JPH09162266A - Holding unit of wafer push-up mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a holding unit which is capable of surely holding wafers in a vertical position on a push-up mechanism. SOLUTION: Two vertical plate members 17 parallel and separate from each other by a distance smaller than the diameter of a wafer are mounted on the movable frame 16 of a push-up mechanism. A fixed fork 25 is fixed to each upper edge of the plate members 17, V-shaped holding grooves 39 where wafers arc inserted piece by piece vertical to the plate member 17 are provided in a row to each top of the forks 25 at a regular pitch p. A fastening fork 26 is mounted along each upper edge of the plate members 17 adjacent and parallel to the fixed fork 25 in a slidable manner, and V-shaped holding grooves 39 of the same shape with the grooves 39 of the fork 25 are cut in each top of the fastening forks 26. A spring 28 is connected between the fastening fork 26 and the plate member 17, and the fastening fork 26 is elastically biased toward the one end of the row of grooves 39. A locking means (20, 27, 35, and 38) which locks the fastening fork 26 at a receiving position where the holding grooves 39 of the fastening fork 26 are aligned with those of the fixed fork 25 resisting the above elastically biased force is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gripping unit for a wafer lifting mechanism, and more particularly to a gripping unit for a wafer lifting mechanism that grips a plurality of wafers on the lifting mechanism at intervals shorter than a normal pitch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In heat treatment and other various treatments for semiconductor wafers, if the density of the wafers is increased in a heating furnace or other treatment apparatus, the amount of wafers that can be treated in one operation is increased and the treatment efficiency is improved. it can. The inventor of the present invention has disclosed a Japanese Patent Application No. 7-324543, which has half the normal pitch of 4.76 mm 2.
A pitch switching type wafer transfer machine for loading wafers on a transfer boat at a pitch p of 38 mm has been disclosed. This transfer machine will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8 to the extent necessary for understanding the present invention.

A rotation center C of the indexing board 5 is provided at a distance S from the transfer position 6 of the transfer machine 1. Index board 5
Is a holding hole 11 at a position at a distance S from the center of rotation C in the radial direction.
A carrier cassette 2 having a pitch of 2p (hereinafter referred to as a cassette, 2R in FIG. 4) is held in R, and a transfer boat 3 is held in a holding hole 11B at a position S in the second radial direction from the center C thereof. , And the distance from the center C in the third radial direction (S
-P) also holds cassette 2 with pitch 2p in holding hole 11L
Hold (2L in Fig. 4). When the indexing mechanism 4 rotates the indexing board 5 to index the cassette 2R shown in FIG. 4 to the transfer position 6, the push-up mechanism 9 pushes up the wafer 10 in the cassette 2R and the lower part of the wafer holding mechanism 8 is held. The holding unit 51 is held at a pitch of 2p (see FIGS. 7 and 9). FIG. 5 shows an example of the cassette 2 which holds the wafers 10 at the pitch 2p by the grooves 14 of the opposite side wall 13.

After returning the push-up mechanism 9 to the internal position of the transfer machine, the index board 5 is rotated to index the cassette 2L shown in FIG. The wafer 10 is displaced from the wafer 10 in the cassette 2R by a pitch p. When the wafer 10 with a pitch of 2p in the cassette 2L is pushed up to the lower holding unit 51 by the pushing mechanism 9,
The wafers 10 in the cassette 2L are lined up at an entering pitch p with a shift of one between the wafers 10 of the cassette 2R pushed up earlier. As shown in FIG. 7, the lower holding unit 51 has a row of deep grooves 62 through which the wafer 10 in the cassette 2L can pass. When the push-up mechanism 9 is pushed up to the upper clamp unit 52 by penetrating the lower clamp unit 51, the push-up mechanism 9 is pushed to both cassettes 2R.
And the 2 L wafer 10 is held at the pitch p. After the wafer 10 is once held by the upper holding unit 52 at the pitch p, the push-up mechanism 9 is lowered and the transfer boat 3 is moved to the transfer position 6
Then, if the wafer 10 in the upper holding unit 52 is moved to the transfer boat 3 by the lifting mechanism 9, the transfer boat 3
Will hold the wafer 10 at double density compared to the conventional normal pitch. FIG. 6 shows a pair of side rods held by the lateral member 31.
An example of the transfer boat 3 that holds the wafers 10 at double density compared with the cassette 2 by the grooves 33 provided at the pitch p in 32 is shown.

The indexing mechanism 4 of FIG. 4 has a bearing 41 that pivotally supports the rotary gear 40, and a pinion 42 that is driven by an indexing motor 44 via a transmission device 43 to drive the rotary gear 40.
The lower holding unit 51 of the wafer holding mechanism 8 includes lower holding groove members 58R and 58L held by two parallel holding arms 53A and 54A.
A contraction spring 55A between the holding arms and a space adjusting unit 56A, 57
With A The upper clamping unit 52 includes two parallel clamping arms 5
Lower holding groove members 59R and 59L held by 3B and 54B, a contraction spring 55B between the holding arms, and spacing adjustment units 56B and 57B are provided. The lifting mechanism 9 has an elevating device 23 that is driven by a drive motor 21 on a fixed base 15 via a transmission device 22, and a movable frame 16 that is elevated by the elevating device 23.

[0006]

In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the lower pitching unit 51 provides a standard pitch of 4.76 mm.
In order to insert the succeeding wafers 10 every other one between the plurality of wafers 10 which are held upright in a row at (= 2p) to have a pitch of 2.38 mm, the succeeding wafers 10 to be inserted are not held upright. Then, the held wafer 10 on the lower holding unit 51 may be damaged when the succeeding wafer 10 is inserted. However, there has been no push-up mechanism having the function of vertically holding and holding the wafer 10.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gripping unit that reliably grips a wafer upright on a lifting mechanism.

[0008]

1 to 3, a gripping unit 24 of the present invention is provided in a movable frame 16 of a lifting mechanism 9 in a lifting mechanism 9 for a row of parallel upright wafers 10. Two parallel vertical plate members 17 mounted at mutual intervals smaller than the diameter of the wafer 10, upper openings fixed to the upper edge of each plate member 17 and capable of fitting one wafer 10 at a right angle to the plate members 17. The fixed forks 25 having rows of the holding grooves 39 having a constant pitch p are slidable along the upper edge of each vertical plate member 17 while being adjacent to the fixed forks 25 and in parallel with the fixed forks 25. A tightening fork 26 having a row of holding grooves 39 of the same shape as the row, a spring 28 connected between the tightening fork 26 and the plate member 17 to elastically bias the tightening fork 26 toward one end of the row of the holding grooves 39, And the holding groove 39 of the tightening fork 26 is the holding groove 39 of the fixed fork 25. The fork 26 clamping to the receiving position aligned comprising a lock means (20,27,35,38) for locking against said resilient urging.

1 and 2 show the gripping unit 24 on one of the two vertical plate members 17, the other vertical plate member 17 is also provided with a similar gripping unit 24, and both gripping units 24 are shown. Simultaneously operate in the same manner. In operation, the tightening fork 26 is always locked by the locking means as shown in FIG.
3B, it is driven leftward to the receiving position shown in FIG. 3B, and the wafer 10 is fitted into the holding groove 39 of the tightening fork 26 and the fixed fork 25 at the receiving position. After the insertion, unlock the lock and tighten the tightening fork 26.
3 is driven to the right by the elastic bias of the spring 28 as shown by an arrow M in FIG.
The one side wall surface 39a of 39 and the opposite side wall surface 39a of the corresponding holding groove 39 of the fixed fork 25 are tightened. Since each of the two parallel vertical plate members 17 has a gripping unit 24 composed of a set of a tightening fork 26 and a fixed fork 25, the wafer 10 is at the lower edge of the holding unit 24.
It is gripped at several places and kept in an upright position.

Preferably, the holding groove 39 has a bottom vertical wall surface 39.
a and an inclined wall surface 39b that sequentially increases the groove width from the upper end of the vertical wall surface 39a toward the opening end of the holding groove 39.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a guide member 18 is appropriately mounted on a vertical plate member 17, and the guide member 18
Adjust so that the upper slide bearing 19 slides in parallel with the fixed fork 25. The tightening fork 26 is integrally attached to the slider 27 fixed to the slide bearing 19, and can be slid adjacent to the fixed fork 25 in parallel with the fixed fork 25. Spring seat 28a fixed on the vertical plate member 17
And pulling spring 28 between the slider and 27,
In the direction of the arrow M in FIG. 3B, that is, in the direction of the row of the holding grooves 39, the elastic bias toward one side end, in this case the right end, is tightened.
Add to 26. The vertical plate member 17 is provided with an operating rod 38 which is driven from the rest position to the operating position and held at the operating position in response to the urging of the operating element such as the fluid pressure cylinder 20. In the illustrated example, the rest position is the lowered position of the operating rod 38, and the operating position is the raised position of the operating rod 38. Crank plate 35
Transmission means such as the above transmits the movement of the operating rod 38 between the rest position and the operating position to the slider 27. In the illustrated example, the slider 27, the transmission means such as the crank plate 35, and the operating rod.
38 and the actuating element such as the fluid pressure cylinder 20 constitute a locking means.

Normally, the operation lever 38 is locked by the lock means to keep the operating rod 38 at the operating position, that is, the raised position. In response to the movement of the operating rod 38 to the raised position, the transmission means drives the slider 27, and thus the tightening fork 26, against the spring 28 to the left as shown by arrow H in FIG. 3 (A), and then in FIG. 3 (B). The holding fork 26 is held at the receiving position where the holding groove 39 is aligned with the holding groove 39 of the fixed fork 25 as shown in FIG. At this time, when the vertical plate member 17 is lifted by the lifting of the push-up mechanism 9, the wafer 10 is easily fitted into the holding groove 39 of the tightening fork 26 and the fixed fork 25. When the lock of the locking means is released after the insertion, the operating rod 38 moves from the operating position, that is, the raised position to the rest position, that is, the lowered position. The transmission means responds to the movement of the operating rod 38 to the lowered position by moving the slider 27 and thus the tightening fork 26 to the spring 28.
Drive to the right as shown by arrow M in FIG.
As shown in (A), one side vertical wall surface 39a of the holding groove 39 of the tightening fork 26 is moved toward the opposite vertical wall surface 39a of the corresponding holding groove 39 of the fixed fork 25, and the wafer 10 is clamped and held by both vertical wall surfaces 39a. To do. FIG. 9 shows the wafer 10 held upright by the holding unit 24 at the upper edge of the two vertical plate members 17.

In this way, the object of the present invention, "to provide a gripping unit for surely gripping the wafer upright on the lifting mechanism", can be achieved.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the operating means is a fluid pressure cylinder 20 such as an air cylinder, and its piston rod 20a abuts on the lower end of the operating rod 38. The crank plate 35 of the transmission means of this embodiment is pivotally supported on the vertical plate member 17 by a pivot pin 29, and the first roller 36 on the crank plate 35 is a slider.
It fits loosely in the notch 27a of 27. The second roller 37 on the crank plate 35 contacts the upper end of the operating rod 38.

The vertical wall surface 39a at the bottom of the holding groove 39, which is enlarged in FIG. 3, is effective for holding the wafer 10 upright.
The inclined wall surface 39b is effective for promptly and surely guiding the wafer 10 one by one to each holding groove 39.

[0016]

As described above, since the holding unit of the wafer lifting mechanism of the present invention holds the wafer upright on the lifting mechanism by the fixed fork and the tightening fork,
It has the following remarkable effects.

(A) The wafer can be held in an upright posture when it is raised and lowered by the pushing mechanism. (B) It is possible to prevent damage due to contact of the wafer when inserting the subsequent wafer into the wafer row of standard pitch. (C) A high density wafer can be held at a narrow pitch. (D) Since the wafer is firmly held, the transfer speed can be increased and the work can be speeded up. (E) The wafer can be gripped safely and surely with a uniform force without fear of damage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a gripping unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the grip unit after assembly.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the grip unit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a wafer transfer machine.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a wafer carrier cassette.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a transfer boat.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a lower holding unit.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an upper holding unit.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the upper and lower clamping units during operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Transfer device 2 ... Cassette 3 ... Transfer boat 4 ... Indexing mechanism 5 ... Indexing board 6 ... Transfer position 8 ... Wafer holding mechanism 9 ... Pushing mechanism 10 ... Wafer 11R, 11L ... Cassette holding hole 11B ... Boat Holding hole 13 ... Opposite side walls 14, 33 ... Groove 17 ... Vertical plate member 18 ... Guide member 19 ... Slide bearing 20 ... Fluid pressure cylinder 21 ... Drive motor 22, 43 ... Transmission device 24 ... Gripping unit 25 ... Fixed fork 26 ... Tightening Fork 27 ... Slider 28 ... Spring 29 ... Pivot pin 31 ... Lateral member 32 ... Side rod 35 ... Crank plate 36 ... First roller 37 ... Second roller 38 ... Operating rod 39, 60 ... Holding groove 40 ... Rotating gear 41 ... Bearing device 42 ... Pinion 44 ... Indexing motor 51 ... Lower clamping unit 52 ... Upper clamping unit 53, 54 ... Parallel clamping arm 55 ... Clamping spring 56, 57 ... Interval adjusting unit 58 ... Lower clamping groove member 59 ... Upper clamping groove member 61 ... Retaining bottom 62 ... Deep groove 63 ... Through bottom.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A parallel upright wafer row lifting mechanism, comprising two parallel vertical plate members mounted on a movable frame of the lifting mechanism at a mutual distance smaller than the diameter of the wafer, and at the upper edge of each plate member. A fixed fork having a fixed pitch row of upper opening holding grooves which are fixed and in which one wafer can be fitted at a right angle to the plate member, and adjacent to the fixed fork along the upper edge of each vertical plate member and in parallel with this. A tightening fork that is slidable and has a holding groove array having the same shape as the fixed fork holding groove array, and is connected between the tightening fork and the plate member so that the tightening fork is elastic toward one end of the holding groove array. A biasing spring and locking means for locking the tightening fork against the elastic bias in a receiving position where the holding groove of the tightening fork is aligned with the holding groove of the fixed fork. Is fitted into the holding groove of the fork and fixing the fork clamping the wafer when that said lock,
After the fitting, the lock is released, and the wafer is clamped and held by the one side wall surface of the tightening fork holding groove and the other side wall surface of the fixed fork holding groove by the elastic bias of the spring to hold and hold the wafer. 2. The wafer pressing unit according to claim 1, wherein said holding groove is provided with a vertical wall surface at the bottom and an inclined wall surface for gradually increasing the groove width from the upper end of said vertical wall surface toward the holding groove opening end. Lifting mechanism gripping unit. 3. The gripping unit according to claim 1 or 2,
An operating rod that is driven by the locking means from the rest position to the operating position and is held in the operating position in response to the biasing of the operating element,
A gripping unit for a wafer pushing-up mechanism, comprising: a slider fixed to the tightening fork; and a transmission means for transmitting the movement of the operating rod to the operating position to the slider to lock the tightening fork in the receiving position. 4. The gripping unit according to claim 3, wherein the actuating element is an air cylinder, and the operating rod is an operating rod having one end engaged with the air cylinder and slidable on the plate member. A first roller and a second roller which engages with the free end of the operating rod are attached to the slider, and the crank plate pivotally supported by the plate member and the first roller on the crank plate are formed on the slider so as to be loosely fitted. Wafer lifting mechanism gripping unit including the cutouts. 5. The wafer according to claim 4, wherein a slide bearing slidable in parallel with the fixed fork is attached to the plate member in the vicinity of the fixed fork, and the slider is fixed to the slide bearing. Gripping unit for lifting mechanism.