JPS632637A - Xy stage - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the extent of maintainability improvable, by letting a swivel stage form each bearing surface in four sides of a square cylinder, and making X-axis and Y-axis movable guides set up a pair of straight guide members parallelly in accord with the square cylinder. CONSTITUTION:In and around a surface plate 1 forming a flat sliding surface 11 on the top, there are provided with X-axis guides 12, 12a and Y-axis guides 13, 13a being paralleled with each other. An X-axis movable guide 2 and a Y-axis movable guide 3 are reciprocatably supported between these opposed guides, and a swivel state 4 is set up, through a bearing, in a cross part of these X and Y movable guides 2 and 3. In this swivel stage, flat bearing surfaces 42 and 43 are formed in both length and breadth sides of a square cylinder 41 consisting of a bearing material. It is made of directly supporting each of these bearing surfaces 42 and 42 on bearing guide ways 23 and 33 of straight guide members 21 and 31 forming these X-and Y-axis movable guides 2 and 3. In the square cylinder 41 forming the swivel stage 4, there is provided with a built-in wafer driving mechanism inside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a moving table device, a so-called XY stage, which is applied to precision machine tools, robots, precision measuring machines, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc., and performs precise positioning.

<Prior art> Conventionally, this type of XY stage has a surface plate 6 as shown in FIG.
An X-axis movable guide 7a and a Y-axis movable guide 7b, which reciprocate in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, are disposed at the top in a three-dimensional intersecting manner, and a movable stage 8 is movably supported at the intersection. This flexible stage 8 is provided with guide grooves 84 and 85 that are vertically shifted and orthogonal to each other.
, a Y-axis movable guide 7b is slidably supported via a bearing mechanism, and an L-shaped mirror, a wafer stage 9, etc. are mounted on the table of the stage 8.

However, as shown in FIG. 4, the flexible stage 8 has bearing pads 82 and 82a arranged at the upper and lower corners of the stage base 81 at intervals that match the width of the movable guide, and the upper surface of the upper bearing pad 82. The stage plate 83 is attached and assembled, and the stage base 81 and lower bearing pad 8 are assembled.
2a, and the stage base 81 and upper bearing pad 82
and the stage plate 83 constitute guide grooves 84 and 85 of the XY movable guide.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In such a conventional XY stage, the flexible stage 8 has a large number of components, and assembly work and adjustment work are labor-intensive.
It is difficult to assemble the relative positional relationship of the air bearings &2.82a constructed between the XY movable guides 7a, 7b and the stage 8 with high precision, and this is a major cause of deterioration of the running characteristics of the stage 8.

Further, since the flexible stage a having such a structure has many fastened parts, there are problems such as loosening, and therefore, it is difficult to maintain accuracy over a long period of time.

Therefore, this invention is a novel stage that simplifies stage assembly and adjustment work and improves the running characteristics of the flexible stage by forming the flexible stage into a rectangular cylinder and integrally configuring bearing surfaces on each side. The purpose is to provide an XY stage.

Means for Solving the Problems> Means of the present invention for achieving the above object will be explained using embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in the xY stage, the flexible stage 4 is provided with a bearing at the intersection of the movable guide 2.3 that reciprocates in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.
Bearing surfaces 42.43 parallel to each other are formed on each side surface of the rectangular cylinder 41, and the X-axis movable guide 2 and the Y-axis movable guide 3 each connect a pair of straight guide members 21.31 to the rectangular cylinder 4.
1, and a bearing guide surface 23.33 for bearing the bearing surface 42.43 of the flexible stage 4 is formed on the inner surface.

Effect> According to the above configuration, in the present invention, bearing surfaces 42, 42, 43, 4 are provided on the four sides of the rectangular cylinder 41 forming the flexible stage 4.
3. On the inner surface of the parallel straight guide member 21.31 forming the XY movable guide 2°3, there is a bearing surface 42.43 of the rectangular cylinder 41.
Since the bearing guide surfaces 23 and 33 that support the
Adjustment work becomes unnecessary, productivity and maintainability can be improved, and the problem of deterioration of assembly accuracy due to changes over time can be solved.

In addition, by housing the wafer stage mechanism etc. inside the rectangular cylinder 41 that forms the flexible stage, the height of the entire device is lowered and the center of gravity is lowered, which greatly improves the running characteristics of the stage 4, etc. It also has the above effect.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows a plan view of an XY stage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The XY stage of this embodiment has X-axis guides 1 parallel to each other around a surface plate 1 having a flat sliding surface 11 on its upper surface.
2.12a and Y-axis guide 13.13a are arranged,
An X-axis movable guide 2 and a Y-axis movable guide 3 are supported reciprocally between opposing guides, and a flexible stage 4 is provided with a bearing at the intersection of the XY movable guides 2 and 3.

The XY movable guides 2 and 3 each have a bearing guide surface 23 on the opposing surface.
．． A pair of straight guide members 21.31 having a diameter of 33 are arranged parallel to each other at appropriate intervals according to the stage 4, and both ends are integrally connected by connecting members 22.32.

Both ends of the XY movable guide 2.3 are connected to the corresponding X-axis guide 12°L2a and Y-axis guide 1 via bearings 14, respectively.
3.13a, and is connected to the movable member 51 of the reciprocating drive device 5 disposed on each guide to reciprocate in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

The flexible stage 4 is a feature of the present invention, and includes flat bearing surfaces 42 on both terminal and lateral sides of a rectangular cylinder 41 made of bearing material.
．． 43, and each bearing surface 42.43 is the bearing guide surface 23 of the straight guide member 2L3L forming the XY movable guide 2.3.
．． 33 and is directly supported on the shaft. In actual practice, the rectangular tube body 41 is made of any material, and each bearing surface 42.
'43 and straight guide member 21. Bearing guide surface 2 of 31
3. A bearing plate made of a bearing material with good sliding properties is attached to either or both of 33, or the bearing surface 42
．． It is also possible to construct an air bearing between the bearing guide surface 23 and the bearing guide surface 23.33. In this case, each bearing surface 42°4 of the rectangular cylinder 41
3, this can be achieved by drilling a plurality of air jetting holes corresponding to the bearing guide surfaces 23, 33 and connecting each jetting hole to a pressure air source via a ventilation hole.

A wafer drive mechanism 44 is built into the rectangular cylinder 41 forming the flexible stage, and an L-shaped mirror 5 is provided on the top to lower the height of the flexible stage 4 and the center of gravity. .

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention provides an XY stage in which a flexible stage 4 is provided at the intersection of the movable guide 2.3 that reciprocates in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.
A bearing surface 42.43 is formed on each side of the XY movable guide 2.3, and each XY movable guide 2.3 has a pair of straight guide members 21.31.
are arranged parallel to the rectangular cylinder 41, and a bearing guide surface 23.33 is formed on the inner surface to form a bearing surface 42.43 of the rectangular cylinder 41.
Since it is directly supported by a shaft, there is no need to assemble and adjust the flexible stage 4, which improves productivity and maintainability, and also solves the problem of deterioration of assembly accuracy due to changes over time. Moreover, by housing the wafer stage mechanism 44 inside the rectangular cylinder 41, the height of the apparatus can be lowered and a lower center of gravity can be achieved, which greatly improves the running characteristics of the flexible stage 4, simplifying the configuration. It has the effect of achieving the intended purpose.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the XY stage according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the flexible stage portion, Fig. 3 is a plan view of a conventional example, and Fig. 4 is a conventional example of the flexible stage. It is an enlarged perspective view of a part. 2...X-axis movable guide 21...straight guide member 23...bearing guide surface 3...Y-axis movable guide 31...straight guide member 33...bearing guide surface 4...Flexible stage 41...Square cylinder body 42, 43...Bearing surface

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In an XY stage in which a flexible stage is provided with bearings at the intersection of movable guides that reciprocate in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction, the flexible stage has bearing surfaces formed on four sides of a rectangular cylinder, and the X-axis movable guide and the Y-axis movable guide, each of which has a pair of straight guide members arranged in parallel to the rectangular cylinder,
An XY stage in which a bearing guide surface for supporting the bearing surface of a rectangular cylinder is formed on the inner surface of each guide member. (2) The XY stage according to claim 1, wherein the rectangular cylinder is made of a bearing material. (3) The XY stage according to claim 1, wherein a bearing plate made of a bearing material is attached to at least one of the bearing surface of the rectangular cylinder and the bearing guide surface of the straight guide member. (4) The XY stage according to claim 1, wherein the bearing surface of the rectangular cylinder is provided with an air ejection hole constituting an air bearing, and the air ejection hole is communicated with a pressurized air source.