KR20040100268A - Apparatus of sending wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wafer transfer apparatus is provided to improve the efficiency by unloading a first wafer from a processing unit and loading simultaneously a second wafer to the same unit using a plurality of transfer arms. CONSTITUTION: A wafer transfer apparatus includes a support plate(1), a first cylinder, a plurality of second cylinders, moving parts, and transfer arms. The first cylinder(19) is used for moving the support plate up and down. The plurality of second cylinders(3,11,16) are installed to a lateral direction on the support plate. The moving parts(6,12,17) are installed on the second cylinders, respectively. The transfer arms(8,14) are fixed to the moving parts.

Description

Wafer Transfer Device {Apparatus of sending wafer}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer transfer apparatus, and more particularly, to a wafer transfer apparatus that simplifies the structure of a wafer transfer apparatus and enables high-speed transfer of wafers between units.

In general, semiconductor manufacturing equipment transfers wafers to other processing units, such as coaters, developers, hot plates, cool plates, adhesions, and the like. The device is used.

The transfer device is composed of a transfer arm for picking up and transferring a wafer, a control structure for controlling the operation of the transfer arm in the X, Y, Z, and θ directions.

The movement in each direction must have a complicated mechanical configuration, which increases the volume of the equipment, which is never beneficial in maintenance and repair.

In addition, since the wafers are transferred by controlling the respective directions, the transfer speed may not be high, resulting in a decrease in the work yield.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a wafer transfer apparatus that simplifies the structure of an apparatus for wafer transfer and also transfers wafers at high speed.

1 shows a wafer transfer device according to the invention.

2 illustrates an operation of picking up and lifting a wafer.

3 and 4 illustrate an operation of moving the wafer laterally.

5 is a view showing an operation of placing a wafer on a unit.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: support plate 2: upper rail

3: first cylinder 5: lower rail

6: first mobile body 7: connection part

8: first transfer arm 9: finger

10 moving body 11 second cylinder

12: second moving body 13: connecting portion

14: second transfer arm 15: finger

16: 3rd cylinder 17: 3rd moving body

18: bracket 19: lifting cylinder

20: buffer 21: spinner

22: Chuck

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention wafer transfer apparatus,

Support plate;

An elevating cylinder for elevating the supporting plate;

A plurality of cylinders installed transversely on the support plate;

A plurality of moving bodies installed on the respective cylinders to move left and right;

And a plurality of transfer arms fixedly mounted to each of the movable bodies to transfer wafers.

The transfer arm has a pair of finger portions formed by projecting a predetermined portion in a downward direction at a predetermined position before and after the lower surface of the transfer arm.

The finger portion has a form in which both sides of the ring are opened opposite to each other.

A cylinder is provided on the at least one movable body, and a movable body installed to move left and right is provided on the cylinder, and the movable body is configured of a plurality of transfer arms fixedly installed to transfer wafers.

The present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention, Figures 2 to 5 are views showing the operating state of the present invention.

First, the support plate (1) is installed so that the two front and rear support plates (1-1,1-2) are overlapped with each other with a space (1-3) installed, the lower portion of the support plate (1) 18 is formed so that the bracket 18 is connected to the shaft of the elevating cylinder 19, the support plate 1 is moved up and down.

In addition, the front support plate (1-1) has an opening (1-4) formed with a groove in the range that the transfer arms (8,14) can move, the rear support plate (1-1) has a cylinder (3,16) ) Is installed, and the cylinders 3 and 16 are installed to protrude to the front through the openings 1-4 and 1-5 of the front support plate 1-1.

The upper rail 2 and the lower rail 5 are formed side by side in the transverse direction above and below the first opening 1-4 of the front support plate 1-1. 2 moving body 12 and the moving body 10 is to move left and right on the upper and lower rails (2, 5).

The first cylinder 3 is installed on the upper left side of the rear support plate 1 in a transverse direction by a predetermined length and protrudes in front through the first opening 1-4 of the front support plate 1-1. The length of the first cylinder 3 is preferably determined approximately in accordance with the spaced distance between the processing units.

That is, it is preferable that the left end of the first cylinder 3 is above the buffer 20 (eg, assume a buffer), and the right end is above the spinner 21.

Of course, depending on the application it may be installed to have a length from the left end portion to the right end portion of the support plate 1 as in the upper rail (2).

The third cylinder 16 has a length from the lower side of the right end of the first cylinder 3, that is, from the position where the spinner 21 is located to the position where the next unit is located, and is attached to the rear support plate 1-2. It is fixedly installed and installed to protrude toward the front surface of the front support plate 1-1 through the second openings 1-5.

As a result, the first cylinder 3 protrudes to the front through the first opening 1-4, and the third cylinder 16 protrudes to the front through the second opening 1-5. .

The first cylinder 3 is coupled to the first cylinder 3 so as to move left and right, and the upper and lower portions of the first movable body 6 are supported by the upper rail 2 and the lower rail 5 so as to be stable. You can move to.

The first transfer arm 8 is fixedly coupled to the first movable body 6 through a connecting portion 7, and a pair of fingers 9 are provided on the lower surface of the first transfer arm 8.

The finger 9 is formed by bending the inner and outer sides in the shape of the outer circumference of the wafer, and in the form of a ring, the opposite sides of the finger 9 are open.

On the other hand, the third cylinder 16 is provided with a moving main body 10 to move left and right, the moving main body 10 is provided so that one side of the bottom surface is movable on the third cylinder 16, the moving main body ( The upper portion of 10) is supported by the jaw portion of the first opening 1-4 and the lower rail 5 so as to move left and right within the length of the third cylinder 16.

In addition, a second cylinder 11 is fixedly installed on an upper surface of the moving body 10, and the second moving body 12 is coupled to the second cylinder 11 to move left and right.

The upper portion of the second movable body 12 is supported by the upper rail 2 to move left and right.

Like the first movable body 6, the second transfer arm 14 is fixedly coupled to the second movable body 12 through a connecting portion 13. A pair of fingers is provided on the lower surface of the second transfer arm 14. 15 is provided.

This finger 15 is the same as the finger 9 provided on the first transfer arm 1. However, depending on the purpose, the structures of the first transfer arm 8 and the second transfer arm 14 and the fingers 9 and 15 may vary.

The operation process thereof will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, a buffer 20 for placing a wafer is positioned below the first transfer arm 8, but is not limited to the buffer 20, and various processing units may be located. .

In addition, a processing unit, for example, a spinner 21 is located below the second transfer arm 14, and this is not limited to the spinner 21, but various processing units may be located. ) And the spinner 21 will be described.

When the wafer withdrawn from the cassette (not shown) is placed on top of the buffer 20, the finger 9 of the first transfer arm 8 is moved to the left by the first cylinder 3 to the side of the wafer. Is inserted from the bottom of the wafer.

In addition, the finger 15 of the second transfer arm 14 is also moved from the left side by the second cylinder 11 to be inserted from the side of the wafer placed on the top of the chuck 22 of the spinner 21 to be placed on the lower side of the wafer. Will be located.

At this time, the moving body 10 is also moved to the left by the third cylinder 16 in the same way.

Subsequently, when the support plate 1 is raised by the elevating cylinder 19 positioned below the support plate 1, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the fingers 9 and 15 buffers the wafers W1 and W2. 20) and the spinner 21 will be lifted.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the first cylinder 3 moves to the right side of the first transfer arm 8, and the second cylinder 11 moves the second transfer arm 14 to the right. By moving, the first transfer arm 8 is positioned above the spinner 21, and the second transfer arm 14 is present at the far right side of the second cylinder 11.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the moving body 10 is moved to the far right side on the third cylinder 16 by the third cylinder 16, which causes the first transfer arm 14 to support the support plate 1. ) Will be present on the far right of the upper rail (2) and the lower rail (5).

Currently, the position where the first transfer arm 14 is present will be another unit (not shown) beneath it.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, when the elevating cylinder 19 is lowered, the wafer W1 seated on the finger 9 is placed on the upper portion of the chuck 22 of the spinner 21. In addition, the wafer W2 seated on the finger 15 is placed on a neighboring processing unit.

Subsequently, when the support plate 1 is lowered a little further by the elevating cylinder 19, the wafers W1 and W2 are completely separated from the fingers 9 and 15, and the first transfer arm 8 is in that state. ) And the second transfer arm 14 move to the left. The first transfer arm 8 moves to the far left side of the first cylinder 3 so that the finger 9 moves the finger 9 to the buffer 20. The second transfer arm 14 moves only to the far left side of the second cylinder 11 and the moving body 10 remains on the far right side of the third cylinder 16. Will be located.

The reason is that the wafer 15 is waiting until the wafer is processed at the standby position because the wafer is not processed on the spinner 21, and the finger 15 of the second transfer arm 14 is separated from the neighboring unit. To make it possible.

When the wafer is processed in the spinner 21, the moving body 10 moves to the far left side of the second cylinder 11 so that the finger 15 of the second transfer arm 14 moves to the chuck of the spinner 21. 22) It is to be located at the bottom of the wafer placed on top.

As described above, the first transfer arm 8 and the second transfer arm 14 simultaneously transfer the wafers to neighboring processing units, thereby enabling rapid transfer.

In addition, by increasing the number of cylinders and the number of transfer arms by the number of processing units, it is possible to transfer the wafers placed on each unit one step at a time.

Such a wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention can transfer wafers at high speed, transfer a large number of wafers to each processing unit at the same time, and the mechanical structure is also simple and easy to maintain.

In addition, since the volume is small, there is an excellent space utilization.

Claims (5)

Support plate; An elevating cylinder for elevating the supporting plate; A plurality of cylinders installed transversely on the support plate; A plurality of moving bodies installed on the respective cylinders to move left and right; And a plurality of transfer arms fixedly mounted to the respective moving bodies to transfer the wafers. According to claim 1, wherein the support plate is composed of two support plates overlap each other with a space portion, the front support plate is formed with a groove-shaped opening is characterized in that the cylinder installed on the back support plate is projected to the front through the opening portion Wafer transfer device. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer arm, Wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that it has a pair of fingers formed to protrude a predetermined portion in the downward direction at the front and rear predetermined position of the lower surface of the transfer arm. 4. The wafer transport apparatus of claim 3, wherein the finger portion has a shape in which both sides of the finger portion are opened to face each other. According to claim 1, wherein the at least one movable body is provided with a cylinder, on the cylinder is provided with a movable body installed to be able to move left and right, the movable body is fixedly mounted to transfer the wafer; Wafer transfer device.