KR102020227B1 - Apparatus and method for transferring carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

Carrier transport apparatus according to the present invention includes a travel unit for traveling along the travel rail provided on the ceiling of the semiconductor manufacturing line and a transport unit coupled to the travel unit to hold the carrier to be detachable to move horizontally, up and down and rotate And a buffer unit provided adjacent to the vehicle and the travel rail, the buffer unit having a plurality of slots in which the carrier carried by the vehicle is loaded. The transfer unit may rotate the carrier so as to be perpendicular to the driving direction of the vehicle and to be loaded in the slots.

Description

Apparatus and method for transferring carrier

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a carrier transfer apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a carrier transfer apparatus and method for transferring a carrier in a semiconductor manufacturing line.

Generally, semiconductor processing apparatuses for manufacturing a semiconductor device are continuously arranged to perform various processes on a semiconductor substrate. The object for performing the semiconductor device manufacturing process may be provided to each semiconductor processing apparatus in a state loaded on a carrier or may be recovered from each semiconductor processing apparatus using the carrier.

The carrier is carried by the vehicle. The vehicle transfers the carrier on which the object is loaded, to the load port of the semiconductor processing apparatuses, and picks up the carrier on which the processed object is loaded from the load port and returns it to the outside.

When a carrier is present in the load pod of the semiconductor processing apparatus, a buffer unit for temporarily loading the carrier carried by the vehicle is provided. The carrier is seated in the buffer unit.

According to the prior art, the vehicle is loaded in the buffer unit so as to be parallel to the running direction of the vehicle without rotating the carrier. When a plurality of carriers are loaded in the buffer unit so that the carriers are parallel to the running direction of the vehicle, it is difficult to determine how many carriers are loaded. Therefore, a plurality of carriers cannot be loaded in the buffer unit, but only one carrier is loaded. Therefore, the loading efficiency of the buffer unit can be lowered.

The present invention provides a carrier transport apparatus capable of increasing the number of carriers loaded on a buffer unit.

The present invention provides a carrier transport method capable of increasing the number of carriers loaded in a buffer unit.

Carrier transport apparatus according to the present invention includes a travel unit for traveling along the travel rail provided on the ceiling of the semiconductor manufacturing line and a transport unit coupled to the travel unit to hold the carrier to be detachable to move horizontally, up and down and rotate A buffer unit provided adjacent to the vehicle and the traveling rail, the buffer unit having a plurality of slots in which the carrier carried by the vehicle is loaded, wherein the transfer unit rotates the carrier to be perpendicular to the driving direction of the vehicle; Can be loaded on the field.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the slots may be arranged along a direction parallel to the driving direction.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the buffer unit has a reflector for reflecting light on the rear of the slots, the vehicle is provided at a position corresponding to the position of the slots by the same number of slots And light sensors for irradiating light toward the reflector and checking whether the slots are empty according to whether the light reflected from the reflector is received.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the central axis of rotation of the transfer unit in the vehicle is located outside the carrier, the transfer unit may rotate the carrier in a direction corresponding to the position of the empty slot of the slots. .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a carrier transport method includes positioning a vehicle to be adjacent to a buffer unit disposed at one side of a travel rail according to the driving of a driving unit, and an optical sensor provided at the vehicle and a reflector provided at a rear surface of a slot of the buffer unit. Checking whether the pair of slots arranged along the direction parallel to the driving direction of the vehicle is empty in the buffer unit, and the transfer unit coupled to the driving unit in the vehicle is an empty slot among the slots. Rotating the carrier is held in the direction corresponding to the position of the may include the step of loading in the empty slot.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the central axis of rotation of the transfer unit in the vehicle may be located outside the carrier.

The carrier transport apparatus of the present invention rotates the carrier in the vehicle so as to be perpendicular to the running direction of the vehicle and loads the carrier in the buffer unit. Therefore, the carrier can be loaded in the buffer unit so as to be perpendicular to the traveling direction.

In the carrier transport apparatus, the rotational center axis of the transport unit in the vehicle is located outside of the carrier. Therefore, when the conveyer rotates the carrier to be perpendicular to the traveling direction, the position of the carrier after the rotation may vary according to the rotational direction of the conveyer. Therefore, the transfer part can quickly load the carrier by rotating the carrier in a direction corresponding to the position of the empty slot among the slots of the buffer unit and then loading the carrier into the buffer unit.

The carrier transport apparatus irradiates or reflects light so that the optical sensor and the reflector are perpendicular to the travel direction, and is loaded in the buffer unit so that the carrier is perpendicular to the travel direction. Since the light traveling direction between the optical sensor and the reflector and the arrangement direction of the slots are perpendicular, the position of the slot on which the carriers mounted on the buffer unit are loaded or the position of the empty slot is determined using the optical sensor and the reflector. It can be easily confirmed.

According to the carrier conveying method of the present invention, after checking the empty slot in the pair of slots of the buffer unit, the carrier is rotated in the direction corresponding to the position of the empty slot and loaded in the empty slot. Therefore, a large number of carriers can be loaded in the buffer unit quickly.

1 is a schematic front view for explaining a carrier transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 1.
3 and 4 are cross-sectional views for explaining loading of a carrier by rotating the carrier in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing a carrier transport method using the carrier transport device illustrated in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, a carrier transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As the inventive concept allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific disclosed form, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the drawings, similar reference numerals are used for similar elements. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures are shown in an enlarged scale than actual for clarity of the invention.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof described on the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view illustrating a carrier transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 1.

1 and 2, the carrier transport apparatus 100 includes a vehicle 110 and a buffer unit 120.

The vehicle 110 moves along the travel rail 20 provided in the ceiling 10 of the semiconductor processing line including the semiconductor processing apparatuses and transports the carrier 30 on which the object is loaded.

Examples of the object may include a semiconductor substrate, a printed circuit board to which dies are attached, a semiconductor package in which dies are bonded to the printed circuit board, a mask for exposure, and the like. Examples of the carrier 30 may include a front opening Unified Pod (FOUP) for loading a plurality of semiconductor substrates, a front opening shipping box (FOSB), a magazine for loading the plurality of printed circuit boards, and the plurality of printed circuit boards. And a tray for stacking semiconductor packages.

In particular, when the carrier 30 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the vehicle 110 transfers the carrier 30 such that the long axis of the carrier 30 is parallel to the traveling direction of the vehicle 110.

The vehicle 110 may include a driving unit 112, a housing 114, and a transfer unit 116.

The travel unit 112 travels along the travel rail 20 while the travel roller rotates by a separate drive unit.

The housing 114 is fixed to the lower portion of the driving part 112. The housing 114 may be opened downward for vertical movement of the carrier 30, and one side side may be opened for horizontal movement of the carrier 30. In this case, the one side surface may be a direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the vehicle 100. In addition, the housing 114 has sufficient internal space so that it does not interfere when the carrier 30 rotates.

The transfer unit 116 is provided on the inner upper surface of the housing 114, and grips and transfers the carrier 30. Meanwhile, the transfer unit 116 may be directly fixed to the driving unit 112 without the housing 114.

The transfer unit 116 is connected to the driving unit 112 and grips the carrier 30 to be detachable. In addition, the transfer unit 116 is provided to be movable in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. For example, the transfer unit 116 may move horizontally using a belt, pulley, gear, and the like, and may move up and down using a motor, a cylinder, or the like. In this case, the horizontal movement direction may be an open side of the housing 114. Accordingly, the transfer unit 116 may move the carrier 30 in the horizontal and vertical directions.

In addition, the transfer unit 116 may rotate while holding the carrier 30 in order to change the direction of the carrier 30.

For example, a position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer unit 116 may be biased to one side with respect to the rotational central axis C of the transfer unit 116. In this case, the one side may be a driving direction left or right of the vehicle 110 based on the rotation center axis C of the transfer unit 116. That is, the rotation center axis C of the transfer unit 116 is located outside the carrier 30. Therefore, when the transfer unit 116 rotates the carrier 30 to be perpendicular to the traveling direction, the position of the carrier 30 after the rotation may vary according to the direction in which the transfer unit 116 rotates the carrier 30. .

As another example, the position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer unit 116 may coincide with the rotational central axis C of the transfer unit 116.

Since the transfer unit 116 may move or rotate the carrier 30 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the transfer unit 116 transfers the carrier 30 to the buffer unit 120 or the load port of the semiconductor processing apparatus. May be loaded or unloaded from the buffer unit 120 or the load port.

The buffer unit 120 may be provided at one side of the transfer path of the vehicle 110. As another example, the buffer unit 120 may be provided at both sides of the transport path of the vehicle 110 or be provided below.

The buffer unit 120 loads the carrier 30 carried by the vehicle 110. The carrier 30 is loaded in a plurality of slots provided in the buffer unit 120. In this case, the slots are arranged along the driving direction. Therefore, the carrier 30 may be loaded in the buffer unit 120 to be arranged along the driving direction.

For example, when the carrier 30 is placed in the load port of the semiconductor processing apparatuses, the vehicle 110 may not load the carrier 30 directly into the load port. Therefore, the vehicle 110 temporarily loads the carrier 30 in the buffer unit 120.

The buffer unit 120 includes a fixing member 122 and a loading part 124.

A plurality of fixing members 122 are fixed to the ceiling 10 and extend downward. For example, the fixing member 122 may have a pillar shape.

The loading part 124 is fixed to the lower end of the fixing member 122. For example, the fixing member 122 may be connected to the corners of the loading unit 124. The stacking portion 124 has a substantially flat plate shape, and loads the carrier 30 carried by the vehicle 110. In this case, the carrier 30 may be loaded in the loading unit 124 in a state of being rotated to be perpendicular to the driving direction. For example, the carrier 30 may be loaded on the loading unit 124 such that the long axis is perpendicular to the travel direction.

In detail, the transfer unit 116 rotates the carrier 30 by 90 degrees so as to be perpendicular to the travel direction, and then moves upwards of the loading unit 124 through the horizontal movement and then descends to the loading unit 124. The carrier 30 is loaded.

At this time, when the loading part 124 is located at the same height as the height of the carrier 30 conveyed by the conveying part 116 of the vehicle 110 or higher than the height of the carrier 30, the conveying part 116 is a carrier There is a fear that the carrier 30 and the loading part 124 collide with each other when horizontally moving for loading of the 30. Therefore, the loading part 124 may be located at a height lower than the height of the carrier 30 carried by the transfer part 116 of the vehicle 110.

 On the other hand, the upper surface of the mounting portion 124 may include a plurality of guides (126). The guides 126 guide the carrier 30 descending by the transfer part 116 so that the carrier 30 is accurately seated in a reference position on the loading part 124.

Since the carrier 30 is correctly seated at the reference position on the loading part 124, the transfer part 116 of the vehicle 110 is loaded on the loading part 124 to load the carrier 30 into the semiconductor processing apparatus. When picking up the carrier 30, the transfer unit 116 can pick up the carrier 30 accurately.

Four guides 126 are needed to guide one carrier 30. That is, the four guides 126 may form one slot in which the carrier 30 is loaded.

The buffer unit 120 may have multiple slots for loading various numbers of carriers 30, but it is preferred to have a pair of slots for loading a pair of carriers 30.

In addition, the buffer unit 120 may be further coupled along the travel rail 20 to expand a space for loading the carrier 30. In addition, the space for loading the carrier 30 may be reduced by separating the buffer units 120 coupled to each other. Therefore, the space for loading the carrier 30 can be easily adjusted by coupling or detaching the buffer unit 120.

The optical sensor 118 and the reflecting plate 128 are provided to confirm the state in which the carrier 30 is loaded in the buffer unit 120. An optical sensor 118 may be provided in the vehicle 110 and a reflector plate 128 may be provided in the buffer unit 120.

The optical sensor 118 irradiates light toward the reflecting plate 128 and receives the light reflected from the reflecting plate 128. It may be determined whether the carrier 30 is loaded in the buffer unit 120 using the light.

The optical sensor 118 may be provided inside the housing 114 in the vehicle 110. The optical sensor 118 may be located at a height between a lower surface and an upper surface of the carrier 30 loaded in the buffer unit 120. In addition, the optical sensor 118 may be located at a height lower than the height of the carrier 30 held by the transfer unit 116.

The optical sensor 118 may be provided as many as the number of carriers 30 loaded in the buffer unit 120, and may be arranged to correspond to the position of the carrier 30 loaded in the buffer unit 120.

The reflector plate 128 is provided at the rear ends of the guides 126 on which the carrier 30 is seated in the buffer unit 120, and is disposed to face the vehicle 110.

One reflective plate 128 may be provided to cover all the carriers 30 arranged along the driving direction, or may be provided as many as the number of carriers 30 loaded on the buffer unit 120. The reflector 128 may be positioned at the same height as the optical sensor 118.

Since the optical sensor 118 irradiates light in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction, when the carriers 30 are loaded in the buffer unit 120 along a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction, the light of the optical sensor 118 The irradiation direction and the loading direction of the carriers 30 become parallel. Therefore, it is difficult to check the position of the slot in which the carriers 30 are loaded or the position of the empty slot in the buffer unit 120 using the optical sensor 118 and the reflecting plate 128.

When the carriers 30 are mounted in the buffer unit 120 along the traveling direction, the light irradiation direction of the optical sensor 118 and the loading direction of the carriers 30 become perpendicular, so that the optical sensor 118 and the reflector plate ( 128, the location of the slot in which the carriers 30 are loaded or the location of the empty slot in the buffer unit 120 can be easily identified.

Although not shown, an optical sensor 118 may be provided in the buffer unit 120, and a reflecting plate 128 may be provided in the vehicle 110.

3 and 4 are cross-sectional views for explaining loading of a carrier by rotating the carrier in FIG.

3 and 4, the buffer unit 120 has two slots for loading two carriers 30, and the position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer unit 116 is a central axis of rotation of the transfer unit 116. A description will be given on the basis of the case where (C) is deflected to the left of the travel direction of the vehicle 110.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the carrier 30 is positioned in the slot located at the rear end of the vehicle 110 in the buffer unit 120, and the slot located at the front end of the transport direction is an empty slot, the transfer unit 116 is the carrier 30. ) Rotates 90 degrees to be perpendicular to the travel direction along the counterclockwise direction, and then moves upward above the empty slot of the buffer unit 120 through the horizontal movement, and then descends to load the carrier 30 in the empty slot. do.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the carrier 30 is located in a slot located at the front end of the transport direction of the vehicle 110 in the buffer unit 120, and the slot located at the rear end of the transport direction of the vehicle 110 is an empty slot, the transfer part 116 is provided. Rotates the carrier 30 90 degrees clockwise to be perpendicular to the travel direction, and then moves upward above the empty slot of the buffer unit 120 through the horizontal movement and then descends to move the carrier 30 to the empty slot. Load).

On the other hand, when the position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer part 116 is deflected to the right of the traveling direction of the vehicle 110 with respect to the rotational central axis C of the transfer part 116, the transfer part 116 may have a carrier 30. ) Can be loaded in the empty slot after rotating 90 degrees in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of FIGS. 3 and 4.

Thus, the transfer unit 116 does not need to move separately along the travel direction to align the carrier 30 rotated by the transfer unit 116 and the empty slot. Therefore, the transfer part 116 can quickly load the carrier 30 in the buffer unit 120.

Meanwhile, the carrier 116 may transfer the carrier 30 from the buffer unit 120 by reversing the process of loading the carrier 30 into the buffer unit 120.

As described above, the carrier transfer device 100 is loaded on the buffer unit 120 while the carrier 30 is rotated so as to be perpendicular to the travel direction, and the carrier 30 is loaded along the travel direction. Accordingly, the slot in which the carrier 30 is loaded or the empty slot in the buffer unit 120 can be easily identified using the optical sensor 118 and the reflecting plate 128. Therefore, the plurality of carriers 30 can be loaded in the buffer unit 120.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing a carrier transport method using the carrier transport device illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, the vehicle 110 is positioned to be adjacent to the travel rail 20 and the buffer unit 120 disposed on one side according to the driving of the driving unit 112 (S110).

In detail, when the carrier 30 is present in the load pod of the semiconductor processing apparatus, the vehicle 110 is positioned to be adjacent to the buffer unit 120 in order to load the carrier 30 into the buffer unit 120. For example, the vehicle 110 and the buffer unit 120 may be arranged along a direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the vehicle 110.

By using the optical sensor 118 provided in the vehicle 110 and the reflecting plate 128 provided at the rear of the slot of the buffer unit 120, the buffer unit 120 may follow a direction parallel to the driving direction of the vehicle 110. It is checked whether the pair of slots arranged are empty (S120).

Specifically, the light sensor 118 irradiates light toward the reflecting plate 128 and receives the light reflected from the reflecting plate 128 at the light sensor 118 again. When the optical sensor 118 receives the reflected light, the slot of the buffer unit 120 is determined to be empty, and when the optical sensor 118 does not receive the reflected light, the carrier 30 is inserted into the slot of the buffer unit 120. It is determined that is loaded.

Since the slots are arranged along a direction parallel to the driving direction of the vehicle 110, the carriers 30 are loaded in the buffer unit 120 along the direction parallel to the driving direction. Therefore, since the light irradiation direction of the optical sensor 118 and the loading direction of the carriers 30 become perpendicular, the carriers 30 are loaded from the buffer unit 120 using the optical sensor 118 and the reflector plate 128. You can easily check the position of the slot or the position of the empty slot.

When the empty slot is confirmed in the buffer unit 120, the carrier 30 coupled to the driving unit 112 in the vehicle 110 is gripped in a direction corresponding to the position of the empty slot among the slots 30. Rotate to load into the empty slot. (S130)

For example, the rotation center axis C of the transfer unit 116 in the vehicle 110 may be located outside the carrier 30 held by the transfer unit 116. In this case, the position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer unit 116 may be biased to the left and right of the driving direction of the vehicle 110 with respect to the rotational central axis C of the transfer unit 116.

When the position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer part 116 is biased to the left side of the traveling direction of the vehicle 110 with respect to the rotational central axis C of the transfer part 116, the buffer unit 120 as shown in FIG. 3. When the slot located at the front end of the vehicle 110 is an empty slot, the transfer unit 116 rotates the carrier 30 by 90 degrees to be perpendicular to the traveling direction along the counterclockwise direction, and then through the horizontal movement. After moving upward above the empty slot of the buffer unit 120, the carrier 30 is loaded in the empty slot, and as shown in FIG. 4, the slot located at the rear end of the vehicle 110 in the buffer unit 120 is empty. In the case of a slot, the transfer unit 116 rotates the carrier 30 in a clockwise direction perpendicular to the traveling direction, and then moves upwards to the empty slot of the buffer unit 120 through the horizontal movement and then descends. To load the carrier 30 in the empty slot.

On the other hand, when the position at which the carrier 30 is gripped by the transfer part 116 is deflected to the right of the traveling direction of the vehicle 110 with respect to the rotational central axis C of the transfer part 116, the transfer part 116 may have a carrier 30. ) Can be loaded in the empty slot after rotating 90 degrees in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of FIGS. 3 and 4.

Thus, the transfer unit 116 does not need to move separately along the travel direction to align the carrier 30 rotated by the transfer unit 116 and the empty slot. Therefore, the carrier 30 can be loaded in the buffer unit 120 quickly.

Meanwhile, the carrier 30 may be transferred from the buffer unit 120 to the transfer unit 116 by reversely loading the carrier 30 from the transfer unit 116 to the buffer unit 120.

According to the carrier transport method of the present invention as described above, after checking the empty slot in the pair of slots of the buffer unit 120, by rotating the carrier 30 in the direction corresponding to the position of the empty slot the empty slot Load on. Therefore, the plurality of carriers 30 can be quickly loaded in the buffer unit 120.

As described above, according to the carrier conveying apparatus and method of the present invention, the carrier can be rotated so as to be perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle and arranged in the buffer unit so as to be arranged so as to be perpendicular to the traveling direction, and the optical sensor and the reflecting plate can be loaded. The position of the slot in which the carriers loaded in the buffer unit are loaded or the position of the empty slot can be easily confirmed. Therefore, the carrier carrier and the method can be used to quickly and accurately load multiple carriers of the buffer unit.

While the foregoing has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. It will be appreciated.

100 carrier carrier 110 vehicle
112: driving unit 114: housing
116: transfer unit 118: light sensor
120: buffer unit 122: fixed part
124: loading section 126: guide
128: reflector 10: ceiling
20: running rail 30: carrier
C: rotation center axis

Claims (6)

A vehicle including a travel unit traveling along a travel rail provided on a ceiling of a semiconductor manufacturing line, and a transport unit coupled to the travel unit to grip and detach the carrier so as to move horizontally, vertically, and rotate; And
A buffer unit provided adjacent to the travel rail and having a plurality of slots in which a carrier carried by the vehicle is loaded;
The conveying unit rotates the carrier so as to be perpendicular to the driving direction of the vehicle, and loads the carriers in the slots,
And a rotation center axis of the transfer part in the vehicle is located outside the carrier. 2. The carrier transport apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slots are arranged along a direction parallel to the travel direction. According to claim 2, The buffer unit has a reflector for reflecting light on the rear of the slots,
The vehicle is provided at a position corresponding to the positions of the slots by the same number as the number of slots, and irradiates light toward the reflecting plate and determines whether the slots are empty according to whether or not the light reflected from the reflecting plate is received. Carrier transport apparatus comprising optical sensors for identifying. 4. The carrier transport apparatus of claim 3, wherein the transport unit rotates the carrier in a direction corresponding to a position of an empty slot among the slots. Positioning the vehicle to be adjacent to the buffer unit disposed on one side of the travel rail according to the driving of the driving part;
Checking whether the pair of slots arranged along the direction parallel to the driving direction of the vehicle in the buffer unit is empty by using an optical sensor provided in the vehicle and a reflector provided on the rear surface of the slot of the buffer unit ; And
Rotating the carrier gripped in the direction corresponding to the position of the empty slot among the slots in the vehicle, and transporting the moving part coupled to the driving part to load the empty slot in the empty slot;
And a rotation center axis of the transfer part in the vehicle is located outside the carrier. delete

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