JPH10279025A - Stocker and article shelf information scanning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the lowering of the producibility caused by the generation of fault even in a case when the stock management data is disappeared, by restructuring the disappeared stock management data, by reading a tag by controlling a tag reading means when a carrier or a box is stocked, and successively scanning the stocker shelves. SOLUTION: Whether a carrier or a box is loaded on a stocker shelf 2 or not, is confirmed by a stock detecting sensor 4. In a case when the carrier is not found in the shelf 2, the detection is finished, and the detection of the next shelf is started, and in a case when the carrier is found in the shelf 2, a detecting signal is transmitted to a management computer 8. When an arm is extended to a specific position, a bar code of a tag is read by a reading sensor of a scanner 5, and is converted into a binary code by a convertor 6a, to be transmitted to the management computer 8. The management computer 8 confirms the lot information on the tag by a bar code signal, and one stock data is recovered. Then the stock.data file is restructured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stocker for loading and unloading semiconductor wafers by an automatic transport mechanism in a semiconductor manufacturing plant, or an article shelf for loading and unloading various articles by an automatic transport mechanism in a distribution automatic warehouse mechanism. , A storage management system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional semiconductor manufacturing plant, a large number of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are arranged along a manufacturing line in order to form a semiconductor integrated circuit on a silicon wafer by using processing techniques such as pattern formation, etching, and impurity diffusion. Is disposed, where a plurality of semiconductor wafers are collectively stored in one case and processed by each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a predetermined manufacturing process.

[0003] The processing unit of the semiconductor wafers stored in one case is a case where each case is stored in the case in a processing unit called a carrier of 25 sheets or less and is put into a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and processed. Usually, the semiconductor wafers are stored on a shelf of a stocker for storing semiconductor wafers in lots each including two carriers as one lot. As described above, semiconductor wafers are stored in units of lots, and loading and unloading are performed by an automatic transport mechanism in units of lots. In this case, a box that stores a minority carrier such as about one to two carriers is particularly called a box.

The loading and unloading of semiconductor wafers to and from any shelf in the stocker is performed by an automatic transfer mechanism in accordance with a command from the management computer, and the semiconductor wafer transfer information is collectively obtained as production information by the management computer. Have been.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional example, a failure occurs in the management computer which grasps and aggregates the information on the wafers in the stocker shelves and performs overall control. Recovery in the event that the shelf data has been lost requires considerable effort. This is because, during the failure of the management computer, the failure of the computer main body can be recovered by replacing the electronic parts, and the basic program and OS can be periodically replaced by magnetic tape, etc. There is no problem because it is always backed up to an external medium. However, the constantly changing stocker inventory data exists on the computer and is not backed up sequentially to other external media, so once it is lost, the inventory data can be manually restored on all the shelves. Then, it is necessary to visually check the lot information of the storage items in the shelves, and to input data again.

In order to check manually or visually, the number of stockers in a semiconductor factory has recently increased to 200 to 300 shelves. Restoring data has become an enormous amount of work, and during that time productivity has to be reduced. The failure recovery process itself when such management data is lost is not limited to the above-mentioned problem of the stocker in the semiconductor factory, and is not backed up even in a general computer controlled logistics warehouse that handles parts and products. Once the shelf data is lost, it has to be rebuilt using human naval tactics, which is also a problem.

As countermeasures against such failures, various measures against data loss have been implemented by improving the reliability of the management computer and devising the computer system configuration. Therefore, the occurrence of trouble itself is distributed not only to the management computer but also to the management computer, and as the number of devices and parts in the real system increases, the frequency of failures increases,
Under the circumstances that it is not a thorough measure, there is a problem that effective measures for restoring in-store data are not taken at present so that productivity is not reduced by quick restoration work.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to attach a tag with shelf information to a carrier or box of semiconductor wafers stored in a stocker, or to an article in an article shelf in the case of a normal distribution automatic warehouse. When the in-stock management information is lost, scanning of all shelves and reading of the tag information by the in-stock reading means is performed so that the lost in-stock information is automatically and quickly reconstructed by the management computer. hand,
An object of the present invention is to provide a stocker and an article shelf information scanning system that can prevent a decrease in productivity when a failure occurs.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 provides a stocker for storing a carrier or a box as a unit for accommodating a plurality of semiconductor wafers, and a storage device in the stocker. In a semiconductor wafer inventory management system which has an automatic transport mechanism for loading and unloading the carrier or box with respect to an arbitrary shelf, and manages and manages a semiconductor wafer in a shelf, in order to write lot information on the carrier or box. A tag to be attached, shelf detection means provided in the automatic transport mechanism for detecting the presence or absence of the carrier or box in the stocker, and a reading sensor provided on an adjustable arm portion of the automatic transport mechanism Tag reading means for reading the tag, and the storage management data of the stocker is lost due to the occurrence of a failure. When the carrier or box is present in the stocker shelf, the tag reading unit reads the tag by controlling the tag reading unit when the carrier or box is present in the stocker shelf. System management means for sequentially rebuilding the lost inventory management data by scanning the stocker shelves.

According to this configuration, when the storage management data of the stocker for storing the semiconductor wafers has been lost, the system management means controls the storage presence detection means to determine the presence or absence of the wafer in the stocker rack. After confirming, if the carrier or the box containing the wafer is on the shelf, the lot information is read by the tag reading means, and all the shelves are sequentially scanned, so that the stocking management data of the stocker can be reconstructed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article shelf for storing articles placed on a case or a pallet, and an automatic transport mechanism for loading and unloading articles to and from any shelf in the article shelf. In a logistics automatic warehouse mechanism that performs warehouse entry / exit management based on shelf information by a warehouse management computer, a tag attached to indicate shelf information of each article in the shelf,
A tag recognizing means provided in the automatic transport mechanism for reading the tag; and, when the shelf information is lost or destroyed due to a failure or the like, the tag recognizing means reads the tag again and sequentially scans the article shelves for disappearance. System management means for reconstructing the shelf information.

According to this configuration, when the inventory management data of the inventory of the warehouse storing the articles such as parts or commodities is lost or destroyed, the system management means controls the tag recognizing means to control each location. The tag information of the shelf is read, and all the shelves are sequentially scanned, so that the lost inventory management data can be reconstructed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the detected values of the on-the-shelf detecting means and the tag reading means are converted by a conversion converter for binarizing the on-the-shelf detecting output and the tag information detecting output; A scanner control unit that transmits the code information to the management computer via the transmission modem, receives a control signal to each sensor circuit via the modem, and controls the drive of each sensor circuit. The information is transmitted to the management computer.

According to this configuration, the scanner control section reads the tag by the scanner section based on a command from the management computer, digitizes the read tag information by the conversion converter section, converts the tag information into a binary code, and It can be transmitted as processing data to a computer.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the stocker shelf information scanning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the scanner unit shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process in the stocker shelf information scanning system shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an optional shelf 2 for collectively storing and storing semiconductor wafers in a carrier or a box.
Is a stocker. The loading or unloading of the carrier or box to / from each shelf 2 of the stocker 1 is performed by an automatic transport device (transport robot) 3, and the automatic transport mechanism 3 includes an X-axis transport mechanism 3a, a Z-axis transport mechanism 3b, and a Y-axis transport mechanism. It has a transport mechanism 3c, and is controlled and driven by the transport mechanism control unit 7 according to a command from the management computer 8. The transport mechanism control unit 7 includes a servo control circuit 7a for directly controlling and driving each transport mechanism in the XYZ directions, a sensor input circuit 7b from each transport mechanism, and a management computer 8 via a modem 7d.
And a transfer mechanism control circuit 7c for converting the command from the controller into a control value and transmitting the control value to the servo control circuit 7a, and converting the numerical value of the sensor input circuit 7b into a digital signal and transmitting the digital value to the management computer 8. Via the automatic transport mechanism 3;
It is connected to the management computer 8 via the communication line B.

On the other hand, the Z-axis direction transport mechanism 3b has
That is, a shelf presence sensor 4 for detecting whether or not a semiconductor wafer stored in a carrier or a box is present in the shelf 2 on the surface facing the shelf 2 is provided. The detection sensor 4 is, for example, an optical unit such as a CCD camera or a photo reflector. A line sensor or an area sensor (CCD) for reading a bar code or the like of a tag attached to a carrier or a box in a shelf is provided at an end of an adjustable arm at the end of the Z-axis direction transfer mechanism 3b.
Optical reading sensor (OC if tag is numeric or character)
(Using a reading device such as R). The position of the shelf detection sensor 4 may be provided at the tip of the arm of the scanner unit 5 together with the reading sensor.

The on-the-shelf data from each of the on-the-shelf detecting sensor 4 and the scanner section 5 is transmitted to the management computer 8 via the scanner control section 6 as wafer on-the-shelf management data. The scanner control unit 6 converts the analog detection value from each sensor into a binary code for computer processing, and transmits the converted detection data to the management computer 8 via the modem 6c. And a scanner section control circuit 6b for controlling each sensor circuit according to a shelf scanning command from the scanner. The control signal line A connects to each scanner and sensor circuit, and the communication line A connects to the management computer 8. .

In FIG. 2, the arm 9 is disposed at the end of the Z-axis direction transfer mechanism 3b, and an a-axis servo motor 9a
By controlling the b-axis servo motor 9b and the
Optical reading sensor 10 that extends freely inside and reads tags
(Such as an area sensor).

A carrier case (or box) 11 containing a plurality of semiconductor wafers in units of twenty or more and stored in a stocker has a tag (tag) 12 to which lot information is given.
Is attached. In this case, the lot information is represented by a bar code, a numeral, or the like. The tag may be in various forms such as a barcode label sheet or an IC card.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The management computer 8 immediately executes the all-shelf scanning program in order to recover the data if the in-stock data on the semiconductor wafer has been lost due to some kind of trouble.

First, the Z-axis direction transfer mechanism 3b, in which the scanner unit 5 constituted by the arm 9 having the reading sensor 10 at the tip is installed, is transferred to the transfer mechanism control circuit 7c by the shelf at the end of the stocker 1. 2 (for example, the top leftmost shelf is set as a start point), and a scanning start command is issued (S100).

When the leading end of the Z-axis direction transport mechanism 3b can be set at the shelf position serving as the scanning start point,
Whether the carrier or the box 11 is in the stocker shelf 2 is confirmed by the shelf detection sensor 4 provided at the tip (S101).

If the carrier 11 is not present in the shelf 2, the process is terminated and the process proceeds to the detection of the next shelf. If the carrier 11 is present in the shelf 2, a detection signal is transmitted to the management computer 8 (S102). ).

The management computer 8 that has received the detection signal
Sends a control command for the arm 9 to the transport mechanism control circuit 7c, and extends the arm 9 into the shelf 2 to move the reading sensor 10 to a position where the tag 12 of the carrier 11 can be sufficiently read (S103).

When the arm 9 is extended to a predetermined position and the tag 12 can be read, the reading sensor 1 of the scanner unit 5 is read.
The bar code of the tag 12 is read by using 0, converted into a binary code by the conversion converter 6a and sent to the management computer 8, and the management computer 8 confirms the lot information given to the tag 12 from the bar code signal. ,
One in-store data is restored (S104).

In this way, all the shelves of the stocker 1 are sequentially scanned, and after all shelves have been confirmed and all the lost shelf data can be restored, a predetermined file format which can be sequentially updated to a predetermined storage area. To rebuild the inventory data file (S105).

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
If any failure occurs and the data on the shelf is lost, the entire shelf scanning program is immediately executed to read the tags attached to all carriers or boxes stored on the shelf in the stocker 1. Checking each lot information and restoring the in-store data, so even if a failure occurs and the data is lost, the in-store data is automatically and quickly rebuilt without any blank period. In addition, it is possible to avoid a decrease in productivity of the semiconductor production line.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an article shelf information scanning system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the tag recognition unit shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process of the goods shelf information scanning system shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 21 denotes an article shelf in a general distribution automatic warehouse for storing articles such as parts and commodities, and reference numeral 22 denotes individual shelves in the article shelf 21. Similar to the previous embodiment, the entry / exit of articles is performed by the automatic transport mechanism 23 including the X-axis transport mechanism 23a, the Z-axis transport mechanism 23b, and the Y-axis transport mechanism 23c. The transport mechanism control unit 24 according to a command from the computer 28
It is controlled and driven by (the same configuration as the transport mechanism controller 7 of the previous embodiment). Movement of the articles to and from the shelves 22 and movement to the entry and exit ports 29 are controlled by the transport mechanism control unit 24 according to a command from the warehouse management computer 28,
This is performed by the entry / exit control from the article entry / exit controller 25.

On the other hand, a tag provided with a reading sensor such as a bar code reader for reading a bar code display tag of an article in the shelf 22 or an OCR or the like for reading a tag by numerals or characters is provided at the tip of the Z-axis direction transport mechanism 23b. The reading unit 26 is disposed, and the transport mechanism control unit 24 is controlled by the tag recognition unit 27.
It is configured to be able to read the tag of the article in the shelf by moving in conjunction with. The tag information read by the tag reading unit 26 is transmitted to the warehouse management computer 28 via the tag recognition unit 27 as goods shelf management data. As will be described later, the tag recognizing unit 27 is a circuit having the same configuration as the scanner control unit 6 of the previous embodiment, which performs binary encoding on the sensor output of the tag reading unit so that the output can be processed by a computer.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 30 denotes an article stored in the shelf 22, which can be stored in a case or a pallet or the like, or can be stored as it is. . A tag 31 similar to that in the previous embodiment for displaying shelf information, which is used by the warehouse management computer 28 for system management as shelf management data, is attached to the article 30. The tag 31 has a barcode display, numbers, and characters. When the reading sensor is a barcode, a barcode reader 32 (built-in optical sensor similar to the previous embodiment) is used. In the case of, an OCR 33 capable of recognizing an image is mounted. Since the tag 31 can be in the form of an IC card,
In that case, the card reader 3 is used as another reading sensor.
4th mag is also in the category.

The analog detection values of the various reading sensors are binary-coded by the converter 27a of the tag recognition unit 27, and are transmitted from the tag recognition control circuit 27b via the modem 27c.
The information is transmitted to the warehouse management computer 28 as shelf information. Further, in accordance with a shelf scanning command from the warehouse management computer 28, reading control of the tag reading unit 26 interlocked with the transport mechanism control unit 24 is performed.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the shelf information for managing the system is lost or destroyed due to a power failure, a failure, or the like, the warehouse management computer 28 executes an all-shelf scanning program to immediately restore the data.

First, the Z-axis direction conveyance mechanism 23b is sent to the conveyance mechanism control unit 24 at the scanning start position (for example,
It moves to the uppermost leftmost shelf) and instructs the tag recognizing unit 27 to put the sensor circuit on standby (600).

It is confirmed whether the article 30 is on the shelf 22 (601). If the shelf is empty, it ends and moves to the next shelf. If the article 30 is stored, the tag 31 is read by the barcode reader 32 or the reading sensor such as the OCR 33 (602).

The read barcode data is converted into a binary code by the converter 27a and transmitted to the computer 28 (S603).

The warehouse management computer 28 confirms the shelf information from the bar code signal, thereby completing the recovery of one shelf information (S604). Thus, scanning of all shelves is sequentially performed to reconstruct the entire shelf information (S60).
5).

As described above, according to the second embodiment,
Automatic logistics warehouse, which automatically manages the entry and exit of goods such as general parts and commodities, is also configured so that shelf information can be automatically and quickly rebuilt if shelf management data is lost due to a failure. Therefore, an efficient failure recovery process can be executed by reducing manual recovery work.

In the case where the temporary entry / exit operation is temporarily stopped due to some kind of trouble, the entry / exit operation is manually performed. However, when the system is restored, a discrepancy occurs in the shelf information before and after the restoration. However, by executing the scanning program of the present invention, such inconveniences can be resolved and normal automatic update processing of shelf information can be continued.

(Correspondence between Claims and Embodiments) The shelf presence detecting means and the tag reading means according to claim 1 comprise a shelf presence detecting sensor 4,
It comprises a scanner unit 5 and a scanner control unit 6.

The system management means in claim 1 corresponds to a control section for the transport mechanism control section 7 and the scanner control section 8 by the management computer 8.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, an automatic distribution warehouse for handling articles such as parts and commodities in a carrier or a box of semiconductor wafers stored in a stocker installed in a semiconductor factory. In the case of, put a tag with shelf information attached to the goods in the shelf, and when the shelf management information is lost, scan all shelves and read the tag information by shelf reading means, Since the in-stock information lost by the management computer is automatically and promptly reconstructed, even if the in-stock management data is lost due to a failure in the semiconductor manufacturing plant, the in-stock information is reconstructed without a blank period. As a result, a decrease in productivity due to the occurrence of a failure can be prevented.

Further, even in a general distribution automatic warehouse, efficient automatic recovery processing can be performed by eliminating a long-time manual operation for recovery when a failure occurs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a stocker shelf information scanning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a scanning unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process in the stocker shelf information scanning system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an article shelf information scanning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a tag recognition unit shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process in the goods shelf information scanning system shown in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 stocker 2 shelf 3 automatic transport mechanism 4 shelf detection sensor 5 scanner unit 6 scanner control unit 7 transport mechanism control unit 8 management computer 9 arm unit 10 reading sensor 11 carrier 12 tag 21 article shelf 22 shelf 23 automatic transport mechanism 24 transport Mechanism control unit 25 Article entry / exit control unit 26 Tag reading unit 27 Tag recognition unit 28 Warehouse management computer 29 Entry / exit port 30 Article 31 Tag 32 Barcode reader 33 OCR

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A stocker for storing a carrier or a box as a unit for accommodating a plurality of semiconductor wafers, and an automatic transport mechanism for loading and unloading the carrier or the box to and from any shelf in the stocker. In a semiconductor wafer inventory management system controlled by a management computer, a tag attached to the carrier or box to indicate lot information and presence / absence of storage of the carrier or box in the stocker are detected. A means for detecting the presence of shelves in the automatic transport mechanism, a tag reading means for reading the tag by a read sensor provided on an adjustable arm of the automatic transport mechanism; In the case where the storage has disappeared, the shelf detecting means is controlled to carry the carry in the stocker shelf. Or, check the presence / absence of a box, and if the carrier or the box is on the shelf, control the tag reading means to read the tag, scan the stocker shelf sequentially, and reconstruct the lost shelf management data. A stocker shelf information scanning system comprising system management means. 2. An article shelf for storing articles placed on a case, a pallet or the like, and an automatic transport mechanism for loading and unloading articles to and from an arbitrary shelf in the article shelf. A logistics automatic warehouse mechanism that performs entry / exit management based on a tag attached to represent shelf information of each article in the shelf, tag recognition means for reading the tag provided in the automatic transport mechanism, When the shelf information is lost or destroyed due to occurrence or the like, the tag recognizing means reads the tag again, sequentially scans the article shelf, and reconstructs the lost shelf information. Goods shelf information scanning system. 3. The detection values of the shelf presence detecting means and the tag reading means are converted via a conversion converter for binary-coding the shelf presence detection output and the tag information detection output via a transmission modem. And a control signal to each sensor circuit via the modem, and a scanner control unit having a scanner control circuit for driving and controlling each sensor circuit, and transmitted to the management computer. The stocker shelf scanning system according to claim 1, wherein: