JPH0663877A - Superconducting handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a superconducting handling device capable of transporting transfer objects freely without contaminating vacuum atmosphere. CONSTITUTION:A moving element 4 is positioned on the vacuum side, a stator 16 is positioned on the atmospheric air side, and both of them are separated by partitions 7 and 17 and a bellows 11, and a permanent magnet 1 is located under the moving element 4. A high-temperature superconductor 2 for the stator 16 is located on a liquid nitrogen tank 9 to cool it by liquid nitrogen. Then the liquid nitrogen tank 9 is rotated by a stepping motor 8 and moved on a rail 15 in X-direction by a carriage 10. Also a vertical mechanism 14 is moved in Z-direction to move the moving element 4 in X- and Z-directions without contact and rotate in theta direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a superconducting handling device, and more particularly to a superconducting handling device for transporting a semiconductor wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing factory or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing factory, semiconductor wafers are transported in a vacuum, and an example of a multi-joint device for transporting such semiconductor wafers in a vacuum is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4-1992.
No. 122589.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the above-mentioned articulated carrier, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are a bottom view and a sectional view showing a part of the driven arm and the carrier of FIG.

In FIG. 3, a coaxial drive shaft 1 is formed by coaxially forming a solid shaft 2 and a hollow shaft 3 through an upper bearing 4 and a lower bearing 5, and the solid shaft 2 has both ends of the hollow shaft 3. It projects and extends from. The other ends of the solid shaft 2 and the hollow shaft 3 are driving motors 8 and 9 via a transmission mechanism 7 composed of gears, respectively.
Are linked to. One end of a pair of drive arms 10 and 11 is fixed to the upper ends of the solid shaft 2 and the hollow shaft 3, and the other end of these drive arms 10 and 11 is a pair of driven arms 1.
It is rotatably connected to one ends of the reference numerals 2 and 13. Gears 14, 15 engaging with each other are provided on the other ends of the driven arms 12, 13.
Mounted on the shafts 16, 17 of these gears 14, 15
A semiconductor wafer carrier 18, for example, is attached to the. The gears 14 and 15 are designed to be rotatable about shafts 16 and 17, and when the solid shaft 2 and the hollow shaft 3 are rotated in the same direction, the carriage 18 rotates about the coaxial drive shaft 1. When the solid shaft 2 and the hollow shaft 3 are rotated in opposite directions, the arms of each pair are directed toward the opening direction or the closing direction, so that the carriage 18 is moved toward the coaxial drive shaft 1 or away from the coaxial drive shaft 1. Move straight in the direction.

The tips of the driven arms 12 and 13 are bent substantially vertically as shown in FIG.
15 is attached. And these gears 14, 1
A cover 19 is attached so as to surround 5. The cover 19 prevents dust generated from the sliding portions of the gears 14 and 15 and the bearing portion from falling through these openings due to the movement of the arms 12 and 13.

[0006]

In the articulated conveying apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 described above, the dust accumulated on the lower surface of the cover 19 is taken up by the air flow when it is opened from the vacuum to the atmosphere. , May pollute the environment. In particular, it becomes remarkable in the load lock chamber where the atmosphere and the vacuum are frequently repeated.

A method of sealing the sliding portion by using a magnetic fluid seal may be considered, but there is a problem that CHx gas may be generated from the base oil, which is not desirable in terms of chemical contamination.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a superconducting handling device which does not pollute the vacuum environment.

[0009]

The invention according to claim 1 is
The mover is arranged on the vacuum side, the stator is arranged on the atmosphere side, and the superconducting material is arranged on one of the mover and the stator,
A superconducting handling device in which a magnet is arranged on the other side and the mover is levitated and moved by the Meissner effect and pinning effect of the superconducting material, and the stator is for rotating the superconducting material or the magnet in the vertical direction, horizontal direction, and rotation. It is configured to include a moving mechanism.

In the invention according to claim 2, the mover includes an arm for mounting a load, and a compensating mechanism for compensating an eccentric load moment generated when the load is mounted on the arm.

The invention according to claim 3 includes a coolant supply tank for cooling the superconducting material. In the invention according to claim 4, the vertical movement is performed by a pitching operation.

[0012]

In the superconducting handling device according to the present invention, the mover is arranged in vacuum, the stator is arranged in the atmosphere, and the partition walls are shielded from each other, and the superconducting material or the magnet is vertically arranged on the stator side. By providing the moving mechanism for the direction, the horizontal direction, and the rotation, the mover and the stator can be kept in non-contact with each other, and the risk of dust generation can be eliminated.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a view showing various shapes of the permanent magnet shown in FIG.

One embodiment of the present invention is applied when a wafer is transferred in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, a movable element 4 is arranged in a vacuum, and a partition 7 is provided so as to face the movable element 4. The stator 16 is provided on the atmosphere side. A permanent magnet 1 is provided on the lower surface of the mover 4, an arm 16 for mounting the transported object 5 is provided on the upper surface of the mover 4, and a counter balance 6 for compensating the unbalanced load moment is provided. . The counter balance 6 does not need to be provided especially when an unbalanced load moment does not occur when the conveyed object 5 is mounted.

The stator 16 includes a stepping motor 8 provided on a carriage 10 on which a nitrogen tank 9 is mounted. The high temperature superconductor 2 is provided above the nitrogen tank 9. A rail 15 is installed on the trolley base plate 13, and the trolley 10 travels on the rail 15 in the X direction. The stepping motor 8 rotates the nitrogen tank 9 in the θ direction. The nitrogen tank 9 has a vacuum heat insulation structure, and liquid nitrogen is supplied from the liquid nitrogen cassette tank 3 into the nitrogen tank 9 to cool the high-temperature superconductor 2 into a superconducting state.

The liquid nitrogen tank 9 may not be provided with the liquid nitrogen nitrogen tank 3, but liquid nitrogen may be injected into the liquid nitrogen tank 9 through a pipe. When the high-temperature superconductor 2 is brought into a superconducting state, the Meissner effect and the pinning effect that act between the high-temperature superconductor 2 and the permanent magnet 1 cause the mover 4 to move in the X direction and rotate in the θ direction. Do. The Meissner effect means perfect diamagnetism exhibited by the high-temperature superconductor 2, and since the high-temperature superconductor 2 has a property of completely preventing an invasion of an external magnetic field, the permanent magnet 1 regardless of whether it is the N pole or the S pole. Repels. The pinning effect refers to a force that fixes the magnetic flux from the permanent magnet 1 that has entered the high temperature superconductor 2 so as not to move.

Further, an up-and-down mechanism 14 for moving the bogie base plate 13 up and down in the Z direction is provided. The partition 7 is the pillar 1
It is fixed to the bogie plate 13 by 2 and is connected to the partition wall 17 by the bellows 11. When the bogie plate 13 is moved up and down in the Z direction by the up-and-down mechanism 14, the partition wall 7 is also moved up and down in the Z direction. Even if the partition wall 7 moves up and down, the bellows 11 separates the vacuum side from the atmospheric side.

If the gap between the high temperature superconductor 2 and the permanent magnet 1 is sufficient, a vertical mechanism is provided on the carriage 10,
Only the liquid nitrogen tank 9 and the high temperature superconductor 2 may be moved up and down.

The tip of the arm 16 can be moved up and down without using the up-and-down mechanism 14 by giving a rotational movement (pitching) α around the Y-axis as shown on the coordinate axis, and the bellows is not necessary. Yes, the structure is simple.

With the configuration as described above, the mover 4 can be moved in the X and Z directions and can be rotated in the θ direction, and the handling mechanism can be satisfied.

In the above embodiment, the permanent magnet 1 is arranged on the side of the mover 4 and the high temperature superconductor 2 is arranged on the side of the stator 16; however, the high temperature superconductor 2 is arranged on the side of the mover 4. The liquid nitrogen tank 9 may be provided and the permanent magnet 1 may be arranged on the stator 16 side.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the permanent magnet 1 has a disk-shaped permanent magnet formed with N and S poles, and as shown in FIG. 2 (b), it has an N pole in the center. And a ring-shaped S pole formed around it may be used, or as shown in FIG. 2C, two disk-shaped permanent magnets of N pole and S pole are used. You may

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the mover is arranged on the vacuum side, the stator is arranged on the atmosphere side, and both are separated by the partition wall so that the stator side is provided. Since the moving mechanism for rotating the superconducting material or the magnet in the up-down direction, the moving direction and the rotation is provided, the mover can be moved in the up-down direction, the moving direction and the non-contact, and there is no fear of polluting the vacuum atmosphere can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing various examples of the permanent magnet shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a conventional articulated carrier device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an arm of the articulated carrying device shown in FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view of an arm of the articulated carrier shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Permanent Magnet 2 High-Temperature Superconductor 3 Liquid Nitrogen Tank Cassette 4 Mover 5 Transported Object 6 Counterbalance 7,17 Partition 8 Stepping Motor 9 Liquid Nitrogen Tank 10 Bogie 11 Bellows 12 Strut 13 Bogie Plate 14 Vertical Mechanism 15 Rail 16 Fixed Child

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mover is arranged on the vacuum side, a stator is arranged on the atmosphere side, and a superconducting material is arranged on one of the mover and the stator, and a magnet is arranged on the other side. A superconducting handling device that separates the stator and the mover by a partition wall and moves the mover by levitating the mover by Meissner effect and pinning effect of the superconducting material, wherein the stator is the superconducting material or the magnet. Up and down,
A superconducting handling device comprising a moving mechanism for horizontal and rotating. 2. The mover includes an arm for mounting a load, and a compensating mechanism for compensating an eccentric load moment generated when the load is mounted on the arm. Superconducting handling device. 3. The superconducting handling device according to claim 1, further comprising a refrigerant supply tank for cooling the superconducting material. 4. The superconducting handling device according to claim 1, wherein the vertical movement is performed by a pitching operation.