JPS6325945A - Conveying apparatus of wafer and wafer carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a conveying apparatus, which can reduce the area of a floor occupied by the conveying means of wafer carriers, as much as possible, by constituting the conveying means by supporting members for a plurality of wafer carriers, which are arranged in series so that the carriers can be moved in the vertical direction, and a driving means, which drives the supporting means in the vertical direction. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of wafers 82 are accommodated in each of at least two wafer carriers 80. The carriers are conveyed to a specified position by a wafer conveying means. The wafers 82, are taken out of the wafer carrier 80, which is conveyed to the specified position one by one and conveyed to a wafer processing device by a wafer conveying means. Said wafer conveying means in a conveying apparatus for the wafers and the wafer carriers include the following parts. A plurality of wafer carrier supporting parts 22 are arranged in series in the moving direction so that the members can be moved in the vertical direction between the upper position and the lower position. Driving means 10-20 drive the wafer carrier supporing members 22 in the vertical direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a transport device including transport means for semiconductor wafers and wafer carriers.

(Prior Art and Its Disadvantages) In order to transport semiconductor wafers to a wafer processing device such as an inspection device, a plurality of wafers are accommodated in a wafer carrier and this wafer carrier is transported. In this case, means for transporting the wafer carrier to a predetermined position and means for transporting the wafer carrier transported to the predetermined position to a wafer processing apparatus (for example, an inspection position) are required.

Conventionally, the above-mentioned transport device was installed horizontally on the floor in the factory, and the wafer carrier was transported horizontally by the transport means (the wafer transport means was used to transport the wafer carrier from a predetermined position to the wafer carrier). (It was known that both horizontal and vertical transport methods were used to transport the material to the processing equipment.)

However, the conventional conveying device requires a considerable amount of floor space to install it, and the space available for installing the device on public land is reduced. Furthermore, although there has recently been a demand for in-line wafer carrier ceiling transport, the above-mentioned transport apparatus cannot be said to be able to meet such demands.

The present invention has been made to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art, namely to provide a wafer and a wafer carrier transport device that can minimize the floor space occupied by the wafer carrier transport means.

[Manipulations and actions to solve the problem] In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the conveying means for the wafer carrier is arranged in a vertical direction as a whole, and the conveying means has a raised position and a lowered position. It consists of a support member (tray) for wafer carriers arranged in series in multiple movement directions, which moves vertically between That's what I did. The wafer carrier is supplied onto the wafer carrier and the supporting member of the transporting means by, for example, an overhead transporting device (for example, when it falls to the raised position), and the supporting member is driven by the driving means to the delivery place with the wafer transporting means. will be moved.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a wafer and wafer carrier transport device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an explanation showing the relationship between the above device and the ceiling transport device. It is a diagram.

As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, the conveying device is covered with a first cover 10 having a small cross-sectional area and a high height. The second and third covers 30 and 32, which have a large cross-sectional area and a low height, are covers that cover the measurement system.

Inside the cover 10, as shown in FIG. 2, a loop-shaped chain 12 is stretched around three sprockets 14.
This chain 12 is adapted to be driven by a motor 16. A guide bar 18 is disposed vertically within the cover 10, on which a pair of sliders 20 are fitted so as to be movable up and down, and a tray for accommodating a wafer carrier 80 is provided between the sliders. 22 are arranged in the vertical direction. Each tray 22 has a box shape,
It has a plurality of shelves 24, and the negative side wall (left side wall in FIG. 2) and ceiling wall are open.

Both ends of the chain 12 are connected to a tray 22, and by driving the chain 12 with a motor 16, the tray 22 is moved up and down. The motor 16, the chain 12, the tray 22, and the like constitute a conveying device for the wafer carrier 80.

Since the structures inside the covers 30 and 32 are exactly the same, one of them will be explained based on FIG. 2. cover 3
0, an X stage 34 and an X stage 3 are mounted on a pedestal 31.
6 and 2.theta. stages 38 are placed in the head position, and above them are a probe guard 4o and a probe pin 4
2 is placed. As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, a slider 46 is disposed between the force bars 30 and 32 and is capable of moving a guide bar 44 and its parts, and a wafer chuck 48 is fixed to the slider 46. has been done. The slider units 18 and 20 carry the wafers 82 in the wafer carrier 22 one by one to the left in FIG.
After the wafer 82 is carried to a predetermined position, it is carried between the probe guard 40 and the 2.theta. stage 38 by a rotating unit (not shown). Slider units 18 and 20
, a wafer carrier 80 by a rotating unit (not shown), etc.
A loading device is configured.

The wafer carrier 80 is supplied to and removed from the cover 10 through the opening 11 at the upper end of the cover 10, as shown in FIG.
Through the cover opening 11
The supply and removal from there is performed by a chuck 52 that hangs vertically movably from a drive mechanism 50 that is horizontally extended from the ceiling.

Next, the functions and effects of this embodiment will be explained.

When the wafer carrier 80 is fed into the tray 22 through the upper opening 11 of the cover 10 by the ceiling transport device 50, 52, the motor 16 is driven and the tray 22 is lowered via the chain 12. The tray 22 is lowered until it is flush with the slider units 1 and 20, and then the slider 46 is advanced to load the wafers 8 in the wafer carrier 80.
2 is placed on the wafer chuck 48 one by one, and the wafer carrier 80 is lowered slightly. Thereafter, the wafer chuck 48 that supported the wafer 82 retreats to a predetermined position, and at this point the wafer 82 is transferred to the rotating unit, which moves the probe guard 40 and the Z/θ stage 3.
It will be installed between 8 and 8. The wafer 82 is placed on the X stage 34
, the X stage 36, and the 2.theta. stage 38, the chip is positioned in a predetermined state, and a predetermined test is performed by bringing the probe pins 42 into contact with the terminals of the chip.

Once the inspection is complete, the wafer 82 is returned to its original position within the wafer carrier 80 through a process reverse to that described above.
The same procedure is repeated for other wafers 82 as well.

When all the wafers 82 have been inspected in this manner, the wafer carrier 80 is removed from the upper opening 11 of the cover 10 through a process reverse to that described above.

As described above, since the wafer carrier 80 is transported by the transport means extending in the vertical direction, the floor space occupied by the transport means is significantly reduced (in the past, the wafer carrier 80 was
Conveying means 9 extending in the horizontal direction as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure
0, the transport means therefore occupied a large amount of floor space). Further, since the wafer carrier transport means is vertically disposed and the wafer carriers 80 are supplied and discharged from the upper opening 11, the wafer carriers 80 are transported to the ceiling and the wafer carriers 80 are vertically connected to the ceiling transport device. It can be smoothly transferred to and from the conveyor. On the other hand, even if the wafer carrier transport means is arranged vertically, if the wafer carrier is taken in and taken out from the side of the cover 10, the wafer carrier cannot be moved between the transport means and the ceiling transport device. It is difficult to say that receiving and passing can be done smoothly.

Furthermore, since the wafer inspection devices are arranged on both sides of the wafer transport means, inspection efficiency is improved. That is, while one inspection device is inspecting the wafer 82, the transfer device carries the next wafer to the other inspection device, and while the other inspection device is inspecting the wafer, the one inspection device is inspecting the next wafer. The completed wafer may be returned to the wafer carrier 80 using a transport means.

It should be noted that what has been described above is only one embodiment of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be modified and improved in other ways without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the detailed structure of the wafer carrier transport means can be modified as necessary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the conveying means for the wafer carrier is arranged in the vertical direction as a whole, the floor area required for arranging the conveying means can be reduced. Along with this, wafer carriers are now supplied to and discharged from the transport means from above, and the effect of meeting the demand for in-line ceiling transport is achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the wafer and wafer carrier transport device according to the present invention, and FIG.
-■ sectional view and FIG. 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the relationship between the conveyance device and the ceiling conveyance device. [Explanation of symbols of main parts] 12.14.16... Drive means, 22... Support material,
80...Wafer carrier, 82...Wafer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] At least two wafer carriers each containing a plurality of wafers are transported to a predetermined position by a wafer carrier transport means, and wafers are transferred one by one from the wafer carriers transported to the predetermined position. A wafer and wafer carrier transport device including a wafer transport means for taking out and transporting the wafer to a wafer processing device, wherein the wafer carrier transport means is vertically movable between a raised position and a lowered position and is arranged in series in the moving direction. 1. A wafer and wafer carrier conveying device comprising: a plurality of wafer carrier support members arranged in a vertical direction; and a driving means for driving the wafer carrier in a vertical direction.