KR20080018205A - Substrate transfer robot and processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A transfer robot is composed of two concentrically arranged driving sources; a driving arm protruding from a side plane of each driving source; two driven arms arranged at the other end of the driving arm; and a hand arranged at a leading end of the driven arm to form a pair with another. The transfer robot advances, retracts and turns the first hand and the second hand through each arm by turning the driving sources in different directions or in the same direction. A processing apparatus provided with the transfer robot is provided with a plurality of placing chambers whose planar shapes are square, by connecting the chambers with connecting chambers, and transfer and receive substrates to and from two process chambers provided on each side wall plane of the placing chamber, by the substrate transfer robot arranged close to the center inside the placing chamber.

Description

Substrate Transfer Robot and Processing Equipment {SUBSTRATE TRANSFER ROBOT AND PROCESSING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a transfer robot and a processing apparatus for moving and processing a substrate under a high clean environment.

The present invention can be applied to either a substrate or a similar article that requires a high clean environment when moving and processing, and will be described below with reference to a semiconductor wafer or LCD substrate, which is an electronic component, in particular. Therefore, the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the manufacturing process of a board | substrate, such as a semiconductor and LCD (liquid crystal display), a yield (goods yield) of a product falls by attaching dust etc. to the surface of a board | substrate. In order to prevent such a problem, manufacture of a board | substrate is performed in high clean environments, such as a clean room.

For example, the processing apparatus (cluster tool) which performs a various kind of process is used for manufacture of a board | substrate. In this treatment apparatus, each treatment is carried out in a clean environment in which the inside of the treatment chamber is hermetically closed with high cleanness or the inside thereof is placed in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere.

The processing apparatus includes a processing chamber (process chamber) for processing a substrate, a transfer loading chamber for entering and exiting the substrate into and out of the processing chamber, and a load lock chamber for carrying in and out of the substrate between the outside of the apparatus. In general, one processing apparatus is provided with a plurality of processing chambers according to various processes. The transfer storage chamber has a pentagonal or polygonal planar shape, and each processing chamber is disposed around the transfer storage chamber. In the center of the inside of the transfer storage chamber, a transfer robot for carrying in and taking out the substrate into each processing chamber is provided. The peripheral wall surface of the transfer storage chamber is provided with a door which can be opened and closed by a vacuum valve, and by opening the door, communication between the processing chamber or the load lock chamber is possible. The transfer robot has a structure in which the substrate can be moved from the load lock chamber to each processing chamber by operating radially from the center of the transfer loading chamber.

As a conventional processing apparatus, the technique of patent document 1 is known.

FIG. 10: shows the planar shape of the processing apparatus (multistage semiconductor processing apparatus) of the board | substrate of FIG. 1 of patent document 1. As shown in FIG.

In Fig. 10, the processing apparatus 120 is provided with two polygonal transfer chambers (robot-type buffer chambers 124 and transfer robot chambers 128), which are two connected process chambers (intermediate processing chambers 126 and 127). Connected via

The connection processing chamber is subjected to, for example, plasma edge cleaning, heating, and cooling. A so-called frog-leg type (having a link mechanism consisting of four arms) for holding a substrate in the inner center of each transfer stacking chamber 124 and 128 and transporting between processing chambers (a transfer robot 142), Buffer robot 140 is provided.

A plurality of processing chambers (vacuum processing chambers 101 to 107) and load lock chambers (load lock chambers 121 and 122) for receiving and temporarily storing a substrate from outside the apparatus are provided around the transfer storage chamber. Opening and closing doors (vacuum valves) are respectively provided between the transfer storage chamber, the connection processing chamber, each processing chamber, and the load lock chamber, and the chambers can be closed in an airtight state with each other. Therefore, since each chamber can be selectively sealed and insulated from each other, the interior of each chamber can be sealed to each other so that an atmosphere of both different vacuum degrees or an inert gas atmosphere which is incompatible with each other can be obtained.

In addition, since the above-mentioned transfer loading chamber uses a vacuum or the like for the inside, a monolithic monolith is formed by cutting a large piece of aluminum by a processing machine to form a connection surface processing such as a processing chamber, a cavity for a processing chamber, and the like for easy sealing. ) Structure.

As a conventional conveyance robot, the technique of patent document 2 and patent document 3 is known.

7 and 8 show a conveying robot (joint arm conveying apparatus) described in FIGS. 2 and 4 of Patent Document 2. FIG.

In FIG. 8, this conveyance robot 200 has a cylindrical attachment flange 238 attached to the bottom (bottom wall) 228 of the transport storage chamber so as to project downward from the opening 227 (outside of the transport storage chamber). It is. Inside the attachment flange 238, two drive sources 215 and 216 are provided concentrically with the position shifted in the height direction.

The drive sources 215 and 216 can independently rotate the concentric rotary shafts (outer shaft 239 and inner shaft 240) protruding from the upper portion of the attachment flange 238 into the transfer storage chamber.

That is, the drive sources 215 and 216 are each provided with an armature 230 (starter) in which a plurality of coils are arranged in a ring shape. Inside the armature 230, a rotating shaft (outer shaft 239 and inner shaft 240) is rotatably installed through a bearing 233 (guide bearing). The outer shaft 239 is just inside the armature 230 and corresponds to the upper armature 230b. The inner shaft 240 is just inside the outer shaft 239 and corresponds to the lower armature 230a. Magnets 237 (237a, 237b) as rotors are provided at positions corresponding to the outer wall surfaces of the outer shaft 239 and the inner shaft 240 and corresponding to the armature 230 (230a, 230b) as starters. The upper portion of the housing of the driving source 215, 216 is provided with a bellows 241 that isolates the space between the vacuum atmosphere and the armature 230 and the like to prevent dust generated in the space with the armature 230 and the like from entering the vacuum atmosphere. Can be.

In FIG. 7, a first drive arm 17 (first upper arm) and a second drive arm 18 (second upper arm) are attached to upper ends of the rotation shafts 239 and 240. Each arm 217, 218 is disposed in the inner region of the transfer stacking chamber, and protrudes radially from the center of the rotation axis of the drive sources 215,216. First and second driven arms 219 and 220 (first front arm and second front arm) are attached to the other end of the first driving arm 217, and the third and fourth driven arms are attached to the second driving arm 18. Arms 221 and 222 (first front arm and second front arm) are attached, and they can rotate independently within the same horizontal plane. The first hand 223 is rotatably supported at the other ends of the first and third driven arms 219 and 21, and the second hand 24 is rotatable to the second and fourth driven arms 220 and 222. Is supported. As a result, the conveying robot 200 rotates the rotation shafts 239 and 240 in different directions by the first and second drive sources 215 and 216 to rotate the first and second hands 223 and 224 to the centers of the rotation shafts 239 and 240. It can be extended or retracted in the radial direction (up and down direction in FIG. 9). Also, by rotating the rotation shafts 239 and 240 in the same direction, the first and second hands 223 and 224 may be simultaneously rotated with respect to the center of the rotation shafts 239 and 240.

9 is a conveyance robot 300 (conveyor device) shown in FIG. 4 of Patent Document 3. As shown in FIG.

This conveyance robot 300 is provided with two concentric shafts (outer shaft 239 and inner shaft 240) which the above-mentioned conveyance robot 200 is driven by drive sources 215 and 216. Is equipped with the structure of another parallel shape.

In FIG. 9, the conveying robot 300 has two rotary shafts 342 (first drive shaft 342a and second drive shaft 342b), which are located on the base plate 325 (support) of the hands 323 and 324. It is arranged side by side in the advancing direction. In this conveyance robot, the 1st drive arm 317 and the 2nd drive arm 318 are arrange | positioned in the upper end of each rotating shaft 342 (342a, 342b) at a different height. In addition, the shape of the upper surface of the first driving arm 317 is a rod-shaped part having a recess, and the contact with the first driving shaft 342a can be avoided when the second driving arm 318 rotates. Further, the first and second driven arms 319 and 320 (transmission link) are provided on the upper end of the first driving arm 317 (first driving link), and the upper end of the second driving arm (second driving link) is formed. Third and fourth driven arms 321 and 322 (transmission links) are provided so as to be concentric. In addition, each rotation shaft 342 has a drive source (not shown) which drives each, and is driven independently by each. Usually, each drive source is arrange | positioned side by side in the space below the base board 325. As shown in FIG.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 03-19252

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-506771

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-237436

It is desired that the above described transfer stacking chamber be small in content. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is to quickly make the interior into a vacuum or inert gas atmosphere. The second reason is that as described above, the transfer stacking chamber is often manufactured by cutting from a large aluminum mass, but small is important for processing cost, time reduction, and accuracy.

By the way, when the conveyance loading chamber is made small, it is necessary to keep the conveyance robot provided in the conveyance storage chamber as the stroke (conveyable distance) as it is, and to reduce the size and the movable range of the conveyance robot itself. In addition, it is also necessary to make the conveying robot itself compact so that the conveying robot can be easily attached to the conveying loading chamber.

Considering the compactness of the above-mentioned conveyance robots 200 and 300 of FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, there are the following problems.

In the conveyance robot 300 of FIG. 9, each rotating shaft 342a, 342b is arrange | positioned in parallel, and each drive arm 317, 318 is arrange | positioned so that rotation in the same horizontal plane is possible. On the other hand, at the front-end | tip of each drive arm 217,218, the rotation connection part of each driven arm 319-322 is comprised concentrically, and each driven arm 319-322 is arrange | positioned with a different height.

In the conveyance robot 200 of FIG. 7, the rotating shafts 239 and 240 are arrange | positioned concentrically, and the two drive arms 217 and 218 are arrange | positioned with a different height. On the other hand, each driven arm 219 to 212 connected to each is rotatably connected to the tip of each driving arm 217 and 218, respectively. That is, the ends of the driven arms 219 to 212 are connected to the ends of the drive arms 217 and 218 with their positions shifted by a plurality of parallel rotation shafts.

In this way, for each rotary shaft or each drive arm and each driven arm connecting portion, the height becomes larger when each is concentric, but the planar shape becomes smaller, and the height can be made smaller when each is parallelized. There is a situation in which the shape becomes large.

Although it is required to make the conveyance robot compact in consideration of these conflicting relationships, for example, in order to suppress the planar shape, when the connecting portions of each rotating shaft and each driving arm and each driven arm are arranged concentrically together, the height is increased. The dimensions are the sum of the respective heights. On the other hand, in the case where the connecting portions of each rotating shaft and each driving arm and each driven arm are arranged in parallel together in order to suppress the height dimension, the planar dimension may accumulate cumulatively.

From these structural differences, there is a problem that the conveyance robot is difficult to compact even if the driving arms and driven arms have the same length.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer robot that can be compactized.

On the other hand, the conventional processing apparatus was a polygon in which the shape of the transfer storage chamber was five squares or more, and arrange | positioned the transfer storage chamber radially toward the rotation center of a conveyance robot. This is because the program leg transfer robot disposed at the center of the transfer storage chamber can exchange the substrate simply by linearly operating the held substrate from the rotation center to the processing chamber above the radiation. This is because in such a processing apparatus, the conveying robot can be realized by simple motion control for moving in the linear direction and the rotational direction.

However, since it is necessary to arrange the processing chamber which is a transfer destination in the radiation direction centering on the conveying robot, when it is desired to have more process chambers under the condition that one processing chamber is provided for each side of the transfer loading chamber, It was necessary to increase the number of sides. As a matter of course, the processing chamber has a predetermined width, and accordingly, it is necessary to secure the length of one side of the minimum transport stacking chamber, thereby making the transport stacking chamber large, whereby the stroke of the transport robot is also long. In addition, it is also necessary to enlarge the whole processing apparatus.

On the other hand, without increasing the number of edges of the transfer storage chamber, a plurality of processing chambers are provided for one side wall, and the connection centers (openings) of all the processing chambers are moved in the direction inclined with respect to the side walls, and the center of rotation of the transport robot. The same effect can be obtained by providing toward. However, the area of a connection part becomes large about having a connection part facing a side wall, and this also increases the vacuum valve for sealing the process chamber inside when processing in a process chamber. Since the inside of the transfer storage chamber and the processing chamber are separated from each other and the processing is performed, the larger opening area of the connecting portion is hard to be sealed, and the internal processing environment is also unstable.

Further, as a problem when the processing apparatus is enlarged, firstly, the foot space (the floor occupied area of the facility) is increased, and secondly, the inside of the vacuum or inert gas is increased by increasing the volume of the transfer storage chamber. When filled with, it will take more time and money to achieve the desired pressure or concentration.

Moreover, in the processing apparatus provided with connecting several conveyance storage chambers, when the shape of each conveyance storage chamber is polygonal or more pentagonal, it is difficult to connect longitudinally and correctly, and the problem that foot space becomes wide also arises.

In addition, since the transfer storage chamber is produced by cutting a huge agglomerate of aluminum, the machining of the transfer storage chamber is very difficult compared to a square (a job of turning the agglomeration of aluminum by 90 degrees is very easy in the mechanics of a processing machine). And processing for forming an opening for communicating with the processing chamber on the side surface thereof are also very difficult.

As described above, more processing apparatuses can be provided, the volume of the transport stacking chamber is minimized, the foot space is narrow, the processing of the transport stacking chamber is easy, and a plurality of transport stacking chambers are easy to connect. It is desired to have a well-balanced requirement such that the transfer robot can operate freely.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus which is compact and easy to manufacture.

The substrate transfer robot of the present invention includes a first drive source having a rotation axis on a base plate, a second drive source having a rotation axis concentric with the rotation axis of the first drive source, and a first drive provided to protrude to the side surface of the first drive source. An arm, a second drive arm protruding to the side of the second drive source, a first driven arm and a second driven arm provided so as to be able to rotate concentrically and independently at the other end of the first drive arm; The other end of the second drive arm is rotatably supported by a third driven arm and a fourth driven arm provided to be able to rotate independently at a position having a different axis of rotation, and a first driven arm and a third driven arm. And a second hand provided so as to be rotatably supported by the second driven arm and the fourth driven arm and provided with the first hand, wherein the first drive source and the second drive source rotate in different directions or in the same direction. By And the first hand and the second hand through the respective arms, characterized in that the operation can be moved forward and backward, and rotated.

In the present invention, the first and second driving sources may be rotated at different speeds to move the first and second hands on a straight line that forms an angle with the radiation direction with respect to the rotation center of the first driving source.

The conveying robot further includes a second drive arm and a third drive arm protruding in a direction at an angle in the rotational direction about the second drive source, and the third drive arm is provided on the second drive source. The third drive arm may be provided so that the fourth driven arm can rotate.

The substrate transfer robot of the present invention can move the first hand and the second hand on a straight line at an angle to the rotation direction of the first drive source by rotating the first drive source and the second drive source at different speeds. It is preferable.

In the substrate conveyance robot of the present invention, the first hand and the second hand move forward and backward in the radial direction with respect to the rotation center of the first drive source and the second drive source, and the travel direction of the first hand and the second hand is different. It is preferable that they are 150 degrees-179 degrees.

The substrate conveyance robot of the present invention is concentric with the shape of the base plate, and is provided with a first drive source and a second drive source provided with a position shifted in the height direction, the first drive source being provided on an upper portion of the base plate, It is preferable to have a second drive source at the top.

The present invention provides a substrate transfer robot, comprising: a first drive body and a second drive body projecting onto a base plate and arranged over a predetermined axis of rotation, and rotatable separately;

A first driven arm extending radially from the first driving body, a second driving arm extending radially from the second driving body, and a first driven rotatably connected to the tip of the first driving arm; An arm and a second driven arm, a third driven arm and a fourth driven arm rotatably connected to the tip of the second driving arm, and a first hand supported by the first driven arm and the third driven arm And a second hand supported by the second driven arm and the fourth driven arm, the first driving body and the second driving body being arranged concentrically with each other and shifting in the direction of the rotation axis, And the first driving arm is arranged closer to the base plate than the second driving arm, and the first driven arm and the second driven arm are continuously connected at a concentric rotation axis with respect to the tip of the first driving arm. Become, Group third driven arm and a fourth driven arm is characterized in that it is individually connected to one another by a shape of a parallel axis of rotation with respect to the distal end of the second driving arm.

In this invention, a 1st drive body and a 2nd drive body are arrange | positioned concentrically with each other, and planar suppression is attained by this. Moreover, the rotational connection of the tip of a 1st driven arm, a 2nd driven arm, and a 1st drive arm is also concentric, and also suppresses a planar shape by this.

Here, since the connection of the tip of a 1st driven arm, a 2nd driven arm, and a 1st drive arm is concentric, the dimension of a height direction becomes large. However, the first drive arm is arranged closer to the base plate than the second drive arm, so that even if the height dimension at the connecting portion of the first drive arm to the first driven arm and the second driven arm becomes larger, The overall height dimension is hardly affected.

On the other hand, in the second drive arm away from the base plate, the third driven arm and the fourth driven arm which are rotationally connected to the distal ends thereof are individually connected by parallel rotating shafts, but the suppression effect of the planar shape is low. The effect of suppressing the height dimension on the first drive arm side described above is not lost and is effective for overall compactness.

In the substrate conveyance robot of the present invention, the first driver includes a first drive source, the second driver includes a second drive source, and the first driver is provided on a base plate. It is preferable that the 2nd drive body is provided in a laminated shape on the 1st drive body.

In this invention, it is preferable to use the thing of the small dimension of a rotating shaft direction, for example, a direct drive type electric motor, etc. as a drive source to be built.

By using such a motor, the laminated structure of the base plate, the 1st drive body, and the 2nd drive body as mentioned above is attained, and the same shaft or rotating shaft as a 1st drive body and a 2nd drive body is unnecessary. The structure can be simplified.

In the substrate transfer robot of the present invention, the first hand and the second hand can be moved forward and backward in the radial direction opposite to the rotation axis by relatively rotating the first drive and the second drive. The angle between the movement trajectory of the first hand and the movement trajectory of the second hand is preferably in the range of 150 degrees to 179 degrees.

In this invention, expansion and contraction of each hand is performed by rotating the said 1st drive body and the said 2nd drive body at the same speed in a reverse direction. Then, by rotating them at the same speed in the same direction, it is possible to change the direction of each hand without changing the stretch state of each hand.

Here, when the angle formed by the first hand and the second hand is 180 degrees in the related art, the result is the same no matter which direction it rotates. However, since the angle of one side becomes smaller than 180 degrees as in the present invention, a situation in which the required operating angle becomes smaller by actively using the side of this small angle at the time of direction change occurs, and as a result, the operation time is shortened. It is planned.

In the substrate transfer robot of the present invention, the first hand and the second hand can be moved forward and backward in the radial direction opposite to the rotation axis by relatively rotating the first drive and the second drive. The first driving body and the second driving body may be operated at different rotational speeds.

In this invention, each hand can be expanded and contracted gradually by changing a direction by operating the said 1st drive body and the said 2nd drive body in the same direction and at a different rotational speed. Further, by operating these at opposite rotation speeds and different rotation speeds, the direction can also be changed while mainly performing stretching of each hand. As a result, the movement axis of each hand can be inclined with respect to the radial direction of each drive body, and it can apply to various conveyance operations.

The processing apparatus of the present invention is a processing apparatus having a transport stacking chamber having a rectangular planar shape, a substrate transport robot provided near the inner center of the transport stacking chamber, and a plurality of process chambers arranged on each sidewall surface of the transport stacking chamber. The said conveyance robot can convey a board | substrate by the operation | movement or a combination in a radial image and a rotation direction with respect to the rotation center of a conveyance robot, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

Or the processing apparatus of this invention is a processing apparatus which has a conveyance stack chamber, the board | substrate conveyance robot provided near the inner center of this conveyance stack chamber, and the some process chamber arrange | positioned at each side wall surface of the said transfer stack chamber, The said transfer apparatus is a said transfer apparatus. The loading chamber is characterized in that the planar shape is approximately square.

In the present invention, since the shape of the transfer stacking chamber is a rectangular shape and a simple shape when cutting and shaping one large agglomerate of aluminum in the case of being used for the production of a processing apparatus in general by a processing machine, the cutting Processing is remarkably easy. In addition, since the transfer storage chamber has a rectangular shape, it is easy to parallel the plurality of transfer storage chambers, and it is easy to connect through the connection processing chamber.

In the processing apparatus of this invention, it is preferable that two said process chambers are provided in each side wall surface of the said transfer storage chamber.

According to the present invention, the process chamber can be transmitted and received by attaching the openings in a direction at an angle with respect to the rotational center of the transport robot, and linearly and curvedly operating the substrate held by the transport robot.

In the processing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to provide a plurality of the transfer stacking chambers and to provide a connection processing chamber for connecting the transfer stacks with each other.

According to the present invention, more process chambers can be arranged by plural numbers of the transfer storage chamber. And when using a connection process chamber, when conveying a board | substrate from one transfer storage chamber to the other transfer storage chamber, a board | substrate is temporarily placed in the connection processing chamber provided between transfer storage chambers. At this time, in the other transfer loading chamber which is a conveyance destination, the substrate is heated or cooled by heating means or cooling means of the substrate provided in the connection processing chamber before and after performing various processes such as CVD or PVD. The process can be performed quickly.

In the processing apparatus of the present invention, the plurality of connection processing chambers preferably serve as heating means for the substrate or cooling means for the substrate.

According to the present invention, for example, the substrate can be heated by the heating means or the substrate can be cooled by the cooling means.

1 is a plan view showing a processing apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention.

It is a top view which shows the transfer loading chamber of the said embodiment.

It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance robot of the said embodiment.

4 is a partially broken perspective view showing the drive unit of the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the hand and the rotation transmission means of the above embodiment.

6 is a perspective view showing a modification of the present invention.

7 is a plan view of a conventional transport robot.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional transport robot.

9 is a perspective view showing a conventional transport robot.

10 is a plan view of a conventional processing apparatus.

(Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing)

1 processing device 2 transfer loading chamber

3: board | substrate 4: conveying robot

5 side wall surface 6 process chamber (process chamber)

7: connection processing room 13: load lock room

15: first drive source 16: second drive source

17: first drive arm 18: second drive arm

19: First driven arm 20: Second driven arm

21: Third driven arm 22: Fourth driven arm

23: first hand 24: second hand

25: base plate

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one Embodiment of this invention is described based on drawing.

In FIG. 1, the processing apparatus 1 is a processing apparatus based on this invention, and this processing apparatus 1 is equipped with the conveyance robot 4 based on this invention.

Specifically, the processing apparatus 1 has two transfer storage chambers 2 (2a, 2b) therein. Each conveyance storage chamber 2 is a square of planar shape, ie, four sides of the same length square. The side wall surface 5 is arrange | positioned at each side of each transfer storage chamber 2.

In the inside of each transfer storage chamber 2, the conveyance robot 4 for conveying the board | substrate 3 is provided in the substantially center. This conveyance robot 4 is demonstrated in detail later.

The connection processing chamber 7 is arrange | positioned between each transfer storage chamber 2a, 2b, and the load lock chamber 13 is arrange | positioned between the transfer storage chamber 2a and the conveying apparatus 8 (described later).

In addition, except for the side where the above-mentioned connection process chamber 7 or the load lock chamber 13 is provided in each side of each transfer storage chamber 2a, 2b, each of the process chambers (process chambers) 6 is two, respectively. It is arranged.

In each process chamber 6, the transfer robot 4 carries the substrate 3 inside (see FIG. 2), and various processes such as CVD can be performed on the carried substrate 3.

The connection processing chamber 7 is provided with the heating means of the board | substrate 3, etc., and processes the other board | substrate 3 at the time of conveying the board | substrate 3 from the transport stacking chamber 2a to the transport stacking chamber 2b. The heat treatment of the substrate 3 stored in the connection processing chamber 7 can be performed by using the waiting time and the like to be loaded into the chamber 6.

The conveying apparatus 8 is provided adjacent to the load lock chamber 13.

The conveying apparatus 8 carries in and out of the board | substrate 3 with respect to the processing apparatus 1, The table which mounts the pod 9 for conveying the board | substrate 3 in a clean room, It is provided with a load port 12 for removing the cover of the pod 9, and the board | substrate conveyance robot 14 which conveys the board | substrate 3 to the load lock chamber 13 from the inside of the pod 9, and have.

As described above in FIG. 2, the transfer stacking chamber 2 has a square shape, and four side wall surfaces 5 are formed around the process loading chamber 2, and a process chamber 6 is provided outside.

An opening is formed in the side wall surface 5 to communicate the inside of the process chamber 6 and the inside of the transfer stacking chamber 2. This opening can be opened and closed by a vacuum valve (not shown), and in the closed state, the inside of the process chamber 6 and the inside of the transfer stacking chamber 2 are isolated in an airtight state. On the other hand, in the state which opened this opening, the board | substrate 3 can be carried in to the process chamber 6 from the transfer loading chamber 2 or vice versa by the conveyance robot 4.

In addition, the circle | round | yen shown by the dotted line in a figure shows the trace | route of the board | substrate 3 at the time of conveyance robot 4 holding the board | substrate 3, and conveying from the process chamber 6 to another process chamber 6. In this conveyance robot 4, the hands 23 and 24 can be linearly moved in the direction which makes a predetermined angle with respect to the radial direction by operating the 1st drive source 15 and the 2nd drive source 16 mentioned later at different speeds. have.

For this reason, two process chambers 6 are arranged in each side of the transfer storage chamber 2, that is, moving axes entering and exiting from the front of each process chamber 6 are respectively centered and conveyed in the transfer storage chamber 2. Even if the robot 4 does not pass through the central axis of the robot 4, the substrate 3 can be carried in from the front surface of the process chamber 6.

That is, since the conveyance robot 4 provided in the processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment can convey a board | substrate by operation | movement in a radial image, a rotation direction, or a combination with respect to the rotation center of a conveyance robot, a process chamber The board | substrate can be conveyed, even if the connection part (opening part) of an is not directed to the radiation direction with respect to the rotation center of a conveyance robot.

In the processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the transfer stacking chamber 2 is a monolithic structure in which one large piece of aluminum is cut by a processing machine to have a cavity or the like. At this time, the transfer stacking chamber 2 is rectangular in shape and has a simple shape, so that the cutting processing is easy.

In addition, since the transfer storage chamber 2 is a quadrangle, it is also easy to arrange a plurality of transfer storage chambers 2 in parallel and to make it continuous through the connection processing chamber 7. Further, more process chambers 6 can be provided even if the foot space is smaller than that of the conventional polygonal (pentagonal or more polygonal) transport stacking chamber 2.

In addition, since the plurality of transfer stacking chambers 2 can be vertically and horizontally connected via the connection processing chamber 7, layout of the factory (process) is facilitated.

Next, the board | substrate conveyance robot 4 provided in the processing apparatus 1 mentioned above is demonstrated.

In FIG. 3, the conveyance robot 4 of this embodiment is what is called a program leg type conveyance robot, and is fixed to the conveyance stacking chamber 2 of the above-mentioned processing apparatus 1, and conveys the board | substrate 3, will be.

A thin plate-shaped first drive source 15 is provided on the base plate 25, and a similar second drive source 16 is provided on the first drive source 15.

In FIG. 4, the 1st drive source 15 and the 2nd drive source 16 are equipped with the electric motor inside, respectively.

The base plate 25 is for attaching the first and second drive sources 15, 16 to the inner bottom wall of the housing 28 of the transfer storage chamber 2, and the flange portion and the interior of the base plate 25. Between the contact points of the bottom wall, the sealing member 27 which keeps the inside of the transfer loading chamber 2 airtight is provided.

The center part of the base plate 25 becomes the cylindrical part 25a which protrudes from the opening of the housing 28 to the exterior (lower part of drawing), and the center part protrudes inside the housing 28 (upper part of drawing) in the center. A cylindrical partition wall 29 having a bottom is formed. These sealing members 27, the base plate 25, the cylindrical portion 25a, and the partition 29 make the vacuum area IV inside the housing 28 and the atmospheric area outside the housing 28 ( IA) is blocked in confidentiality.

A fixed shaft member 32 is formed on the inner wall surface of the partition 29, and a plurality of armatures 30a and 30b and sensors 31a to 31d are disposed adjacent to each other in a ring shape. It is.

Rotating members 26a and 26b are provided around the fixed shaft member 32.

The rotating members 26a and 26b each have a cylindrical portion and a flange portion formed on the outer periphery of the upper end thereof, the flange portion being on the base plate 25 as the first drive source 15 and the second drive source 16 described above. It becomes a part exposed to a lamination | stacked state in the film.

The cylindrical portion of the rotating member 26a is rotatably supported by the base plate 25 via the bearing 33a. The cylindrical part of the rotating member 26b is rotatably supported inside the rotating member 26a via the bearing 33b. Thereby, each cylindrical part of the rotating members 26a and 26b is arrange | positioned concentrically with each other, and each is rotatable individually.

Each cylindrical portion of the rotating members 26a and 26b is provided with a plurality of magnets 37a and 37b attached adjacently in a ring shape. These magnets 37a, 37b and the armature 30a, 30b of the fixed shaft member 32 mentioned above are arrange | positioned in the mutually opposing position, and comprise the direct drive type electric motor.

Returning to Fig. 3, the peripheral surfaces of the first and second drive sources 15 and 16 (the flange portions of the rotating members 26a and 26b) respectively project first and second drive arms 17 and 18 in a horizontal direction. This is formed. In addition, in this embodiment, the rotation member 26a to the 1st drive arm 17 are integrally formed, and the rotation member 26b to the 2nd drive arm 18 are integrally formed.

A proximal end of the first driven arm 19 is rotatably connected to an upper portion near the distal end of the first driving arm 17, and further above the first driven arm 19 of the second driven arm 20. The proximal end is rotatably connected. Here, the rotatable connecting portions of the first and second driven arms 19, 29 are arranged concentrically with each other and are also rotatable separately. This second driven arm 20 is rotatable in a region above the upper surface of the second drive source 16 (with a few millimeter gap therebetween).

The upper end of the 2nd drive arm 18 near the front-end | tip is rotatably connected with the base end part of the 3rd driven arm 21 and the 4th driven arm 22, respectively. Each connection position becomes an adjacent position, and each rotation axis becomes parallel with each other, and can rotate in substantially the same horizontal plane as the 2nd driven arm 20 mentioned above. The first driven arm 19 is partially bent in the height direction such that the first driven arm 19 and the third driven arm 21 are the same as the height region in which the rotational operation is performed.

First ends of the first and third driven arms 19 and 21 are provided so that the first hand 23 can rotate. At the distal end portions of the second and fourth driven arms 20, 22, the second hand 24 is rotatably provided.

Each hand 23, 24 has a tip portion formed in two fork shapes, and has a concave portion corresponding to the substrate 3 on its upper surface side. And the board | substrate 3 is hold | maintained in this recessed part, and it can move forward and backward in the same horizontal plane.

In this embodiment, the distances between the rotational axes of the driven arms 19 to 22 on the drive arms 17 and 18 from the rotational center of the first drive source 15 are all the same, and the distance of each hand from the center of rotational axis of each driven arm is equal. Although all the distances to the center of a support shaft are provided in the same way, this invention is not limited to this.

In this conveyance robot 4, the advancing direction of the 1st hand 23 and the 2nd hand 24 is radial from the rotation center of each drive source, and the direction of both hands 23 and 24 is 180 degree | times. The angle is less than (175 degrees in this embodiment). For this reason, compared with the conventional conveyance robot of 180 degrees which is an angle | corner, the angle which rotates when conveying the board | substrate 3 becomes small, and the operation time for sending and receiving the board | substrate 3 can be shortened.

In FIG. 5, the conveyance robot 4 of this embodiment is equipped with the rotation transmission means 34 for adjusting the direction of each hand 23,24.

That is, in the conveyance robot 4 of this embodiment, a substantially pentagonal link mechanism is formed by each drive arm 17 and 18, each driven arm 19-22, and each hand 23 and 24, and each drive source By the rotation of (15, 16), the above-described link mechanism advances and moves each hand (23, 24). At this time, if each of the hands 23 and 24 and the driven arms 19 to 22 are simple rotatable connections, the directions of the hands 23 and 24 do not become constant, and stable substrates cannot be conveyed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the rotation transmission means 34 which always makes the angle with the hand with respect to one driven arm, and the angle with the hand with respect to the other driven arm always equal.

The rotation transmission means 34 supports the first hand 23 (second hand 24) to be rotatable at the distal end of the driven arms 19 (22) and 21 (20). Here, pulleys are formed on the support shafts 35a and 35b for supporting the hands 23 (24), and the two steel belts 36 are shifted in the height direction to the pulleys and wound in an S shape and an inverted S shape. In both cases, the belt constitutes an eight-character shape. Thereby, the rotation amounts of the support shaft 35a and the support shaft 35b with respect to the hand 23 (24) are regulated to be equal to each other, that is, to rotate by the same angle in opposite directions to each other, and the hand 23 (24) is always rotated. Can be placed in a predetermined direction.

In addition, as the rotation transmission means 34, it is not limited to the steel belt 36, You may replace it with gears or another link.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, The deformation | transformation within the range which achieves the objective of this invention is included in this invention.

What is necessary is just to set suitably the material, dimension, shape, etc. of each part in embodiment mentioned above in implementation of this invention.

For example, the conveying robot 4d of FIG. 6 is provided with the three driving arms 17, 18a, 18b with respect to the conveying robot 4 of the said embodiment provided with the two driving arms 17,18. . Specifically, the front end side of the drive arm 18 is divided into a fork shape to form the drive arms 18a and 18b.

By setting it as such a structure, the angle (angle on the side of the 2nd drive arm 19) which each hand 23 and 24 makes can be made smaller.

The conveying robot provided in the inner bottom wall of the conveyance storage chamber in this embodiment has two driven arms concentrically on the drive arm attached to the lower drive source, and is attached to the drive arm attached to the upper drive source. By allowing the driven arms to rotate within the same horizontal plane, the conveyable range (the maximum reach of the hand) can be widened, the movable range at the time of rotation can be reduced, and the height of the entire conveying robot can be reduced. .

As a result, the contents of the transfer stacking chamber can be reduced, and the preparation time for processing in various processing chambers is shortened by shortening the time for setting the inside of the transfer stacking chamber to an atmosphere such as vacuum. In addition, even when manufacturing the transfer loading chamber, since it becomes smaller than the conventional size, processing is high precision and easy, and cost is also reduced.

The driving source of this conveying robot is provided with a partition wall which encloses the air side outside the conveyance storage chamber and the vacuum atmosphere inside the conveyance storage chamber, or the inert gas atmosphere (hereafter a vacuum atmosphere) side, and the stator is provided in the atmosphere side, By providing the rotor on the atmosphere side such as vacuum, generation of dust in the vacuum atmosphere can be reduced.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used as a transfer robot and processing apparatus for moving and processing a substrate in a high clean environment, and can be used particularly for the manufacture of semiconductor wafers and electronic substrates as electronic components.

Claims (13)

In the conveying robot which conveys a board | substrate: A first drive source having a rotation axis on the base plate, A second drive source having a rotation axis concentric with the rotation axis of the first drive source, A first drive arm protruding to the side of the first drive source, and A second driving arm provided to protrude to the side of the second driving source; A first driven arm and a second driven arm provided on the other end of the first driving arm so as to be able to rotate concentrically and independently; A third driven arm and a fourth driven arm provided at the other end of the second driving arm to rotate in the same horizontal plane; A first hand rotatably provided by the first driven arm and the third driven arm; A second hand rotatably provided by said second driven arm and said fourth driven arm; A substrate transfer robot, wherein the first hand and the second hand can be moved forward and backward through each arm by rotating the first drive source and the second drive source in different directions or in the same direction. The method of claim 1, wherein the first drive and the second drive source is rotated at a different speed to move the first hand and the second hand in a straight line at an angle with the radiation direction with respect to the rotation center of the first drive source. The board | substrate conveyance robot characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first hand and the second hand move forward and backward in the radial direction with respect to the rotation center of the first drive source and the second drive source; The conveyance direction of the said 1st hand and the 2nd hand is 150 degree | times-179 degree, The board | substrate conveyance robot characterized by the above-mentioned. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is concentric on the base plate, As a 1st drive source and a 2nd drive source provided by shifting a position to a height direction, The first drive source is provided on the base plate, The board | substrate conveyance robot characterized by including a 2nd drive source in an upper part of a 1st drive source. A first drive body and a second drive body protruding on the base plate and arranged over a predetermined axis of rotation and rotatable separately; A first driving arm extending in the radial direction from the first driving body; A second drive arm extending in the radial direction from the second drive body; A first driven arm and a second driven arm rotatably connected to a distal end of the first drive arm; A third driven arm and a fourth driven arm rotatably connected to a distal end of the second drive arm; A first hand supported by the first driven arm and the third driven arm, Having a second hand supported by the second driven arm and the fourth driven arm; The first driving body and the second driving body are disposed concentrically with each other and shifted in the direction of the rotation axis, and the first driving arm is disposed closer to the base plate than the second driving arm; The first driven arm and the second driven arm are continuously connected at an axis of rotation concentric with the tip of the first drive arm; The said 3rd driven arm and the 4th driven arm are respectively connected by the rotating shaft of parallel shape with respect to the front-end | tip of the said 2nd driving arm, The board | substrate conveyance robot. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first driver includes a first drive source, and the second driver includes a second drive source; The said 1st drive body is provided on a base board, and the 2nd drive body is provided in the laminated shape on this 1st drive body, The board | substrate conveyance robot characterized by the above-mentioned. 7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the first hand and the second hand are moved forward and backward in the radially opposite direction with respect to the rotation axis by relatively rotating the first drive and the second drive. Can; A substrate transfer robot, wherein the movement trajectory of the first hand and the movement trajectory of the second hand are in a range of 150 degrees to 179 degrees. 8. The radial direction opposite to the rotation axis, respectively, according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the first hand and the second hand are respectively rotated relative to the rotation axis by relatively rotating the first drive and the second drive. Move forward and backward; And said first and second drives are operable at different rotational speeds. A transfer stacking chamber having a rectangular planar shape; A substrate conveyance robot provided near an inner center of the conveyance stacking chamber; And A processing apparatus having a plurality of process chambers disposed on each sidewall surface of the transfer storage chamber: The said conveyance robot can convey a board | substrate by operation | movement or a combination in a radial image and a rotation direction with respect to the rotation center of a conveyance robot, The processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. A processing apparatus having a transfer stacking chamber, a substrate transfer robot provided near an inner center of the transfer stacking chamber, and a plurality of process chambers disposed on each sidewall surface of the transfer stacking chamber: And said transfer storage chamber is substantially rectangular in planar shape. The processing apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein two process chambers are provided on each side wall of the transfer storage chamber. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising a plurality of the transfer storage chamber, And a connection processing chamber that connects the transfer stacking chambers to each other. 13. The processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of connection processing chambers also serve as heating means for the substrate or cooling means for the substrate.

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