JPH06310585A - Mounting structure for finger of robot arm used for transferring wafers in one lot in semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the unsteadiness of fingers due to the fastening defects of the accumulated errors of finger thickness by mounting a plurality of fingers on a robot arms for transferring wafers in one lot in the case where the wafers are automatically transferred and loaded into a boat from a carrier stage or reversely returned. CONSTITUTION:This mounting structure includes a first rectangular bracket 35 provided in the upper surface and with through-holes 41 and screw holes 40 for screws used for mounting a plurality of fingers in the bottom part of a square recess 38 opening in one direction and a second bracket having the same shape as that of the first bracket 35 except that the through-holes 41 are changed to the screw holes 40 and the screw holes 40 are changed to the through-holes 41 in which the fingers are inserted into the recess 38. After that, the mounting screws inserted through the through-holes 41 are screwed into the screw holes 40 located directly thereunder through finger mounting holes, thereby mounting the fingers and at the same time alternately piling up the predetermined sheets.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as CVD) for forming a semiconductor single crystal on a wafer as a material.
The apparatus is abbreviated as "apparatus"), and more specifically, it relates to a finger mounting structure of a robot arm for automatically transferring and loading wafers collectively from a carrier stage to a boat.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, a CVD apparatus for forming a semiconductor single crystal on a material wafer has a structure as shown in FIG. 9 which is a side view showing an internal outline. Reference numeral 1 is a CVD apparatus which forms a dust-free chamber, and 2 is a robot which is a transfer apparatus. A finger 23 provided at the tip of an arm 21 of the robot transfers a wafer 3 which is a material to a carrier stage. 4 is loaded and loaded on the groove shelf 6 inside the boat 5, and the boat 5 which has completed loading the wafers 3 moves up,
This material wafer 3 is housed in a reaction device 7 that performs a required heat treatment. Further, 8 is a control device of this CVD apparatus, and 9 is its operation panel, which is placed outside the dust-free chamber.

As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of (normally 25) groove shelves 6 are provided inside the boat 5, and the wafers 3 usually placed in five stages in a cassette (not shown) on the carrier stage 4. By a finger 23 provided at the tip of the arm 21 of the robot 2 (5 in this example,
(See FIG. 6) The wafers that have been transferred and loaded from the carrier stage 4 to the boat 5 and have been processed by the reactor 7 are, for example, five fingers 23 in reverse to the above.
Returned to.

[0004]

FIG. 6 shows a state in which a plurality of fingers 23 (five in this example) are attached to the finger holding portion 22 at the tip portion of the arm 21 through the spacer 25, and the plane of the spacer 25 is shown. Figure and front view are shown in Figure 7,
As shown in FIG. 8, the through holes 25 are provided at the four corners of the rectangular spacer 25.
a is opened, through holes are also provided at corresponding positions of the fingers 23, and as shown in FIG.
5, the finger 23 and the spacer 25 are overlapped with each other, and finally the finger restraint 24 having the same shape as the spacer 25 and a small thickness is placed, and the whole bolt is tightened through the mounting bolts through the through holes at the four corners. Since it is made, there is a risk of damage if tightened too strongly, so it cannot be tightened too strongly. On top of that, an accumulated error in the thickness of each finger attachment end is added, and for example, one out of five fingers may cause wobble due to improper tightening. In this case, the wafer is not transferred to the finger, but in the history management of the wafer, the transfer / loading operation to the boat is continued as it is, and due to the efficiency of the reaction device 7, the unloaded groove rack 6 of the boat 5 is shown in FIG. Fill with one mounting finger shown on the right side of. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot arm finger mounting structure for batch transfer of a plurality of wafers without wobbling fingers so as to avoid such extra man-hours.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a rectangular shape having a plurality of through holes and screw holes for finger mounting screws is provided at the bottom of a quadrangular recess provided on the upper surface and open in one direction. After inserting the finger into the recess, the first bracket, the through hole into a screw hole, the screw hole is changed to a through hole, the other second bracket having the same shape as the first bracket The problem is solved by adopting a structure in which a predetermined number of sheets are alternately stacked while mounting the fingers by screwing a mounting screw passed through the through hole into a screw hole immediately below through the mounting hole of the finger.

[0006]

[Function] Since the depth of the recess of the bracket is slightly larger than the thickness of the finger mounting end, each finger is securely tightened in the recess of each bracket with the mounting screw, and the error in finger thickness accumulates. Without doing
The head of the mounting screw used for the first bracket is housed in the through hole of the second bracket that is mounted on top (see Fig. 4), and the brackets are piled up in the same manner, and a plurality of mounting bolts at the four corners are used. The bracket can be firmly tightened on the finger holding part.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First and second brackets 35 according to the present invention,
35A is used to move the finger 23 to the arm 2 of the robot 2.
1 is a front view of an embodiment attached to the finger holding portion 22 at the tip of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the first bracket 35, FIG. An enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the finger mounting screw is shown in FIG. 4, and a partially developed view of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the finger mounting end portion 2 is provided on the upper surface 36 of the rectangular first bracket 35.
3A (see FIGS. 1 and 5) is provided with a square recess 38 that is open in one direction 37, the depth of which is slightly larger than the thickness of the finger mounting end 23A, and a plurality of bottom recesses 39 (in this example). (Three for each) 40 and through holes 41
Are alternately arranged so that the finger end portions 23A can be attached by the finger attaching screws 42 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), and the mounting bolts 4 can be attached to the four corners of the bracket 35.
A through hole 44 through which the positioning parallel pin 3 passes is provided, and a through hole 46 through which the positioning parallel pin 45 passes is provided in the middle of the finger to which the through hole 44 is attached in the longitudinal direction. The second bracket 35A (see FIG. 5) is completely the same except that the screw hole 40 and the through hole 41 of the first bracket 35 are replaced.

Next, the mounting and operation of the finger 23 will be described. 2 to 5, the first and second brackets 35, 35A are attached to the finger mounting holes 23B.
After inserting the mounting end portion 23A of the opened finger 23 into the recess 38, the mounting screw 42 passed through the through hole 41 is screwed into the screw hole 40 immediately below through the mounting hole 23B of the finger 23, thereby mounting the finger. While mounting, a predetermined number of sheets are alternately stacked along the parallel pins 45 driven into the finger holding portion 22, and finally the contours are brackets 35, 35A.
The finger restraint 24, which is the same as the above, is thin and has through holes in the four corners, and the finger restraint 24, the bracket 35,
Pass the mounting bolts 43 (see FIG. 5) through the through holes at the four corners of 35A and tighten them firmly. In this way, each finger 23 does not receive an excessive tightening force and the parallel pin 45
Thus, the screw holes 40 and the through holes 41 of the brackets 35 and 35A are aligned on the vertical line, and the heads of the finger mounting screws 42 are accommodated in the through holes 41 of the brackets above them (see FIG. 4) to mount the brackets. It does not interfere with the tightening of the bolt 43.

[0009]

Since the finger mounting structure is as described above,
Since the fingers do not fluctuate, and therefore, the groove shelf in which the wafers are not transferred and loaded in the boat is not generated, the work efficiency is remarkably improved, and the wafers are easily managed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment in which a finger is attached to a tip of an arm of a robot by using first and second brackets according to the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the first bracket used in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view near a finger mounting screw.

FIG. 5 is a partially developed view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a state in which a plurality of fingers are attached to the tip of an arm of a robot by a conventional spacer.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the spacer used in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the spacer of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing an internal outline of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment 2 Robot 3 Wafer 4 Carrier Stage 5 Boat 6 Groove Shelf 7 Reactor 8 Control Device 9 Operation Panel 21 Arm 23 Finger 35 First Bracket 35A Second Bracket 38 Recess 39 Bottom 40 Screw Hole 41 Through Hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rectangular first bracket in which a plurality of through holes and screw holes for finger mounting screws are provided on the bottom of a quadrangular recess provided on the upper surface and open in one direction.
The through hole is a screw hole, the screw hole is changed to a through hole, the other second bracket having the same shape as the first bracket, after inserting the finger into the recess,
A wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus characterized in that a predetermined number of sheets are alternately stacked while mounting the fingers by screwing the mounting screws passed through the through holes into the screw holes immediately below through the mounting holes of the fingers. Finger mounting structure for batch transfer robot arm.