JPH09124147A - Substrate conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify conveying roller part structure in a substrate conveying device and to suppress generation of particles so as to prevent contamination on the substrate surface. SOLUTION: A substrate conveying device is constructed of a conveying roller unit 2, which is provided with a plurality of rollers 12, 21 arranged in parallel in the conveying direction, and a substrate transferring unit 3, which is advanced/retracted to/from the conveying roller unit 2 and carries out transfer of a substrate B between the rollers 12, 21. In the substrate transferring unit 3, a flat plate type substrate mounting base 41a possessing a width dimension not more than that of the substrate B to be placed and the predetermined thickness at least is provided on the arm 41 point side. The conveying roller unit 2 is provided with rotary shafts 6, 10 possessing the first radius dimension, while the roller 12, 21 are installed on both sides of the rotary shafts 6, 10 at an interval of the width dimension of the substrate mounting base 41a and are provided with radius dimensions thicker than that of the rotary shaft by the thickness of the substrate mounting base 41a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device, and more particularly to a substrate transfer device suitable for transferring a glass substrate, a semiconductor wafer or the like of a liquid crystal display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is a side view showing a schematic structure of a conventional substrate transfer apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a plan view thereof. In these figures, the substrate transfer device 70 is composed of a transfer roller unit 71 and a substrate transfer unit 72.

The conveying roller portion 71 is rotatably supported between a pair of bearing members 73 and 74, which are arranged so as to face each other on a horizontal plane, and the bearing members 73 and 74 are rotatably supported at predetermined intervals on the same horizontal plane. A plurality of rotating shafts 75 to 79 arranged in advance
And the bearing member 7 at both ends of the rotary shafts 75 to 79.
A plurality of rollers 80 to 89 that are supported so as to be able to rotate together are provided in positions immediately inside 3 and 74, respectively, and lift pins 90a to 90d that are arranged on the upstream side of the conveying roller unit 71 and are mounted upright. A substrate elevating means 90 is provided. The rotating shafts 75 to 79 are rotationally driven in the same direction by unillustrated driving means, and convey the substrate B placed on the rollers 80 to 89 to the downstream side indicated by the arrow A. It is like this. Further, the substrate elevating means 90 is configured to move in the vertical direction by a driving means (not shown).

The substrate transfer section 72 is the transfer roller section 7 described above.
It is arranged so as to face the upstream end of No. 1, is rotatable on a horizontal plane with respect to the base, and is provided with an arm 91 having a substrate platform 91a on the tip side. Further, the arm 91 is adapted to reciprocate in the horizontal direction indicated by arrows X1 and X2 by an unillustrated drive means.

The substrate transfer device 70 configured as described above
Is used, for example, in the manufacturing process of liquid crystal displays,
The substrates B are taken out from the cassette one by one and placed on the substrate platform 91a at the position indicated by the arrow X2. In this state, the arm 91 is horizontally moved in the direction of the arrow X1 to bring the substrates B onto the transport roller section 71. To send. The substrate B is the transport roller unit 71.
When fed upward, as shown in FIG. 10, the substrate elevating means 90 rises and the lift pins 90a to 90d come into contact with the lower surface of the substrate B on both sides of the substrate platform 91a.
Lift the substrate B. In this state, the substrate platform 91a is retracted from above the transport roller unit 71, and the arm 91 is moved to the arrow X2.
Return to a predetermined position in the direction. When the substrate platform 91a retracts from the transport roller unit 71, the substrate elevating means 90 descends,
As a result, the substrate B is placed on the rollers 80 to 85. When the processing tank for etching or the like (not shown) arranged on the downstream side of the transport roller unit 71 is in a state capable of receiving the substrate B, the rotating shafts 75 to 79 are rotationally driven to feed the substrate B to the processing tank. To do. When the substrate B is completely fed to the processing bath, the above operation is repeated and the next substrate B is sequentially fed to the processing bath.

The substrate transfer device 70 configured as described above
Is also used in the final step of storing the substrates B sent from the final processing tank in a cassette one by one. In this case, the substrate transfer device 70 includes the substrate lifting means 90.
Is attached to the downstream side of the transport roller section 71, and the substrate transfer section 72 is arranged to face the downstream end of the transport roller section 71. After the substrate B is sent out from the processing tank, it is conveyed by the rollers 80 to 89.
1 is conveyed to a predetermined position on the downstream side. Then, at that position, it is lifted by the substrate elevating means 90.
Next, the substrate platform 91a of the substrate transfer part 72 is set to the substrate B.
The substrate B is placed on the substrate platform 91a by entering the lower surface of the substrate and lowering the substrate elevating means 90 in this state. Then, after the substrate platform 91a of the substrate transfer part 72 is retracted from the transport roller part 71 and the arm 91 is rotated, the substrate B is stored in the cassette.

[0007]

In the conventional substrate transfer device 70, between the rollers 80 to 89 of the transfer roller unit 71 and the substrate mounting table 91a of the arm 91 of the substrate transfer unit 72. Since the substrate elevating means 90 is required for the delivery of the substrate B in this case, there is a problem that the structure of the transport roller section 71 becomes complicated.

Further, there is a problem that it is necessary to adjust the ascending / descending position of the substrate elevating / lowering means 90 so as to match the position of the arm 91 of the substrate transfer part 72.

Further, there is a problem that particles are likely to be generated by the raising and lowering operation of the substrate raising and lowering means 90 and the particles may adhere to the substrate B to contaminate the substrate surface.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and simplifies the structure of the conveying roller portion and suppresses the generation of particles to contaminate the surface of the substrate as much as possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate transfer device which is designed to prevent the above.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer device including a transfer roller portion having a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel in a transfer direction, and a roller which moves forward and backward with respect to the transfer roller portion. And a substrate transfer unit for transferring the substrate between the substrate transfer units, wherein the substrate transfer unit is a flat substrate mounting table having a width dimension at least equal to or less than the width of the substrate to be mounted on the arm tip side and a predetermined thickness. The transport roller unit has a rotation shaft having a first radius dimension, and
The rollers are mounted on both sides of the rotary shaft at a distance of at least the width of the substrate mounting table, and have a second radius dimension that is at least the predetermined thickness in comparison with the first radius dimension. It is characterized by having.

According to this substrate transfer device, when the substrate is transferred between the substrate mounting table of the substrate transfer section and the roller of the substrate transfer section, the substrate mounting table has the upper end of the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft and the peripheral surface of the roller. Moves back and forth in the space formed between the upper ends.

A substrate transfer device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
In the above description, the substrate transfer part has a suction means for vacuum-sucking the substrate mounted on the substrate mounting table.

According to this substrate transfer device, the substrate placed on the substrate platform is vacuum-sucked by the suction means and moved between the substrate transfer parts.

[0015]

1 is a side view of a substrate transfer device, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. In these figures, the substrate transfer device 1 is composed of a transfer roller unit 2 and a substrate transfer unit 3.

The conveying roller unit 2 has a pair of bearing members 4 and 5 arranged so as to face each other on a horizontal plane. The bearing members 4 and 5 have a plurality of rotating shafts 6 to 10 as bearings. It is rotatably supported via. These rotating shafts 6 to 10 are arranged along the same horizontal plane at a predetermined interval, and the rollers 12 to 21 are located at the respective ends of the rotating shafts 6 to 10 immediately inside the bearing members 4 and 5, respectively.
Are attached so that they can rotate together. These rollers 1
Nos. 2 to 21 are each formed with a peripheral surface of a small diameter portion SK and a large diameter portion DK in the thickness direction, so that the small diameter portion SK is located inside and the large diameter portion DK is located outside. It is installed. The dimension between the small diameter portions SK of the pair of rollers is set so as to substantially match the width of the substrate B, so that the substrate B is placed across the small diameter portions SK of the pair of rollers. Has become. The large-diameter portion DK of the rollers 12 to 21 regulates the positional deviation of the substrate B.

Further, the radius of the small diameter portion SK (hereinafter, the radius of the small diameter portion SK on which the substrate B is placed is the radius of the roller).
3, the distance D between the first plane HM1 including the upper end of the peripheral surface of each of the rotating shafts 6 to 10 and the second plane HM2 including the upper end of the peripheral surface of the small diameter portion SK is equal to Three
The thickness is set to be larger than the thickness of the substrate mounting table of the arm, which will be described later. That is, the rotating shafts 6 to 10 have the first radius dimension, and the rollers 12 to 21
Has a second radius dimension, the second radius dimension is a dimension in which at least the thickness of the substrate mounting table is added to the first radius dimension. A rubber O-ring for preventing the substrate B from slipping is fitted on the peripheral surface of the small diameter portion SK.

The rotary shafts 6 to 10 are provided with rotary shaft drive means 22 for rotating and driving the rotary shafts 6 to 10 in the same direction. That is, the rotating shaft 6
Gears 23 to 27 are rotatably attached to the outer ends of one of the bearing members 4 at one end of the gears 10 to 10, and a chain 28 is bridged between the gears 23 to 27. . A further gear 29 is attached to the outer side of the gear 23 on the upstream rotary shaft 6, and this gear 29 and the gear 31 of the rotary shaft of the motor 30 arranged at the lower position of the conveying roller unit 2 are connected to each other. The chain 32 is laid over. The rotary shaft drive means 22 configured in this way
Drives the rotary shafts 6 to 10 to rotate in the same direction by the rotation drive of the motor 30.
21 to 21 rotate to convey the substrate B to the downstream side in the direction indicated by the arrow A.

The substrate transfer section 3 is the above-mentioned transfer roller section 2.
The arm 41 is arranged so as to face the upstream end of the substrate 41 and has a flat plate-shaped substrate mounting table 41a having a width dimension equal to or less than the width of the substrate B and a required thickness on the front end side. The substrate placement table 41a of the arm 41 has a substrate B placed thereon and between the rollers 12 to 17 of the transport roller unit 2 and an external position such as a cassette in which the substrates B are stored in a plurality of stages. Then, the substrate B is delivered. Inside the arm 41, a bottomed vacuum suction hole 41c is formed from the rear end surface 41b to the substrate mounting table 41a. The substrate mounting table 41a has an opening on its upper surface and communicates with the vacuum suction hole 41c. A plurality of suction holes 41d, 41e, 41f are formed. A pipe connecting portion 41g is attached to the rear end surface 41b of the arm 41.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the substrate transfer section 3 comprises a motor 42 having an arm 41 arranged in the first housing 40, a driving force transmission member 43, a ball screw 44 and a slider 45. The first moving means 46 is moved in the horizontal direction indicated by arrows X1 and X2. That is, the motor 42 is rotatable in both directions, and when the motor 42 is rotationally driven, the rotational force is transmitted to the ball screw 44 by the driving force transmission member 43, and the ball screw 44 is rotationally driven to cause the slider to slide. 45 moves on the ball screw 44, and the arm 41 linearly moves between its home position and the conveyance roller unit 2 or the like in the front direction.

The substrate transfer section 3 has an arm 41.
Is a vertical direction indicated by arrows Y1 and Y2 by a second moving means 52 including a motor 48 arranged in the second housing 47, a driving force transmission member 49, a ball screw 50 and a bearing body 51 having a slider 51a. To move to. That is, the motor 48 is rotatable in both directions, and when the motor 48 is rotationally driven, the rotational force is transmitted to the ball screw 50 by the driving force transmission member 49, and the ball screw 50 is rotationally driven, so that the bearing body is rotated. The slider 51a of 51 moves on the ball screw 50, and the bearing body 51 moves up and down, whereby the arm 41 moves up and down.

Further, the substrate transfer part 3 has its arm 4
1 is moved in the circumferential direction indicated by arrows R1 and R2 by the third moving means 57 composed of the motor 54 arranged in the second housing 47, the driving force transmission gear 55, the rotating shaft 56 and the bearing body 51. It is supposed to do. That is, the motor 54 is rotatable in both directions.
When rotationally driven, the rotational force is transmitted to the rotary shaft 56 by the driving force transmission gear 55, and the rotary shaft 56 supported by the bearing body 51 is rotationally driven to move the arm 41 in the circumferential direction.

A vacuum source connecting portion 58 is attached to a lower portion of the second housing 47 of the substrate transfer section 3, and a vacuum source 59 such as a vacuum pump arranged outside the substrate transfer section 3 is the vacuum source. It is connected to the connecting portion 58. One end of a flexible pipe 60 arranged inside the second housing 47 is connected to the inside of the second housing 47 of the vacuum source connecting portion 58. The other end of the pipe 60 is pulled out from the upper side of the second housing 47 to the rear end surface 41b of the arm 41.
Is connected to the pipe connecting portion 41g. That is, the suction means 61 is constituted by the vacuum source 59, the pipe 60, the vacuum suction hole 41c of the arm 41, the suction holes 41d, 41e, 41f of the substrate mounting table 41a, and the like. In the suction means 61, when the vacuum source 59 is driven, external air is sucked from the suction holes 41d, 41e, 41f of the substrate mounting table 41a of the arm 41, and the substrate B is mounted on the substrate mounting table 41a. In that case, the substrate B is vacuum-sucked. In the structure for vacuum-adsorbing the substrate B as described above, a positioning means for positioning the substrate B on the substrate mounting table 41a is provided as necessary, and a fixing means for mechanically fixing the substrate B is provided. Since it is unnecessary, the thickness of the substrate mounting table 41a can be reduced.

The substrate transfer device 1 configured as described above
Works as follows. That is, the arm 41 of the substrate transfer part 3 pivots to the cassette side (not shown) in which the substrates B arranged on the side part of the substrate transfer part 3 are accommodated, moves to the cassette side in the forward direction, and moves inside the cassette. The substrate B stored in the substrate is vacuum-sucked on the substrate platform 41a.
In this state, the arm 41 retracts to the home position side, turns to the transport roller unit 2 side, and moves to the transport roller unit 2 side in the forward direction. Since the vertical position of the lower surface of the substrate mounting portion 41a is set to be higher than the upper end of the peripheral surface of the small diameter portion SK of the roller of the transport roller portion 2 when moving to the transport roller portion 2 side. Substrate rest 41a
As shown in FIG. 6, passes over the peripheral surface of the small-diameter portion SK of the roller and enters the transport roller portion 2, and the arm 41 stops at a predetermined position. Next, the arm 41 moves downward, releases the vacuum suction, and mounts the substrate B on the substrate platform 41a on the small-diameter portion SK of the rollers 12 to 17. The arm 41 moves further downward to move the rotation shaft 6,
Stop before touching 7 and 8. After that, the arm 41 retracts, and the substrate mounting table 41a retracts to the outside of the transport roller unit 2 via the space formed between the first plane HM1 and the second plane HM2, as shown in FIG. To do.

The substrate B placed on the rollers 12 to 17 of the transport roller unit 2 is when the processing tank (not shown) disposed on the downstream side of the transport roller unit 2 is ready to receive the substrate B. The rotary shafts 6 to 10 are driven to rotate and are conveyed to the downstream side, and are fed into the processing tank. When the substrate B is fed into the processing bath, the rotation shafts 6 to 10 stop rotating. After that, the above operation is repeated, and the next substrate B is sequentially fed to the processing bath.

The substrate transfer apparatus 1 of the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, but various modifications are possible. For example,
Of the rollers 12 to 21, the rollers 12 to 17 at the portion for receiving the substrate B from the substrate platform 41a of the substrate transfer section 3.
The diameters of the rollers 18 to 21 other than those may be reduced. Further, an intermediate roller having a diameter slightly smaller than the small diameter portion SK of the rollers 12 to 21 may be provided at an intermediate position along the axial direction of the rotary shafts 6 to 10. If such an intermediate roller is provided, the substrate K
Can be prevented from bending. In this case, a slit for receiving the intermediate roller is formed in the substrate mounting table 41a of the arm 41 so that the substrate mounting table 41a can move in the space formed between the first plane HM1 and the second plane HM2. Need to be kept. Furthermore, roller 1
Nos. 2 to 21 may have a shape without the large diameter portion DK. Further, although the arm 41 is configured to move in the horizontal direction by linear motion, the arm 41 may have a multi-joint structure to move in the horizontal direction by bending and stretching motion.

The substrate transfer apparatus 1 configured as described above is also used in the final step of storing the substrates B sent out from the final processing bath in a cassette one by one. In this case, the substrate transfer section 3 is arranged so as to face the downstream end of the transport roller section 2, and operates as follows.

That is, in the transport roller unit 2, the substrate B sent from the processing bath is the roller 12 of the transport roller unit 2.
When it is placed on Nos. 17 to 17, the rotary shafts 6 to 10 are rotationally driven, and the substrate B is conveyed by the rollers 12 to 21 to a predetermined position on the downstream side of the conveyance roller unit 2. In this state, the arm 41 of the substrate transfer part 3 moves forward,
As a result, the substrate mounting table 41a enters the space formed between the first plane HM1 and the second plane HM2 on the lower surface of the substrate B. When the substrate mounting table 41a reaches a predetermined position, the arm 41 stops moving at that position. Then
When the arm 41 moves upward and the substrate mounting table 41a comes into contact with the lower surface of the substrate B, the substrate mounting table 41a sucks the substrate B in vacuum. In this state, the arm 41 further moves upward and then retracts, whereby the substrate platform 41a retracts from above the transport roller unit 2 to the outside. After that, the arm 41 turns in the direction in which the cassette is arranged, and then moves in the forward direction to store the substrate B in the cassette.

[0029]

According to the substrate transfer apparatus of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the radius of the roller is set to be the dimension of the radius of the rotating shaft plus at least the thickness of the substrate mounting table. It becomes possible to move in the space formed between the upper end of the peripheral surface of the roller and the upper end of the peripheral surface of the roller, and the lifting means having the lift pin as in the prior art is not required, so that the structure of the conveying roller unit is simplified. At the same time, the generation of particles is suppressed, and the contamination of the substrate surface can be prevented as much as possible.

Further, according to the substrate transfer apparatus of the second aspect, since the substrate mounting apparatus is provided with the suction means for vacuum-sucking the substrate mounted on the substrate mounting table, the substrate can be securely fixed on the substrate mounting table. The reliability of the substrate transfer operation is improved. Further, it is not necessary to provide a mechanical fixing means for fixing the substrate on the substrate mounting table, and the substrate mounting table can be thinned.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a substrate transfer device of the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is an enlarged view showing a rotary shaft and a roller portion of a carrying roller portion of the substrate carrying device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a substrate transfer section of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG.

5 is a plan view of a substrate transfer section of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a rotary shaft and a roller portion for explaining the operation of the substrate mounting table of the substrate transfer part shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a rotary shaft and a roller portion for explaining the operation of the substrate mounting table of the substrate transfer unit shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a conventional substrate transfer device.

9 is a plan view of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

10 is an enlarged view showing a main part of a transfer roller portion of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate transport device 2 Transport roller part 3 Substrate passing part 4, 5 Bearing member 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Rotating shaft 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2
0, 21 roller 22 rotary shaft drive means 41 arm 41a substrate mounting table 61 suction means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuo Ogasawara 1 at 480 Takamiya-cho, Hikone-shi, Shiga Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone district business office (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Matsushita, 480, Takamiya-cho, Hikone-shi, Shiga 1 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone District Office

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate having a conveying roller portion having a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel in a conveying direction, and a substrate passing portion that moves forward and backward with respect to the conveying roller portion and delivers the substrate to the roller. In the transfer device, the substrate transfer part includes a flat plate-shaped substrate mounting table having a width dimension at least equal to or smaller than a width of a substrate to be mounted, and the transfer roller part has a rotation radius having a first radius dimension. The roller has a shaft, and the roller is mounted on both sides of the rotation shaft at a distance of at least the width dimension of the substrate mounting table, and has at least the predetermined thickness as compared with the first radius dimension. A substrate transfer apparatus having an added second radius dimension. 2. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The substrate transfer device is characterized in that the substrate transfer section has a suction means for vacuum-sucking a substrate placed on a substrate mounting table.