JPH0744049U - Manual operation device for disk transfer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Structure] Multiple wafers, etc. with central holes (disks)
A manual operation device 10 for transferring a disc between cassettes having different support pitches, one end of which is fixed to a rod 11 and the rest of which is supported slidably in the longitudinal direction by the rod 11. A plurality of supporting members 20 each supporting one of the discs at the edge of the central hole are provided, and adjacent supporting members 20 are variable within a range in which an interval therebetween does not exceed a predetermined maximum length. And a manual biasing member 13 for sliding the wafer supporting member 20 along the rod 11 to change the pitch between the wafer supporting members 20. [Effect] The plurality of wafers can be lifted from one cassette by the plurality of wafer supporting members 20, the pitch between the wafers can be changed by the biasing member 13, and the wafers can be transferred to another cassette. Further, since it is a manual type, it can be miniaturized.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention transfers or transports a disk, such as a semiconductor wafer, each having a central hole of a given size, from one traditional type cassette to another similar type cassette having a different pitch. The present invention relates to a manual operation device for disk transfer.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Semiconductor wafers are fragile or otherwise easily rendered unusable by contamination or abrasion. As such, semiconductor wafers are typically transported using cassettes to move them from one workstation to another during processing.

Cassettes used for such purpose include, for example, US Pat. No. 4,311,427 issued on Jan. 19, 1982, US Pat. No. 4,471,716 issued on Sep. 18, 1984, 1985. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,418 issued January 15, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,156 issued May 10, 1988, it is generally box-shaped or cage-shaped with an open bottom. The cassette has a wall portion having a plurality of grooves at a constant pitch. Multiple (typically 25) disks are positioned in such a cassette and held vertically oriented parallel to each other.

To save space, the wafers in such cassettes are typically spaced apart by as little as a quarter inch. However, when the wafer cleaning process is performed, the individual wafers cannot be effectively cleaned if the wafers are closely aligned as described above.

For this reason, another cassette having a wafer support groove on the wall is usually provided for cleaning purposes at a larger interval of, for example, (1/2) inch. Then, the wafers brought to the cleaning station are taken out one by one from the normal cassette used for general transfer, and placed in a special cassette with wider grooves. Reprinted.

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, transferring wafers from one cassette to another cassette having a different pitch is a troublesome work both when performed manually and when performed by a robot. U.S. Patent Application No. 349,399, filed May 8, 1989, discloses a motor driven device that can easily transfer multiple wafers from one cassette to another with different pitches. There is. However, such motor driven devices are heavy, bulky, and, in some circumstances, not convenient.

Therefore, a disk having a central hole, such as a semiconductor wafer, can be efficiently transferred from a conventional type cassette having a wall provided with a disk supporting groove to another cassette having a similar structure having grooves having different pitches. It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact manual operating device for automatic transfer.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, a disk transfer manual device according to the present invention transfers a plurality of disks having a central hole from one cassette to another cassette having a different pitch. A manually operated device having a rod extended in the longitudinal direction, one end of which is fixed to the rod, and the rest of which are slidably supported in the longitudinal direction by the rod and form a row. A plurality of disc supporting members that are continuously connected to each other and support one of the discs at the edge of the central hole, and the disc supporting members that are continuously connected to each other are adjacent to each other. A connecting means for connecting the two members so that the distance between them is variable within a range not exceeding a predetermined maximum length, and the other end of the plurality of disc supporting members. The rods provided with the plurality of disk supporting members are brought into contact with each other from one cassette by making contact with each other and slidingly moving the plurality of disk supporting members along the rod by acting on the disk supporting member at the other end. It is characterized in that it is provided with an inter-operation means capable of lifting the discs of the above discs, changing the pitches of the plurality of discs, and transferring them to another cassette.

That is, an apparatus embodying the present invention capable of achieving the above-mentioned objects and other objects herein is such that a plurality of disks (wafers) regularly arranged in a cassette as described above. Etc.) with an extended rod passing through a well-aligned central hole in. A plurality of disc support members in series, connected in series and generally disc-shaped, are attached to the rod. One disc support member located at one end of the row is fixed to the rod, while the other disc support member is slidable longitudinally along the rod. Adjacent pairs of disc support members connected in series in these rows are variable in such a way that the spacing between them does not exceed a predetermined maximum distance. , Non-fixedly connected.

Each of these disc supporting members may have a groove formed in the top thereof to receive the inner circumference of the disc, and the disc may be supported by the central hole by the groove. The disc support member located at the other end of the row may be attached to a tubular sleeve-shaped member that is concentric with the rod. When the tubular sleeve member is manually pushed longitudinally along the direction of extension of the rod, the interlocking disc support members are either pressed together or pulled away from each other to form a pair of adjacent pairs. The distance between the objects becomes a predetermined interval.

[0011] Preferably, each of the disc support members has a groove extending perpendicularly to the rod so that the edge of the central hole of the disk can be received in the groove.

That is, it is preferable that the mutual operation means is firmly connected to the closest one, which is the other end of the plurality of disk supporting members. It is preferable that the inter-operation means has a cylindrical sleeve-shaped member that is arranged around the rod and is used for the movement in the longitudinal direction.

The connecting means are respectively mounted so as to project from one of the disc supporting members, extend in parallel with the rods, pass through the first through holes of the adjacent disc supporting members, and extend in the radial direction. It is preferable that a plurality of screws having an expanded head be provided, and at least a part of the first through hole be smaller in diameter than the expanded head of the screw in the radial direction.

It is preferable that the screws attached to the disc support members adjacent to each other are not arranged on the same straight line. In addition, almost all the disk supporting members are provided with a second through hole having a size large enough to allow the radially expanded head portion of the screw to pass therethrough, separately from the first through hole. Is preferred. It is preferable that the groove provided in the disk support member has a V-shaped cross section.

The distance between the two grooves in two adjacent disc support members is determined in advance when the inter-operation means moves the disc support member along the rod in the first direction as far as possible. A constant value equal to the defined first distance and predetermined when the inter-operation means has moved the disk support member along the rod in a second direction opposite to the first direction as much as possible. It is preferable that the size of the disk support member and the connecting means be determined so that the disk support member and the connecting means have a constant value equal to the second distance. Further, it is preferable that the mutual operation means is provided with a biasing means for applying a biasing force in the longitudinal direction.

[0016]

[Action]

 In the above configuration, when a plurality of discs are transferred from one cassette to another cassette having a different pitch, the distance between the adjacent disc support members in the disc transfer manual operation device is set to be smaller than that in the one cassette. Adjust the disc spacing to be equal to the spacing between adjacent discs (for example, the minimum spacing between the disc support members), and then pierce the disc support member through the center hole of each disc in one cassette. Each disc is removed from the one cassette by supporting it on the inner circumference of the central hole and lifting it.

Then, after the mutual operation means changes the distance between the adjacent disk support members to be equal to the distance at which the disks are supported in the other cassette (for example, the maximum distance between the disk support members), The disc supported by the disc supporting member may be transferred to another cassette described above. When a disc is transferred from the other cassette to the one cassette, the reverse operation to the above may be performed.

[0018]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. 1 and 2 show a disc having a central hole, such as a semiconductor wafer, from a cassette (not shown) of a traditional structure having a wall portion having a disc supporting groove formed at a first pitch. A manual operating device 10 for transferring a disk according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on another cassette (not shown) having a similar structure in which a disk supporting groove is formed at a second pitch different from the first pitch. Shows. In order not to lose consistency, in the following it is assumed that the first pitch is smaller than the second pitch.

The disk transfer manual operation device 10 has an elongated slender rod 11, and the rod 11 is fixed to a base member 12 which functions as a handle or a handle. The rod 11 (when the device 10 is to be used under normal circumstances) extends horizontally from the base member 12. Although the rod 11 actually extends in a straight line, the intermediate portion is omitted in FIG. 1 for convenience, and the front and rear central axes are offset from each other.

A plurality of (five according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1) thin and disk-shaped wafer support members (disk support members) 20-1, 20-2, ..., 20-5 (collection) 20), it is supported vertically and continuously on the rod 11. The first wafer support member 20-1 is fixed near the protruding end of the rod 11 from the base member 12, but the other wafer support members 20-2, 20-3, ... Are connected to the rod 11. Has a central hole through which it passes, and is slidable in the longitudinal direction along the rod 11 without rotating around the rod 11. The last wafer support member 20-5 is fixed to the tubular sleeve member 22. The tubular sleeve member 22 includes an internal retainer ring and a linear ball bearing (not shown), and is slidable in the longitudinal direction along the rod 11.

A rod 11 having a wafer support member 20 attached thereto is adapted to be inserted through a well-aligned central hole of a plurality of wafers (not shown) supported in a cassette of a traditional structure. Has become. Therefore, when viewed in the longitudinal direction, the cross-sectional area of the wafer supporting member 20 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the central hole of the wafer.

Since each wafer support member 20 supports and lifts each wafer in the cassette by the inner peripheral edge of the wafer, each disk-shaped wafer support member 20 is different from that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Obviously, it has a groove 26 at the top with a V-shaped cross section, which groove 26 is adapted to receive the inner peripheral edge formed by the central hole of the wafer.

The plurality of disc-shaped wafer supporting members 20 have a minimum value (corresponding to the first pitch) and a maximum value (corresponding to the second pitch) between each pair of adjacent ones. Are continuously connected to each other so that they can be changed. In other words, the connection between these wafer supporting members 20 is not fixed.

Here, the distance between the wafer supporting members 20 adjacent to each other may be determined by the distance between the two wafers supported in the groove 26 of the wafer supporting member 20. It can be understood. Therefore, the above-mentioned minimum value is basically determined by the thickness of each wafer support member 20. This is because the grooves 26 are similarly formed in the individual wafer supporting members 20, and the minimum distance occurs when the wafer supporting members 20 are all pressed as shown in FIG. In contrast thereto, FIG. 1 shows the disk transfer manual operating device 10 when the distance between the wafer supporting members 20 connected to each other reaches the maximum value corresponding to the second pitch.

Next, a mechanism for connecting the wafer supporting members 20 to each other will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 shows three wafer supporting members 20-i, 20- (i + 1), 20- (i + 2) adjacent to each other (variable i is an arbitrary value between 1 and 3). . For convenience of explanation, these three wafer supporting members 20-i, 20- (i + 1), 20- (i + 2) are referred to as a first wafer supporting member, a second wafer supporting member, and a third wafer supporting member, respectively. Call.

In FIG. 6, a flat head screw 31 (connecting means) is adjustably attached to the first wafer supporting member 20-i. The flat head screw 31 horizontally projects toward the second wafer supporting member 20- (i + 1). As shown in FIG. 3, the two flat head screws 31 are attached to the second wafer supporting member 20- (i + 1) at radially opposed positions. However, in FIG. 6, only one flat head screw 31 is shown to show the connecting mechanism.

Referring again to FIG. 6, the flat head screw 31 penetrates the sleeve 32. As shown in FIG. 3, the second wafer support member 20- (i + 1) is provided with a pair of first through holes 34 for allowing the flat head screw 31 and the sleeve 32 to pass therethrough. The inner diameter of each first through hole 34 is smaller on the side facing the first wafer supporting member 20-i than on the side facing the third wafer supporting member 20- (i + 2), and the inner diameter is It is changing rapidly in the middle part.

As shown in FIG. 6, the protruding end of the sleeve 32 from the first wafer support member 20-i extends outward in the radial direction, and the expanded end has a first through hole. The large diameter portion of 34 can pass, but the small diameter portion cannot pass. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the maximum distance between the first wafer supporting member 20-i and the second wafer supporting member 20- (i + 1) is as shown in FIG. (The head of 31 touches from the rear), when it comes into contact with the intermediate portion where the inner diameter of the through hole 34 changes rapidly.

The third wafer support member 20- (i + 2) includes a pair of second wafers each having an inner diameter sufficient to allow passage of the head portion of the flat head screw 31 and the enlarged diameter end portion of the sleeve 32. A through hole 36 is provided. As shown in FIG. 7, this allows the three wafer support members 20-i, 20- (i + 1), 20- (i + 2) to be pressed together to minimize the spacing between them. It is for doing.

In the context of the above description of the coupling mechanism, it can be understood that i is a variable. In other words, the wafer supporting members 20-1 and 20-5 at both ends can serve only as the first wafer supporting member 20-i and the third wafer supporting member 20- (i + 2), respectively. it can. On the other hand, the wafer supporting member 20-2 functions as the first wafer supporting member 20-i in combination with the wafer supporting members 20-3 and 20-4, and at the same time, the wafer supporting members 20-1 and 20-3. And plays a role as the second wafer supporting member 20- (i + 1).

The wafer supporting member 20-3 functions as the first wafer supporting member 20-i in combination with the wafer supporting members 20-4 and 20-5, and at the same time, the wafer supporting members 20-2 and 20-4. Plays the role of the second wafer supporting member 20- (i + 1) in combination with the third wafer supporting member 20- (i + 2) in combination with the wafer supporting members 20-1 and 20-2. Play a role as.

The wafer supporting member 20-4 functions as the second wafer supporting member 20- (i + 1) in combination with the wafer supporting members 20-3 and 20-5, and at the same time, the wafer supporting members 20-2 and 20-5. In combination with -3, it functions as the third wafer supporting member 20- (i +2).

This is because, for example, in FIG. 3 showing the central wafer supporting member 20, two flat head screws 31 are attached to the wafer supporting member 20 (acting as the first wafer supporting member 20-i). In addition to the above, the wafer supporting member 20 (which also serves as the second and third wafer supporting members 20- (i + 1) and 20- (i + 2)) has two types, namely, the first and the first. It can also be understood from the fact that it has two through holes 34 and 36.

In order to perform these three roles at the same time, the central wafer supporting member 20-3 is diagonally opposed to the pair of flat head screws 31 diagonally opposed to each other and has an inner diameter Is provided with a pair of first through holes 34, and a pair of second through holes 36 that are diagonally opposed to each other and whose inner diameter does not change. As shown in FIG. 3, the flat head screw 31 and the first and second through holes 34 and 36 arranged in the diagonally opposed positions are in a positional relationship with each other at an angle of 60 °.

Further, for example, the flat head screw 31 attached to one wafer supporting member 20 and the flat head screw 31 attached to the wafer supporting member 20 adjacent to the wafer supporting member 20 form an angle of 60 °. It is a separated relationship. This also applies to the first and second through holes 34 and 36 in the pair of wafer supporting members 20 adjacent to each other.

As shown in FIG. 1, a base member 12 that serves as a handle or a handle for using the disk transfer manual operation device 10 is fixedly attached to a rod 11. The base member 12 extends in the lateral direction when viewed from the extension direction of the rod 11. An extended biasing member 13, which serves as a mutual operating means, is rotatably supported around a shaft 14 at an end of the base member 12 protruding from the rod 11.

A spring 15 of a known type is provided around the shaft 14 to apply a biasing force to the biasing member 13 in a direction (front) away from the base member 12. The tubular sleeve member 22 is provided with a groove 23 into which the free end of the urging member 13 protruding from the shaft 14 is engaged. Then, the urging force of the spring 15 urges the tubular sleeve-shaped member 22 forward through the urging member 13 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. As shown in 7, they are pressed against each other.

When the user holds the disk transfer manual operating device 10 by the base member 12 and pulls the biasing member 13 toward the base member 12 side, the tip of the biasing member 13 engaged with the groove 23 causes a cylindrical shape. The sleeve-shaped member 22 is moved rearward toward the base member 12 side against the biasing force of the spring 15. As a result, the wafer supporting members 20 connected to each other are in a separated state as shown in FIGS.

Here, a plurality of wafers are the traditional type of cassette for transporting them from one work station to another, ie a relatively small pitch, ie a 0.25 inch pitch. Consider the typical situation of being placed on a cassette provided with a wall having a groove formed in. What is now desired is the transfer of these wafers from the above cassette to another cassette having grooves formed at a larger pitch, i.e., 0.5 inch pitch.

For this reason, the size of the above-mentioned disk transfer manual operating device 10 is such that the distance between the pair of wafer supporting members 20 adjacent to each other, that is, the distance between the grooves 26 is such that the wafer supporting members 20 are not supported by the wafer supporting members 20 as shown in FIG. It is designed to be 0.25 inches when the members 20 are pressed together, and the flat head screw 31 is provided in a groove 26 which is adjacent to each other when the adjacent wafer supporting members 20 are maximally separated from each other. The spacing is adjusted to 0.5 inches.

As described above, when the wafer supporting member 20 is in the assembled state as shown in FIG. 5 by the biasing force of the spring 15, the distance between the adjacent grooves 26 is uniformly 0.25 inch. With the wafer support member 20 assembled, the rods 11 have well-aligned central holes of a plurality of wafers arranged on a cassette of the above-mentioned traditional type having a small predetermined pitch (0.25 inch). Is inserted into the cavity formed by.

To enable this, the cross-sectional areas of the wafer supporting member 20 and the tubular sleeve member 22 are sufficiently small compared to the diameter of the central hole of the wafer, and the tubular sleeve member 22 is It can be seen that it is sufficiently long with respect to the length of the cassette for wafer transfer.

As described above, a maximum of five wafers in the cassette can be lifted with the pitch of the wafers in the cassette and the pitch of the grooves 26 matched, and the rod 11 rises vertically. As a result, the inner circumference of the wafer, which forms the central hole, falls into the corresponding groove 26.

After the wafer is completely taken out of the cassette and is completely supported by the disk transfer manual operation device 10, the user pulls the biasing member 13 rearward, and the tubular sleeve member 22 is also pulled. Slide it back. As mentioned above, this causes the wafer support members 20 to be pulled apart until the distance between adjacent pairs reaches a maximum value, which is set here to 0.5 inches. In other words, the wafer support members 20 in the assembled state are separated one by one until the distance between the pair of adjacent wafer support members 20 becomes 0.5 inch. The thus increased pitch wafer can be lowered into another cassette having grooves formed at this increased pitch.

When a wafer is transferred from a cassette having a groove pitch of 0.5 inches to a cassette having a groove pitch of 0.25 inches, the reverse operation to the above may be performed.

The above description of the embodiments has been made for the sake of illustration. Other than the above-described forms are not excluded from the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described forms, and many modifications and variations can be made within the scope of the above teachings.

For example, the number of wafer supporting members 20 can be changed, and the base member 12 does not have to have the shape as shown in FIG. In addition, the distance between the pair of wafer supporting members adjacent to each other is set to one of the minimum value and the maximum value that are predetermined according to the pitch of the groove in the two cassettes on which the wafers are transferred. Any other connecting mechanism for connecting a plurality of wafer supporting members may be used as long as it can achieve the purpose defined in Section 2. The above minimum and maximum distances (0.25 inch and 0.5 inch) are provided for illustration only. All such modifications and variations that would be apparent to those skilled in the art as described above are within the scope of the present invention.

[0049]

[Effect of device]

 The manual operation device for disc transfer according to the present invention is a manual operation device for disc transfer that transfers a plurality of discs having a central hole from one cassette to another cassette having different pitches, and An extended rod and one end of which is fixed to the above rod, and the remaining one is slidably supported by the rod in the longitudinal direction and continuously connected in a row, and A plurality of disc support members that support one of the discs at the edge of the center hole and adjacent ones of the disc support members that are continuously connected have predetermined intervals therebetween. The connecting means that connects so as to be variable within a range that does not exceed the maximum length and the other end of the plurality of disc supporting members are located close By acting on the support member and slidingly moving the plurality of disc support members along the rod, the rod having the plurality of disc support members lifts the plurality of discs from one cassette and the plurality of discs is lifted. The inter-operation means is arranged so that it can be transferred to another cassette by changing its pitch.

With this, the disc supporting member is penetrated through the central hole of the disc in a state where the gap between the adjacent disc supporting members is matched with the gap between the adjacent discs in the cassette in which the discs are currently arranged, After each disk is supported by the disk support member and is taken out from the first cassette, the mutual operation means makes the interval between the adjacent disk support members equal to the interval between the disks in the second cassette. After the change, if the disc supported by the disc support member is transferred to the second cassette, a predetermined number of discs are taken out from one cassette, and the other discs are collectively changed with the pitch changed. The effect is that it can be transferred to a cassette.

Further, according to the present invention, since the pitch change between the adjacent disks is configured as a manual type device for manually changing the pitch between the adjacent discs, the size of the device can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing a disk transfer manual operating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing one disc support member (wafer support member) in the disc transfer manual operation device.

4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partial side view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a state where the disc support members are pressed against each other.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a coupling mechanism when three adjacent disc support members are separated from each other.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a coupling mechanism when three adjacent disc support members are pressed against each other.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Manual Operation Device for Transferring Disk 11 Rod 13 Energizing Member (Mutual Operation Means) 20 Wafer Support Member (Disk Support Member) 22 Cylindrical Sleeve Member 31 Flat Head Screw (Connecting Means)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A manual operation device for transferring a disk, wherein a plurality of disks having a central hole are transferred from one cassette to another cassette having a different pitch, the rod extending in a longitudinal direction, and one end portion. Are fixed to the rod, the rest are slidably supported in the longitudinal direction by the rod and are continuously connected in a row, and one of the discs is connected to the central hole. A plurality of disc supporting members supported by edges and adjacent ones of the continuously connected disc supporting members can be varied within a range in which an interval between them does not exceed a predetermined maximum length. And the connecting means for connecting so that the other end of the plurality of disc supporting members is located close to the other disc supporting member and acts on the disc supporting member at the other end. By slidably moving the support member along the rod, the rod having the plurality of disc supporting members lifts the plurality of discs from one cassette to change the pitch of the plurality of discs, and the other discs are moved to another cassette. A manual operation device for disk transfer, comprising: an interoperation means adapted to be transferred and placed.