JPH1064990A - Carrier with mirror and substrate detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make substrates to be treated housed in a carrier detectable even when all side faces of the carrier except the side face for carrying in/out substrate are closed by detecting the presence/absence of the substrates in each stage in the carrier detecting reflected light from a mirror arranged in the carrier. SOLUTION: A mirror 25 is arranged on the inside of the back C2 of a box- like carrier which is only opened on the front face C1 side and closed on the back C2 , left and right side faces C3 and C4 , top face C5 , and bottom face C6 sides with synthetic resin plates, etc., for reflecting the light emitted from the light emitting device of a light emitting/receiving sensor. The mirror 25 is arranged on the inside of the back C2 of the carrier C over the full height from the lowest end to the highest end so that the mirror 25 can reflect light toward the rear sections of all substrates S held in the guide grooves 18, 19, and 20 of guide frames 15, 16, 17 provided in the carrier C. The presence/absence of each substrate S is detected by detecting the reflected light from the mirror 25 by means of the light receiving device of the sensor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier for accommodating a substrate such as an LCD glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer, and further relates to an apparatus for detecting a substrate accommodated in the carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a liquid crystal display (LC)
D) In the manufacturing process of the device, the surface of an LCD glass substrate (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”) is IT0 (Indium T).
In order to form an in-oxide (thin oxide) thin film or an electrode pattern, a circuit pattern or the like is reduced and transferred to a photoresist by using a photolithography technique similar to that used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and is developed. A series of processing is performed. A processing system including various processing units for performing such processing is installed in a clean room.

This processing system is composed of a loader / unloader section for loading and unloading a substrate, and a processing section for performing various processes on the substrate. The loader / unloader unit is used to transfer a carrier in which a plurality of substrates are accommodated in an appropriate number and to transfer the substrates in the carrier placed on the carrier mounting table to and from the processing unit. Transport mechanism.

Conventionally, a carrier for carrying substrates in and out of a carrier mounting table of such a processing system is constituted by a frame so as to accommodate a plurality of substrates arranged in parallel. For this reason, in the conventional carrier, the side surfaces other than the side surface on which the substrate is loaded and unloaded are also open.

The transfer mechanism has a structure in which tweezers for transferring a substrate are mounted on a transfer mechanism main body movable along a carrier mounted on a carrier mounting table, and the transfer mechanism main body is moved to a predetermined position. The tweezers are moved into and out of the carrier to carry in and out the substrate.

On the other hand, when a substrate is carried in and out of a carrier by this transport mechanism, it is necessary to grasp the presence or absence of a substrate in each stage of the carrier. For this reason,
A so-called mapping device for detecting the presence / absence of a substrate accommodated in the carrier is provided. This conventional mapping device is composed of a light emitting / receiving sensor arranged at a position facing a side surface for loading and unloading a substrate, and a mirror arranged at a position facing a side surface other than the side surface for loading and unloading the substrate. By moving the light receiving sensor along the alignment direction of the substrates in the carrier, the light is projected on each substrate, and scanning is performed by receiving the light reflected by the mirror. The presence or absence has been detected.

[0007]

Recently, a box-shaped carrier has been proposed in which all sides other than the side for carrying in and out a substrate are closed. The box-shaped carrier has an advantage that it is possible to prevent particles and the like from entering the carrier and to mix in outside air, and to protect the substrate from contamination and deterioration even in a room with low cleanliness.

On the other hand, however, if a carrier whose side surfaces other than the side surface for loading and unloading the substrate are closed is used, some conventional mapping apparatuses may detect the presence or absence of the substrate housed in the carrier. Can not be done. That is, in the case of a carrier constituted by a conventional frame, light could be transmitted through a side surface other than the side surface for loading and unloading a substrate. Since light cannot be transmitted, the light cannot be reflected by the mirror and the presence or absence of the substrate cannot be detected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a means capable of detecting a substrate even in a box-shaped carrier in which all sides other than the side on which a recently appearing substrate is carried in and out are closed. .

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carrier having a structure in which a plurality of substrates are housed in a state of being arranged in parallel, and the substrates can be loaded and unloaded through at least one side surface. A mirror is arranged inside a side surface different from the side surface for carrying in and out the substrate. In the carrier with a mirror according to the first aspect, as described in the second aspect, it is preferable that the mirror is disposed inside a side surface opposite to a side surface on which the substrate is carried in and out. Further, as described in claim 3, all the side faces other than the side face for carrying the substrate in and out may be closed. Further, as described in claim 4, the mirror is configured to direct the direction of the light wave by 9.
It may be a retroreflective mirror that rotates by 0 °.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting table on which the carrier with a mirror according to any one of the first, second, third and fourth aspects is mounted, and a mirror mounted on the mounting table. A substrate detection device including a light emitting and receiving sensor that is movable along an alignment direction of a plurality of substrates housed in the carrier at a position facing a side surface of the carrier with which the substrate is loaded and unloaded.

In the detecting device according to the fifth aspect, as described in the sixth aspect, the light emitting / receiving sensor may include a polarizing filter.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the entire processing system will be described with reference to FIG.

At the front of the processing system 1, a loader / unloader unit (carrier station) 3 for loading / unloading a substrate S such as an LCD glass substrate from / to the processing unit 2 of the processing system 1 is provided. . The loader / unloader unit 3 includes a carrier mounting table 5 on which a box-shaped carrier C containing, for example, 25 substrates S arranged in parallel is arranged and mounted at a predetermined position, and the carrier mounting table 5. Substrate S to be processed from each carrier C placed on
And a transport mechanism 6 for returning the substrate S that has been processed in the processing unit 2 to each carrier C.

The carrier mounting table 5 has an AGV (Auto
The carrier C conveyed by a magnetic guided vehicle (10) is carried in by a robot arm 11. Although not shown, the carrier mounting table 5 is provided with a positioning device.
Thus, the carrier C carried in by the robot arm 11 of the AGV 10 is placed in a predetermined position on the carrier placing table 5 in an aligned state. The AGV 10 has a carrier mounting table 5.
Can be carried out by the robot arm 11 and transported to another place.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier C has a box shape with an open front surface C1 in this embodiment.
As described above, when the carrier C is placed at a predetermined position on the carrier mounting table 5 in an aligned state, the carrier C is placed on the carrier mounting table 5 with the opened front surface C1 facing the transport mechanism 6.
It is to be placed on. As will be described in detail later, the transport mechanism 6 is opened via the opened front surface C1.
, The substrate S can be taken out of the carrier C, and conversely, the substrate S can be returned into the carrier C by the transport mechanism 6 via the front surface C1. In the illustrated example, the side surfaces other than the front surface C1 of the carrier C, that is, the back surface C2, the left and right side surfaces C3 and C4, the top surface C5 and the bottom surface C6 are all closed by a synthetic resin plate such as a transparent acrylic plate. ing.

Inside the left and right side surfaces C3 and C4 of the carrier C, a pair of guide frames 15, 16 and 17 for holding the substrate S housed in the carrier C in a horizontal posture are provided. These guide frames 15, 16 and 17 are provided with a substrate S
Guide grooves 18, 19, 20 for fitting the side edges of
Are formed in large numbers. These guide grooves 18, 19, 2
0 is the same number and is formed at equal intervals of, for example, 25, and the intervals between the guide grooves 18, the intervals between the guide grooves 19, and the intervals between the guide grooves 20 are all equal. Also, for example, the corresponding guide grooves 18, 19, and the corresponding N-th guide groove 18 from the top, the N-th guide groove 19 from the top, and the N-th guide groove 20 from the top are all at the same height. 20 are arranged at the same height. Thereby, the side edges of the substrate S housed in the carrier C are aligned with the respective guide grooves 1 of the left and right guide frames 15, 16 and 17.
The substrate S can be held in a horizontal posture by being fitted into 8, 19, 20. Although FIG. 2 shows a state in which one substrate S is stored in the carrier C for the sake of explanation, in practice, the carrier C carried into and out of the carrier mounting table 5 by the robot arm 11 of the AGV 10 has a large number. Of substrates S are stored, and a maximum of 25 substrates S are stored in a horizontal posture in a state of being arranged in parallel and at equal intervals.

Inside the rear surface C2 of the carrier C, there is arranged a mirror 25 for reflecting light emitted from a light emitter 41 of a light emitting / receiving sensor 40 described later. This mirror 2
5 is a guide frame 15, 1 provided in the carrier C.
The rear surface C2 of the carrier C is arranged from the lowermost portion to the uppermost portion so that light can be reflected at the back portion of all the substrates S held by the guide grooves 18, 19, 20 of 6, 17 respectively. As described later, the light reflected by the mirror 25 is configured to be detected by the light receiver 42 of the light emitting / receiving sensor 40.

On the other hand, the transport mechanism 6 is moved in the direction of arrangement of the carriers C (Y direction in FIG. 1) by the travel of the transport mechanism main body 7, and the plate-like tweezers 8 mounted on the upper part of the transport mechanism main body 7 are moved. The substrate S is taken out from each carrier C by moving into and out of each carrier C via the front surface C1 of the opened carrier C, and the substrate S is returned to each carrier C.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transport mechanism main body 7 of the transport mechanism 6 is configured to move along a guide rail 30 arranged in parallel to the arrangement direction of the carriers C (Y direction in FIG. 3). ing. A rotating shaft 31 projecting in a vertical direction (Z direction in FIG. 3) is provided on the upper surface of the transport mechanism main body 7. The rotating shaft 31 rotates in a θ direction in the drawing by rotation of a motor (not shown), and It is configured to move up and down in the Z direction in the figure by operation of a not-shown elevating means.

A transport mechanism plate 32 is mounted on the upper end of the rotating shaft 31. This transport mechanism plate 32
3 along guide grooves 34 on the upper surface of the transport mechanism plate 32 by driving a belt mechanism or the like.
A moving block 33 that moves forward and backward in the direction is provided, and tweezers 35 capable of holding the lower surface of the substrate S by vacuum suction or the like are horizontally mounted on the front surface of the moving block 33.

Further, on both sides of the moving block 33, there are provided arms 36 and 37 which extend right and left, bend at a right angle, and extend forward. The arms 36 and 37 are configured so that they can be opened and closed (moved toward and away from each other) by moving each other by a driving unit (not shown) in the moving block 33. Further, the distal ends of the arms 36 and 37 are pressed against both side edges of the substrate S held by the tweezers 35 at a position where the substrate S is taken out from the carrier C, so as to correct the orientation of the substrate S. Rollers 38 and 39 are provided, respectively.

Further, a light emitting / receiving sensor 40 is provided on the front surface of the transport mechanism plate 32. Emitter light receiving sensor 4
0 has a pair of light emitter 41 and light receiver 42. The light projector 41 is set so as to project light in the horizontal direction toward the front. As will be described later, in the light emitting / receiving sensor 40, the light emitted from the light emitting device 41 into the carrier C is reflected by the mirror 25, and the reflected light can be detected by the light receiving device 42.

Next, at the center of the processing section 2 of the processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1, corridor-like transport paths 50 and 51 arranged in a longitudinal direction are provided in a straight line via a transfer section 52. The substrate S is provided on both sides of the transport paths 50 and 51.
Various types of processing devices for performing the respective processes are arranged.

In the processing unit 2 of the processing system 1 shown in the drawing, a brush scrubber 55 for brush cleaning the substrate S and a high-pressure jet cleaning for cleaning with high-pressure jet water are provided on one side of the transport path 50. Machines 56 are provided side by side.
Two developing devices 57 are provided in parallel on the opposite side of the transport path 50, and two heating devices 58 are provided adjacent to the developing device 57 in a stacked manner.

An adhesion device 60 for hydrophobically treating the substrate S before applying a resist film to the substrate S is provided on one side of the transport path 51.
Below 0, a cooling device 61 for cooling is arranged. Further, adjacent to the adhesion device 60 and the cooling device 61, two heating devices 62 are arranged in two rows. On the opposite side of the transport path 51, two resist film coating devices 73 for forming a resist film (photosensitive film) on the surface of the substrate S by applying a resist liquid to the substrate S are provided in parallel. Although not shown,
An exposure device or the like for exposing a predetermined fine pattern to a resist film formed on the substrate S is provided on a side portion of the resist film coating device 73.

Each of the above processing units 55-58 and 60-
63 is disposed on both sides of the transport paths 50 and 51 with the entrance of the substrate S facing inward. Then, the first transfer arm 65 moves on the transfer path 50 to transfer the substrate S between the loader / unloader unit 3, the respective processing devices 55 to 58 and the transfer unit 52, and the second transfer arm 66 Moves on the transfer path 51 to transfer the substrate S between the transfer unit 52 and each of the processing devices 60 to 63. Then, each transfer arm 65, 66
Is configured to unload a processed substrate S from a chamber of each processing apparatus through an entrance and to load a substrate S before processing into each chamber.

In the processing system 1 of this embodiment, first, for example, 25 substrates S that have not been processed are stored by the robot arm 11 of the AGV 10 traveling in front of the processing system 1. The loaded carrier C is mounted on the carrier mounting table 5 of the loader / unloader unit 3. Then, the carrier C mounted on the carrier mounting table 5 is aligned at a predetermined position on the carrier mounting table 5 by a positioning device (not shown). This allows
The carrier C is in a state where the opened front surface C1 faces the transport mechanism 6.

On the other hand, in the transport mechanism 6, the transport mechanism body 7 shown in FIG. 3 moves in the Y direction along the guide rail 30, and the rotating shaft 31 rotates and moves up and down.
As shown in FIG. 4, the transport mechanism plate 32 of the transport mechanism 6
Of the carrier C faces the front surface C1 of the carrier C.
Next, the transport mechanism plate 32 is moved up and down, and the light emitting / receiving sensor 40 provided on the front surface of the transport mechanism plate 32 is moved.
The mapping is performed by detecting the substrate S which is stored in the carrier C by using.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, light projected in the horizontal direction from the light emitter 41 of the light emitting / receiving sensor 40 facing the front surface C1 of the carrier C is incident on the carrier C, and the light is transmitted to the carrier C. The light is reflected by the mirror 25 on the back surface C2.
Then, the light reflected by the mirror 25 is made to enter the light receiver 42.

As described above, in a state where an optical path that follows the light projecting device 41 → the mirror 25 → the light receiving device 42 is formed in this order, the rotating shaft 31
Moves the transport mechanism plate 32 up and down. Thereby, the light emitting / receiving sensor 40 on the front surface of the transport mechanism plate 32 is connected to the respective guide grooves 18, 19,
The scanning is performed from the height position of the uppermost stage to the height position of the lowermost stage.

Then, each guide groove 18 in the carrier C,
In the stages without substrates S of 19 and 20, the light emitted from the light projector 41 is reflected by the mirror 25 and returns to the light receiver 42. However, in the stage with the substrates S, the optical path is blocked by the substrate S. The light emitted from the light emitter 41 is received by the light receiver 4
No light can be received at 2. Therefore, it can be ascertained in which stage in the carrier C the substrate S is stored and in which stage the substrate S is not stored based on the presence or absence of light reception of the light receiver 42.

After the mapping is performed as described above and the storage state of the substrate S in the carrier C is accurately grasped, the rotation axis 3
The transport mechanism plate 32 moves to a desired height by the lifting and lowering of 1. Then, the carrier C is set by the tweezers 35.
The substrates S are sequentially taken out from the inside, and the substrates S are transferred to the transfer arm 65 of the processing unit 2.

For taking out the substrate S, the moving block 33 is advanced along the guide groove 34 on the upper surface of the transport mechanism plate 32, and the tweezers 35 are stored in an aligned state by the respective guide grooves 18, 19, 20 in the carrier C. Between the substrates S. Then, the transport mechanism plate 32 is slightly moved upward by raising the rotating shaft 31, and the substrate S is scooped up and held by the tweezers 35. In this case, since the mapping has already been performed using the light emitting / receiving sensor 40 as described above, the carrier C
Since the stored state of the substrate S in the inside can be accurately grasped, it is possible to control such that there is no problem such as accessing an empty step in the carrier C.

After the substrate S is securely held by the tweezers 35, the moving block 33 is retracted along the guide groove 34, and the tweezers 41 are removed from the carrier C. Take out. Thereafter, the arms 3 on both sides of the moving block 33 are further moved.
The substrates 6 and 37 are closed and the substrate S is pressed from both sides by the pressing rollers 38 and 39, whereby the direction of the substrate S is adjusted to a predetermined direction.

After the alignment, the substrate S is transferred to the transport mechanism 6
Is transferred from above the tweezers 41 to the transfer arm 65. Then, various processes in the processing unit 2 are performed on the substrate S. That is, first, in the brush scrubber 55, the substrate S
Is performed. Note that the substrate S is also washed with high-pressure jet water in the high-pressure jet washing machine 56 according to the process. The substrate S thus cleaned
Is further transported by the transport arm 65, carried into the heating device 58, and heated and dried.

The substrate S after the drying process is subjected to an adhesion process by the adhesion device 60. Further, after cooling the substrate S by the cooling device 61, a resist is applied to the surface of the substrate S by the resist film coating device 63. Then, after the substrate S is subjected to the heat treatment by the heating device 62, the resist film is exposed to the light by the exposure device (not shown). Then, the exposed substrate S is carried into the developing device 57, and the developing process is performed. Then, after the end of the developing process, the substrate S is carried out of the developing device 57 by the arm 65,
The substrate S is heated again by the heating device 58 and dried.

Thus, the substrate S having undergone various processes in the processing section 2 is transferred from the transfer arm 65 onto the tweezers 35 of the transfer mechanism 6. After the transfer, the arms 36 on both sides of the moving block 33 in the transport mechanism 6,
37 is closed, and the substrate S is squeezed from both sides by the pressing rollers 38 and 39, whereby the direction of the substrate S is adjusted to a predetermined direction.

After the alignment, the moving block 3 moves along the guide groove 34 on the upper surface of the transport mechanism plate 32.
3 moves forward, and thus the substrate S held on the tweezers 35 enters the carrier C via the front surface C1. When the substrate S enters the carrier C in this manner, since the mapping has already been performed as described above, the storage state of the substrate S in the carrier C can be accurately grasped. The substrate S can smoothly enter the guide grooves 18, 19, and 20 of empty steps in the carrier C. Therefore, collisions between the substrates S can be avoided, and a problem such as damage to the substrates S does not occur.

After the substrate S has entered the empty step guide grooves 18, 19 and 20 in the carrier C, the rotating shaft 3
With the lowering of 1, the transport mechanism plate 32 is moved slightly downward, so that the substrate S held on the tweezers 35 is held in the guide grooves 18, 19, 20 in the carrier C.

By repeating the above steps, all of the substrates S stored in the cassette C mounted on the carrier mounting table 5 of the loader / unloader section 3 are in a state where the processing in the processing section 2 has been completed. , The carrier C
Is carried out of the carrier mounting table 5 by the robot arm 11 of the AGV 10 traveling in front of the processing system 1. Then, the carrier C containing the processed substrate S is appropriately transported by the AGV 10.

Thus, according to the above-described embodiment, the mapping of the substrate S accommodated in the carrier C is performed in the order of the light projector 41 → the mirror 25 → the light receiver 42 via the front surface C1 of the carrier C. The guide grooves 18, 19, 19,
Since the presence / absence of the substrate S of each stage stored at 20 is detected, the side surfaces C2, C3, C
4. Even if all of C5 and C6 are closed, detection of the substrate S can be performed smoothly. Also, this carrier C
Has only the front surface C1, so that it is possible to prevent particles or the like from entering the carrier C or to mix in outside air, and to protect the substrate S from contamination and deterioration even in a room with a low degree of cleanliness. There is.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention can be similarly applied to a carrier for accommodating another substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. It is also effective to take measures such as attaching a lid to the opening of the carrier, for example, in order to more reliably prevent particles or the like from entering the carrier or mixing of outside air. Further, the mirror provided in the carrier may be a SUS plate (stainless steel plate) or the like, and in some cases, the whole or a part of the rear surface of the carrier may be formed of a light reflecting member such as a SUS plate.

In order to avoid the influence of disturbance factors,
It is preferable to use a recursive reflection mirror for rotating the direction of the light wave by 90 ° as a mirror provided in the carrier, and to provide a polarization filter in the light emitting / receiving sensor. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, in front of the light emitter 41 of the light emitter / receiver sensor 40 provided on the front surface of the transport mechanism plate 32, a polarization filter 80 that transmits only light that vibrates in the vertical direction is provided. In front of the light receiver 42 of the sensor 40, a polarization filter 81 that transmits only light that vibrates in the lateral direction is provided. Further, a retroreflective mirror 82 for rotating the direction of the light wave by 90 ° is provided inside the back surface C2 of the carrier C. In this case, the light receiver 42 is
Since only light emitted from 1 will be incident,
The substrate S is not affected by disturbance factors such as indoor lighting.
Can be detected accurately.

[0045]

According to the present invention, the presence or absence of a substrate to be processed in each stage in a carrier can be detected by reflecting light with a mirror arranged in the carrier. Even if all of the side surfaces are closed, the detection of the substrate housed in the carrier can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a processing system.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the carrier according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a transport mechanism.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an optical path formed between a light emitting / receiving sensor on the front surface of a transport mechanism plate and a mirror in a carrier.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an embodiment in which a polarizing filter is provided in the light emitting / receiving sensor and a recursive reflection mirror is used as a mirror provided in a carrier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S substrate C carrier 25 mirror 40 light emitting / receiving sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kengo Mizozaki O272, Otsu-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A carrier configured to store a plurality of substrates in a state of being arranged in parallel, and to be able to carry in and out the substrate via at least one side surface, wherein the inside of a side surface different from the side surface for carrying in and out the substrate is provided. A carrier with a mirror, wherein a mirror is arranged on the carrier. 2. The carrier with a mirror according to claim 1, wherein the mirror is disposed inside a side surface opposite to a side surface on which the substrate is carried in and out. 3. The mirror-equipped carrier according to claim 1, wherein all side surfaces other than the side surface on which the substrate is carried in and out are closed. 4. The carrier with a mirror according to claim 1, wherein the mirror is a recursive reflection mirror for rotating the direction of a light wave by 90 °. 5. A mounting table on which the carrier with a mirror according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3 and 4 is mounted, and a side surface of the carrier with a mirror mounted on the mounting table on which the substrate is carried in and out. A substrate detecting device including a light emitting and receiving sensor that is movable along an alignment direction of a plurality of substrates housed in a carrier at opposing positions. 6. The substrate detecting device according to claim 5, wherein the light emitting / receiving sensor includes a polarizing filter.