JPS61287632A - Wafer insertion-takeout device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make insertion or takeout of a wafer to or from an optional housing groove inside a carrier performable at any time, by intercepting a front surface of the front-ward tiltable wafer carrier provided with an excite with a moving belt, while installing a wafer passing port in a part of the belt. CONSTITUTION:A device measures a position of a wafer passing hole 20a on the basis of a turning angle position of a sprocket 21 as a pusher 3 advances it tip end from a position 3a to 3b out of horizontality. Next, drums 22 and 22a are rotated by a motor, shifting a moving belt 20 to some extent, and the passing hole 20 is stopped at the front of a housing groove for the desired wafer. Afterward, the belt is moved to a corresponding position by forward and lifting mechanisms of a conveyor system, a frame 1 tilted with pushing force by a pusher 11, therefore a carrier housing 23 is tilted frontward by rotation of a cam 29, and it is controlled so as to cause a tip end of the frame 1 to be oppositely situated just before the passing hole 20a, whereby a wafer 25 slides inside the housing groove toward the belt 20, and the wafer situated in a position of the passing hole 20a alone passes through the belt 20, receiving vibrations of an exciter 40, and it goes out on the frame 1.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention is a semiconductor manufacturing device such as a semiconductor printing device or an inspection device, in which a wafer is inserted into a wafer carrier having a multistage wafer storage groove, or a wafer is removed from the wafer carrier. The present invention relates to a wafer insertion/takeout device for taking out wafers.

[Prior Art] A conventional wafer insertion/removal device of this type is schematically shown in FIGS. 48 and 4b.

The wafer carrier 101 has multistage storage grooves 101a on the inner surface.
A wafer 102 is placed and stored in each storage groove. The carrier 101 is connected to a rack 104 which is moved up and down by a gear 103 rotated by a motor (not shown), and the wafers 1 are loaded in order from the bottom by changing the height position.
02 can be placed on the conveyor belt 105 and taken out.

However, in conventional equipment, due to the above-mentioned configuration, the wafers stored in the wafer carrier must be taken out from the bottom in order, and when inserted, the wafers must be inserted in the reverse order from the top storage groove, which makes it difficult to accommodate multiple storage grooves. However, there is a disadvantage in that it is not possible to insert or remove wafers from, for example, every other stage or any arbitrary stage. Conventionally, especially in wafer inspection equipment, a pair of carriers, a supply carrier and a collection carrier, are always prepared as wafer carriers due to the above-mentioned disadvantages, and wafers that are not inspected are also
There is a drawback that the collection device taken out from the supply carrier becomes larger.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art mentioned above, and to make it possible to return a wafer taken out from a wafer carrier to the same storage groove of the original wafer carrier, so that a supply carrier and a collection carrier can be combined. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer insertion/extraction device that can be used as a wafer carrier.

[Structure of the Invention] In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, the wafer insertion/removal device of the present invention includes means for tilting a wafer carrier, a wafer selection means, and an excitation means for roughly applying minute vibrations to the wafer carrier. The carrier tilting means slides a wafer carrier having multiple stages of wafer storage grooves along the wafer storage grooves by its own weight when the wafer carrier and the wafer are subjected to minute vibrations by the vibration excitation means. The selection means allows movement of the wafer between the inside and outside of the wafer carrier due to sliding of the wafer with respect to the wafer carrier after the tilting, only for a preselected desired wafer storage groove, and for other storage grooves. Efforts have been made to prevent this.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the selection means includes a movable belt with a wafer passage hole, the movable belt is disposed so as to block the front surface of the wafer carrier, and the movable belt is moved to move the movable belt to open the wafer passage hole. is located in front of the wafer storage groove at a desired position, thereby allowing the wafer to be moved between the selected wafer storage groove and the outside of the carrier via the wafer passage hole, and with respect to the other storage grooves. It is constructed to be shielded by a movable belt. Further, in another aspect of the present invention, the vibration excitation means is configured to apply a minute vibration by operating a vibrator attached within the carrier housing as the tilting means.

[Function of the Invention] In the wafer insertion/removal device of the present invention, the wafer carrier is tilted during wafer insertion/removal to enable the wafer stored in the storage groove to slide due to its own weight, and the wafer carrier is moved by the vibration means. Therefore, since a minute perturbation is applied to the wafer, the wafer is in a state where it can slide more easily. Therefore, if the wafer transfer means is positioned in front of the storage groove position to be inserted or removed, it is possible to move the wafer to the desired storage groove. Wafers can be taken in and taken out between the storage grooves, and at this time, the front surfaces of storage grooves that are not to be taken in and taken out are shielded by the selection means, so that wafers can be slid in and out only from the storage grooves to be taken in and taken out. Therefore, it is possible to arbitrarily return wafers taken out from storage grooves to the original storage groove of the same carrier without separating them into a supply carrier and a recovery carrier, and it is possible to put wafers in and out of any desired storage groove. Can be executed arbitrarily. For a better understanding of the present invention, embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment Figures 1 to 3 show embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the wafer 25 is inserted into the storage groove in the wafer carrier 24.
The delivery section of the wafer transport device that performs the take-out operation is once located in front of the wafer carrier 24.

The transfer section includes a pusher 3 that is slidably guided and supported by guides 2 and 4 on a tilting frame 1, and the tilting frame 1 is pivoted to a fixed frame 9 by a shaft support 5, and is always rotated clockwise by a spring 7. Forced. 6.
Reference numeral 8 designates a member for hooking the spring 7, and in order to tilt the tilting frame 1 against the spring 7, another button 11 is slidably attached to the fixed frame 9 by a guide 10. Note that 3a indicates the tip position of the bushing 3 at the backward limit, and 3b indicates the tip position at the forward end. The above-mentioned members indicated by reference numerals 1 to 11 constitute the transfer section, and the transfer section is movable in the directions of arrows X and Y by a transport mechanism (not shown).

On the other hand, on the wafer carrier 24 side, a movable belt 20 serving as a vertical sliding door having a passage hole 20a for the wafer 25 blocks the front surface of the wafer carrier 25, and this movable belt 20 is attached to a carrier housing 23 that holds the wafer carrier. Pivotally supported belt feed sprocket 21.
The belt 20 is wound around the drums 22, 22a via the belt 21a, and the belt 20 is wound by the rotation of the sprockets 21, 21a.
By moving the passage hole 20a, it is possible to position the passage hole 20a at a desired position in front of the storage groove. The carrier housing 23 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 30, and can be tilted around the support shaft 30 by vertical movement of the bushing 27. The bushing 27 includes a cam 29 and a bearing 28 that are rotated around a shaft 29a by a motor (not shown).
and is supported by a fixed guide 26.

In other words, the carrier housing 23 is rotated by the rotation of the cam 29.
is tilted about the support shaft 30 from the horizontal state shown in FIG. 1 to the forward tilted state shown in FIG. 2, and further to the backward tilted state in the opposite direction (not shown), that is, to the backward tilted state in which the passage hole 20a faces upward. Further, the carrier housing 23 is equipped with a vibrator 40. This vibrator 40 applies minute vibrations to the wafer carrier to make the wafer easier to slide.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the movable belt 20. Sprockets 2 are provided at both side edges of the movable belt 20.
Feed holes 20b are provided at regular intervals for engaging with 1,218 bins 21b for belt feeding. The position of the slit-shaped wafer passage hole 20a may be measured by, for example, a tachometer (not shown) connected to the sprocket 21.

In the above configuration, first, the operation of taking out the wafer from within the carrier will be explained.

First, the pushers 1 to 3 move their tips from positions 3a to 3b from the horizontal state shown in FIG. 1, and the position of the wafer passage hole 20a is measured based on, for example, the rotation angle position of the sprocket 21 at this time.

Next, the drum 22.2 is rotated by a motor (not shown).
28 is rotated to move the movable belt 20, and while measuring the position of the wafer passage hole 20a based on the number of rotations of the sprocket 22 during this period, the passage hole 20a is positioned in front of the storage groove in which the desired wafer is stored. Make it stop at .

Thereafter, the transfer section is moved to a corresponding position by the advancement/elevating mechanism of a transport device (not shown), and the frame 1 is tilted as shown in FIG. 2 by being pushed up by the pusher 11.

Next, the carrier housing 23 is tilted forward by the rotation of the cam 29 via the pusher 27, and at this time, the front end of the frame 1 is controlled to be opposed to the wafer passage hole 20a, and the wafer 25 in the wafer carrier 24 is moved to the belt 20.
The wafer slides in the storage groove toward the belt 20, and only the wafer located at the passage hole 20a passes through the belt 20 and emerges onto the external frame 1.

By the way, in order for the wafer to start sliding simply by tilting the wafer carrier forward, the angle of this forward tilt must be large; however, if the angle is too large, although the wafer will start sliding, the speed of the wafer will increase once it starts moving. However, the stationary position on the frame 1 becomes unstable, which tends to cause problems. Therefore, in the present invention, a vibrator 40 is provided between the carrier housing 23 and the wafer carrier 24, and this vibration exciter is operated to apply minute vibrations to the wafer and the wafer carrier 24. This reduces the static friction between the two. Therefore, even if the angle of forward inclination of the wafer carrier 24 is reduced, there is no problem that the wafer starts sliding and the speed becomes too high. When the wafer passes through the passage hole 20a of the belt 20 and comes out onto the frame 1, the wafer is taken out onto the frame 1 by retracting the bushing 3 whose tip is located at the position 3b. In this case, by reducing the forward tilt angle of the wafer carrier 24 to suppress the speed of the wafer, a receiving operation with less impact can be realized.

Thereafter, the transfer section returns the frame 1 to a horizontal state and transfers the wafer to another location, whereupon the wafer is transferred to the next chuck or hand device.

On the other hand, when inserting a wafer into the carrier, it goes without saying that the process is done in the reverse order as shown above, and the frame 1 that carried the wafer is placed opposite the original front position of the storage groove and inserted into the wafer passage hole. 20a to the same position, and then the pusher 3 pushes the wafer into the storage groove, or the frame 1 and the carrier housing 23 are tilted in the opposite direction to the above, and the wafer is subjected to the minute vibrations given by its own weight and the vibrator 40. It returns to its original storage groove by sliding due to vibration.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the front surface of the wafer carrier that can be tilted forward is blocked by the movable belt, and the wafer passage hole is opened in a part of the belt, so that the inside of the carrier is Wafers can be inserted into and taken out of storage grooves at arbitrary positions in random order. Therefore, wafers fed from the same carrier can be inserted and taken out from the same carrier without having to install carriers on the supply side and collection side as in the past. It is now possible to return the carrier to its original position, allowing for the miniaturization of the equipment on which the carrier is installed, and the carrier itself is multistage, as it is not necessary to enter a hand device, etc. into the storage groove to insert and remove wafers. A large number of wafers can be stored by reducing the gap between the stages of the storage groove. Roughly speaking, when taking out the wafer, the sliding speed of the wafer can be suppressed to a preferable level, so that it is possible to prevent the wafer from becoming too fast and making the stationary position at the receiving position unstable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic side view similarly in a tilted state, Fig. 3 is a schematic inclined view showing the main part of the movable belt portion, and Fig. 4a is a conventional example. The schematic side view shown in FIG. 4b is a front view seen from the direction of the previous arrow. 1: Tilt frame, 3: Button, 5: Axial support, 7: Spring, 9: Fixed frame, 1-1: Frame tilting button, 20: Movable belt, 20a: Wafer passage hole, 21.21a: Sprocket, 22 .22a Ni drum, 23: carrier housing, 24: wafer carrier,
25: Wafer, 27: Carrier tilting button, 29:
Cam, 29a: cam rotation shaft, 30: support shaft, 40: vibrator.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for tilting a wafer carrier having multiple stages of wafer storage grooves, and a means for tilting a wafer carrier that allows movement between the inside and outside of the wafer carrier by sliding the wafer against the wafer carrier after tilting only for a preselected desired wafer storage groove; A wafer insertion/retrieval device comprising a selection means for preventing the wafer storage groove from changing, and an excitation means for applying minute vibrations to the wafer carrier after tilting. 2. The selection means includes a movable belt disposed to block the front surface of the wafer carrier, and the movable belt has a wafer passage hole that allows movement of the wafer between the selected wafer storage groove and the outside of the wafer carrier. A wafer insertion/unloading device according to claim 1 is provided. 3. The wafer insertion/removal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vibration excitation means is a vibration exciter that supports and vibrates the wafer carrier with respect to the tilting means.