JPH06350290A - Board transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the efficiency of the entire system while saving the space of the system by shortening the time between the works. CONSTITUTION:The board transfer system comprises a cassette 4 storing unmachined planar boards 3..., a cassette 6 storing machined planar boards 5, and a section 10 where the board is machined or inspected. A section 8 for positioning the unmachined planar board 3 before it is transferred to the working section 10, and a section 11 for temporarily mounting the machined board 5 before it is transferred to the cassette 6 are disposed between the cassettes 4, 6 and the working section 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer system for transferring a substrate to be used in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel for processing or inspection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the above-described substrate transfer system, a substrate cassette as a substrate storage unit for storing a plurality of substrates, a substrate working unit for performing work such as substrate processing or inspection, and the like. A substrate transfer device is provided as a substrate transfer unit that takes out the substrate from the substrate cassette and transfers the substrate to the substrate working unit.

For example, in a substrate transfer system including a single substrate transfer device as described above, the single substrate transfer device can be used to remove a substrate from a substrate cassette, transfer the substrate to a working unit, and finish the operation. Substrates are transferred and stored in a substrate cassette. Therefore, it takes a long time from the end of the work of the substrate to the start of the work of the next substrate, which causes a problem that the work efficiency of the whole substrate transfer system is deteriorated.

Therefore, in a substrate transfer system having two substrate transfer devices as described above, for example, one of the two substrate transfer devices takes out the substrate from the substrate cassette and takes it out. The board is transferred to the board working unit, and the other one board transfer device transfers and stores the board to the board cassette after the work is completed in the board working unit. It is possible to take out and store the substrates in parallel, and it is possible to shorten the time required to store and take out the substrates in the substrate cassette. As a result, it is possible to shorten the time required from the end of the work of the substrate to the start of the work of the next substrate, and thus it is possible to improve the work efficiency of the entire substrate transfer system.

[0005]

However, in a substrate transfer system having two substrate transfer devices, the ratio of the installation area of the substrate transfer device to the total area of the system is large, which results in the space of the substrate transfer system. There is a problem that the efficiency is lowered and the system construction cost is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve the working efficiency of the entire system and the space efficiency of the system, and to construct the system. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer system that reduces costs.

[0007]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer system in which a substrate is taken out from a substrate storage unit and transferred to a substrate working unit for performing various kinds of work on the substrate, and the processed substrate is again stored in the substrate storage unit. In a substrate transfer system having a substrate transfer means for transferring, between the substrate storage section and the substrate working section, the substrate is moved to the position of the substrate in the substrate working section before being transferred to the substrate working section. A positioning unit for setting the position to be determined correspondingly, and a substrate placing unit for temporarily placing the substrate after the work before being transferred to the substrate storage unit are provided, and the substrate in the substrate working unit is provided. During the work of (1), a new substrate is taken out from the substrate storage unit, conveyed to the positioning unit, and waits until the positioning of the substrate is completed. On board Of the substrate carrying means for carrying the substrate positioned by the positioning unit to the substrate working unit and also carrying the substrate placed on the substrate placing unit to the substrate storing unit. It is characterized by having a control means.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the substrate is set between the substrate housing portion and the substrate working portion at a position determined according to the position of the substrate in the substrate working portion before being conveyed to the substrate working portion. Since the positioning unit is provided, the substrate positioned at a predetermined position can be always conveyed to the substrate working unit, so that the processing or inspection of the substrate in the substrate working unit can be performed in the same state at all times. It can be done efficiently. As a result, it is possible to improve the work efficiency of processing or inspection of the substrate. Also, while the substrate working unit is working on the substrate, the substrate before the next work is taken out from the substrate storage unit, transported to the positioning unit to position the substrate, and after the above-mentioned working of the substrate is completed. After the substrate after the work is transferred and stored in the substrate storage unit, the substrate prepositioned by the positioning unit can be transferred to the substrate working unit. This eliminates the need for positioning the next board after the board work is completed.
Since the time from the end of the board work to the start of the next board work can be shortened, the work efficiency of the entire system can be improved.

Further, between the board storing section and the board working section,
By providing the substrate placing section for temporarily placing the substrate before the substrate after the work is transferred to the substrate storing section, for example, after the substrate is placed on the substrate placing section, the positioning section If the positioned substrate placed on the substrate is transported to the substrate working unit, it is not necessary to take out and store the substrate in the substrate storage unit as in the conventional case. As a result, the time required for the entire system can be shortened, so that the work efficiency of the entire system can be further improved.

Further, by the control means, during the work of the board in the board working section, a new board before the work is taken out from the board storing section, conveyed to the positioning section, and waits until the positioning of the board is completed. After the work of the board in the department,
The substrate after the work is conveyed to the substrate placing part, the substrate positioned by the positioning part is conveyed to the substrate working part, and the substrate after the work placed on the substrate placing part is transferred to the substrate storing part. By controlling the substrate transfer means so as to transfer, the series of substrates can be transferred by one substrate transfer means. This can reduce the installation area in the substrate transfer system,
The installation area of each member in the substrate transfer system can be reduced, the space of the substrate transfer system can be saved, and the cost for constructing the system can be reduced.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following will describe one embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS.

The substrate transfer system according to this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a substrate working device 1 as a substrate working means for performing various works such as processing or inspection on the substrate, and a substrate carrying device 2 as a substrate carrying means for carrying the substrate onto the substrate working device 1. It is composed of.

The substrate working apparatus 1 is provided with a cassette mounting table 7 for mounting the substrate cassettes 4 and 6 as a substrate storing means. Also, the above-mentioned substrate cassettes 4 and 6
Has a rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and has a front surface opened to store and take out the planar substrates 3 and 5 having a planar shape. Further, in the substrate cassettes 4 and 6, the flat substrates 3 and 5 are held horizontally in the Z-Z direction at predetermined intervals, whereby the flat substrates 3 and 5 are held.
Is stored by the horizontal movement in the front-rear direction, that is, the movement in the YY direction on the front surface of the substrate cassette 4, 6.
It is taken out again.

Further, the substrate cassette 4 accommodates a plurality of flat substrates 3 before the work such as processing or inspection (hereinafter, this substrate cassette is referred to as a pre-work substrate cassette). In the substrate cassette 6, a plurality of flat substrates 3 after being taken out from the pre-work substrate cassette 4 and subjected to work such as processing or inspection are housed as the worked flat substrates 5 ... , This substrate cassette is referred to as a post-working substrate cassette).

The post-working substrate cassette 6 accommodates a pre-working flat substrate 3 different from the pre-working substrate cassette 4 as long as the post-working substrate 5 is stored therein. While being replaced with the pre-working substrate cassette 4, the pre-working substrate cassette 4 after all the flat substrates 3 have been taken out is used as a post-working substrate cassette 6.

In the substrate working apparatus 1, the flat substrate 3 is sucked and fixed so that the flat substrate 3 taken out from the pre-work substrate cassette 4 can be appropriately processed or inspected. A positioning unit 8 is provided which is set at a position determined in correspondence with the position of the flat substrate 3 in a substrate working unit 10 described later. The positioning unit 8 has a positioning table 8a on which a substrate is placed for positioning, and a CCD camera as a positioning camera that captures the positioning marks of the flat substrate 3 placed on the positioning table 8a before work. 9 and 9 are provided, and this CCD camera 9
Is connected to a substrate position controller 16 (FIG. 2) that controls the positioning of the substrate.

As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate position control unit 16 is provided in the main controller 15 that controls the entire substrate transfer system of this embodiment, and the CCD camera 9 described above is provided.
In addition to 9, the image processing device 17 performs image processing based on the image signal from the CCD camera 9 · 9, and is mounted on the positioning table 8a based on the image processing signal from the image processing device 17. In order to position the flat substrate 3, a substrate driving device 18 that drives the flat substrate 3 is connected.

That is, in the substrate position control section 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the CCD camera 9, 9 captures the positioning mark of the flat substrate 3 suction-fixed to the positioning table 8a, and captures it. Signal as an image signal,
After being output to the image processing device 17 and subjected to image processing here, the image processing signal output from the image processing device 17 is used to shift the placement position of the planar substrate 3 placed on the positioning table 8a. Is output to the substrate drive device 18 as correction data for correcting the above, and the plane substrate 3 is moved to correct the positional deviation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, in the board working apparatus 1, a board working unit 10 for performing various works such as processing or inspection of the flat board 3, and the work in the board working unit 10 are completed. A substrate mounting table 11 on which the flat substrate 5 is temporarily mounted is provided.

Of these, a board working table 10a on which the flat board 3 after completion of positioning is placed to perform a predetermined processing or inspection is placed on the board working section 10, and a board on the board working table 10a. Substrate detection sensor 20 for detecting the presence or absence of
(FIG. 2) is provided, and is controlled by the main controller 15 so that the work on the flat substrate 3 is started based on the detection signal of the substrate detection sensor 20.

Further, the substrate mounting table 11 is provided with a substrate detection sensor 21 (FIG. 2) for detecting the presence or absence of a substrate. The substrate detection sensor 21 is connected to the substrate detection sensor 20 and the substrate transfer control unit 19 that controls the drive of the substrate transfer device 2 provided in the main controller 15, as shown in FIG. These board detection sensors 20
The substrate transfer apparatus 2 is controlled based on the detection signal 21 to perform the operation shown in the time chart (FIG. 3) described later.

However, various sensors such as an optical sensor can be used as the substrate detection sensors 20 and 21.

On the other hand, the substrate transfer device 2 includes the flat substrate 3
・ The substrate holding arm 12a that attracts and holds 5 is Y.-
A Y-direction arm moving mechanism section 12 as a driving means for moving in the Y direction, and a Z-direction arm moving mechanism section as a driving means for supporting the Y-direction arm moving mechanism section 12 and vertically moving in the Z-Z direction. 13 and the Z-direction arm moving mechanism 13 as a driving means for supporting the Z-direction arm moving mechanism 13 and moving the Z-direction arm moving mechanism 13 in the X-X direction which is a direction orthogonal to the Y-Y direction on the horizontal plane. 14 and.

The thickness of the substrate holding arm 12a is the same as that of the flat substrate 3 housed in the substrate cassettes 4 and 6.
It is formed thinner than the storage interval of ... As a result, when the flat substrates 3.5 are stored and taken out, the vicinity of the center of the flat substrates 3.5 can be adsorbed and held,
It is possible to store and take out the flat substrates 3 and 5 accurately and stably.

However, the substrate transfer device 2 is the same as that shown in FIG.
It is controlled by the substrate transfer controller 19 shown in FIG.

The operation of the substrate transfer system according to the present embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. For convenience of explanation, in the drawing, the flat substrate 5 on which the work such as processing and inspection is completed is shaded,
This is to be distinguished from the flat substrate 3 before the work.

First, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12 is moved by moving the Z-direction arm moving mechanism unit 13 in the X and -X directions by the X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14. Is moved to a position facing the front surface of the pre-working substrate cassette 4. Next, the Z-direction arm moving mechanism unit 13 moves the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12 to Z.
By moving in the Z direction, the flat substrate 3 stored in the pre-working substrate cassette 4 is moved to the take-out position. Then, the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12 moves the substrate holding arm 12a in the Y direction to suck and hold the upper surface of the flat substrate 3 housed in the pre-working substrate cassette 4, and then in the -Y direction. To move. The suction position of the flat substrate 3 is not limited to the upper surface and may be the lower surface.

The substrate holding arm 12a holding the flat substrate 3 by suction is moved to the positioning unit 8 in the X direction by the X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14 together with the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12, where: The flat substrate 3 is placed on the positioning table 8a. With this positioning table 8a,
Positioning of the flat substrate 3 is performed, and when the positioning is completed, the flat substrate 3 is put into a standby state on the spot.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the Y-direction arm moving mechanism section 12 is used to move the flat substrate 5 placed on the substrate working table 10a in the Y direction of the positioning table 8 on which the work such as processing is completed. Thus, the substrate holding arm 12a is moved in the Y direction and held by suction. Next, the substrate holding arm 12a that holds the flat substrate 5 by suction is moved to the substrate mounting table 11 in the -X direction by the X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14 together with the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12, where The flat substrate 5 is mounted on the substrate mounting table 11.
During this operation, the flat substrate 3 positioned by the positioning table 8a remains in the standby state on the positioning table 8a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, after the flat substrate 5 is placed on the substrate placing table 11, the substrate holding arm 12 is again placed.
a is moved in the X direction by the X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14 together with the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12, and sucks and holds the planar substrate 3 in the standby state on the positioning table 8.
Next, the substrate holding arm 12a that holds the flat substrate 3 by suction is moved by the Y-direction arm moving mechanism section 12 to the substrate working table 10a in the Y direction for performing work such as processing and inspection. The flat board 3 is placed on the board worktable 10 described above.
It is placed on a and the work is started.

When this work is started, the substrate holding arm 12a is moved in the -Y direction by the Y-direction arm moving mechanism section 12, as shown in FIG.
The flat substrate 5 after the operation, which is moved in the −X direction by the X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14 and is placed on the substrate platform 11.
Hold by adsorption. Further, the substrate holding arm 12a that has suction-held the flat substrate 5 after this work is moved by the X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14 to a position opposite to the front face portion of the post-work substrate cassette 6 in the −X direction, and thereafter. , The Z-direction arm moving mechanism unit 13 moves up and down together with the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12 to the height of the storage position in the post-working substrate cassette 6, and the Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 12 moves in the Y direction. By being moved, the flat substrate 5 is stored in the predetermined storage position of the after-work substrate cassette 6.

By repeating the operations shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 as described above, work such as sequential processing and inspection is performed on the flat substrate 3.

The control mechanism of the substrate transfer system will be described below with reference to the time chart shown in FIG. In addition, (1) to (4) in the figure show the takeout numbers of the flat substrate 3 taken out from the pre-working substrate cassette 4.

First, if the substrate detection sensor 20 detects that the flat substrate 3 is placed on the substrate workbench 10a,
Based on this detection signal, the work on the flat substrate 3 is started (operation 5), and the flat substrate 5 placed on the substrate placing table 11 by the substrate transport device 2 is placed in the post-work substrate cassette 6. It is transported and stored (operation 6).

While the work for the above-mentioned flat substrate is being performed, the substrate transfer device 2 which has moved to the post-work substrate cassette 6 further moves to the pre-work substrate cassette 4 and the pre-work flat substrate 3 Is taken out and conveyed to the positioning section 8 (operation 1), and the flat substrate 3 is placed on the positioning table 8a of the positioning section 8 to perform positioning (operation 2).

Next, when the work on the flat substrate 3 is completed, the flat substrate 3 is used as the flat substrate 5 after the work.
As a result, it is transferred to the substrate mounting table 11 by the substrate transfer device 2 and placed (operation 3). At this time, in the substrate mounting table 11, the substrate detection sensor 21 detects that a substrate is present, and based on the detection signal, the substrate transfer control unit 19 moves the substrate transfer device 2 to the positioning unit 8 to move the positioning table. The flat substrate 3 after the positioning on 8a is completed is conveyed to the substrate working unit 10 (operation 4).

Next, the substrate working unit 10 of the flat substrate 3 is placed on the substrate working table 10a, whereby the substrate detecting sensor 20
Outputs a detection signal indicating that a substrate is present. Based on this detection signal, work on the flat substrate 3 is started (operation 5), and at the same time, the substrate transfer device 2 moves to the substrate mounting table 11 and the flat surface after the work is performed there. After the operation, the substrate 5 is transferred to the substrate cassette 6 and stored (operation 6).

By repeating the above operations 1 to 6, the work on the flat substrate 3 before the work is sequentially performed.

According to this embodiment, the positioning section 8 for positioning the flat board 3 is provided before the flat board 3 is worked by the board working section 10, so that the flat board 3 is always positioned in the predetermined direction. The flat substrate 3 can be transported to the substrate working unit 10. As a result, each main work on the flat substrate can be performed stably and accurately. Also,
While the substrate working unit 10 is working on the flat substrate 3, the substrate transport device 2 takes out the next flat substrate 3 before the work from the pre-work substrate cassette 4 and transports it to the positioning unit 8 to transfer the substrate. After the positioning, and after the work of the flat substrate 3 is finished, the flat substrate 5 after the work is transferred and stored in the post-work substrate cassette 6, and then the flat substrate 3 prepositioned by the positioning unit 8 is placed. The board working unit 10
Can be transported to. As a result, it is not necessary to position the next substrate after the completion of the substrate work, and the time from the end of the substrate work to the start of the next substrate work can be shortened, so that the work efficiency of the entire system can be improved. .

Since the flat substrate 5 after the work is temporarily placed before the flat substrate 5 is transferred to the post-work substrate cassette 6, the substrate mount table 11 is provided. After the flat substrate 5 is mounted on the substrate mounting base 11, the substrate transfer device 2 moves to the positioning unit 8 based on the detection signal from the substrate detection sensor 21 provided on the substrate mounting base 11, and is mounted on the positioning unit 8. If the positioned flat substrate 3 before the work is conveyed to the substrate working unit 10, the substrate after the work is stored in the substrate cassette as in the conventional case, and then the substrate is taken out from the cassette for the substrate. Eliminates the need to transport to the board working section, which allows
Since the time from the end of work in the board working unit 10 to the start of work on the flat board 3 before the next work can be shortened, the time required for the entire system can be shortened, and the working efficiency of the entire system can be further improved. Can be improved.

Further, by the substrate transfer control section 19,
During the work of the flat substrate 3 in the substrate working unit 10, the new flat substrate 3 before the work is taken out from the pre-work substrate cassette 4, conveyed to the positioning unit 8, and waits until the positioning of the flat substrate 3 is completed. After work on the board working unit 10,
The flat substrate 3 after the work is transported to the substrate mounting table 11 and positioned by the positioning unit 8
Since the substrate transfer device 2 is controlled so as to transfer the substrate to the substrate working unit 10, the above-described series of substrate transfer can be performed by the single substrate transfer device 2. This makes it possible to reduce the installation area of the substrate transfer system in the present embodiment, so that it is possible to reduce the installation area of each member in the substrate transfer system, it is possible to achieve space saving of the substrate transfer system, This makes it possible to reduce the cost of building the system.

[0042]

As described above, the board transfer system of the present invention corresponds to the position of the board working section between the board housing section and the board working section before the board is transferred to the board working section. And a board placing section for temporarily placing the board before the board after the work is transferred to the substrate storage, during the work of the board in the board working section. In, the new board is taken out from the board storage section, transported to the positioning section, and waits until the positioning of the board is completed.
After the work of the substrate in the substrate working unit is completed, the worked substrate is transported to the substrate placing unit, the substrate positioned by the positioning unit is transported to the substrate working unit, and the substrate is placed on the substrate placing unit. The control means for controlling the substrate transfer means for transferring the processed substrate to the substrate storage section is provided.

As a result, it is possible to shorten the time from the end of the work on the substrate to the start of the work on the next substrate.
The efficiency of the entire system can be improved. Also,
Since it is possible to efficiently carry out the above-described series of substrate transfer with only one substrate transfer device, it is possible to reduce the installation area of the entire substrate transfer system and to achieve space saving.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a substrate transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a time chart in the operation of the substrate transfer system described above.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an explanation of the operation of the substrate transfer system.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an operation of the substrate transfer system.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an explanation of the operation of the substrate transfer system.

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating the operation of the substrate transfer system.

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the operation of the substrate transfer system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Substrate Working Device 2 Substrate Transfer Device (Substrate Transfer Unit) 3 Flat Substrate (Substrate) 4 Pre-Work Substrate Cassette (Substrate Storage Unit) 5 Flat Substrate (Substrate After Work) 6 Post-Work Substrate Cassette (Substrate Storage Unit) ) 8 positioning unit 8a positioning base 10 working unit 10a working base 11 substrate mounting base (substrate mounting unit) 12 Y-direction arm moving mechanism unit 13 Z-direction arm moving mechanism unit 14 X-direction arm moving mechanism unit 16 substrate position control unit 18 Substrate driving device 19 Substrate transfer control unit (control means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate transfer system comprising a substrate transfer means for taking out a substrate from a substrate storage part, transferring the substrate to a substrate operation part for performing various operations on the substrate, and transferring the substrate after the work to the substrate storage part again. A positioning unit that sets the substrate to a position that corresponds to the position of the substrate in the substrate working unit before being conveyed to the substrate working unit, between the substrate housing unit and the substrate working unit; A substrate placing section is provided on which the substrate after operation is temporarily placed before being transferred to the substrate storing section, and during the operation of the substrate in the substrate working section, a new substrate is removed from the substrate storing section. The substrate is taken out, transported to the positioning unit, and waits until the positioning of the substrate is completed, and after the substrate working in the substrate working unit is finished, the substrate is transported to the substrate mounting unit, and then the positioning is performed. Position by department And a control means of the substrate transfer means for transferring the processed substrate to the substrate working part and transferring the substrate mounted on the substrate mounting part to the substrate storage part. Substrate transfer system.