm 7 is introduced to the transfer position of the load lock chamber 2. It should be noted that the tray platform 13 is formed with an opening that allows the transfer arm 7 to move. In this state, the elevation servomotor 10 is driven, the tray 15 is lowered via the ball screw 9, the elevation plate 11, the elevation shaft 12, and the tray placing body 13, and the tray 15 is placed on the support portion 8. . Next, the transport arm 7 is reversely rotated by the reverse rotation of the arm servo motor 6, and the supporting portion 8 is moved to the film forming chamber 1.

[0005]

In the case of the conventional transfer device, one servo motor 6 and one servo motor 10 are used for the rotation of the transfer arm 7 and the raising / lowering operation of the tray mounting body 13, respectively.
Is used, the cost is high, and the operations of the two motors 6 and 10 must be coordinated, and the control is complicated. Further, since the bellows 14 is used for lifting and lowering, the surface area of the load lock chamber becomes large, and it takes a long time to evacuate to a high vacuum region.

In addition, there are many airtight parts in the lifting operation part, and there is a problem that maintenance such as periodical replacement of the sealing material and the bellows 14 is required. The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an extremely inexpensive film forming apparatus that does not use an expensive servo motor, has a simple structure, shortens vacuum exhaust time.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a film forming substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention comprises a rotatable front and rear shafts arranged in parallel to a horizontal plane, and both the shafts. Front and rear links fixed in a right-angled direction, a tray mounting body of the film-forming substrate connected to the tip portions of the both links and positioned on a horizontal plane, and positions of the lacking portions fixed to the both shafts, respectively. A semi-circular front roller and rear roller that are misaligned,
A holding body for holding the placement body at a position above the both shafts, a transfer arm in which a tray support portion at a tip end comes in and out above the both shafts, and a protrusion provided on a lower surface of a tip end of the transfer arm. And an engagement body that engages with both rollers and rotates the both rollers.

[0008]

According to the apparatus for delivering a film-forming substrate of the present invention configured as described above, the tray mounting body of the film-forming substrate is supported by the link mechanism and is provided in front of and behind the link mechanism. Since the engaging bodies of the transport arm engage the front and rear rollers that are displaced from each other in a substantially semicircular shape, when the forward end of the transport arm advances to the link mechanism of the tray support portion, the engaging body engages the front rollers. The mounting body at the upper position descends to mount the tray on the supporting portion, and when the supporting portion retracts, the engaging body engages with the rear roller to raise the mounting body, and the mounting body is moved upward. Return to the position.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In these figures, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 8 indicate the same or corresponding ones. Reference numerals 18 and 19 denote rotatable front and rear shafts arranged in the load lock chamber 2 in parallel to a horizontal plane, and reference numerals 20 and 21 denote front and rear links fixed to the shafts 18 and 19 at right angles, respectively. 22 is both links 2
The mounts of the tray 15 of the film-forming substrate 16 which are connected to the front ends of 0 and 21 and are located on the horizontal plane, 23 and 24 are fixed to the shafts 18 and 19, respectively, and the positions of the cutouts 25 and 26. The front and rear rollers are substantially semi-circular and are displaced from each other, and the positions of the cutouts 25 and 26 are displaced by about 90 degrees.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a holder provided on the bottom plate on the rear side of the rear shaft 19 so that the rear link 21 abuts the holder 27 when the placing body 22 is moving from the highest position to the rear. The mounting body 22 is held at the upper position. Numeral 28 is an engaging body which is provided on the lower surface of the tip of the transport arm 7 and which appropriately engages both rollers 23 and 24 to rotate both rollers 23 and 24, and 29 is a tray support portion at the tip of the arm 7.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 4A, in a state in which the rear link 21 is in contact with the holding portion 27 and the placing body 22 is positioned above, the substrate 16 is placed on the placing body 22 together with the tray 15, and the lid is closed. Evacuated. In this state, as shown in FIG. 6, the front rollers 23 are located slightly above and the rear rollers 24 are located slightly below the two rollers 23 and 24, and the highest portion of the rear rollers 24 has the lacking portion 26. And front roller 2
It is lower than 3.

When the transfer arm 7 advances into the load lock chamber 2 via the gate valve 3, the engaging body 28 at the tip of the arm 7 does not engage the rear roller 24 but the front roller 23. 4C, the link mechanism is engaged with the front shaft 18 and the front link 20 and is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 4B. As shown in FIG. 4C, the central portion of the tray 15 is protruded into the hollow portion of the support portion 29. And the tray 15 and the substrate 16 are placed on the support portion 29, the engagement between the engagement body 28 and the front roller 23 is cut off,
As shown in FIG. 4D, the link mechanism rotates counterclockwise due to gravity and hits the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 2. In this state, the highest portion of the front roller 23 is low due to the lacking portion 25, and the rear roller 24 is in the high position.

Next, when the transport arm 7 retracts, the engaging body 28 does not engage with the front roller 23, but engages with the rear roller 24 as shown in FIG. 5A, and through the rear shaft 19 and the rear link 21. When the link mechanism is rotated clockwise as shown in FIG. 5B and the engagement between the engagement body 28 and the rear roller 24 is cut off, the rear link 21 is located rearward of the rear shaft 19, and as shown in FIG. 5C. The link mechanism rotates clockwise due to gravity and contacts the holder 27, and returns to the original state.

Then, the gate valve 3 is closed, the lid of the load lock chamber 2 is opened, and the next tray 15 and substrate 16 are placed on the placing body 22. It is desirable that the engaging means between the engaging body 28 and the rollers 23, 24 be in a meshing shape such as a rack and a pinion as shown in FIG.

[0015]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. In the apparatus for transferring a film-forming substrate according to the present invention, the mounting body 22 of the tray 15 of the film-forming substrate 16 is supported by the link mechanism, is provided in front of and behind the link mechanism, and the positions of the cutouts 25 and 26 are substantially deviated. Since the engaging body 28 of the transport arm 7 engages with the semicircular front and rear rollers 23 and 24, the engaging body 28 moves forward when the tray support portion 29 at the tip of the transport arm 7 advances to the link mechanism. 23, the placing body 22 at the upper position descends to place the tray 15 on the supporting portion 29, and when the supporting portion 29 retracts, the engaging body 28 engages with the rear roller 24 and places it. Body 22
Can be raised to return the mounting body 22 to the original upper position, which does not require a drive source for raising and lowering the mounting body as in the conventional case, and requires a coordinated control with the elevating means. In addition, the structure is simple and can be made inexpensive. Furthermore, the surface area of the load lock chamber can be reduced without using the bellows, the exhaust time to the high vacuum region is short, and moreover, there is no airtight part in the lifting operation. Maintenance can be eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1 when a transfer arm goes straight.

4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D are operation explanatory diagrams of the first half of FIG.

5A, 5B, and 5C are operation explanatory diagrams of the latter half of FIG.

6 is an enlarged front view of a part of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a partial front view of another example of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cut front view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Transport Arm 15 Tray 16 Substrate 18 Front Axis 19 Rear Axis 20 Front Link 21 Rear Link 22 Placement Body 23 Front Roller 24 Rear Roller 25 Missing Part 26 Missing Part 27 Holding Body 28 Engaging Body 29 Supporting Part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable front and rear shafts arranged in parallel to a horizontal plane, front and rear links fixed to the shafts at right angles to each other, and connected to the front ends of the both links. The tray mounting body of the film-forming substrate located on the horizontal plane, the substantially semicircular front roller and the rear roller that are fixed to the shafts and the positions of the notches are displaced, and the front position above the shafts. A holding body for holding the placing body, a transport arm in which a tray support portion at a tip end comes in and out above the both shafts, and a protrusion provided on a lower surface of a tip of the transport arm so as to engage with both the rollers and An apparatus for delivering a film-forming substrate, comprising: an engagement body that rotates a roller.