JPH1116988A - Component unit of wafer processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent vibrations attendant on the operation of a moving part by a method wherein a gravity center controlling means which restrains the center of gravity of a substrate transfer unit from getting out of position is provided. SOLUTION: A substrate support arm 10 connected to a first rack 18 through the intermediary of a connecting rod 20 reciprocates rectilinearly in a horizontal direction. At this point, a second rack 26 engaged with a pinion 30 reciprocates also rectilinearly from a position indicated by a solid line to another position indicated by a two-dot chain line and vice versa in a horizontal direction. A gravity center controlling arm 22 connected to the second rack 26 through the intermediary of a connecting rod 28 reciprocates rectilinearly and horizontally opposite to the direction in which the substrate support arm 10 moves. As mentioned above, the gravity center control arm 22 is actuated symmetrical to the substrate support arm 10 at the same time when the substrate support arm 10 is actuated. Therefore, the center of gravity of a substrate transfer unit is restrained from getting out of position due to the action of the substrate support arm 10, so that vibrations caused by the loss of a weight balance can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display or a photomask, and a substrate for an optical disk. The present invention relates to a component unit having a moving unit such as a substrate support arm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which has a plurality of substrate processing units such as a coating processing unit, a heating processing unit and a cooling processing unit, an exposure processing unit and a developing processing unit and sequentially performs a plurality of processes on a semiconductor substrate. The substrate transfer unit, for example, a single self-propelled substrate transfer robot is circulated and moved to a plurality of substrate processing units in a predetermined order, and the plurality of substrates are sequentially transferred one by one to each substrate processing unit by the substrate transfer robot. And
In each of the substrate processing units, the substrate support arm of the substrate transfer robot is driven to take in and out the substrate (removal of a processed substrate and input of an unprocessed substrate), and each substrate processing unit performs a predetermined process on the substrate. Like that.

[0003]

In the above-described semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, when the substrate support arm of the substrate transfer robot performs an operation such as expansion and contraction, the position of the center of gravity of the substrate transfer robot shifts, and the weight balance is lost. It may cause vibration. In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, if vibration occurs even in a part of the apparatus, the vibration has a great effect on process performance, such as displacement of a substrate. For example, even if the angled substrate is positioned in each substrate processing unit or substrate transfer robot, if the substrate position slightly shifts due to vibration, handling error in the substrate transfer robot may occur, or the heat processing unit The heat treatment may not be performed properly because a part of the substrate protrudes from the substrate. In addition, during the development of the developer on the substrate in the developing section, the surface of the developer layer undulates due to vibration,
It may cause uneven development.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has been described in connection with the operation of a moving unit in a component unit having a moving unit such as a substrate support arm, such as a substrate transport unit of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a constituent unit of a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing generation of vibrations accompanying the above.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a structural unit having a moving unit and constituting a part of a substrate processing apparatus, wherein a position of a center of gravity which is operated in accordance with the operation of the moving unit and which is generated by the operation of the moving unit. It is characterized in that a center of gravity adjusting means for eliminating the displacement is provided.

In the above configuration unit according to the present invention, the displacement of the center of gravity caused by the operation of the moving section is eliminated by the operation of the center of gravity adjusting means in accordance with the operation of the moving section such as the expansion and contraction operation of the substrate support arm. For this reason, the occurrence of vibration due to the loss of weight balance is prevented.

[0007]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate transfer unit of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, partly in a longitudinal section. This substrate transport unit has a substrate support arm 10 for mounting and supporting a semiconductor substrate (not shown). A base end 12 of the substrate support arm 10 is provided inside a housing 16 fixed on a base 14. The first located in
Of the substrate support arm 10 and the first horizontal rack 18.
Are held in a horizontal posture.

The substrate transport unit has a center-of-gravity adjusting arm 22, and the center-of-gravity adjusting arm 22 is symmetrically disposed on the opposite side of the substrate supporting arm 10 from the substrate supporting arm 10. It is formed in the same shape as the substrate support arm 22 or in such a shape that the weight distribution is the same as the substrate support arm 22. Center of gravity adjustment arm 2
The second base end 24 is connected to a second horizontal rack 26 disposed in the housing 16 below and parallel to the first horizontal rack 18 by a connecting rod 28. The second horizontal rack 26 is held in a horizontal posture. The first and second horizontal racks 18 and 26 respectively mesh with one pinion 30 and are arranged above and below the pinion 30. The pinion 30 is connected to a rotating shaft of a drive motor (not shown) that can be rotated forward and backward. By driving the drive motor, the pinion 30 is rotated, and the first and second gears meshed with the pinion 30 respectively. The two horizontal racks 18 and 26 are configured to move horizontally in opposite directions.

In the substrate transfer unit shown in FIG.
When the substrate is taken in and out of the substrate processing unit, the substrate support arm 10 is horizontally moved from the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 to the state shown by the two-dot chain line, and is put out forward, and from the state shown by the two-dot chain line to the solid line In order to move the pinion 30 horizontally and to retract it, the drive motor (not shown) is rotated forward and backward to rotate the pinion 30. As a result, the first rack 18 meshed with the pinion 30 linearly reciprocates in the horizontal direction from the solid line position to the two-dot chain line position and from the two-dot chain line position to the solid line position. The substrate support arm 10 connected via the connecting rod 20 linearly reciprocates in the horizontal direction. At this time, the pinion 30
At the same time, the second rack 26 linearly reciprocates in the horizontal direction from the solid line position to the two-dot chain line position and from the two-dot chain line position to the solid line position. The center-of-gravity adjusting arm 22 connected via the reciprocating device reciprocates linearly in the horizontal direction and in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate support arm 10. Thus, the substrate support arm 1
When “0” is operated, the center of gravity adjusting arm 22 is simultaneously operated and operates symmetrically with the substrate support arm 10.
For this reason, the displacement of the center of gravity of the substrate transfer unit caused by the operation of the substrate support arm 10 is eliminated, and the vibration due to the loss of the weight balance does not occur.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a right side view of a substrate transfer unit of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the state seen. In these drawings, the side cover is removed, and the self-propelled mechanism and the turning mechanism are not shown.

The substrate transfer unit includes slide rails 34, 34 on both sides of a self-propelled and rotatable base 32.
Are fixedly mounted, respectively, and each slide rail 34, 3
4, slide members 36, 36 are fitted to be slidable in the horizontal direction, and support members 38, 40 are fixed to the outer surfaces of the slide members 36, 36, respectively. A substrate support arm 42 for mounting and supporting a semiconductor substrate (not shown) is attached to one support member 38, and a center of gravity adjustment arm 44 is attached to the other support member 40. I have. The substrate support arm 42 and the center-of-gravity adjustment arm 44 are respectively held in a horizontal posture and are arranged vertically above and below each other, and a slight gap is formed between the two arms 42 and 44.

A substrate support arm 42 is provided below the base 32.
A motor 46 for driving the motor 4 is provided.
The drive roller 48 is fixed to the rotation shaft 6. Also,
On one side surface of the base 32, the driven pulley 5 is provided below the vicinity of the front end and the vicinity of the rear end of the slide rail 34, respectively.
Reference numerals 0 and 50 are rotatably attached to the base 32, and a guide roller 52 is rotatably attached to the base 32 near the drive roller 48. Then, the driving roller 48, the driven pulleys 50 and 50, and the guide roller 52
A wire 54 is wound therebetween, and a part of the wire 54 is fixed to the support member 40 of the substrate support arm 42.
With such a configuration, when the motor 46 is driven to rotate forward and backward, the slide member 36 and the support member 38 linearly reciprocate in the horizontal direction along the slide rail 34 and are attached to the support member 38. The substrate support arm 42 moved forward and backward in the horizontal direction. A motor 56 for driving the center-of-gravity adjusting arm 44 is disposed below the base 32 on the side opposite to the position where the motor 46 for driving the substrate support arm 42 is arranged. 32
A driving mechanism for a center-of-gravity adjusting arm 44 composed of a driving roller, a pair of driven pulleys, a guide roller, and a wire is provided on the other side surface, similarly to the driving mechanism for the substrate support arm 42 described above.

The drive motor 46 of the substrate support arm 42 and the drive motor 56 of the center-of-gravity adjustment arm 44 are driven in conjunction with each other, and the center-of-gravity adjustment arm 44 advances and retreats as the substrate support arm 42 advances and retreats. It is configured to perform an operation. As described above, the center-of-gravity adjusting arm 44 operates symmetrically with the substrate support arm 42, so that the displacement of the center of gravity of the substrate transfer unit caused by the operation of the substrate support arm 42 is eliminated, and the weight balance is lost. Occurrence of vibration due to vibration is prevented.

In the above-described embodiment, the substrate transfer unit having only one substrate support arm has been exemplified.
The substrate transfer unit may include two substrate support arms. In this case, when one substrate support arm operates, the other substrate support arm may be operated as a center-of-gravity adjustment arm. Further, in the above embodiment, the substrate transfer unit in which the substrate support arm reciprocates linearly is illustrated, but the present invention is also applicable to a substrate transfer unit in which the substrate support arm rotates. Further, the present invention can be applied to a transport unit that transports a cassette, and can be widely applied to a unit having a moving unit and causing a displacement of the center of gravity with the operation of the moving unit. .

[0016]

By using the constituent units of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of vibration accompanying the operation of the moving unit such as the substrate support arm, and the vibration is generated in a part of the substrate processing apparatus. Inconvenience on the process due to this can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate transport unit of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and is a right side view of a substrate transport unit of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the substrate transport unit shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the back side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 42 Substrate support arm 12 Base end of substrate support arm 14, 32 Base 16 Housing 18, 26 Rack 20, 28 Connecting rod 22, 44 Center of gravity adjustment arm 24 Base end of center of gravity adjustment arm 30 Pinion 34 Slide rail 36 Slide Member 38, 40 Supporting member 46, 56 Motor 48 Driving roller 50 Driven pulley 52 Guide roller 54 Wire

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Imanishi 322 Hahazushi Furukawa-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inside the Rakusai Office (72) Inventor Yoichi Nishimura 322 Habushishi Furukawa-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 322 Hashinashi Furukawacho Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Rakusai Office (72) Inventor Takanori Kawamoto 322 Habushishi Furukawacho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Rakusai Office

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a constituent unit of a substrate processing apparatus, which forms a part of a substrate processing apparatus and has a moving unit, a displacement of a center of gravity caused by the operation of the moving unit, which is operated in accordance with the operation of the moving unit, is eliminated. A structural unit of a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: