JPH10270528A - Substrate carrier and cassette used therein and substrate carrying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize space saving and high-speed carriage without deformation of large glass substrates and the like, and without increasing in scale and weight of the entire carrier in the carriage. SOLUTION: A carrier 10 has cassettes 14 having a plurality of housing blocks, which can contain substrates G in the vertical position, a manipulator mechanism 34 having a hand 32 which performs the feeding and accepting actions for the substrates G under the vertical state, and a shoulder 38 which supports this manipulator mechanism 34 and is provided so that the shoulder is moved vertically and rotatably. A laterally movable device 70 which moves the hand 32 in the housing blocks of the cassettes 14 in lateral movement, and a holding means 35, which is provided in the hand 32, inserts the hand 32 into the housing block of the cassette 14 under vertical state and holds the vertically contained substrate G, are included. Thus, the feeding and accepting movement is performed under the vertical state of the substrates. Therefore, the substrate is not deformed, the carriage is made quick by a large extent, and the compact and light-weight configuration of the device is maintained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transport apparatus for automatically transporting various thin substrates such as glass substrates, a cassette used for the same, and a substrate transport method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, when a resist film is formed on a surface of a glass substrate for a screen of an electronic display device to form electrodes and the like, and various kinds of screens for receiving and emitting light are manufactured, for example, the surface of the glass substrate is formed. Plasma CVD,
A thin metal film is formed by a sputtering device, washed before coating the resist, dried before coating, and an adhesion enhancer (HMDS) is adhered to the surface to improve the wettability of the resist. Control, then apply a resist on the metal film using various coaters, pre-bake for solvent evaporation, further perform pre-exposure temperature control, form an exposure pattern on the resist through an exposure mask,
After the resist in the non-photosensitive area is removed by development, post-baking, the metal part exposed by the etching treatment is dissolved with a chemical, and the resist film that has been formed as a protective film on the surface of the metal film to be formed last is peeled off. Usually, a metal electrode pattern is formed on the surface. Conventionally, glass substrates are transported between processes in a multi-tiered manner, as shown in, for example, JP-A-8-288364. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known an automatic transfer apparatus for transferring substrates one by one to a cassette position and various processing positions, and consequently loading and unloading substrates from and into the cassette.

[0003]

In recent years, there has been a great demand for a display device screen for an electronic computer, a wall-mounted television screen for home use, and other large electronic display devices. ×
There is a problem in that a glass substrate for a display device having a size of about 700 mm is conveyed and moved between processes in a clean room. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, a central portion of a glass substrate horizontally stored in a conventional cassette K is largely bent, and therefore, a pitch P of a height gap between upper and lower substrates is set to a transfer robot. The cassette itself must be large and heavy in the height direction, making it unsuitable for high-speed transport, and the hand must be capable of loading and unloading substrates in multiple stages. The vertical drive width of the transfer robot that supports the robot must be large, and as a result, the robot body becomes large,
There was a problem of increasing the pass line (transfer height) in the factory. Moreover, as a result of increasing the occupied area in the clean room, there is a problem that the maintenance cost of the clean room is increased. Further, when the glass substrates are housed in the cassette in the horizontal multi-stage state, there is a problem that the glass substrates themselves may be deformed in a curved shape.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and one object of the present invention is to reduce the size and weight of the entire transfer apparatus even when transferring a large glass substrate or the like so as to save space. That is, the space occupied in the clean room is not increased.
Another object of the present invention is to realize high-speed transfer by a lightweight device configuration instead of a large-sized substrate transfer. Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the cycle time of the entire processing process by realizing high-speed transport. Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the transport device and keep the factory pass line low. Still another object of the present invention is to prevent the substrate from being bent and deformed and to maintain a high level of product accuracy of various substrate products.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cassette 14 having a plurality of storage compartments 23 capable of vertically storing a substrate G, and a cassette G having the plurality of vertically stored substrates G. Manipulator mechanism 34 provided with a hand portion 32 for vertically moving in and out the manipulator, and the manipulator mechanism 3
4 and a shoulder 38 provided vertically and pivotably.
The manipulator mechanism 34 is supported by the shoulder 38 and moves the hand unit 32 into and out of the storage compartment 23 of the cassette 14 in a reciprocating manner.
And a holding means 35 provided in the hand section 32 for vertically moving the hand section 32 into the storage section 23 of the cassette 14 to hold the vertically stored substrate G. Consists of

[0006] A surface conversion device 72 may be provided to convert and arrange the surface of the substrate held by the hand unit 32 of the manipulator mechanism 34 upward or downward.

The surface conversion device 72 is provided with the shoulder 3
8, and the bearing portion 74 is rotated so that the hand portion 32 rotates in the direction of movement.
And a pivot shaft portion 76 pivotally supported by the pivot shaft portion 7.
6, the manipulator mechanism 34 may be attached.

Further, the present invention comprises a cassette 14 used in the substrate transfer device 10 having the above-described respective structures.

The cassette 14 is formed of a hollow rectangular frame, and has upper and lower sides 24a, 24b, 24c, 24c.
Positioning portions 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d for vertically storing and holding the substrate G at a predetermined angle may be provided on the d side.

Further, according to the present invention, the substrate G is stored in a plurality of storage sections 23 in the cassette 14 in a state where the board G is vertically arranged, and the substrate or the manipulator mechanism 34 in the storage section 23 is stored.
The hand section 32 is moved to hold the substrate G by the hand section 32, and the board is transported while being turned so that the board is turned sideways as necessary.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a cassette having a plurality of storage sections capable of storing substrates vertically;
A manipulator mechanism having a hand portion for vertically operating the substrate stored in and out of the substrate, and a shoulder portion that supports the manipulator mechanism and that is vertically movable and pivotably provided, the manipulator mechanism Is a back-and-forth moving device that is supported by the shoulder portion and moves the hand portion freely into and out of the cassette storage compartment, and is provided in the hand portion and vertically enters the cassette storage compartment. And holding means for holding the vertically accommodated substrates. Any specific structure of the vertical movement mechanism and the turning mechanism may be used. As the manipulator mechanism, a double speed mechanism or the like may be used, or the linear guide mechanism itself may be used to move the hand section toward the cassette and slide it back and forth. The material of the hand portion may be a light alloy, another alloy, a metal or a hard plastic resin, or another material. The cassette may not have an opening. The outer shape may be set arbitrarily. Those having a shape that can be stably mounted on the conveyance are preferable. The configuration of the shoulder may be set arbitrarily. Alternatively, the manipulator mechanism may be simply attached directly to the vertical movement shaft so that the hand unit advances and retreats in the cassette compartment direction. Depending on the configuration of the shoulder or the manipulator mechanism, it may be possible to identify the manipulator mechanism itself as a vertically movable and pivotable configuration, and such a case is also included in the present invention. In short, it is necessary that the hand itself for directly chucking the substrate can freely move and can be inserted into and removed from the vertically long storage space. The holding means preferably has a structure in which a suction hole is provided on the surface of the hand portion, and the substrate is suction-held from the side surface side by suction negative pressure to be handled in a vertical state. The number of holes may be one or more. The size, shape and structure of the holes are arbitrary. A hook-shaped hook may be attached to the lower surface of the hand so as not to shift downward when the substrate is lifted in the suction state. Also, not only adsorption and holding,
The cassette may be pushed from the rear side toward the front opening side, and may be taken out using a member that can be received on the lower surface. Further, a configuration may be employed in which the substrate can be held and raised in a vertical state by fluid pressure.

Further, there is provided a surface conversion device for converting and disposing the surface of the substrate held by the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism upward or downward. The surface conversion device basically has a configuration in which a bearing portion is provided on the upper end side of the shoulder portion and the swing shaft portion is pivotally supported on the bearing portion, but other configurations may be used. A mechanism may be formed on the manipulator mechanism side so as to rotate the hand unit by approximately 90 degrees. Any configuration may be used as long as the pattern surface formed on the substrate can be turned up and down.

The surface conversion device may further include a bearing provided on the shoulder, and an oscillating shaft supported by the bearing so as to rotate about the direction in which the hand moves forward and backward. And the manipulator mechanism is attached to the swing shaft portion. The driving motor for driving the swing may be provided so as to be built in the body frame side.

The cassette is formed of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped frame, and a positioning portion for vertically storing and holding the substrate at a predetermined angle is provided on the upper and lower sides. The positioning portion may have a configuration in which the protrusion-shaped stoppers are arranged in an aligned manner so as to face up and down. The width of the adjacent space may be arbitrarily determined. good. The angle in the case of vertical storage and holding may be vertical or vertical, or may be set to a predetermined inclination angle in advance and vertically stored and held.

Further, the substrate is stored in a plurality of storage sections in the cassette in a state of being vertically arranged, and the substrate in the storage section or the hand section of the manipulator mechanism is moved to hold the substrate by the hand section. This is a method of transporting a substrate in which the substrate is transported while being turned so that the substrate is turned sideways. The substrate may be taken out of the cassette in the vertical state and carried into another cassette for vertical storage as it is, or may be surface-converted so that the pattern surface faces upward and supplied to the processing step as it is. The substrate itself moves from inside the cassette while the substrate remains in the vertical state, or the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism is inserted into the storage compartment portion from the outside to enter and move. When the substrate itself moves, it is necessary to make the contact area with the cassette as small as possible. For example, the air may be blown out from below to be supported in a floating state, and in this state, the air may be pushed out from the back side to the front side with air, and the air may be received by the hand unit side. A rail may be provided and its upper surface may be moved mechanically. By holding the substrate in the vertically stored state, physical deformation or the like of the substrate itself is prevented, and at the same time, the size and weight of the take-out / transport device associated with the work of taking out the substrate in the cassette housed state are prevented. The exclusive space in the clean room is saved, and the work height is maintained at a low position.

[0016]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a working room such as a clean room including a substrate transfer device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The apparatus includes a cassette 14 mounted on the table 12 and a robot main body 18 installed on an automatic guided vehicle 16 disposed adjacent to the table 12. The automatic guided vehicle 16 has a drive motor 17 mounted thereon, and runs on a track without any assistance, for example. The specific configuration of the transport vehicle is arbitrary.
A transport conveyor that moves linearly may be installed adjacent to the table 12, and the robot body may be installed on the transport conveyor so that the one-way movement is performed by the conveyor.

The cassette 14 is, for example, a thin plate-shaped work body,
For example, a plurality of glass substrates G for liquid crystal or PDP screens are stored in the vertical direction, and the robot body 18 inserts the glass substrates G one by one in a state where the glass substrates G are vertically arranged in the cassette 14, or Performs a release operation.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, the cassette 14 is formed of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped frame, and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole by a rib 20 having a certain width with each face opened. The cassette G can take in and out the substrate G only from the front side, and a stopper rod 22 is horizontally mounted on the rear side. As shown in the figure,
The upper and lower sides 24a of the front and back of the cassette 14,
Positioning portions 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d are provided on the edges of 24b, 24c, 24d toward the inside,
The storage section 23 is formed by being partitioned by the positioning portions 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d. These positioning portions 26 vertically store and hold the substrate G directly at a predetermined angle. The vertical angle of the substrate may be a right angle state, a substantially right angle state in which the substrate is inclined to some extent from the right angle state, or an inclined state in which the substrate is inclined. In the embodiment, the substrates G are arranged in parallel at a predetermined angle by the upper positioning portions 26a and 26c and the lower positioning portions 26b and 26d.

In the embodiment, the upper positioning portions 26a and 26c on the front side and the rear side are provided with a plurality of trapezoidal receiving projections 2.
Numerals 8 are alternately arranged in series with similar trapezoidal voids 29 and formed in a rack tooth shape along the upper side of each. On the other hand, lower positioning portions 26b and 26d are provided on each lower side opposite to the upper side positioning portions 26a and 26c, and triangular concave portions 31 similar to triangular convex portions 30 are alternately provided. To form a triangular saw-tooth shape. The concave portion 31 does not have to be triangular, and may have a wavy shape in which curved concave and convex portions are alternately continuous to reduce a contact portion with the lower end portion of the substrate, or may have another single or plural curved surface configuration. . Alternatively, at least the concave portion of the concave and convex portions may be formed to be concavely curved, and the convex portion may be flat or have another shape. The specific configuration may be set arbitrarily.

In the embodiment, the lower ends of the substrates G accommodated in the bottoms of these recesses 31 are placed in a point-contact manner. In addition, an inverted trapezoidal space 29 between the upper positioning portions 26a and 26c.
It is arranged so that a part of the upper end side of the substrate G protrudes inside. In other words, when the substrate G to be taken out, inserted, and temporarily stored is vertically arranged and stored, the lower end thereof is placed on the lower positioning portions 26b and 26d and the upper end of the gap 29 of the upper positioning portions 26a and 26c. These upper and lower positioning portions are set so that the upper end is located slightly below the inner wall 27 and slightly higher than the lower end of the trapezoidal receiving projection 28.

In this embodiment, the upper positioning portions 26a,
The receiving projections 28c and the triangular convex portions 30 of 26c are arranged out of phase with each other, and as shown in FIG.
When the lower end is placed on the bottom of the triangular concave portion 31 of the lower positioning portion, it is stored and arranged, for example, inclined about 7 degrees with respect to the vertical direction.

Thus, for example, in the case of a glass substrate having a thickness of about 1 mm and a size of about 800.times.600 mm, the glass substrate can be stored and held in the cassette 14 in a standing state as described above, and thus can be placed for a long time. Even if it is stored in a stored state, it does not cause bending or arc-shaped deformation. In addition, since it is in the upright state, that is, in the vertical arrangement state, the amount of flexure is very small as compared with the case of the horizontal multi-stage storage method, so that the interval S between the substrates G arranged in parallel may be set small, and the entire cassette may be set. Can be downsized.

In the embodiment, the upper positioning portions 26a, 26
The oblique side angle R of the trapezoidal receiving projection 28 of c is set to be larger than the inclination angle M of the stored state of the substrate G, whereby the upper end portion of the substrate G is substantially in point contact with the upper positioning portion. To minimize the contact area and prevent friction, scratches and other causes of defects on the substrate.

Regardless of the embodiment, the shapes of the receiving projection 28 and the lower triangular convex portion or the concave portions 30 and 31 may be arbitrarily configured, and may be simply a U-shaped flat bottom wall or It may be a concave part such as a ceiling wall. Also, the arrangement may be such that the upper and lower sides have the same phase. Further, it is not always necessary to arrange them inclining, and it is sufficient that a space in which a hand part of a manipulator mechanism described later can freely move in and out is provided between adjacent substrates G. Therefore, the substrate G
May be arranged in a vertical state. Further, the inclination angle may be set arbitrarily.

Although not shown, the front rib 20 shown in FIG.
A protrusion prevention plate having a height of, for example, about the upper end position of the triangular protrusion 30 may be attached to the outer edge side of the lower positioning portion 26b in a horizontally long manner to prevent the protrusion from protruding to the front side.

In FIG. 1, a transfer device 10 is provided on a robot main body 18 and supports a manipulator mechanism 34 including a hand portion 32 for operating a substrate G to be transferred in and out of a cassette 14 in a vertical state, and supports the manipulator mechanism 34. And a shoulder 38 supported by the main body frame 36 to be vertically movable and pivotable.

In FIG. 1, a main body frame 36 of an octagonal cylindrical robot stably supported on a base is installed on a carrier 16. A vertical movement mechanism 42 and a turning mechanism 44 are built in the main body frame 36, so that a cylindrical shoulder 38 projecting upward from the center of the main body frame 36 can be moved up and down and swiveled. I support it.

Embodiment As shown in FIG. 3, a guide hole is slidably inserted in a main frame 36 so as to be guided vertically by four linear guides (not shown) arranged vertically. Moving plate 46 is provided. The protruding block of the moving plate 46 has a nut portion 48 containing a rolling ball therein.
Are provided, and a screw shaft 50 vertically arranged on the nut portion 48 is screwed together, thereby constituting a ball screw mechanism. A rack and pinion mechanism, a belt feed mechanism, or any other guide mechanism may be used as the vertical movement guide mechanism.

On the other hand, a vertical drive motor 52 is provided on the lower surface side of the main body frame 36, and a belt 56 is tuned to the pulley 54 fixed to the lower end of the screw shaft 50 and the output shaft of the motor 52. By doing so, the moving plate 46 moves up and down by the rotation of the motor 52. Further, a case body 58 is attached and fixed to the movable plate 46, and a turning mechanism 44 supporting the shoulder 38 is attached to the case body 58, thereby moving the shoulder 38 vertically. In the embodiment, the vertical movement mechanism 42 includes a nut portion 48, a screw shaft 50, a motor 52, and a linear guide as a guide mechanism. The linear displacement amount is set so that an arbitrary moving range can be minutely set via a control device using a sensor such as a linear encoder. The vertical movement mechanism is not limited to the configuration of this embodiment, but a configuration capable of controlling and moving the minute movement range with high accuracy is more preferable.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the nut portion 48 of the ball screw mechanism has been moved to the substantially upper end side of the screw shaft 50. Therefore, the case body 5 fixed to the moving plate 46 is shown.
8 is also located substantially at the upper end of the body frame 36. In the figure, a turning drive motor 60 is fixed to the side surface of the case body 58. A bearing (not shown) is attached to the inner upper end side of the case body 58. The main shaft 62 is supported by the bearing, and is rotatable about a vertical direction via a speed reduction mechanism. A timing pulley 64 is fixed to the main shaft 62. A timing pulley 66 is connected to an output shaft of the turning drive motor 60, and a timing belt 68 is adjusted between the timing pulleys 66 and 64. This allows
When the motor 60 rotates, the main shaft 64 rotates, and the shoulder portion 38 fixed to the main shaft 64 is driven to turn over a minute range. In the embodiment, the turning mechanism 44 includes a motor 60, timing pulleys 64 and 66, a timing belt 68, and a main shaft 62. The turning mechanism 44 is not limited to the structure of the embodiment, but may have an arbitrary turning drive structure.

In FIGS. 1 and 4, a manipulator mechanism 34 is attached to the upper end of the shoulder 38. Therefore, the manipulator mechanism 34 itself moves up and down and turns. As described above, the manipulator mechanism 34
A hand unit 32 is provided for operating the vertically accommodated substrate G in and out.

4 to 6, the manipulator mechanism 34 has an advance / retreat moving device 70 supported by a shoulder portion 38 for moving the hand portion 32 into and out of the storage compartment 23 of the cassette 14. In the embodiment, the manipulator mechanism 34 is supported by a shoulder 38 via a bearing 74 as a surface conversion device 72 described later and a swing shaft 76 pivotally supported by the bearing 74. I have.

5 and 6, a rectangular parallelepiped casing 78 is mounted on the upper end of the shoulder 38, and the casing 78 is arranged with its longitudinal direction facing the cassette 14. In the casing 78, a ball screw mechanism 86 including a servo motor 80, a screw shaft 82 having a longitudinal direction extending toward the cassette 14, and a nut portion 84 which is screwed forward and backward, is fixed to the nut portion. A moving base plate 88 and a stroke mechanism 90 attached to the moving base plate 88 are provided. A hand unit 32 connected to the stroke mechanism 90 and separated from and returned to the casing 78 with an arbitrary stroke width is mounted to be movable forward and backward.

In FIG. 6, a belt 94 is tuned to a pulley 92 and a servo motor 80 provided at the end of the screw shaft 82. The nut portion 84 of the ball screw mechanism 86
An L-shaped connecting member 96 having a part protruding from the casing 78 to the outside is fixed to the connecting member 96.
Is fixed to a horizontally long trapezoidal movable base plate 88 formed adjacent to the casing 78 and on the outer side surface side of the same casing at a close and spaced position along the longitudinal direction. FIG.
, A long hole 79 is drilled in the upper surface of the casing 78, and the connecting member 96 has an L-shaped arm protruding from the outer surface through the long hole, and the inside of the long hole 79 is formed in the casing 78.
Is moved in the longitudinal direction, that is, the Y direction, so that the moving base plate 88 is simultaneously moved.

In FIG. 4, a rail 98 is fixed to the side of the casing 78 on the protruding end side of the connecting member 96, and the slider 1 is guided by the rail 98 in a straight line.
00 are slidably engaged to form a linear guide mechanism. The slider 100 is fixed to a movable base plate 88 arranged in a parallel plane at a position slightly separated from the side wall of the casing 78, and is moved in the longitudinal direction,
It guides the forward and backward movement of the hand unit 32 in four directions.

As shown in the figure, two pulleys 102a and 102b are attached to both ends of the lower end of the movable base plate 88, and a wire 104 is tuned to the pulleys. A rail 10 is further provided on the outer surface side of the moving base plate 88.
6 is fixed parallel to the rail 98. A slider 108 is slidably attached to the rail 106, and a thick plate-like hand portion 32 having a bifurcated fork-like tip directed toward the cassette 14 is fixed to the slider 108 of the linear guide mechanism.

Also, as shown in FIGS.
a, the lower erection part 10 of the wire 104 tuned to 102b
4b and the hand part 32 are connected by a fixing member 110. Further, a part of the upper erected portion 104 a of the wire 104 is stopped and fixed to an outer wall of the casing 78 via a stopping member 112. This constitutes a so-called double stroke mechanism, and when the moving base plate 88 moves toward the cassette 14 via the connecting member 96, the moving base plate 8
The straight line moves on the moving part, which includes the moving part 8 and the moving part of the lower portion of the wire 104.

In this embodiment, the advance / retreat moving device 70 includes a moving base plate 88 and a pulley 10 as the double stroke mechanism.
2a and 102b, including a wire 104 having a part of the upper erection part fixed to the casing 78 side and a part of the lower erection part fixed to the hand part 32 side.

Further, the aforementioned manipulator mechanism 34
Includes a forward / backward moving device 70 and holding means 35 provided in the hand portion 32 for holding the substrate G vertically stored by vertically moving the hand portion into the storage section 23 of the cassette 14. . The holding means 35 holds the storage compartment 2 in the vertical state.
The hand unit 32 inserted into the inside 3 holds the vertically accommodated substrate G. The hand portion 32 may be sucked and held, or a receiving edge may be formed at the lower end side of the hand portion along the longitudinal direction, and may be received from the lower surface and held. Fluid pressure, electrons,
A configuration in which the substrate is held in a floating state by electrical means, and the substrate is pulled out by means that does not change the physical or electrical characteristics of the substrate, so that the substrate can be controlled under the control of the hand unit. Is fine. In the embodiment, the holding means 35 is constituted by a suction mechanism for forming a suction hole in the surface of the hand portion and holding the suction. In the embodiment, the manipulator mechanism 34 is provided in the hand portion, and has a suction hole 114 for vertically moving the hand portion 32 into the storage section 23 of the cassette 14 to suck and hold the vertically stored substrate. In FIG. 4, the hand unit 3
Reference numeral 2 denotes a hand portion main body 33 formed by combining two aluminum members so as to have two forked leg portions 32a. In the embodiment, six suction holes 114 are provided on one surface side of the hand main body 33 (the casing 7).
8 on the side opposite to the mounting position).
A suction pad is bonded and fixed to the suction hole to prevent scratches and damage at the time of contact with a glass substrate or the like. A vent groove (not shown) is formed in advance inside the hand portion 32 so as to communicate with the suction holes 114, and a vent hose 116 is connected to the vent groove, and the hose 116 is further driven by suction. The substrate G is connected to a suction drive motor not to generate suction negative pressure to hold the substrate G vertically stored in the storage section 23 of the cassette 14 by the suction hole 114 by the suction chuck. The suction negative pressure generated by the suction drive motor needs to be a negative pressure that can be sufficiently floated by the hand unit 32 while being suctioned from the side while the substrate G to be handled is in a vertical position. The specific configuration of the hand unit 32 is not limited to the embodiment. It may be simply formed in a flat plate shape, or may have any other shape. In a state where a plurality of thin plate-shaped substrates are vertically accommodated, it is necessary to insert the hand portion into the interval width of the substrates G and suck the substrates, and therefore, it is preferable that the substrates are as strong as possible and thin.

As described above, the cassette 14 having the vertical storage compartments, the manipulator mechanism 34 having the hand portion 32 for operating the vertically stored substrate G in and out, and the manipulator mechanism 34 moving up and down and rotating. And a holding unit 35 provided on the hand unit 32. The holding unit 35 has a shoulder portion 38 that freely supports the manipulator mechanism 34.
, First, the cassette 14
Of the body itself can be reduced. For example, it has been confirmed that a glass substrate of a 650 × 830 mm type can be configured with about half the volume of a conventional cassette for multistage horizontal placement. Further, the bending of the glass as the substrate is very small. Therefore, there is almost no curved deformation of the substrate, and the accuracy of the basic components of the product can be maintained well. In addition, when a cassette is loaded and traveled on an unmanned or manned trackless or tracked carrier, stress on the substrate in the bending direction due to gravity is small.

Further, the vertical movement, that is, the stroke in the Z-axis direction is small, the weight of the robot can be reduced, and the high-speed transfer is possible. Further, the space occupied in the entire working room, that is, the clean room, can be small, and a large stock amount can be secured. Then, the pass line in the work space can be reduced, and the occupied space can be reduced in size and the work efficiency can be improved. In addition, since it is a vertical storage, even if the substrate is stored and held in the storage space by tilting it to some extent, positioning is easy and reliable, and even if there is no need for an alignment device for positioning like a horizontal placement, it is necessary to perform each process. It does not cause trouble in transport.

In the present invention, a further characteristic feature is that
There is provided a surface conversion device that converts and arranges the surface of the substrate held by the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism upward or downward. In the embodiment, the surface conversion device 72 is attached to the shoulder 38 described above. More specifically, the surface conversion device 72 converts and arranges the surface of the suction hole 114 of the hand portion 32 of the manipulator mechanism upward or downward. In FIGS. 1, 7, and 8, a support plate 118 is fixed to the upper end of the shoulder 38 in the horizontal direction.
The bearing 74 is mounted on the support plate 118. A bearing 122 is built in the bearing portion 74. A swing shaft 124 is rotatably supported by the bearing 122, and a swing plate 126 is fixed to the swing shaft. The geared motor 1 is provided on the swing plate 126.
The swing shaft 124, the swing plate 126, and the geared motor 127 allow the swing shaft portion 76 to be mounted.
Is configured.

The tip side of the swing shaft 76, that is, the swing plate 1
The end of 26 is formed in an enlarged plate shape, and this plate portion is fixed to a wall surface of the casing 78 opposite to the side on which the hand portion 32 is mounted. Since the manipulator mechanism 34 is attached to the swing shaft 76 in this manner, the manipulator mechanism, that is, the hand 32 is vertically moved and pivoted about the vertical direction via the control device, and the swing is performed. Surface conversion via the shaft 76,
That is, the pattern surface or the like is displaced so as to face upward or downward. As described above, since the swing shaft 76 is directly attached to the shoulder 38 and rotated, the swing shaft 76 is rotated.
Can be configured to have a short arm length, so that the centrifugal force applied to the substrate G adsorbed to the rotating hand unit 32 via the swinging shaft unit 76 is reduced, and the suction holding property to the substrate G is hardly affected. I try not to. In addition, since the mechanism for rotating the pattern surface upward by rotating the cassette 14 is integrated in addition to the operation of taking the cassette 14 in and out vertically, the manufacturing process can be concentrated and the manufacturing time can be reduced. At the same time, the bearing can be configured very easily,
In addition, since the reciprocating movement to the cassette and the surface conversion movement can be performed in a series, there is no waste in the movement, and it is possible to greatly contribute to high-speed conveyance. In the embodiment, the case where the suction hole of the hand unit is turned upward is described. However, the configuration of the swing shaft unit may be modified so that it can be turned to the upper surface or the lower surface.

The operation of the substrate transfer apparatus 10 according to this embodiment will be described. For example, in a closed work space such as a clean room shown in FIG. The supplied substrate G is washed 201 before resist coating and dried 20.
2, pre-baking / adhesion enhancer coating 203, resist coating 204, drying under reduced pressure 205, post-baking / cooling 206,
In each in-line process such as development 207, a conveyor line 208 is arranged at a place where conveyance is required, and a conveyance robot T is installed on the conveyor. At the time of these inter-process movements, the substrates are handled in a state where they are vertically accommodated in the cassette 14 as necessary, and supplied to each process, and during each processing process, the substrates are in a horizontal state, that is, with the pattern surface facing upward. It is processed in a state where For this reason, in a method of storing and removing a substrate in a vertical state, and handling the substrate, it is necessary to change the pattern surface from a vertical state to a horizontal state and to change the pattern surface to a vertical direction. In this case, the surface conversion device 72 changes the direction of the surface of the substrate as necessary. For each transfer outside such a processing step, the substrate in the cassette vertically stored state is accessed, and all the transfer and loading in the work vertically store the substrate G,
Alternatively, it is taken out in a vertical state and handled in a gripped state.

In FIG. 1, X is moved by the conveyor 16.
The robot body 18 that is movable in the axial direction moves the shoulder 38 up and down in the Z-axis direction from the upper surface of the body frame 36 lower than the predetermined low pass line L via the vertical movement mechanism 42 and the turning mechanism 44. , And pivot around the Z axis.

A thin plate-like work such as a glass substrate is placed in the cassette 14 in a vertical state at a predetermined inclination angle M in each storage section 2.
3, a plurality of parallel inclined arrangements are provided. When taking out and transporting such a substrate G, a manipulator mechanism 3 is used as shown in FIG.
4, that is, the hand unit 32 is folded and held in a vertical state, so that the hand unit main body 33 can be inserted into the storage compartment 23 of the cassette 14,
The swivel mechanism 44 and the conveyor 16 are driven for alignment. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the substrates G are arranged in a state of being inclined side by side at a predetermined inclination angle M in a side-by-side state, so that the oscillation shaft portion 76 is swung so as to correspond to the inclination angle M. It is in a state of being inclined at the same inclination angle. In this state, the advancing / retreating device 70 of the manipulator mechanism 34 is driven to extend the hand unit 32 in the direction of the cassette 14 and is inserted into the accommodation space 23 until the suction hole mounting portion of the hand unit 32 is positioned. In addition, you may make it a hand part enter in a vertical state and match an inclination angle.

When the motor 80 shown in FIG. 4 is driven, the hand section 32 is moved forward and backward through the connecting member 96 via the movable base plate 88.
Moves toward the cassette. At this time, the moving base plate 8
8 is provided so as to be slidable, and a part of the wire tuned to the pulley 102 is
When the movable base plate 88 moves laterally, the lower erected portion 104b on the moving end side of the wire tuned to the pulley supported by the movable base plate 88 moves in the moving direction of the movable base plate. (Actually, the pulley circulates around the pulley only in the range of movement). Thus, as shown in FIG. 12, the amount of movement of the movable base plate 88 plus the amount of movement of the wire is added to the casing 78 as shown in FIG. The hand unit 32 moves straight or retreats toward the cassette 14 by the amount of movement.

Then, the hand body 33 of the hand part 32
Is aligned with the substrate G, and the substrate G inclined by the suction holes 114 is suction-held by the suction driving device. Then, the hand unit 32 is raised slightly upward, and the hand unit 32 is moved vertically by the advance / retreat moving device 70 with the substrate G kept in the vertical state in a state where the contact portion between the cassette 14 and the substrate G is completely removed. And exit and return operation. These operations are performed for each substrate. In this state, the robot main body 18 is conveyed and moved so that the robot body 18 is positioned in the other cassette 14 in the X, Y, and Z-axis directions while being kept in the vertical state, and the accommodation section 2
3 and may be arranged vertically.

Further, in various processing steps, after the substrate G is taken out of the cassette in a vertical state and is withdrawn, it is necessary to swing the swing shaft 76 to turn the pattern surface of the glass substrate G upward. When there is, it is only necessary to rotate the swing shaft 76 approximately 90 degrees from the state of FIG.

The apparatus for transferring a substrate, the cassette used for the apparatus, and the method for transferring a substrate according to the present invention can be applied not only to a glass substrate but also to various substrates as a thin plate-like work used in other electronic devices and the like.

On the other hand, as a method of transporting substrates using vertical storage and vertical transport, a plurality of storage sections 23 in the cassette 14 are used.
Is stored in a state where the substrate G is set vertically,
3 or the hand part 3 of the manipulator mechanism 34
2 is moved to hold the substrate G by the hand unit 32, and the substrate is conveyed while being turned so that the substrate G is turned sideways as necessary. The substrate in the storage compartment is moved while being held vertically. The substrate may be held or captured or gripped by moving the hand unit side. In short, it is necessary to smoothly remove the substrate G from the contact state with the cassette in the stored state so that the substrate G can be controlled after being pulled out. The hand unit 32 is made to enter with the hand unit in a vertical position, and the substrate G is sucked and held through the suction holes 114 provided in the hand unit 32. After that, the hand unit 32 is raised above a minute range, and then the hand unit 32 is moved.
May be retracted and returned, and the substrate G may be conveyed while rotating the hand unit 32 as needed to displace the surface of the substrate G in the vertical direction.

The substrate transporting apparatus, the cassette used therein, and the substrate transporting method according to the present invention are not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, but may be modified without departing from the essence of the invention described in the appended claims. Arbitrary modifications may be made.

[0053]

As described above, according to the substrate transport apparatus of the present invention, a cassette provided with a plurality of storage compartments capable of vertically storing a substrate, A manipulator mechanism having a hand unit for taking in and out, and a shoulder portion that supports the manipulator mechanism and that is vertically movable and pivotably provided, the manipulator mechanism is supported by the shoulder portion, and the hand A reciprocating movement device for moving the unit into and out of the cassette storage compartment, and a holding device provided in the hand unit for holding the vertically accommodated substrate by vertically moving the hand unit into the cassette storage compartment. And occupying space in a clean room, in which the entire transporting device is prevented from becoming large and heavy and space saving is realized, and the occupying cost per unit area is expensive. Can be maintained so as not to increase. Further, the size of the cassette and the size of the robot body can be reduced in place of the large-sized substrate transfer, and high-speed transfer can be realized by a lightweight device configuration. further,
By realizing high-speed transport, the cycle time of the entire processing process can be reduced. Further, the size of the transfer device can be reduced to keep the pass line in the factory low, and it is possible to prevent the substrate from being bent and deformed and to maintain the product accuracy of various substrate products at a high level. In particular, vertical storage and the loading and unloading of substrates in the vertical storage state are possible, so that the volume of the main body of the cassette itself can be reduced, and furthermore, the bending of the substrate is greatly reduced to maintain the basic characteristics of various thin plate-shaped works. The product accuracy can be greatly improved. Also,
When the cassette is loaded on the transport vehicle and traveled, stress in the bending direction of the substrate due to gravity is reduced, and the substrate can be protected. Further, the stroke in the Z-axis direction is small, the weight of the robot can be reduced, and high-speed transfer is possible. In addition, the space occupied by the entire clean room is small, and a large stock amount can be secured. further,
The path line in the work space can be reduced, and the occupied space can be reduced and work efficiency can be improved. In addition, since it is a vertical storage, even if the substrate is stored and held in the storage space by tilting it to some extent, positioning is easy and reliable, and even if there is no need for an alignment device for positioning like a horizontal placement, it is necessary to perform each process. There is an effect that cost reduction can be achieved without causing trouble in conveyance.

Also, a surface conversion device is provided for converting and disposing the surface of the substrate held by the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism upward or downward, so that the substrate vertically accommodated in the cassette can be vertically moved. In addition to the operation of taking in and out of the cassette in this state, the glass substrate, semiconductor wafer, and other thin plate-like workpieces were also taken out of the cassette for the transfer of the workpiece during each of the other processing steps such as cleaning, rinsing, drying, coating, baking, and the like. Later, it can be rotated as it is to convert the pattern surface upward and supply it to the process, and this mechanism can be integrated with the mechanism for taking in and out, so that the manufacturing process of these thin plate-like works can be concentrated and the manufacturing time can be shortened The bearings can be configured very easily in the manufacture of the main body of the device, and the cassette can be moved back and forth. No waste in motion a series to perform the movement of the surface converted, it is possible to greatly contribute to high-speed conveyance.

The surface conversion device may further include a bearing portion provided on the shoulder portion, and a swing shaft portion supported by the bearing portion so as to rotate about the direction in which the hand portion moves forward and backward. Since the manipulator mechanism is attached to the swing shaft, the structure of the swing shaft is extremely simple, and the manufacturing, maintenance, inspection, and repair costs can be kept low. In addition, since the movement to the cassette and the movement of the surface conversion can be performed in series, there is no waste in the movement.

Further, since the cassette is used in the above-described substrate transfer device, the substrate can be stored and held at a predetermined angle at an angle, and vertical storage can be realized. Then, it can be stored and held in an upright state, and therefore, even if it is placed in a stored state for a long time, the substrate to be stored does not bend or deform in an arc shape. In addition, since it is in the upright state, that is, in the vertical arrangement state, the amount of flexure is very small as compared with the case of the horizontal multi-stage storage method. , Weight reduction can be realized. Therefore, high-speed transfer is also possible during automatic supply and transfer by the automatic transfer device.

The cassette is formed of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped frame, and is provided with positioning portions for vertically storing and holding the substrate at a predetermined angle on the upper and lower sides, so that the cassette can be stably maintained at a predetermined inclination angle. Accordingly, the substrate can be held in a vertical access by the hand portion, and further retracted, or stored from the outside smoothly and stably. In addition, an alignment device for positioning within the cassette is not separately required, and the equipment and operation cost of the entire transfer device can be reduced.

Further, the substrates are stored in a plurality of storage sections in the cassette in a state where the substrates are set vertically, and the substrates in the storage sections or the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism are moved to hold the substrates by the hand portions. The substrate is transported while turning the substrate horizontally so that the substrate is transported according to the requirements.This makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the entire transport device, save space, and occupy a clean room. The space can be maintained not to be large. Further, the size of the cassette and the size of the robot body can be reduced in place of the large-sized substrate transfer, and high-speed transfer can be realized by a lightweight device configuration. Furthermore, the cycle time of the entire processing process can be reduced by realizing high-speed transport. Furthermore, by miniaturizing the transfer device, it is possible to maintain a low pass line, which is the height of work transfer in the factory, and to prevent the substrate from bending and deforming, and to maintain high product accuracy of various substrate products. Is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a main part in a work room such as a clean room including a substrate transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic layout plan view showing an example of various processes of a thin plate-shaped work as a substrate.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of a partially cut-out part of a vertical movement mechanism and a turning mechanism of a robot body.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective explanatory view of the manipulator mechanism according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front explanatory view of the forward / backward moving device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory side view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a schematic front explanatory view of the substrate transfer apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially-omitted partial cross-sectional explanatory view of a state in which the swing shaft portion is swung to hold the pattern surface of the substrate upward.

FIG. 9 is an overall perspective view of the cassette according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic front explanatory view thereof.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of the cassette according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the forward / backward movement of the hand unit.

FIG. 13 is a partially omitted front explanatory view using a conventional horizontal multi-stage horizontal cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Substrate transfer apparatus 14 Cassette 18 Robot main body 23 Storage section 32 Hand part 34 Manipulator mechanism 35 Holding means 36 Main body frame 38 Shoulder part 42 Vertical movement mechanism 44 Rotating mechanism 46 Moving plate 70 Advance / retreat movement device 72 Surface conversion device 76 Swing axis 88 Moving base plate 114 Suction hole 128 Oscillating shaft

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cassette having a plurality of storage compartments capable of vertically storing substrates, a manipulator mechanism including a hand unit for vertically inserting and removing the vertically stored substrates, and a support for the manipulator mechanism. A manipulator mechanism supported by the shoulder, the manipulator mechanism being configured to move the hand part into and out of a cassette storage compartment, the manipulator mechanism comprising: Holding means for holding the vertically accommodated substrate, the holding means being provided in the hand portion, and allowing the hand portion to enter the storage compartment of the cassette in a vertical state. 2. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, further comprising a surface conversion device configured to convert and arrange the surface of the substrate held by the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism upward or downward. 3. The surface conversion device according to claim 1, further comprising: a bearing portion provided on the shoulder portion; and a swing shaft portion pivotally supported by the bearing portion so as to rotate around an axis of movement of the hand portion. 3. The substrate transfer device according to claim 2, wherein the manipulator mechanism is attached to the swing shaft portion. 4. 4. A cassette used in the substrate transfer device according to claim 1. 5. The cassette according to claim 4, wherein said cassette is formed of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped frame, and a positioning portion for vertically storing and holding a substrate at a predetermined angle is provided on upper and lower sides. 6. A substrate is vertically stored in a plurality of storage sections in a cassette, and the substrate in the storage section or the hand portion of the manipulator mechanism is moved to hold the substrate by the hand portion. A method of transporting a substrate, wherein the substrate is transported while being turned so that the substrate is turned sideways according to the following.