JPH10261699A - Chuck device for disc-like board - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hold and take out a specified cylindrical board from among cylindrical boards such as semiconductor wafers, etc., which are accommodated piled up at fixed intervals horizontally. SOLUTION: This chuck device is equipped with a plate 2 for a chuck which is made thinner than the interval D for accommodation of a disc-like board 10 and can project to the opposite side, being inserted into the space between the disc-like boards 10 accommodated in a pile, a rotary shaft 4 which is provided to cross the direction of insertion of the plate 2 for chuck at the tip of that plate 2 for chuck, a chuck part 3 on tip side, which is provided rotatably between a position parallel with the plane of the disc-like board 10 and the position vertical to it by the rotary shaft 4, a chuck part 5 on a base side which is provided on the base side of the plate 2 for chuck and abuts on the periphery of the disc-like board 10, and rotating means 21a, 21b, 22a, and 22b which rotate the chuck part 3 on the tip side, and an optional disc-like board 10 is carried in parallel with other disc-like boards remaining in the accommodating position, being held with the chuck part 3 on tip side and the chuck part 5 on the base side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk-shaped substrate chuck device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a disk-shaped substrate chuck apparatus that holds and removes edge portions of disk-shaped substrates that are stacked and stored at regular intervals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When taking out a disk-shaped substrate, in particular, a semiconductor wafer 102, which is stacked and stored at a certain interval, devices or the like must not come into contact with a planar portion of the semiconductor wafer 102, that is, on both front and back surfaces. For this reason, the method of taking out is limited. For example, JP-A-6-278
At 806, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer edge (edge portion) 105 of the semiconductor wafer 102 is
And a device 101 that transports a semiconductor wafer 102 has been proposed. According to such an apparatus 101, a plurality of semiconductor wafers 102 stored in parallel in a cassette 103 at regular intervals can be sequentially taken out from the lowest one and transported.

On the other hand, in recent years, the size of the semiconductor wafer 102 has been increased, and a wafer having a diameter of about 300 mm may be used. In some cases, the large semiconductor wafers 102 are numbered and managed one by one.
In such a case, it is necessary to take out only a predetermined semiconductor wafer 102 and store the semiconductor wafer 102 in the cassette 103 again.

[0004]

However, in the above-described apparatus 101, it is difficult to take out a specific wafer from the plurality of semiconductor wafers 102 stored in the cassette 103. This is because, in order to take out the semiconductor wafers 102 other than the one positioned at the lowermost stage, the support 104 must be passed through the gap between the semiconductor wafers 102.
02 is formed vertically and has a thickness in the vertical direction. If the gap between the semiconductor wafers 102 is not sufficiently large, is it difficult to pass through the support 104? Or impossible.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a disk-shaped substrate that can hold and take out a specific disk-shaped substrate from among disk-shaped substrates such as semiconductor wafers that are horizontally stacked at regular intervals. It is an object of the present invention to provide a chuck device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is provided for holding and taking out a predetermined disk-shaped substrate from disk-shaped substrates stacked and stored at regular intervals. In the disk-shaped substrate chuck device, a chuck plate that is formed to be thinner than the storage interval of the disk-shaped substrates and is inserted into a space between the disk-shaped substrates stored in an overlapping manner and can protrude to the opposite side, A rotating shaft provided at the tip of the chuck plate so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the chuck plate, and a position parallel to and perpendicular to a plane of the disc-shaped substrate by the rotating shaft. A chuck portion rotatably mounted on the chuck plate; a base chuck portion provided on the base end side of the chuck plate and in contact with the peripheral surface of the disk-shaped substrate; and a turn for rotating the tip chuck portion. Moving means, and Tsu so that parallel to the conveying and other disc-shaped substrate that remains in the storage position by gripping any disk-shaped substrate by a click portion and the base end side chuck portion.

Therefore, in this chuck device, a plurality of disk-shaped substrates accommodated in a state in which the tip-side chuck portion pivoted to a position parallel to the plane of the disk-shaped substrate and the chuck plate are stacked. After being inserted into the space between them and protruding to the opposite side, the distal-side chuck portion is raised and the peripheral surface of the disc-shaped substrate is gripped with the proximal-side chuck portion. Then, this disk-shaped substrate is conveyed and taken out in parallel with other disk-shaped substrates remaining at the storage position. When it is necessary to return to the original storage position or another storage position, place the disk-shaped substrate between the distal-side chuck portion and the proximal-side chuck portion on the chuck plate while holding the disk-shaped substrate in a predetermined storage position. Carry in the location. After that, if the tip side chuck portion is turned down and the chuck plate is pulled back, the disc-shaped substrate is left at the storage position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the distal-side chuck portion and the proximal-side chuck portion are provided with holding grooves for holding the disk-shaped substrate. Therefore, the holding groove contacts the edge portion of the disk-shaped substrate to hold the disk-shaped substrate.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the present invention will be described below in detail based on an example of an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a disk-shaped substrate chuck apparatus according to the present invention. This disc-shaped substrate chuck device 1 is formed so as to be thinner than the storage interval D of the disc-shaped substrates, and is inserted into a space between the disc-shaped substrates stored in an overlapped manner and can be protruded to the opposite side. Plate 2 and
A rotating shaft 4 provided at the tip of the chuck plate 2 so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the chuck plate 2, and can be rotated between a horizontal position and a vertical position by the rotating shaft 4. And a proximal chuck portion 5 provided on the proximal end side of the chuck plate 2 and in contact with the peripheral surface of the disk-shaped substrate. In the following, a case where the semiconductor wafer 10 is handled as a disc-shaped substrate will be described.

The chuck plate 2 is a thin plate-shaped member, and the thickness thereof is smaller than the storage interval D of the semiconductor wafers 10 which are stored in an overlapping manner. Here, the storage interval D of the semiconductor wafers 10 is the gap between the lower surface of any semiconductor wafer 10 among the semiconductor wafers 10 stored in the cassette 9 and the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 10 stored immediately below. Refers to the interval. Therefore, the thickness of the chuck plate 2 in the vertical direction is a thickness that can be inserted into an arbitrary space of the semiconductor wafer 10 stored in the cassette 9 and pass therethrough.

The chuck plate 2 is supported on a plate support 8 composed of, for example, a robot arm so that the chuck plate 2 is horizontal. The chuck plate 2 can be moved in the horizontal direction by a robot arm, and the space between the semiconductor wafers 10 stacked and stored is shifted from the near side, that is, the base end side where the chuck plate 2 and the like are located, to the back side, that is, the semiconductor. The wafer 10 is disposed so as to be insertable toward the front end side opposite to the front side. Further, the chuck plate 2 can be moved in the vertical direction by the operation of the robot, and moves so that it can be inserted into an arbitrary space of the semiconductor wafer 10.

The tip side chuck portion 3 is provided with a semiconductor wafer 10
Is one of the means for holding. The tip side chuck 3 is
It is, for example, a thin plate-shaped member rotatably provided at the tip of the chuck plate 2 via the rotation shaft 4, and can rotate between at least a horizontal position and a vertically upward position. When the tip side chuck portion 3 is oriented horizontally, it is linear with the chuck plate 2.

The tip-side chuck 3 is not limited to a thin plate, but may have another shape such as a bar. However, the vertical thickness of the distal-side chuck portion 3 when the distal-side chuck portion 3 is oriented horizontally and is linear with the chuck plate 2 is the same as the thickness of the chuck plate 2. It is of such a degree that it can be inserted into the space between and pass through.

The rotating shaft 4 is provided so as to be orthogonal to the direction in which the chuck plate 2 is inserted and to be horizontal, and rotatably supports the tip side chuck portion 3.

The turning means for turning the tip side chuck portion 3 described above includes the chuck plate 2 and the plate support 8.
And a drive source (not shown) for driving the wire 21 and the pulley 22 provided in the inside. As shown in FIG. 1, two wires 21a,
The rotating shaft 4 is freely rotated by the pulley 21b and the two pulleys 22a and 22b. In other words, the pulley 22a is coaxially arranged so as to interlock with the rotating shaft 4.
Between the wire and the pulley 22b disposed on the base end side.
a, and another wire 21b is hooked between the pulley 22b and a drive source such as a motor provided on the plate support 8 or the like, and the driving force of the drive source is
I'm trying to tell. Therefore, when the driving source is driven, the rotation shaft 4 is rotated via the wire 21 and the pulley 22, and the tip side chuck portion 3 is accordingly rotated. However, this means is not particularly limited. For example, a chain or a bimorph piezoelectric element (bimorph cell)
Alternatively, other means such as driving by the control unit may be used. Further, the wires 21 and the like may be provided outside the chuck plate 2.

Further, means for detecting the rotation range of the tip side chuck portion 3 is provided at the tip end of the chuck plate 2 or the like. This detecting means is, for example, a mechanical stopper, a limit switch, a torque limiter, or the like. By using these, the tip side chuck portion 3 is prevented from rotating more than necessary to damage the semiconductor wafer 10.

The base-side chuck portion 5 is the other of the means for holding the semiconductor wafer 10 and is provided on the base-side upper portion of the chuck plate 2. This proximal chuck 5 is
If the chuck plate 2 is provided so as to be movable in the insertion direction, the distance between the chuck plate 2 and the tip side chuck portion 3 can be changed, so that any of the semiconductor wafers 10 having different diameters can be held. In the present embodiment, the proximal chuck 5
Are provided so as to support the semiconductor wafer 10 at three points together with the tip-side chuck portion 3, but the shape and number of the chuck portions are not limited thereto, and for example, the tip-side chuck portion 3
One base end chuck portion 5 may be provided at a position opposite to the above.

The distal chuck section 3 and the proximal chuck section 5 are provided with holding grooves 6 and 7 for holding the semiconductor wafer 10. The holding grooves 6 and 7 are formed, for example, in a “C” shape having two slopes, respectively, and hold the semiconductor wafer 10 by contacting the upper and lower edge portions of the semiconductor wafer 10 with the respective slopes. However, the holding grooves 6 and 7 may be formed in other shapes such as a semicircle.

The chuck device 1 configured as described above
Operates as follows.

First, the tip side chuck portion 3 is rotated to be positioned linearly with the chuck plate 2, and the chuck plate 2 and the tip side chuck portion 3 are allowed to pass under the semiconductor wafer 10 to be taken out. Adjust the height of the. Thereafter, the chuck plate 2 and the tip-side chuck portion 3 are horizontally moved from the near side to the far side, and are inserted under the semiconductor wafer 10 and passed therethrough.

Then, at the same time when the proximal chuck portion 5 contacts the semiconductor wafer 10, specifically, at the same time when the holding groove 7 of the proximal chuck portion 5 contacts the edge portion of the semiconductor wafer 10. The movement of the chuck plate 2 is stopped.

Next, the tip side chuck portion 3 is rotated,
The semiconductor wafer 10 is gripped by the distal chuck 3 and the proximal chuck 5. At this time, a detecting means such as a mechanical stopper prevents the tip side chuck portion 3 from rotating excessively and damaging the semiconductor wafer 10.

Then, the chuck plate 2 is slightly moved upward while the semiconductor wafer 10 is held by the distal chuck 3 and the proximal chuck 5 so that the semiconductor wafer 10 is separated from the cassette 9. . In this state, the chuck plate 2 is moved from the back side to the front side, and the semiconductor wafer 10 is taken out of the cassette 9. The semiconductor wafer 10 is conveyed and taken out in parallel with the other semiconductor wafers 10 remaining at the storage position without contacting the cassette 9, so that the semiconductor wafer 10 is not damaged.

As described above, since the chuck plate 2 and the tip side chuck portion 3 can pass through an arbitrary space of the semiconductor wafer 10 housed therein, a predetermined one of the semiconductor wafers 10 stacked and housed can be passed. , Only necessary ones can be transported and taken out. In addition, the semiconductor device 10 taken out can be stored in the original storage position or another storage position again by the chuck device 1.

The above embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the chuck device 1 according to the present embodiment includes the chuck plate 2 that is movable in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the plane of the disk-shaped substrate, that is, the planar portion of the stored semiconductor wafer 10 is horizontal. The semiconductor wafer 10 stored in the cassette 9 can be taken out in the horizontal direction.

Here, the entire chuck device 1 may be freely inclined. Then, the chuck device 1 can be inclined so that the tip side chuck portion 3 is horizontal or vertical to the plane of the semiconductor wafer 10 even for the semiconductor wafer 10 that is not stored horizontally. Thus, the chuck plate 2 can be moved in parallel with the plane of the semiconductor wafer 10, and the gripped semiconductor wafer 10 can be taken out in a direction parallel to the plane.

Although the chuck device 1 of the present embodiment is provided so as to take out the semiconductor wafers 10 one by one, the chuck device 1 can take out a plurality of semiconductor wafers 10 at the same time. That is, if the length of the distal chuck portion 3 and the height of the proximal chuck portion 5 are extended and a plurality of holding grooves 6 and 7 are provided, a plurality of semiconductor wafers 10 can be held at the same time. Can be taken out.

Further, the entire chuck plate 2 may be rotatably provided. That is, for example, a device for rotating the chuck plate 2 about its axial direction as a rotation center is provided on the plate support 8. According to the chuck plate 2, the semiconductor wafer 10 can be inverted while being held. Furthermore, the chuck plate 2 can be inserted between the storages of the semiconductor wafer 10 with the distal-side chuck portion 3 and the proximal-side chuck portion 5 facing downward, and the semiconductor wafer 10 can be grasped and taken out from above.

In this embodiment, the means for rotating the rotating shaft 4 by the wire 21 or the pulley 22 has been described, but this means is not particularly limited. For example,
As shown in FIG. 3, a protruding portion 33 is provided on the distal-end-side chuck portion 3, and a distal end 32 of a rod-shaped member 31 provided to be able to move back and forth.
May be brought into contact with the protruding portion 33 to rotate the distal-side chuck portion 3, or other means can rotate the distal-side chuck portion 3 freely. Anything is fine.

In this embodiment, the chuck device 1 for taking out the semiconductor wafer 10 has been described. However, the chucking device of the present invention is also applicable to the case where a disc-shaped substrate other than the semiconductor wafer 10 such as a glass substrate or a hard disk is taken out from the cassette 9. The device 1 can be used.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, the disk-shaped substrate according to the first aspect is formed to be thinner than the storage interval of the disk-shaped substrates, and the space between the disk-shaped substrates stacked and stored. A chuck plate that is inserted into the space and can protrude to the opposite side, a rotating shaft provided at the tip of the chuck plate so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the chuck plate, and a circle formed by the rotating shaft. A tip-side chuck portion rotatably mounted at a position parallel to and perpendicular to the plane of the plate-shaped substrate, and abutting against the peripheral surface of the disk-shaped substrate provided at the base end of the chuck plate; A proximal chuck portion, and a rotating means for rotating the distal chuck portion, wherein the distal chuck portion and the proximal chuck portion grip an arbitrary disc-shaped substrate and remain at the storage position. It is transported in parallel with the disk-shaped substrate In, of the disk-shaped substrate such as a semiconductor wafer housed stacked horizontally at regular intervals, it can be extracted by gripping any disk-shaped substrate. Moreover, since the disk-shaped substrate comes into contact only at the edge portion, the disk-shaped substrate can be taken out without damaging the planar portion of the disk-shaped substrate, particularly the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer. Further, according to this chuck device, the taken-out disk-shaped substrate can be stored again in the original storage position or another storage position.

Also, in the disk-shaped substrate chuck device according to the second aspect, the distal-side chuck portion and the proximal-side chuck portion are provided with holding grooves for holding the disk-shaped substrate. The groove contacts the edge of the disk-shaped substrate to hold the disk-shaped substrate. As a result, it is possible to take out an arbitrary disk-shaped substrate while securely holding the disk-shaped substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of a disk-shaped substrate chuck device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a disk-shaped substrate chuck device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment of the disk-shaped substrate chuck device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of a conventional disk-shaped substrate chuck apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chuck apparatus 2 Chuck plate 3 Tip side chuck part 4 Rotating shaft 5 Base end side chuck part 6 Holding groove 7 Holding groove 10 Semiconductor wafer (disk-shaped substrate) 21a, 21b Wire (rotating means) 22a, 22b Pulley (rotating means) D Storage interval

Claims (2)

[Claims] An apparatus for chucking a disc-shaped substrate for holding and taking out a predetermined disc-shaped substrate from disc-shaped substrates stacked and stored at a predetermined interval, wherein the disc-shaped substrate is stored at a distance greater than the storage interval. A chuck plate that is formed thin and is inserted into a space between the disc-shaped substrates housed in an overlapped manner and that can protrude to the opposite side, and a tip of the chuck plate at the tip of the chuck plate in the insertion direction of the chuck plate. A rotating shaft provided so as to be orthogonal, a tip-side chuck portion rotatably attached to a position parallel to and perpendicular to a plane of the disc-shaped substrate by the rotating shaft; A base-side chuck portion provided on the base end side of the chuck plate and in contact with the peripheral surface of the disc-shaped substrate; and a rotation unit configured to rotate the front-end side chuck portion. With the proximal chuck A disc-shaped substrate chuck device for gripping an arbitrary disc-shaped substrate and transporting the disc-shaped substrate in parallel with another disc-shaped substrate remaining at the storage position. 2. The apparatus for chucking a disk-shaped substrate according to claim 1, wherein the distal-side chuck portion and the proximal-side chuck portion have a holding groove for holding the disk-shaped substrate.