JPH07206117A - Transfer control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve production efficiency by controlling a carried article for return to a warehouse, when a manufacturing device shows abnormal state, and thereafter carrying the article to another manufacturing device, when delivery request is sent therefrom. CONSTITUTION:An article 5 as a transport object is taken out of a warehouse 21 on the basis of delivery request from a manufacturing device A, and, then, the transport of the article to the device is started, using a transport mechanism 31. The state of the device A is checked and judgement is made as to whether the article can be accepted. If affirmative, a carrying process continues. On the other hand, if some trouble occurs in the device A and the article 5 cannot be accepted, a transfer stop instruction is sent from a transfer machine control system 3 to the transport mechanism 31, thereby interrupting a transfer process. Also, the mechanism 31 is not kept in a standby condition, but moved to the warehouse 21 for the temporary return of the article 5 thereto. The mechanism 31, after returning the article 5 to the warehouse 21, continues a process for transfer to a normal manufacturing device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer control method for transferring an object to be transferred stored in a warehouse to a manufacturing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a product manufacturing factory, a transfer system for automatically transferring a product in the process of being manufactured is constructed, and the product is transferred through a predetermined transfer path based on a request for carrying in each manufacturing device or a condition of the device. Is controlled. For example,
Predetermined number of semiconductor devices (eg 25)
The wafer carrier in which the wafers are stored is used as the transferred object, and the transfer between the warehouse in which the transferred object is stored and the manufacturing apparatus for performing the process of each step is performed by the control of the transfer system. .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining such a transport system, in which the transport is generally controlled and managed by the host computer system 1. A warehouse control system 2, a transport mechanism control system 3, and a manufacturing apparatus control system 4 are connected to the host computer system 1, and these are used to connect the warehouse 21 and a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses (for example, manufacturing apparatuses A to C). The transportation of the transported object 5 is controlled. That is, the storage and availability of the warehouse 21, the operating state of the transfer mechanism 31, and the states of the manufacturing apparatuses A to C are transferred from the warehouse control system 2, the transfer mechanism control system 3 and the manufacturing apparatus control system 4 to the host computer system 1, respectively. The host computer system 1 centrally controls the conveyance of the object to be conveyed 5 based on these pieces of information.

Each of the manufacturing apparatuses A to C has a central processing unit, and has a function of managing the state of the manufacturing apparatus itself and reporting the state to the manufacturing apparatus control system 4. Further, each of the manufacturing apparatuses A to C is also provided with a mechanism for loading and unloading the conveyed object 5 such as a wafer carrier into and out of the apparatus, and is independent when the object 5 is conveyed. The processing that has been performed can be performed.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the conventional transfer control method, and shows the main part of the transfer procedure in the transfer system shown in FIG. First, as shown in step 4a, conveyance to one manufacturing apparatus (for example, manufacturing apparatus A) is started according to an instruction from the host computer system 1. That is, according to an instruction from the host computer system 1, the transfer mechanism 31 takes out a predetermined object 5 to be transferred from the warehouse 21 and one manufacturing apparatus (for example, the manufacturing apparatus A).
Transfer to.

Next, as shown in step 4b, it is judged whether or not one manufacturing apparatus can receive the transported object 5. That is, each of the manufacturing apparatuses A to C reports the status of the apparatus to the host computer system 1 via the manufacturing apparatus control system 4, and when a trouble or the like occurs, the transferred object 5 is not accepted. It has been reported that it cannot be done. The transport mechanism control system 3 receives from the host computer system 1 information as to whether or not the transported object 5 can be received, and based on this information, step 4b.
Make a decision. If the transported object 5 cannot be received, the determination in step 4b is No, and the process proceeds to step 4f. Further, when the acceptance is possible, the result is Yes and the process proceeds to the next step 4c.

At step 4c, it is judged whether or not the setting of the transported object 5 is completed. That is, the transported object 5 is transferred to one manufacturing apparatus (for example, the manufacturing apparatus A), and it is determined whether or not the transported object 5 is set in the loading mechanism provided in this manufacturing apparatus. If the setting has not been completed, the result is No. It is determined that the conveyance is still in progress, and the process returns to step 4b to judge again whether or not the conveyed object 5 can be received. If the setting is completed, Yes
Then, the process proceeds to the next step 4d to start the process by one manufacturing apparatus. Then, after the processing is completed, step 4
Proceed to step e and continue conveyance to normal manufacturing equipment.

If a trouble or the like occurs in one manufacturing apparatus during the transportation of the transported object 5, the transported object 5 cannot be received, and the result is No in step 4b. In this case, as shown in step 4f, the conveyance to one manufacturing apparatus is stopped, and in step 4g, the conveyance mechanism 31 is put on standby at that location. Then, as shown in step 4h, the transport is continued after the trouble is resolved, and it is determined in step 4c whether or not the setting of the transported object 5 is completed.

[0009]

However, such a transfer control method has the following problems. That is, in this transport control method, when a trouble or the like occurs in one manufacturing apparatus which is a transport destination and an object to be transported cannot be received, the transport mechanism is put on standby until the trouble is resolved. For this reason, it is not possible to convey the object to be conveyed even in a state where other manufacturing apparatuses can operate normally,
This causes a drop in production efficiency. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer control method capable of improving production efficiency.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a transport control method which has been made to solve such a problem. That is, in the transportation control method of the present invention, in the transportation between the warehouse where the transported object is stored and the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses, the transportation of the transported object is performed based on the carry-in request issued from the manufacturing apparatus and the information indicating the apparatus state. First, the transported object is unloaded from the warehouse based on the carry-in request issued from the one manufacturing apparatus, and the apparatus state of the one manufacturing apparatus is sequentially confirmed during the transfer. Then, if the device state of one manufacturing device indicates an abnormality, the transported object is returned to the warehouse, and then, if another carrying-in request is issued from another manufacturing device, it is transferred to another manufacturing device. It controls to convey the conveyed object.

Further, if the apparatus state of one manufacturing apparatus is abnormal during the conveyance of the conveyed object, it is confirmed whether or not another manufacturing apparatus issues a carry-in request for the conveyed object. Also, when a carry-in request is issued from another manufacturing apparatus, it is also a transfer control method for directly transferring the object to be transferred at that time to another manufacturing apparatus.

[0012]

When the one manufacturing apparatus becomes abnormal while the object to be transported is being carried based on the carry-in request from the one manufacturing apparatus,
The transported object is returned to the warehouse without waiting on the spot, and when there is a request for loading from another manufacturing apparatus, it is transported to the other manufacturing apparatus, so that normal operation stop of the manufacturing apparatus is eliminated. Also, if one manufacturing device becomes abnormal during the transportation of the transported object, it is confirmed whether another manufacturing device issues a transportation request for the transported object, and the transportation request is issued. In this case, the transported object can be directly transported to another manufacturing apparatus, so that it can be transported on the shortest route.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The transport control method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The transport control method of the present invention is a control method based on the transport system shown in FIG. 3. The transport system has the same configuration as the conventional one, but the transport algorithm is different from the conventional one. FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the second embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that FIG. 3 is referred to for the reference numerals not shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.

First, a first embodiment of the transfer control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in step 1a,
As the transportation start to one manufacturing apparatus, for example, the transported object 5 is taken out from the warehouse 21 based on the carry-in request from the manufacturing apparatus A, and the transportation to the manufacturing apparatus A is started using the transport mechanism 31. Next, as shown in step 1b, the apparatus state of the manufacturing apparatus A, which is the transfer destination, is checked to determine whether it is acceptable. The state of each of the manufacturing apparatuses A to C is sent to the host computer system 1 via the manufacturing apparatus control system 4 as needed, and the transport mechanism control system 3
Communicates with the host computer system 1 to sequentially confirm the device state of, for example, the manufacturing device A, which is the transport destination.

If it can be accepted, the conveyance is continued as it is, and it is judged in step 1c whether or not the setting of the conveyed object 5 is completed. If the setting is completed, the manufacturing in step 1d is performed. The process in the device A is started. Further, when the setting is not completed, it is determined that the sheet is still being conveyed, the determination result in step 1c is No, and the process returns to the determination in step 1b. On the other hand, if the acceptance is impossible in the determination of step 1b, that is, if some trouble occurs in the manufacturing apparatus A, which is the transport destination during the transport, and the transported object 5 cannot be accepted, the determination result is No, Go to step 1f.

In step 1f, the transport mechanism control system 3 sends a transport stop command to the transport mechanism 31 to suspend the transport of the transport mechanism 31. Then, in the next step 1g, the transported object 5 being transported by the transport mechanism 31 is transferred.
Is returned to the warehouse 21. That is, when the manufacturing apparatus A, which is the transfer destination, becomes inoperable, the transfer mechanism 3
Move 1 to warehouse 21 instead of waiting on the spot,
The transported object 5 is once returned to the warehouse 21.

After returning the transported object 5 into the warehouse 21, the transportation to the normal manufacturing apparatus is continued as shown in step 1e. That is, for example, after a trouble occurs in the manufacturing apparatus A and the transported object 5 is returned to the warehouse 21, the transfer mechanism 31 confirms the loading request and the apparatus state of the other manufacturing apparatuses B and C. Here, for example, when the carrying-in request is made from the manufacturing apparatus B, the transported object 5 requested by the manufacturing apparatus B is taken out from the warehouse 21 and carried. After the trouble occurs in the manufacturing apparatus A and the transported object 5 is returned to the warehouse 21, the transported object 5 may be transported to the manufacturing apparatus A again when the trouble in the manufacturing apparatus A is resolved. .

As described above, even if one of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses A to C, which is the transfer destination, has a trouble and cannot be carried in, the other manufacturing apparatus is operable. Will be able to.

Next, a second embodiment of the transfer control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the transport control method according to the second embodiment, the processing from step 2a to step 2f is the same as step 1a to step 1f in the first embodiment, but the determination in step 2b is No and the transport is stopped in step 2f. The subsequent processing is different from that of the first embodiment. That is, for example, some trouble occurs in the manufacturing apparatus A, which is the transfer destination, during the transfer of the transferred object 5, and after the transfer mechanism control system 3 performs the transfer stop processing for the transfer mechanism 31 in step 2f, the step 2g is performed. Make a decision.

In step 2g, the manufacturing apparatuses B and C other than the manufacturing apparatus A which has a trouble at the stage of stopping the transportation.
Then, it is determined whether or not there is a request to carry in the transported object 5 being transported. Here, for example, when the carry-in request is issued from the manufacturing apparatus B, Yes is determined in step 2g, and the process of transferring the transported object 5 to the manufacturing apparatus B is performed in the next step 2h. In other words, when the other manufacturing apparatuses B and C are requesting the transported object 5 whose transportation is stopped due to the trouble of the manufacturing apparatus A, the other manufacturing apparatuses B and C that are the request destinations are directly sent from the position where the transportation is stopped. To either of the above. As a result, it is possible to transfer the object to be transferred 5 to the requested manufacturing apparatus without following the wasteful transfer path.

Further, when the carrying-in request is not issued from the other manufacturing apparatuses B and C in the judgment of step 2g, the result is No, and as shown in step 2i, the transported object 5 is stored in the warehouse 2.
The process of transferring to 1 is performed. And then step 2
As shown in e, the transfer to the normal manufacturing apparatus is continued.

For example, when the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses A to C are apparatuses that perform the same type of processing, the transfer control method shown in the second embodiment is effective. In other words, if an apparatus that performs the same type of processing is used, even if one manufacturing apparatus causes a trouble, it is possible to transfer the transported object 5 to another manufacturing apparatus and perform the same processing there.

Even when the manufacturing apparatuses A to C are not apparatuses that perform the same type of processing, when the manufacturing apparatuses A to C request the transported object 5 that has been processed up to the same steps, the second process is also performed. The example is valid. For example, when the manufacturing apparatuses A to C each include a measuring apparatus that performs different types of measurement, and when measuring products (wafers, etc.) that have been processed up to the same process, the manufacturing apparatuses A to C are transferred to one manufacturing apparatus. It becomes possible to transfer the object 5 to be transported to another manufacturing apparatus and perform the measurement in that manufacturing apparatus.

Further, the first embodiment is effective when the manufacturing apparatuses A to C request the transported object 5 which has been processed up to different steps. That is, when a trouble occurs in one manufacturing apparatus during the transportation to the one manufacturing apparatus, the transported object 5 being transported does not become a request target of another manufacturing apparatus, so that the transported object 5 is temporarily transferred to the warehouse 21. This is because it is necessary to return the object 5 and take out the transported object 5 required by another manufacturing apparatus.

In any of the embodiments, even if a trouble or the like occurs in one of the manufacturing apparatuses, which is the transfer destination, and the object 5 cannot be carried in, it can be transferred to another manufacturing apparatus that operates normally. This will enable efficient production. In this embodiment, the manufacturing apparatus A is used as an example of one manufacturing apparatus, and the manufacturing apparatuses B and C are used as another manufacturing apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the manufacturing apparatus is not limited to three units A to C, and the same applies to a plurality of two or more units.

[0026]

As described above, the transfer control method of the present invention has the following effects. In other words, according to this transfer control method, even if a trouble occurs in one manufacturing device that is a transfer destination, the transferred object is returned to the warehouse without waiting on the spot, or transferred to another manufacturing device. Therefore, the manufacturing lead time of the product can be shortened and the production efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a transport system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host Computer System 2 Warehouse Control System 3 Transport Mechanism Control System 4 Manufacturing Equipment Control System 5 Transported Object 21 Warehouse 31 Transport Mechanism

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a transportation between a warehouse in which a transported object is stored and a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses, the transportation of the transported object is carried out based on a carry-in request issued from the manufacturing apparatus and information indicating an apparatus state. A control method, wherein the transported object is unloaded from the warehouse based on a carry-in request issued from one manufacturing apparatus, and the transported object is sequentially transferred from the warehouse to the one manufacturing apparatus. Check the device state of the one manufacturing device, and if the device state of the one manufacturing device shows an abnormality, return the transported object to the warehouse, and then a carry-in request is issued from another manufacturing device. If so, the object to be transferred is transferred to the other manufacturing apparatus. 2. In the transportation between a warehouse in which the transported object is stored and a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses, the transportation of the transported object is performed based on the information indicating the carry-in request and the apparatus status issued from the manufacturing apparatus. A control method, wherein the transported object is unloaded from the warehouse based on a carry-in request issued from one manufacturing apparatus, and the transported object is sequentially transferred from the warehouse to the one manufacturing apparatus. Check the device state of one manufacturing device, and if the device state of the one manufacturing device is abnormal, check whether another manufacturing device issues a request to carry in the transported object. When the carry-in request is issued from the other manufacturing apparatus, the transported object is directly transferred to the other manufacturing apparatus at that time.