JPH07193114A - Substrate supporting device and substrate positioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sandwich a substrate with a simple structure and to prevent the substrate from stained with dust by fixing a contact member to a substrate placement stage so that it, on the side of substrate supported by a lower surface supporting part, contacts the other end part facing an end part, and sandwiching the substrate with the tapered surface of a reception member. CONSTITUTION:When a hand 43 comes into a housing 27, the tip of a supporting member 55 of pusher 51 contacts a contact plate 53 of pressurizing part 50, so that, against a leaf spring 54, a pusher main body 56 pushes a substrate W. As a result, the front end of substrate W contacts to a contact member 61, so that the substrate W is located. Then, following the movement of substrate W caused by the pusher main body 56, a placement part main body 58 rises by dint of energizing force of a leaf spring 59, so, the condition where the substrate placement part main body 58 contacts the back end of substrate W is kept always. Then, at the stage where the substrate W so contacts a contact member 61 that the substrate W is located, the substrate W is sandwiched in between the placement part main body 58 and the contact member 61.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate supporting device for supporting a substrate in a horizontal posture and a substrate positioning device for positioning the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a manufacturing process of semiconductors and liquid crystal display devices, a single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus for processing substrates one by one is used. This type of substrate processing apparatus generally includes a plurality of substrate processing units that process substrates one by one, and a substrate transfer robot that transfers the substrates between the substrate processing units.

The substrate transfer robot has a robot body and a hand that moves back and forth with respect to the robot body. The substrate is placed on this hand and conveyed. In order to reduce the substrate transfer time, it is necessary to increase the acceleration / deceleration at the start and end of the transfer. Then, for that purpose, it is necessary to surely hold the substrate on the hand.

A substrate transfer robot disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-100199 is known as a substrate transfer robot capable of shortening the transfer time. This substrate transfer robot is a SCARA type robot, and includes a base, a first arm rotatably attached to the base, and a second arm rotatably attached to the tip of the first arm. It has a substrate placing part rotatably attached to the tip of the second arm, and a substrate holding part placed on the substrate placing part. The substrate holding part holds the rectangular substrate from the side and holds it, and a stopper that can contact the advancing side of the rectangular substrate and an advancing / retracting member that is arranged opposite to the retreating side of the rectangular substrate. It is provided with a free pressing portion and a rotating cam that moves the pressing portion forward and backward by the rotational force of the second arm.

In this substrate transfer robot, the rotating cam positions the pressing portion at the retracted position when the arm advances. At other times, the pressing portion is arranged at the advanced position and contacts the substrate to clamp the rectangular substrate together with the stopper.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the substrate transfer robot disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-94, in order to support the substrate on the substrate holding unit, it is necessary to connect the pressing unit that presses the substrate and the second arm on the substrate mounting unit. Since the structure is complicated and such a complicated mechanism is provided in the vicinity of the substrate to be supported, the substrate may be contaminated due to dust generation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate supporting device which sandwiches and supports a substrate with a simple structure and is less likely to cause contamination of the substrate due to dust generation. Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate positioning device capable of positioning a substrate at a predetermined position on a substrate holder with a simple structure.

[0008]

A substrate supporting device according to the present invention is a device for supporting a substrate in a horizontal posture and comprises a substrate mounting table, a receiving member, an elastic member and an abutting member. ing. The substrate mounting table has a lower surface support portion that supports the lower surface of the substrate from below. The receiving member has a tapered surface that is inclined in the up-down direction so as to receive one end of the substrate on the side of the substrate supported by the lower surface support portion. The elastic member is fixed to the substrate mounting table and supports the receiving member so that the receiving member can move up and down. The abutting member is fixed to the substrate mounting table so as to abut on the other end of the substrate supported by the lower surface support portion on the side of the substrate, and sandwiches the substrate with the tapered surface of the receiving member. .

The substrate positioning device according to the present invention is used for a substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate horizontally by supporting the substrate on a substrate support portion provided at the tip of an extendable transfer arm.
An apparatus for positioning a conveyed substrate at a predetermined position on a substrate supporting portion, the first abutting portion, the second abutting portion,
And an elastic mechanism. The first abutting portion is provided on the substrate supporting portion and is capable of abutting one end portion of the substrate to be positioned. The second contact portion is capable of contacting the other end portion of the substrate facing the one end portion. The elastic mechanism generates an urging force to elastically press the second contact portion toward the other end of the substrate when the transfer arm is in a compressed state, and cancels the urging force when the transfer arm is in an extended state.

[0010]

In the substrate supporting apparatus according to the present invention, the lower surface supporting portion of the substrate mounting table supports the lower surface of the substrate, and the tapered surface of the receiving member receives one end portion of the substrate. The receiving member descends when the elastic member bends due to the weight of the substrate when receiving the substrate. At this time, since the receiving member receives the substrate with the tapered surface, the horizontal movement of the substrate is reliably regulated by the receiving member when the substrate is supported by the supporting member. Here, the substrate supporting operation is realized by a simple structure having no rotating portion, and the contamination of the substrate due to dust generation is unlikely to occur.

In the substrate positioning apparatus according to the present invention, when the substrate is supported by the substrate supporting portion and the transfer arm is compressed, the elastic mechanism urges the second contact portion to press the other end portion of the substrate, Is brought into contact with the first contact portion. As a result, the substrate contacts the first contact portion and is positioned. Further, when the transfer arm extends, the biasing force disappears. Here, the substrate positioning operation is realized by a simple structure having no rotating portion due to the urging force of the elastic mechanism.

[0012]

1 and 2, a substrate processing apparatus 1 adopting an embodiment of the present invention is a substrate loading / unloading unit for mounting two cassettes C1 and C2 accommodating a large number of rectangular substrates W. 2 and a processing unit section 3 for performing a series of processing on the substrate W
And a substrate transfer section 4 for transferring the substrate W between the substrate loading / unloading section 2 and the processing unit section 3.

The substrate loading / unloading section 2 includes cassettes C1 and C.
2 is mounted on the cassette mounting table ID and the cassette C1,
The indexer robot RB1 transports the substrates W one by one between C2 and the substrate loading / unloading position of the substrate transport unit 4. For example, in the cassettes C1 and C2, 10
A single substrate W can be stored. The cassette mounting table ID is
It has a function of raising and lowering the placed cassettes C1 and C2 to maintain the substrate take-out and take-in position at a constant height.

The indexer robot RB1 is movable on a rail 5 extending in the Y direction (depth direction in FIG. 1). The indexer robot RB1 is a scalar type robot and can move in the Z direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1), the X direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1), and the θ direction (rotational direction around the vertical axis). is there. In the processing unit section 3, the processing sections are arranged in upper and lower two stages, and the substrate W is provided in the lower stage.
Spin scrubber SS for cleaning wafer and cleaned substrate W
A spin coater SC for applying a photoresist solution is disposed on the. The hot plate HP is on the top.
1, HP2 and cool plates CP1 and CP2 are arranged. The hot plate HP1 is for dehydrating and baking the substrate W cleaned by the spin scrubber SS.
The hot plate HP2 is for pre-baking the substrate W coated with the photoresist liquid. Cool plates CP1 and CP2 are hot plates HP1 and H, respectively.
The substrate W heated at P2 is cooled.

The board transfer section 4 has a rail 6 extending in the X direction.
And a substrate transfer robot RB2 movable on the rail 6. The substrate transfer robot RB2 is a SCARA type robot and is also movable in the Z direction and the Y direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate transfer robot RB2 includes an X-axis moving mechanism 20 that moves along the rail 6, a pair of Z-axis moving mechanisms 21 arranged on the X-axis moving mechanism 20, and a Z-axis moving mechanism 21.
It has a Y-axis moving mechanism 22 arranged between the axis moving mechanisms 21.

The X-axis moving mechanism 20 has a moving frame 23 movably supported on the rail 6. A drive motor (not shown) for moving in the X direction and a drive motor ZM for moving in the Z direction are arranged in the moving frame 23. On the upper part of the moving frame 23, a fixed frame 24 of the Z-axis moving mechanism 21 is provided upright. A first elevating arm 25 is connected to the inside of the upper end of the fixed frame 24 via a rotating shaft. A second elevating arm 26 is connected to the tip of the first elevating arm 25 via a rotation shaft. The Y-axis moving mechanism 22 is attached to the tip of the second lifting arm 26.
The housing 27 of is connected via a rotary shaft. Z
The driving force of the direction drive motor ZM is generated by the link (not shown) arranged in the fixed frame 24 to the first lifting arm 2
5 is transmitted. A large number of gears (not shown) are arranged in the first elevating arm 25 and the second elevating arm 26, and these gears cause the first elevating arm 25, the second elevating arm 26, and the housing 27 to move. It is designed to rotate together. As a result, the housing 27 moves up and down while maintaining the same posture by the rotation of the first elevating arm 25 and the second elevating arm 26.

The Y-axis moving mechanism 22 in the housing 27 is
As shown in FIG. 4, the front side of the lower surface of the housing 27 (see FIG.
(Lower side), a Y-axis drive motor YM, a first moving arm 40 connected to the Y-axis drive motor YM and rotatably supported by the housing 27, and a first moving arm 40 via a rotary shaft. The second moving arm 41 and the second
It has a substrate holding portion 42 connected to the tip of the moving arm 41 via a rotary shaft.

The substrate holding part 42 has a pair of hands 43 arranged vertically and a holding part main body 44 for movably supporting the hands 43 in directions approaching and separating from each other. The pair of upper and lower hands 43 is provided for the purpose of exchanging the processed substrate W and the unprocessed substrate W at once in the processing section. Here, the first moving arm 40, the second moving arm 41, and the substrate holding unit 42 are connected by a gear train (not shown) and rotate in synchronization, and the hand 43 moves back and forth in the same posture in the Y direction.

A pressing portion 50 having an L-shape in plan view is attached to the inner wall of the housing 27 on the upper side in FIG. A pusher 51 that can abut the pressing portion 50 is attached to the upper surface and the lower surface (not shown) of the holding portion main body 44. The pressing portion 50 has a pressing plate spring 52 whose base is fixed to the housing 27 and extends in the X direction, and a contact plate 53 extending from the tip of the pressing plate spring 52 in the Y direction (downward in FIG. 4). . In the pusher 51, the base portion is the holding portion main body 44.
And a leaf spring 54 fixed to the leaf spring 5 and extending in the Y direction.
4, a support member 55 having a base fixed to the front end of the support member 4, and a pusher body 56 extending in the Y direction from an intermediate portion of the support member 55.
And have.

The support member 55 extends in the X direction and is shown in FIG.
In the retracted state, the tip end thereof is in contact with the contact plate 53. In the free state, the tip of the leaf spring 54 has the abutting plate 53.
It is curved to the side and in the state of FIG. 4, the contact plate 53 is extended by contacting the support plate 55. With this configuration, when the hand 43 is housed in the housing 27 (in the state of FIG. 4), the tip of the pusher main body 56 presses the substrate W held by the hand 43 in the Y direction, and the hand 43 moves to the housing 27. When not stored (Fig. 3
And in the state of FIG. 6), the tip of the pusher body 56 is retracted by the leaf spring 54 to a position where it does not contact the substrate W.

At the position adjacent to the tip of the pusher main body 56 at the base of the hand 43 (upper part in FIG. 4), 1
A pair of substrate mounting portions 57 are attached. As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate mounting portion 57 has a wedge-shaped mounting portion main body 58 having a substantially triangular side surface, and a plate spring 59 that supports the mounting portion main body 58 so as to be vertically movable. Stepped grooves 58a are formed at intervals of about 1 mm on the mounting surface of the mounting section main body 58 (the triangular hypotenuse on the right side of FIG. 5). The groove 58a is a groove extending in the X direction. The leaf spring 59 extends substantially in the Y direction, and one end of the leaf spring 59 is the back surface of the mounting portion main body 58 (left side surface in FIG. 5).
It is fixed to. The other end of the leaf spring 59 is attached to the inner wall of the hand 43. The spring constant of the leaf spring 59 is
When the substrate W is placed on the hand 43, the weight of the substrate W is set so small that the placing portion main body 58 can move downward.

A plurality of support pins 6 are provided on the upper surface of the hand 43.
0 is mounted at the same height. This support pin 60
Is for mounting the substrate W. A contact member 61 is attached to the tip of the hand 43 as shown in FIG. The contact member 61 is for positioning the substrate W, and is the substrate W pressed by the pusher body 56.
I'm supposed to take it.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. The cassettes C1 and C2 storing the substrate W carry in the substrate.
When placed on the carry-out section, the indexer robot RB1 takes out the substrates one by one and transfers them to the substrate transfer robot RB2. The substrate transfer robot RB2 transfers the received substrate W to a position facing the spin scrubber SS. The spin scrubber SS cleans the received substrate W. The substrate W that has undergone the cleaning process has a hot plate HP.
It is conveyed to 1 and heated and dried.

Substrate W dried on hot plate HP1
Is transported to the cool plate CP1 and cooled. The cooled substrate W is transferred to the spin coater SC. In the spin coater SC, the photoresist liquid is applied onto the substrate W. The substrate W coated with the photoresist solution is transported to the hot plate HP2, heated and dried, further transported to the cool plate CP2, and cooled.

The substrate W, which has been cooled, is transferred to the indexer robot RB1 of the substrate loading / unloading section 2 by the substrate transport robot RB2. The indexer robot RB1 returns the received substrate W to the cassettes C1 and C2. In the above operation, the substrate transfer robot RB2 at the time of substrate transfer.
Causes the hand 43 to expand and contract between the hand retracted state of FIG. 4 and the hand advanced state of FIG. The expansion / contraction operation of the hand 43 is realized by driving the Y-axis drive motor YM.

When the hand 43 advances from the retracted state of FIG. 4 to the advanced state of FIG. 6, the pressing portion 50 pushes the pusher 51.
And the pusher main body 56 of the pusher 51 is retracted rearward by the leaf spring 54. Then, when receiving the substrate W, the substrate W receives the support pins 6 as shown in FIG.
0 is placed on. At this time, one side of the substrate W rides on the groove 58a of the oblique side of the mounting portion main body 58 of the substrate mounting portion 57, the plate spring 59 bends, and the mounting portion main body 58 moves downward. In this state, the pusher body 56 is retracted,
It does not interfere with the substrate W.

Next, when the hand 43 enters the housing 27, the tip of the support member 55 of the pusher 51 contacts the contact plate 53 of the pressing portion 50, and the pusher body 56 is moved against the plate spring 54 as shown in FIG. The substrate W is pushed as shown in (b). As a result, the front end of the substrate W contacts the contact member 61,
The substrate W is positioned. At this time, the pusher body 5
With the movement of the substrate W by 6, the mounting portion main body 58 rises due to the biasing force of the leaf spring 59.
The state in which 8 is in contact with the rear end of the substrate W is always maintained. Then, when the substrate W comes into contact with the contact member 61 and the substrate W is positioned, the substrate W is sandwiched between the mounting portion main body 58 and the contact member 61.

When the hand W advances from the retracted position shown in FIG. 4 to the advanced position shown in FIG. 6 while the substrate W is sandwiched between the mounting portion main body 58 and the contact member 61, the pressing portion 50 is pressed.
The pusher 51 is separated from the pusher body 56, and the pusher main body 56 is retracted rearward by the leaf spring 54 as shown in FIG. 7C.
However, since the leaf spring 59 does not exhibit elasticity in the Y direction,
The sandwiching of the substrate W by the mounting portion main body 58 and the contact member 61 is maintained.

In this embodiment, the substrate transfer robot RB2
Since the substrate W is held between the mounting portion main body 58 and the abutting member 61 when the substrate is transported by, the transport speed can be increased. Further, when the substrate W is supported by the hand 43, the mounting portion main body 58 elastically supported only in the vertical direction by the leaf spring 59 receives the substrate W on the tapered surface, so that the substrate supporting operation has no rotating portion. It is realized with a simple structure. Further, the Y-axis moving mechanism 22 is fixed to the fixed frame 27.
When retracted, the pusher body 56 urged by the leaf spring 52 contacts the substrate W to bring the substrate W into contact with the contact member 61, so that the substrate positioning operation is realized with a simple structure having no rotating portion. To be done. [Other Embodiments] Instead of the pressing leaf spring 52, a coil spring may be used to press the supporting member 55.

[0030]

In the substrate supporting apparatus according to the present invention, when the substrate is supported by the lower surface supporting portion, the receiving member receives the substrate with the tapered surface, so that the substrate supporting operation is realized by a simple structure without a rotating portion. Therefore, contamination of the substrate due to dust generation is unlikely to occur. In the substrate positioning apparatus according to the present invention, when the substrate is supported by the substrate support portion and the transfer arm is compressed, the elastic mechanism urges the second contact portion to press the other end portion of the substrate to move the substrate to the first position. Contact the contact part. As a result, the substrate contacts the first contact portion and is positioned. Further, when the transfer arm extends, the biasing force disappears. Here, the substrate positioning operation is realized by a simple structure having no rotating portion due to the urging force of the elastic mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of a Y-axis moving mechanism inside a housing.

FIG. 5 is a partial side view of the substrate mounting portion.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a state where the Y-axis moving mechanism has advanced.

FIG. 7 is a partial side view showing the operation of the pusher.

[Explanation of symbols]

 27 Housing 42 Substrate Holding Section 50 Pushing Section 51 Pusher 52 Pushing Leaf Spring 56 Pusher Main Body 57 Substrate Placing Section 58 Placing Section Main Body 59 Leaf Spring 60 Support Pin 61 Abutting Member RB2 Substrate Transfer Robot W Substrate YM Y-axis Drive Motor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate supporting device for supporting a substrate in a horizontal posture, comprising: a substrate mounting table having a lower surface supporting portion for supporting a lower surface of the substrate from below; and a lateral side of the substrate supported by the lower surface supporting portion. In which the one end of the substrate is received, the receiving member having a tapered surface that is inclined in the vertical direction, an elastic member that is fixed to the substrate mounting table and that supports the receiving member so that the receiving member can move up and down, and the lower surface support. An abutting member which is fixed to the substrate mounting table so as to abut the other end facing the one end on the side of the substrate supported by the portion, and which holds the substrate with the tapered surface of the receiving member. And a substrate supporting device. 2. A substrate carrying device for carrying a substrate in a horizontal direction by supporting the substrate on a substrate supporting part provided at the tip of an extendable carrying arm, and carrying the substrate to be carried at a predetermined position on the substrate supporting part. In the substrate positioning device for positioning the substrate, the first contact portion, which is provided on the substrate support portion and is capable of abutting one end portion of the substrate to be positioned, and the other end portion of the substrate facing the one end portion, are contacted with each other. In the compressed state of the second contact portion that can come into contact with the transfer arm, an urging force is generated to elastically press the second contact portion toward the other end of the substrate, and when the transfer arm is in the extended state. And an elastic mechanism that eliminates the biasing force.