TWI766687B - High-cleaning semi-finished goods conveying and storage apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a high-cleaning semi-finished goods conveying and storage apparatus, comprising a storage compartment and a conveying device. The inside of the storage compartment can be defined as a storage space and a conveying space which is sat below the storage space, and the storage space and the conveying space are not connected. The conveying device, set in the conveying space, includes a track. The conveying device connects to the storage space by a movable shutter which can be open vertically. A storage box can be transport to a position corresponding to the movable shutter, and be move from the conveying space to the storage space for storage.

Description

High cleanliness wafer semi-finished product conveying and storage device

A conveying and storage device, especially a semi-finished wafer conveying and storage device with high cleanliness.

The invention of semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) has enabled the rapid and advanced development of the technology industry in modern life, enabling people to obtain a richer and more convenient life, and the application level of semiconductors not only covers the intelligent With the development of 5G communication, AI smart technology and IoT Internet of Things, semiconductors have become the key application basis for many technology industries.

The process of semiconductor manufacturing is generally film coating, photoresist coating, photoresist development, etching and photoresist removal, so that a desired circuit diagram can be displayed on a wafer; finally, cutting, pasting, welding and molding are performed. The steps produce a finished wafer. Since the finished wafer involves the operation of an entire technological equipment, the quality requirements of the finished wafer are extremely important. Therefore, various manufacturing industries are very careful about the production environment and equipment requirements of the wafer.

However, when the wafer product needs to be manufactured in large quantities or efficiently, the transfer of the wafer between the above-mentioned production steps and equipment is extremely important. There is a risk of quality degradation, and when the wafer is in a preparation period between the upper and lower production step equipment, it is mostly stored in a corner and waits, often resulting in the wafer being exposed to an ambient air. The generation of defective rate leads to cost and waste of materials.

In view of this, the development can enable the wafer to achieve excellent transfer quality that reduces collisions between the above-mentioned production step equipment, reduces personnel costs, and the wafer can be maintained in good environmental quality during the preparation period, reducing defects. The generation of high efficiency is the goal that each manufacturing industry needs to develop.

In order to develop a wafer that can achieve excellent transfer quality between various production equipment, reduce personnel costs, and maintain a good environmental quality of the wafer during the preparation period, the present invention provides a high-cleanliness wafer semi-finished product The conveying and storage device includes a storage device and a transportation device. The interior of the storage device can be defined as an accommodating space, the transportation device includes a rail, and the transportation device communicates with the accommodating space through a hatch.

Wherein, the storage device includes a transportation space located below the accommodating space, the transportation device is accommodated in the transportation space, the transportation space communicates with the accommodating space through the hatch, and the transportation space passes through a The partition plate is spaced apart from the accommodating space, an input port and an output port are respectively pierced through the outer wall of the storage device corresponding to the transport space, and the input port and the output port are correspondingly arranged at two end sections of the transport device. , the partition plate is provided with a taking-out port, and the hatch door is movably arranged at the position of the taking-out port.

Wherein, the fetching port and the cabin door are arranged on the partition plate perpendicular to the ground, and a movement direction of the cabin door opening is a vertical movement from top to bottom.

Wherein, one of the outer side walls of the storage device is provided with a door, so that the accommodating space communicates with the area outside the storage device through the opening of the door.

Further, the accommodating space includes a storage area, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions arranged at intervals, and the accommodating space maintains an environmental condition such as humidity, temperature or lighting according to requirements.

Further, the separator is a transparent plate.

Further, each of the storage positions corresponds to an appearance size setting of each storage box.

Further, each of the storage boxes stores a plurality of semi-finished wafers.

Further, each of the storage boxes is arranged with a plurality of storage slots, and each of the semi-finished wafers can be placed in each of the storage slots.

Further, an operating device is included, and the operating device drives the movement of the transport device and the track and the opening of the door and the hatch.

In the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device provided by the present invention, the arrangement of the partition allows the transportation space to communicate with the accommodating space only through the opening of the hatch door, thereby preventing the accommodating space from directly contacting the accommodating space. The opportunity to store the area outside the equipment, so that the accommodating space can not only meet the requirements of high cleanliness, but also reduce the variable factors of environmental changes in the accommodating space, effectively maintain the environmental conditions, and avoid the repeated environmental maintenance equipment. start and adjust the environmental conditions to reduce waste of resources.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3 , which are preferred embodiments of the semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device provided by the present invention, which includes a storage device 10 , a transportation device 20 and an operation device 30 . The storage device The interior of 10 can be defined as an accommodating space 11, and the transportation device 20 is arranged in the storage device 10, wherein the transportation device 20 is not in direct communication with the accommodating space 11. In this embodiment, the transportation device 20 is The form of a track is presented.

The accommodating space 11 includes a storage area 111, the storage area 111 contains a plurality of storage positions, and the storage positions are arranged at intervals according to the size of a storage box A, so that the storage box A can be put into or removed from the storage box A as required storage bit. The storage box A stores a plurality of semi-finished wafers. Preferably, the storage box A is arranged with a plurality of storage slots, so that the semi-finished wafers can be placed in the storage slots respectively, so as to prevent the storage box A from moving. At the same time, there is a fear of collision between the semi-finished wafers. The accommodating space 11 can maintain an overall environmental condition of the accommodating space 11 such as humidity, temperature or lighting through an environment maintaining device according to the environmental requirements of the semi-finished wafer to be stored.

The storage device 10 includes a door 12 and a transport space 13 . The door 12 is provided on one of the outer side walls of the storage device 10 , so that the accommodating space 11 can be opened through the door 12 and the area outside the storage device 10 Communication allows a user to enter and exit the storage device 10 through the door 12 .

The transportation space 13 is not directly communicated with the accommodating space 11 , and the transportation device 20 is accommodated in the transportation space 13 . The transport space 13 includes a partition 131 , an input port 132 , an output port 133 and a hatch 134 , and the storage device 10 separates the transport space 13 from the accommodating space 11 through the partition 131 . The input port 131 and the output port 132 are respectively pierced through the outer wall of the storage device 10 in the transport space 13 , and the input port 131 and the output port 132 are correspondingly disposed at two end sections of the transport device 20 , This enables the storage box A to enter the transport space 13 from the input port 131 , to be transported via the transport device 20 , and to leave the storage device 10 via the output port 132 .

The partition plate 131 is provided with a pick-up port 1311 , and the hatch 134 is movably disposed at the position of the pick-up port 1311 . Through the opening of the hatch door 134 , the transport space 13 can be connected to the container through the pick-up port 1311 . The space 11 is connected, so that the storage box A can be transported to the position corresponding to the pick-up port 1311 through the transport device 20, and then moved from the transport space 13 to the accommodating space 11 and the storage area 1111 after the hatch is opened. stored in.

The arrangement of the partition 131 enables the transport space 13 to communicate with the accommodating space 11 only through the opening of the hatch 134, thereby avoiding the opportunity of the accommodating space 11 directly contacting the area outside the storage device 10, so that the The accommodating space 11 can not only meet the requirements of high cleanliness, but also can reduce the variable factors of environmental changes in the accommodating space 11, effectively maintain the environmental conditions, and avoid repeated startup of the environmental maintenance equipment and adjustment of the environmental conditions. Reduce resource waste.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transport space 13 is preferably positioned below the storage area 111 , so that the storage area 111 located above is less susceptible to air entering from the transport space 13 when the hatch 134 is opened The interference of the accommodating space 11 maintains the better cleanliness of the storage area 111 . The partition 131 can be a transparent plate, so as to facilitate the user to observe the transportation status of the storage box A entering the transportation space 13 and the transportation equipment 20 in real time.

The transport space 13 is laterally arranged at the bottom of one side of the storage device 10, so that the storage box A can be transported horizontally and is not easily tipped over. On the bulkhead 131, and a movement direction of the hatch door 134 opening is vertical movement from top to bottom, so that when the hatch door 134 is opened, the movement direction can further avoid the disturbance of the air, reduce ground dust or It is the possibility that impurities enter the accommodating space 11 from the transporting space 13 .

Please refer to FIG. 4 , the operation device 30 includes an operation interface 31 , a control center 32 and an automatic arm 33 . The operation interface 31 can be separated from the storage device 10 in the form of a computer or directly installed in the storage device 10 Preferably, the operation interface 31 is arranged on the side of the door 12 . The automatic arm 33 is disposed in the accommodating space 11 and can be driven by a command provided by the control center 32 . A user can provide a setting of the control center 32 through the operation interface 31 to drive the automatic arm 33 , The automatic arm 33 can clamp the storage box A to move between the pick-up port 1311 , the accommodating space 11 or the storage area 111 , so that the high-clean wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device provided by the present invention can be The user moves the storage box A in and out of the accommodating space 11 , which not only reduces the risk of contamination of the accommodating space 11 , but also saves unnecessary personnel costs.

The control center 32 includes a monitoring module 321 , a data recording module 322 and a control module 323 which are connected to each other. The monitoring module 321 can monitor the environmental conditions of the accommodating space 11, and generate a monitoring result to transmit to the data recording module 322 and the control module 323; or the monitoring module 321 can be a scanner and Scan a stored data of each storage position in the storage area 111 and record it in the data recording module 322 ; the monitoring module 321 can also be a camera to monitor the transport equipment 20 and the storage box A in the transport space 13 in real time conveying the monitoring result to the data recording module 322 and the control module 323 .

The data recording module 322 stores the monitoring results and the stored data, which facilitates the user to review and ensure detailed records of the data. The monitoring result can record the environmental conditions in the accommodating space and the transportation status of the transportation equipment 20 and the transportation space 13 according to the time point. The storage data may include whether there is the storage box A in each storage position, the storage record of the storage box A, and the data of the semi-finished chips in the storage box A. The data storage module 322 may also record the user's authority. As well as records entering and leaving the storage device 10 .

The control module 323 provides the command to the environment maintenance device, the monitoring module 321 or the automatic arm 33 according to the setting input by the user via the operation interface 31, and the control module 323 can also be connected to the transport The device 20 , the door 12 and the hatch 134 to control the conveyance of the transport device 20 and the opening of the hatch 134 according to the settings.

The control module 323 evaluates the monitoring result according to the setting. For example, when the monitoring result of the environmental condition exceeds a data range of the setting, the control module 323 transmits the command to the environmental maintenance equipment, and the environmental equipment follows the The command adjusts the environmental condition; or, the control module 323 analyzes the monitoring result of the transport equipment 20 and the transport space 13 according to the setting and is abnormal (if there is foreign matter or is damaged), the control module transmits a The warning message is notified to the user, so that the user can monitor the semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device with high cleanliness provided by the present invention in real time.

The automatic arm 33 includes an operation center, a gripping device 331 and a detection device 332 . The operation center is connected to the control center 32 . The operation center receives the command from the control module 323 and drives the gripping device 331 and the detection device 332 . At the free end, the automatic arm 33 can grip the storage box A through the gripping device 331 .

The clamping device 331 includes an abutting plate 3311 and two clamping claws 3312 protruding from one opposite side of the abutting plate 3311 . In this embodiment, two clamping claws 3312 are respectively disposed on the upper and lower opposite sides of the abutting plate 3311, so that when the clamping device 331 clamps the storage box A, the two clamping claws 3312 can clamp the storage box A. On the upper and lower sides, the storage box A can be naturally seated on the clamping jaw 3312 located below according to gravity, reducing the mechanical force generated by the automatic arm 33 when clamping.

When the gripping device 331 grips the storage box A, an open end of the gripping device 331 presents an inclined angle with an upward angle, so that the storage box A can abut against the abutment according to the inclined angle The plate 3311 can prevent the semi-finished wafers in the storage box A from falling out when moving.

Preferably, the concave-convex arrangement corresponding to the structure of the storage box A is provided to maintain the stability of the clamping device 331 for clamping the storage box A, or the clamping device 331 may include a movable lock, so that the clamping device 331 can clamp the storage box A. The storage box A can be locked by the movable lock, and the movable lock can be presented by a switchable magnetic mechanism or a snap-on mechanical joint to prevent the storage box A from falling onto the clamping device 331 .

The detection device 332 is disposed on the gripping device 331. When the automatic arm 33 wants to place the storage box A in one of the storage positions or in front of the pick-up port 1311, the detection device 332 is directed to the storage position. Or the pick-up port 1311 executes a detection program and generates a detection result, and the automatic arm 33 or the control center 32 determines whether the storage location or the pick-up port has other items or other items according to the detection result. The placement of the storage box A. In this embodiment, the detection device 332 uses a laser principle to execute the detection process.

Through the detection device 332, before the automatic arm 33 stores the storage box A, it can be pre-confirmed whether there is another storage box A in the storage position or the retrieval port 1311, so as to ensure that the storage position or the storage box A exists. The clearance of the material port 1311 prevents the storage box A from colliding and causing damage, and the laser principle can be presented in the form of occlusion, reflection or contrast.

Preferably, a scanning password is set near each of the storage positions, and the scanning password is presented in a 2D or RFID manner, and its content package also includes the storage data, on the gripping device 331 or the automatic arm 33 The monitoring module 321 is disposed on the monitoring module 321 , and the monitoring module 321 can correspond to the scanning password, generate the stored data, and record it in the data recording module 322 .

Please refer to FIG. 5 . When the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device provided by the present invention is to store the storage box A, the steps include: Step S11 to transport the storage box A: the control center 32 drives the transport device 20 to transport the storage box A to the corresponding door 134 . Step S12 to open the cabin door 134 : the control center 32 drives the cabin door 134 to open, and evaluates whether there is a free storage space according to the storage data of the data recording module 322 . Step S13 forms the command: the control center 32 selects the free storage position and forms the command, the control center 32 transmits the command to the operation center, and the command includes the relative position of the free storage in the storage area 111 . Step S14 Drive the gripping device 331 : the operation center receives the instruction, and drives the gripping device 331 to the extraction port 1311 to grip the storage box A. Step S15 executes the detection procedure: the operation center drives the automatic arm 33 to move according to the instruction, and makes the gripping device 331 and the storage box A move to the relative position of the storage position, and the detection device 332 executes the detection The detection program is used to generate the detection result to the operation center. Step S16 determines the detection result: the operation center receives the detection result and determines whether there is another storage box A in the storage position, if not, the operation center drives the clamping device 331 to store the storage box A; if there is , the operation center immediately suspends the movement of the automatic arm 33 , and transmits an abnormal message to the control center 32 , and executes step S17 . Step S17 Stop action: when the control center 32 receives the abnormal message, it immediately stops storing the instruction of the storage box A, marks the abnormal message on the stored data of the data recording module 322, and then transmits the warning message To the user, the user can monitor the semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device with high cleanliness provided by the present invention in real time.

Through the cooperation of the detection device 332 and the operation center, it is possible to confirm in advance whether there is another storage box A or a foreign object in the storage position or the extraction port 1311 before the storage box A is stored, so as to ensure that the storage position or It is the clearance of the extraction port 1311 to prevent the storage box A from colliding and causing damage. Further, judging the detection result is not limited to be executed by the operation center, and the control center 32 can also be used for judgment.

When the detection device 332 executes the detection procedure, the monitoring module 321 scans the scanning password and sends the scanning result back to the control center 32, which can simultaneously confirm that the gripping device 331 has moved to the storage position Whether the relative position of the file matches the command, and after storing the storage box A, update the stored data of the data recording module 322.

When the control center 32 receives the abnormal message, and immediately stops storing the instruction of the storage box A, the control center 32 can then return to the step S2 to evaluate whether there is any The free storage bit is selected, and the free storage bit is selected to form the second command, so that the automatic arm can complete the storage step according to the second command

On the contrary, please refer to FIG. 6 , when the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device provided by the present invention intends to move the storage box A to one of the storage positions to the pick-up port 1311 , the steps include: Step S21 forms the command: the control center 32 transmits the command to the operation center, and the command includes the storage position where the storage box A to be moved is located. Step S22 drives the gripping device 331 and generates the scanning result: the operation center receives the instruction, and drives the gripping device 331 to the relative position of the storage position, the monitoring module 321 scans the scanning password, and scans the scanning The result is sent back to the control center 32 . Step S23 confirms the command: the control center 32 confirms whether the relative position of the gripping device 331 moved to the storage position is consistent with the command, if so, the gripping device 331 grips the storage box A on the storage position; No, the control center 32 stops the instruction, marks the abnormal message on the stored data of the data logging module 322, and then transmits the warning message to the user.

10: Storage Devices

11: Accommodating space

111: Storage area

12: Open the door

13: Transport space

131: Partition

1311: Extraction port

132: input port

133: output port

134: hatch

20: Transport equipment

30: Operating equipment

31: Operation interface

32: Control Center

321: Monitoring module

322:Data logging module

323: Control Module

33: Automatic Arm

331: Gripper device

3311: Abutment Plate

3312: Gripper

332: Detection device

A: Storage box

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an internal three-dimensional schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partial structural schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the system structure of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a schematic diagram of the first step of the system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention 6 is a schematic diagram of the first step of the system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention

10: Storage Devices

12: Open the door

13: Transport space

133: output port

30: Operating equipment

31: Operation interface

Claims (9)

A high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device, which includes a storage device and a transportation device, the interior of the storage device can be defined as a accommodating space, a transportation space is provided below the accommodating space, and the transportation device Be accommodated in this transportation space, this transportation equipment includes a rail, this transportation space communicates with this accommodating space through a pick-up port, and is provided with a cabin door whose movement direction is vertical up and down movement corresponding to this pick-up port position, wherein , the transportation space is separated from the accommodating space through a partition, an input port and an output port are respectively pierced through the outer wall of the storage device corresponding to the transportation space, and the input port and the output port are correspondingly arranged in the Two end sections of transport equipment. According to the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product conveying and storage device according to claim 1, the pick-up port and the hatch are arranged on the partition plate perpendicular to the ground, and the moving direction of the hatch door is vertical from above Move down. According to the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device according to claim 1 or 2, an outer side wall of the storage device is provided with a door, so that the accommodating space communicates with the area outside the storage device through the opening of the door . According to the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device according to claim 3, the accommodating space includes a storage area, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions arranged at intervals, and the accommodating space is maintained according to requirements such as humidity and temperature or environmental conditions such as lighting. According to the high cleanliness wafer semi-finished product transportation and storage device according to claim 4, the partition is a transparent plate. According to the high cleanliness semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device as claimed in claim 5, each of the storage positions is set corresponding to an appearance size of each storage box. According to the high cleanliness semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device according to claim 6, each of the storage boxes stores a plurality of semi-finished wafers. According to the high cleanliness semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device according to claim 7, each of the storage boxes is arranged with a plurality of storage slots, and each of the semi-finished wafers can be placed in each of the storage slots. The high cleanliness semi-finished wafer transportation and storage device as claimed in claim 8 includes an operating device, which drives the transportation device and the movement of the rail, and the opening of the door and the hatch.

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