JPH069041A - Direction changing conveying device for semiconductor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rotate a semiconductor without giving impact and to prevent generation of oil mist or dust from a direction changing conveying device by oscillating and rotating a rotating frame having the semiconductor through intermittent rotation by 180 degrees by stopping an electric motor at the upper dead point and the lower dead point using a four articulation link mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is conveyed in the direction of an arrow A, guided by a guide roller 39 and attached to a rotating frame 15 held in the vertical state, while an electric motor 35 is rotated so as to rotate a crank 37 having been stopped at the upper dead point UDP in the direction of an arrow R and stop it at the lower dead point LDP. A four- articulation link mechanism 43 is operated by this rotation and rotates the rotating frame 15 by 90 degrees in the direction of an arrow T around a vertical axis VL through a coupling link 33, an operating arm 32 and a rotation shaft 31. Then, a servo electric motor 22 is rotated to rotate a feed screw 2 and to move a shuttle frame 20 in the direction of an arrow P so that the plate- shaped semiconductor 14 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow P together with the rotating frame 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor direction changing / conveying apparatus, and more particularly, to an air cylinder or an air cylinder by rotating a rotary frame for holding a semiconductor by a four-bar linkage mechanism operated by a completely sealed electric motor. It is not necessary to use a hydraulic cylinder to prevent the generation of oil mist and dust, and it is necessary to work in a clean room where the acceleration at the start and stop of the rotation is made extremely small and the impact on the semiconductor is extremely small. The present invention relates to a semiconductor direction changing and conveying device suitable for conveying precision semiconductors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The process of processing a semiconductor wafer, which is an example of a plate-shaped semiconductor, includes coating a photoresist on a semiconductor wafer having a thickness of about 200 .mu.m to 10 mm, drying, pattern baking, development, etching, peeling of a photoresist, etc. An electronic component is manufactured by comprising a large number of treatments and performing the treatment steps in an automatic treatment device.

When carrying in and out the automatic semiconductor processing apparatus, the plate-shaped semiconductors are usually carried in a horizontal state. However, in recent years, the plate-shaped semiconductors have grown in size to 6 to 8 inches. Since the size is so large, the horizontal transportation causes the plate-shaped semiconductor to bend due to its own weight, and cracks easily occur due to heat during processing, which is a serious problem in production.

A similar problem occurs in the transportation of a large-sized liquid crystal display device whose one side is 40 cm to 60 cm, which has been a major obstacle to the efficient production of large-sized semiconductors. Significant improvement has been achieved by holding and transporting it in a vertically standing state.

That is, for transporting the plate-shaped semiconductor, the plate-shaped semiconductor is held vertically in a rotating frame, the rotating frame is rotatably arranged around a vertical axis on a shuttle frame, and the shuttle frame is horizontally moved. The plate-shaped semiconductor is conveyed by moving in the direction.

Here, in order to ensure good workability in mounting the plate-shaped semiconductor on the rotary frame and to efficiently arrange the plate-shaped semiconductor automatic processing apparatus composed of a combination of a large number of devices, the plate-shaped semiconductor is required. It is necessary to rotate the semiconductor by 90 ° together with the rotating frame and deliver it to the next device. Conventionally, the rotation of the plate-shaped semiconductor is performed by an air cylinder or a hydro air cylinder that operates by converting air pressure into hydraulic pressure. The rotating frame holding the semiconductor was rotating.

However, according to the conventional rotating device, dust contained in oil mist or compressed air is generated from the air cylinder or the hydro air cylinder and adheres to the plate-shaped semiconductor being processed to deteriorate the performance of electronic parts. There was a drawback.

In order to prevent oil mist and dust generated from an air cylinder or a hydro air cylinder, a high-level processing device is required, which not only makes the device large, but also
There is a drawback that the cost of electronic parts becomes high.

Further, according to the conventional rotating device driven by the air cylinder or the hydro air cylinder, there is a rapid change in the movement at the time of starting and stopping the rotation, which gives a large acceleration or impact to the plate-shaped semiconductor. In an extreme case, there is a defect that the thin plate semiconductor is damaged.

Further, the piping for supplying the working fluid to the air cylinder or the hydro air cylinder is required, and the piping work is not only difficult, but the air cylinder or the hydro air cylinder is arranged at the optimum position by being restricted by the piping. There was a drawback that there were cases where it could not be done.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. The object of the present invention is to mount a plate-shaped semiconductor by a completely sealed electric motor. By rotating the rotating frame, it is possible to completely prevent the generation of oil mist and dust, which also prevents the oil mist and dust from adhering to the plate-shaped semiconductor being processed, thus providing high-performance electronic equipment. It is to be able to manufacture parts.

Another object of the present invention is to increase the degree of freedom in design by eliminating the piping for supplying the working fluid by the above-mentioned structure and to dispose the rotary frame drive mechanism at the optimum position.

Still another object is to transmit the rotation of a completely sealed electric motor to a rotating frame via a four-bar linkage and to stop the electric motor at top dead center and bottom dead center by 180 °. By rotating the rotating frame by rotating the rotating frame intermittently, the acceleration at the time of starting and stopping the rotating frame can be made very small, and the impact on the plate-shaped semiconductor can be extremely reduced. It is to be able to rotate a thin plate semiconductor without damaging it at all.

[0014]

The present invention (Claim 1) includes:
A rotary frame that holds the plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is disposed on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotary frame, and the plate-shaped semiconductor is rotated together with the rotary frame to change its direction. Further, in a semiconductor transfer device configured to transfer the plate-shaped semiconductor by moving the shuttle frame in a horizontal direction, an electric motor fixed to a base and rotating intermittently by 180 ° and a rotation of the electric motor. A crank whose one end is fixed to a shaft, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to a rotation center axis of the rotary frame, and a coupling link which rotatably connects the other end of the crank and the other end of the operating arm. And a four-bar linkage mechanism composed of

According to the present invention (claim 2), a rotating frame for holding the plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is arranged on the shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotating frame. In a semiconductor transfer device configured to transfer the plate-shaped semiconductor by rotating the semiconductor together with the rotating frame to change its direction and moving the shuttle frame in the horizontal direction, the semiconductor transfer device is fixed to a base and is fixed at 180 °. An electric motor that intermittently rotates, a crank whose one end is fixed to a rotation shaft of the electric motor, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to a rotation center axis of the rotating frame, the other end of the crank, and the other of the operating arm. 180 degree by stopping the electric motor at top dead center and bottom dead center. It is characterized in that the four-bar linkage mechanism is configured so as to intermittently rotate each of them and swing and rotate the rotary frame to change the direction of the plate-shaped semiconductor.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. With reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, a semiconductor direction changing and conveying device 50 according to the present invention includes an electric motor 35 and a four-bar linkage mechanism 43.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, a description will be given of the overall configuration of a semiconductor processing apparatus 5 in which a semiconductor carrier device 1 incorporating a semiconductor direction changing carrier device 50 is used.

The semiconductor processing apparatus 5 includes an automatic semiconductor attachment / detachment unit 6
The semiconductor transfer device 1 configured as described above, the manual semiconductor attachment / detachment unit 8, and a large number of processing devices for coating a semiconductor wafer with photoresist, drying, pattern baking, development, etching, peeling of photoresist, and the like are built-in. The processing chamber 9, the direction changing unit 10, the intermediate unit 11, the first lane selection unit 12A, the return duct 13, and the second lane selection unit 12B are connected to each other and combined to form the whole, In the double lane device shown in FIG. 1, the size is about 8 m wide, about 15 m long and about 2 m high.

When the plate-like semiconductor 14 is automatically attached to the semiconductor processing apparatus 5, the plate-like semiconductor 14 is indicated by an arrow A.
Rotating frame 15 of the automatic semiconductor attachment / detachment unit 6 conveyed in the direction
After being installed vertically upright, the rotating frame 15
At the same time, it is transported in the direction of arrow P, and in the case of manual mounting, it is transported in the direction of arrow C to the manual semiconductor attachment / detachment unit 8 and mounted vertically on the rotating frame 15.

The plate-shaped semiconductor 14 mounted on the rotary frame 15 of the automatic semiconductor attachment / detachment section 6 operates the semiconductor direction changing and conveying device 50, which will be described in detail later, to rotate the rotary frame 15 in the direction of arrow E by 90 °. After being conveyed in the direction of arrow G and transferred to the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 8, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 attached to the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 8 also activates the semiconductor direction change conveying device 50. Rotating frame 1
5 is rotated by 90 ° in the direction of arrow E to be loaded into the processing chamber 9.

The plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is transferred in the processing chamber 9 in the direction of the arrow H, and is coated with photoresist, dried, printed with a pattern, developed, and etched.
A large number of processes such as stripping of photoresist are automatically performed and processed.

The plate-shaped semiconductor 1 processed in the processing chamber 9
4 is transferred to the direction changing unit 10 and the direction changing unit 10
In the same manner as the automatic semiconductor attachment / detachment section 6 is rotated by 90 ° in the direction of arrow I, the intermediate unit 11 is conveyed in the direction of arrow J and the first lane selection unit 12 is moved.
It is to be handed over to A.

Similarly, in the first lane selection unit 12A as well, after rotating 90 ° in the direction of arrow K, the return duct 1
3 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow L and is transferred to the second lane selection unit 12B.

The plate-shaped semiconductor 14 transferred to the second lane selection unit 12B is also rotated in the direction of arrow M by operating the semiconductor direction changing / transporting device 50, and then arrow O.
It is conveyed in the direction and is delivered to the automatic semiconductor attachment / detachment unit 6.

In the case of automatic processing, the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 6
In the same manner, after rotating the rotary frame 15 in the arrow F direction in the same manner, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is conveyed together with the rotary frame 15 in the arrow Q direction and taken out in the arrow B direction.

In the case of manual processing, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 transferred from the second lane selection unit 12B to the automatic semiconductor attachment / detachment section 6 is further conveyed in the arrow G direction and then rotated in the arrow F direction. Is taken out in the direction of arrow D.

In the processing chamber 9 and the return duct 13,
A clean unit (not shown) is mounted, and the inside of the processing chamber 9 and the return duct 13 is always kept in a highly clean state so as to prevent dust and the like from adhering to the plate-like semiconductor 14.

A tray take-out support 16 for taking out a tray is attached to the first lane selection unit 12A, and a first gate valve 18 is provided between the first lane selection unit 12A and the tray take-out support 16. ,
A second gate valve 19 is mounted between the return duct 13 and the second lane selection unit 12B, and the first and second gate valves 18 and 19 are normally closed to allow the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 to pass. Only when this is done, the first and second gate valves 18 and 19 are opened to shut off the processing chamber 9 and the return duct 13 from the outside and keep them clean.

Next, the semiconductor carrier device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The feed screw 2 is for moving the shuttle frame 20 in the horizontal direction, and the feed screw 2 is fixed in the horizontal direction on the rotary shaft 23 of the servo electric motor 22 fixed to the base 21. .

A nut 25 fixed to the shuttle frame 20 via a mounting plate 24 is screwed onto the feed screw 2, and the feed screw 2 is rotated by a servo electric motor 22 to thereby make the shuttle frame 20 a base. 21 on arrow P
Alternatively, it is moved in the Q direction.

The round bar-shaped guide rail 3 is for guiding and sliding the shuttle frame 20, and its cross-sectional shape is such that the lower portion has an inverted T-shape as the mounting portion 3a and the upper portion has a semi-guide portion 3b. It has a circular shape,
It is formed in a rod shape having a length of about 1.5 m.

The mounting portion 3 of the round bar-shaped guide rail 3
Two a are fixed to the intermediate frame 21a of the base 21 by bolts (not shown) in parallel with the feed screw 2.

The sliding body 4 is for sliding the shuttle frame 20 on the round bar-shaped guide rail 3,
The round bar-shaped guide rail 3 is formed in such a shape as to wrap around the guide portion 3b, and a plurality of balls (not shown) are attached to the contact portion with the round bar-shaped guide rail 3 so that the round bar-shaped guide rail 3 is mounted on the round bar-shaped guide rail 3. It is adapted to smoothly roll without moving and to move the sliding body 4 along the round bar-shaped guide rail 3.

The sliding body 4 is fixed to the lower frame 20a of the shuttle frame 20 by bolts (not shown).

Lower frame 20a of shuttle frame 20
Rotating bearings 30 are fixed to the centers of the upper frame 20b and the upper frame 20b, respectively.
1 is rotatably fitted and holds the rotating frame 15 rotatably about its vertical axis VL.

With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a semiconductor direction changing and conveying device 50, which is a main part of the present invention, will be described. The semiconductor direction changing and conveying device 50 includes an electric motor 35.
In the embodiment, the automatic semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 6, the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 8, the direction changing portion 10, the first lane selection unit 12A, and the second lane selection unit 12B are the same. A mechanism is provided.

The lower rotary shaft 31 penetrates through the rotary bearing 30 and projects below the shuttle frame 20.
Is fixed.

The operating arm 32 has one end 3 of the connecting link 33.
3a is rotatably connected by a pin 34, and the other end 33b of the connecting link 33 is rotatably connected by a pin 38 to a crank 37 fixed to a rotary shaft 36 of an electric motor 35 fixed to the shuttle frame 20. Combined with
The actuating arm 32, the coupling link 33, and the crank 37 constitute a four-bar linkage mechanism 43.

A screw portion 3c for adjusting the length of the coupling link 33 is provided at the intermediate portion of the coupling link 33 so that the turning angle of the rotary frame 15 can be adjusted.

A shield plate 51 is fixed to the crank 37, and is rotated together with the crank 37 to rotate the lower frame 20a.
The electric motor 3 that rotates in the direction of arrow R by shielding the photo sensor 52 fixed to the predetermined position at a predetermined position and transmitting a signal.
5 is stopped at the top dead center and the bottom dead center and intermittently rotated by 180 °, and the rotating frame 15 is moved to 9 as shown by arrows S and T.
It is configured to swing and rotate by 0 °.

A guide roller 39 for holding the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 in a vertical state is mounted on the rotary frame 15.

A plurality of photosensors 40 are arranged on the intermediate frame 21a of the base 21 in a straight line in the moving direction of the shuttle frame 20, and a shield plate 41 is fixed to the shuttle frame 20. Frame 2
By the movement of 0, the shielding plate 41 shields the photo sensor 40 and sends a signal of the current position of the shuttle frame 20.

The present invention is configured as described above,
The operation will be described below. 1 to 6, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is carried in the direction of the arrow A, and is guided by the guide roller 39 and is mounted while being held vertically on the rotary frame 15.

The electric motor 35 rotates and the crank 37, which has been stopped at the top dead center UDP until then, is rotated in the direction of arrow R and stopped at the bottom dead center LDP.

The rotation causes the four-bar linkage mechanism 43 to operate, and the rotary frame 15 is centered on the vertical axis VL via the connecting link 33, the operating arm 32, and the rotary shaft 31 as indicated by an arrow T.
Rotate 90 ° in the direction.

Then, when the servo electric motor 22 rotates to rotate the feed screw 2, the shuttle frame 20 moves in the direction of arrow P by the action of the nut 25 screwed on the feed screw 2, and the plate-like shape together with the rotary frame 15. The semiconductor 14 is conveyed in the arrow P direction.

When the shuttle frame 20 moves to a predetermined position, the photo sensor 40 sends a signal shielded by the shield plate 41, and the rotation of the servo electric motor 22 is stopped by the action of a control device (not shown). Then, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is positioned at a predetermined position and the preparation for delivery to the next device is completed.

When the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 is carried out, the shuttle frame 20 can be carried in the direction of arrow Q by rotating the servo electric motor 22 in the opposite direction.

The semiconductor direction changing and conveying device 50 arranged in the manual semiconductor attaching / detaching portion 8, the direction changing portion 10, the first lane selecting unit 12A and the second lane selecting unit 12B.
The action is completely the same as described above, and the plate-shaped semiconductors 14 are sequentially operated in accordance with the conveyance of the plate-shaped semiconductors 14 to rotate the plate-shaped semiconductors 14 together with the rotating frame 15.

Since the rotation is configured to rotate intermittently by 180 ° from the top dead center UDP to the bottom dead center LDP or from the bottom dead center LDP to the top dead center UDP, the four-bar linkage 43 has a structure. Since the rotation of the rotary frame 15 follows the transition curve of the approximate sine wave, the acceleration is very small at the start and the stop of the rotation, and the movement thereof is gentle.
Performs an ideal rotational movement without giving a shock to 4.

Further, since the shuttle frame 20 is configured to be conveyed by the servo electric motor 22, it has a thickness of 2 mm.
When a fragile plate-like semiconductor 14 having a size of about 00 μm is conveyed, the servo electric motor 22 is conveyed at a slow-up control for gradually increasing the rotation speed and at a stop for gradually reducing the rotation speed. The plate-shaped semiconductor 14 can be transported at an arbitrary speed that is optimal.

As described above, when the rotary frame 15 is rotated and the shuttle frame 20 is transported, the sliding body 4 smoothly rolled on the four-bar linkage 43 and the round bar-shaped guide rail 3 and driven by the servo electric motor 22. By the action, the plate-shaped semiconductor 14 can be smoothly rotated and transported with an extremely small force.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotating frame on which the plate-shaped semiconductor is mounted is rotated by the completely sealed electric motor as described above, so that the generation of oil mist and dust can be completely prevented. Further, as a result, it is possible to prevent oil mist and dust from adhering to the plate-shaped semiconductor being processed so that a high-performance electronic component can be manufactured.

Further, with the above structure, since piping for supplying the working fluid is unnecessary, there is an effect that the degree of freedom in design can be increased and the rotary frame drive mechanism can be arranged at an optimum position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a semiconductor processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a semiconductor carrier device.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the semiconductor transfer device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a semiconductor carrier device.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a semiconductor direction changing and conveying device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a semiconductor direction change conveyance device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor carrier device 14 Plate-shaped semiconductor 15 Rotating frame 20 Shuttle frame 21 Base 31 Rotation center axis 32 Actuating arm 33 Coupling link 35 Electric motor 36 Electric motor rotating shaft 37 Crank 43 Four-node link mechanism 50 Semiconductor direction changing carrier device VL Vertical axis UDP Top dead center LDP Bottom dead center

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/68 A 8418-4M

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rotary frame for holding a plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is disposed on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotary frame, and the plate-shaped semiconductor is rotated together with the rotary frame. In the semiconductor transfer device configured to transfer the plate-shaped semiconductor by changing its direction and moving the shuttle frame in the horizontal direction, an electric motor fixed to a base and rotating intermittently by 180 °, A crank whose one end is fixed to a rotation shaft of the electric motor, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to a rotation center axis of the rotating frame, the other end of the crank and the other end of the operating arm are rotatable. A semiconductor direction changing and conveying device, comprising: a four-bar link mechanism including a coupling link for coupling. 2. A rotating frame for holding a plate-shaped semiconductor in an upright state is disposed on a shuttle frame so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis of the rotating frame, and the plate-shaped semiconductor is rotated together with the rotating frame. In the semiconductor transfer device configured to transfer the plate-shaped semiconductor by changing its direction and moving the shuttle frame in the horizontal direction, an electric motor fixed to a base and rotating intermittently by 180 °, A crank whose one end is fixed to a rotation shaft of the electric motor, an operating arm whose one end is fixed to a rotation center axis of the rotating frame, the other end of the crank and the other end of the operating arm are rotatable. A four-bar linkage composed of a coupling link for coupling, the electric motor is stopped at top dead center and bottom dead center, and intermittently rotated by 180 ° Semiconductor diverting conveying device, characterized in the frame is swung pivot that constitutes the four bar linkage so as to convert the direction of the plate-like semiconductor.