JPH09306968A - Cassette stage of substrate treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency at manual treatments or maintenance by providing a cover member capable of covering cassette guides, a cassette sensor and a substrate detector member from above to protect the guides and sensor on a cassette stage. SOLUTION: A cover 35 is disposed on a base 3, large enough to cover a cassette holder 30, a pair of first cassette guides 31, a second cassette guides 32, cassette sensor 33 and substrate detecting arm 34 from above. The marginal edge of the top face of the cover 35 is made higher than others to form a recess at a central area, thus forming a component stocking space 35a. This prevents tools and parts from striking against the guides 31, 32, cassette sensor 33, etc., and hence preventing the guides 31, 32, sensor 33, etc., from being damaged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette stage of a substrate processing apparatus on which a cassette containing a plurality of substrates is placed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an apparatus for processing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for liquid crystal display, a cassette stage for storing an unprocessed substrate or a processed substrate, and a substrate processing section for performing a series of processes on the substrate. have. Generally, a plurality of cassettes can be placed on the cassette stage, and a plurality of substrates are stored in each cassette.

When automatic processing is performed, a cassette containing substrates is placed at a predetermined position on a cassette stage by an automatic transfer device or the like. After that, the substrate is transferred between the processing units by the substrate transfer robot on the cassette stage or the substrate transfer robot on the substrate processing unit side, and the processing liquid application, development processing, and drying processing are automatically performed.

[0004]

In the substrate processing apparatus as described above, the cassette stage has a cassette guide for positioning the cassette, a cassette sensor for detecting the placement of the cassette, and a substrate detection device. Arms and the like are arranged, and these protrude upward. By the way, in the substrate processing apparatus, during manual processing such as testing,
At the time of maintenance, there are cases where a cassette unrelated to the processing of the substrate and parts and tools necessary for testing and maintenance are temporarily placed on the cassette stage. Especially, the height of the cassette stage is very convenient for the above-mentioned applications.

However, as described above, since the cassette guide, the cassette sensor, the substrate detection arm, and the like are arranged so as to project upward on the cassette stage, it is unstable when parts and tools are placed. In addition, parts, tools, etc. may hit the cassette guide, cassette sensor, etc. and be damaged. An object of the present invention is to protect guides, sensors, etc. on the cassette stage.

Another object of the present invention is to protect guides, sensors and the like on the cassette stage and improve workability during manual processing and maintenance.

[0007]

A cassette stage according to claim 1 is a cassette stage of a substrate processing apparatus on which a cassette containing a plurality of substrates is placed, and a base on which the cassette is placed. A cassette guide for positioning the cassette on the base, a cassette sensor for detecting that the cassette has been placed at a predetermined position on the base, and a cassette sensor inside the cassette placed on the base. A substrate detection member for detecting the substrate and a cover member capable of covering the cassette guide, the cassette sensor, and the upper portion of the substrate detection member are provided.

In this cassette stage, the cassette is placed at a predetermined position on the base determined by the cassette guide. When the cassette is placed, the fact is detected by the cassette sensor, and for example, the substrate transfer robot on the cassette stage starts the transfer operation. The substrate in the cassette is detected by the substrate detection member, and the transfer robot is controlled by the result. When the cassette guide, the cassette sensor, and the substrate detection member are not used at the time of maintenance of the apparatus, these are covered with a cover member. As a result, it is possible to prevent the sensor or the like from being damaged by the tool or the like hitting the sensor or the like. Further, a tool or the like can be placed on the cover member, which improves workability during maintenance and the like.

A cassette stage according to a second aspect is the cassette stage according to the first aspect, wherein the base has an accommodating portion capable of accommodating the cover member. Here, when the cover member is not used, it can be stored inside the base, and the operability is improved. A cassette stage according to a third aspect is the cassette stage according to the first or second aspect, wherein the cover member is a plate-shaped member and has a recess on the upper surface. Here, it is easy to place parts such as tools and screws in the recesses on the cover member, and workability is improved.

[0010]

1 is an overall perspective view of a substrate processing apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. This substrate processing apparatus is an apparatus for performing a coating process, a developing process, a heating process, and a cooling process on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a substrate), and a cassette stage 1 for storing unprocessed substrates and processed substrates. And a substrate processing unit 2 that performs the series of processes described above on the substrate.

The cassette stage 1 has a base 3 on the upper surface of which four cassettes C can be placed side by side, and a transfer robot 4 movable along the arrangement direction of the cassettes C. Each of the cassettes C is capable of accommodating substrates in multiple stages in the vertical direction. Further, the transfer robot 4 takes a substrate in and out of the cassette C and transfers the substrate to and from the substrate processing section 2.

The substrate processing section 2 includes a spin coater 10 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the cassettes C, and two spin developers 11 for performing development processing, respectively.
12, a spin coater 10 and a cooling plate 15 and a hot plate 16 arranged to face the spin developers 11 and 12, respectively. Further, between the spin coater 10 and the spin developers 11, 12 and the cooling plate 15 and the hot plate 16, there is provided a transfer robot 17 which is movable in the direction in which they are arranged. Transport robot 1
7 is a movable table 20 which can be moved horizontally and vertically.
And an arm 21 capable of supporting the substrate. The arm 21 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the moving table 20, and the arm 21 can move in any direction by turning the moving table 20 in a horizontal plane.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, this substrate processing apparatus has an interface section for transferring the substrate to and from another substrate processing apparatus such as an exposure apparatus. The cassette stage 1 will be described in detail with reference to the plan view of FIG. 2 and the perspective view of FIG. On the upper surface of the base 3, four cassette receivers 30 on which the cassette C is placed,
A pair of first cassette guides 31 contacting the outside of the side wall of the cassette C and a pair of second cassette guides 32 contacting one end of the side wall of the cassette C are provided so as to project upward. Further, a cassette sensor 33 for detecting that the cassette C is placed is provided between the pair of cassette guides 31. Further, a C-shaped substrate detection arm 34 is provided so as to be able to move up and down so as to surround the outer peripheral half of the mounted cassette C. A light emitting element 34a and a light receiving element 34b are arranged at the tip of the substrate detection arm 34 so as to face each other, and the substrate in the cassette C can be detected.

A cover 35 as shown in FIG. 3 can be arranged on the base 3. The cover 35 is
It is rectangular and covers each component on the base 3, that is, the cassette receiver 30, the pair of first cassette guide 31, second cassette guide 32, cassette sensor 33, and substrate detection arm 34 from above. It is formed to the size possible. The cover 35 is provided with legs 36 at four corners, and the length of the legs 36 is longer than that of the tallest component (first cassette guide 31) among the above-mentioned components. . In addition, on the upper surface of the cover 35,
The outer peripheral edge portion is higher than the other portions, so that the central portion is concave and serves as a storage space 35a for parts and the like.

A storage space 40 is formed in the base 3 to store the cover 35.
When 5 is not used, it can be stored in this storage space 40. In such a substrate processing apparatus, the substrate of the cassette C loaded into the cassette stage 1 is transferred by the transfer robot 4 to the transfer robot 17 of the substrate processing unit 2. The transfer robot 17 uses the spin coater 1 according to a pre-programmed transfer order.
The substrate is transported between 0, the spin developers 11 and 12, the cooling plate 15, and the hot plate 16. In the middle of this process, the substrate is exchanged with another exposure apparatus via an interface unit (not shown). The substrate processed by each processing unit is delivered to the transfer robot 4 of the cassette stage 1 by the transfer robot 17 and stored in the cassette C.

In the above automatic processing, when some of the plurality of stages are not used, the cover 3
If 5 is pulled out from the storage space 40 and installed on this stage, the upper surface of the cover 35 can be used as a stand. The same applies to the manual processing. Also,
At the time of maintenance, the removed parts, screws and the like can be stored in the storage space 35a of the cover 35, and the workability is improved. Furthermore, during these operations, the cover 35
Thus, it is possible to prevent the tools, parts, etc. from hitting the cassette guides 31, 32, the cassette sensor 33, etc., and prevent damage to the cassette guides 31, 32, cassette sensor 33, etc.

[Other Embodiments] (a) In the above embodiment, the legs 36 are provided on the cover 35, but the highest cassette guide among the components on the base 3 is fitted to the back surface of the cover. Mating holes may be provided.
In this case, since the back surface of the cover and the cassette guide are fixed when the cover is installed, the cover installation state is stable.

(B) The shape of the upper surface of the cover 35 is not limited to the above embodiment. It may be a plane.

[0019]

As described above, in the cassette stage according to claim 1, the cassette guide, the cassette sensor and the substrate detecting member can be covered with the cover member at the time of maintenance of the apparatus, so that the tool or the like hits the sensor or the like. It is possible to prevent the sensor and the like from being damaged. Further, a tool or the like can be placed on the cover member, which improves workability during maintenance and the like.

In the cassette stage according to the second aspect, since the cover member can be housed inside the base, operability is improved. In the cassette stage according to the third aspect, it is easy to place parts such as tools and screws in the recesses on the cover member, and workability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a substrate processing apparatus adopting an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of a cassette stage.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a cassette stage.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 cassette stage 3 base 30 cassette receiver 31, 32 cassette guide 33 cassette sensor 34 substrate detection arm 35 cover 35a storage space 40 storage space

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cassette stage of a substrate processing apparatus on which a cassette containing a plurality of substrates is mounted, the base on which the cassette is mounted, and the positioning of the cassette on the base. A cassette guide for performing the above, a cassette sensor for detecting that the cassette is placed at a predetermined position on the base, and a substrate for detecting a substrate in the cassette placed on the base. A cassette stage of a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a detection member; and a cover member capable of covering the cassette guide, the cassette sensor, and the upper portion of the substrate detection member. 2. The cassette stage of the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base has an accommodating portion capable of accommodating the cover member. 3. The cassette stage of the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is a plate-shaped member and has a recess on the upper surface.