WO2004024401A1

WO2004024401A1 - Teaching method and processing system

Info

Publication number: WO2004024401A1
Application number: PCT/JP2003/011734
Authority: WO
Inventors: Motohiro Kumagai; Shigeru Ishizawa; Hiroaki Saeki
Original assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
Priority date: 2002-09-13
Filing date: 2003-09-12
Publication date: 2004-03-25
Also published as: JP3928527B2; JP2004106078A; KR20050044913A; CN1671519A

Abstract

A teaching method capable of drastically reducing and shortening a teaching operation time. A teaching method for storing the moving destination positions of carrying mechanisms (14, 22) in a control means (40) in a processing system provided with carrying mechanisms for carrying elements to be processed (W) being held by picks (A1-B2), the method comprising the step of temporarily stopping a carrying mechanism in the middle of a moving route to a temporary moving destination position so as to make sure that the carry mechanism does not interfere with other members at a potential interference location where the possibility of interference with other members is anticipated, the step of resuming to move the temporarily stopped carrying mechanism by inputting a moving instruction, the step of repeating a temporarily stop ping step and a moving resuming step, and the step of storing, as a moving destination position, in a control means a position obtained by adjusting and moving or not adjusting and moving the position of a pick when the pick reaches a temporary moving destination position.

Description

Specification

Teaching method and processing system

The present invention relates to a processing system for performing a predetermined processing on an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer, and a teaching method of a transport mechanism used for the processing system. Background technology

Generally, in order to manufacture a semiconductor integrated circuit, various processes such as film formation, etching, oxidation, and diffusion are performed on a wafer. In order to improve throughput and yield due to miniaturization and high integration of semiconductor integrated circuits, a plurality of processing units performing the same process or a plurality of processing units performing different processes are provided in a common transport chamber. A so-called clustered processing system device, which is capable of continuous processing of various processes without exposing the wafer to the atmosphere, is already known.

In this type of processing system, for example, a semiconductor wafer is taken out from a cassette container installed at an introduction port of an object to be processed, which is provided in a preceding stage of the processing system, using a transfer mechanism, and the semiconductor wafer is taken out of the transfer chamber on the introduction side of the processing system. After the wafer is positioned by an orienter that performs positioning, it is carried into a vacuum-equipped mouth lock chamber, and the wafer is subjected to a plurality of vacuum processes. The wafers are transferred into a common transfer chamber in a vacuum atmosphere connected to the surroundings using another transfer mechanism, and the wafers are sequentially introduced into the respective processing chambers with the common transfer chamber as the center to continuously process. Is supposed to do it. Then, the processed wafer is stored in the original cassette container, for example, via the original path.

By the way, as described above, this type of processing system has a single or multiple transfer mechanisms inside, and the transfer and transfer of wafers are automatically performed by these transfer mechanisms. .

This transfer mechanism is, for example, a multi-joint that can move horizontally, bend, extend, turn, and move up and down. The pick-up provided at the end of the arm directly holds the wafer, horizontally moves to the transfer position, and transfers the wafer to a predetermined position. In this case, it is necessary to avoid interference or collision of the arm, pick or holding wafer with other members during the operation of the transfer mechanism, and the wafer placed in a certain place must be properly removed. It is necessary to hold the wafer, transfer the wafer to a target position, and deliver it to an appropriate place with high accuracy, for example, high positional accuracy within ± 0.2 O mm.

For this reason, when assembling the apparatus or performing a major remodeling of the apparatus, an important position such as a place for transferring the wafer W in the movement path of the pick of the transfer mechanism is controlled by controlling the operation of the transfer mechanism. A so-called teaching operation is performed in which a control unit such as a computer learns the position coordinates.

This teaching includes, for example, the positional relationship between the transport mechanism and the cassette container, the positional relationship between the pick for picking up wafers and each shelf of the cassette container in the height direction, the positional relationship between the loading table in the load lock chamber and the pick, The positional relationship between the pick and the orienter, the positional relationship between the pick and the susceptor in each processing chamber, and the like is performed in almost all cases for transferring the wafer, and the position coordinates are stored. It is a matter of course that all drive systems incorporate an encoder or the like for specifying the drive position.

In order to perform the teaching operation, first, the position coordinates of the position where the entire device should be taught are determined from the design values of the device with reference to a certain point on the moving path of the transport mechanism as the absolute reference. The information is input and stored in the control unit in advance. In this case, each temporary position coordinate is input in consideration of a predetermined margin so that the pick does not interfere with other members.

Next, when the transport mechanism is driven based on the individual temporary position coordinates and this pick has moved to the vicinity of the teaching reference position, the operation of the transport mechanism is switched to manual (hereinafter also referred to as manual). Manually move the pick little by little while visually checking the pick so as not to interfere with other members. Then, the picking operation is performed while visually checking that the positioning substrate previously installed at a predetermined position in the cassette container is in contact with an appropriate position, and the coordinates are stored as position coordinates in the control unit. And teaching.

Also, when performing a teaching operation on the mounting table and susceptor in the load lock chamber and each processing chamber, the above-mentioned alignment substrates are respectively set at the centers of these, and the corresponding picks are first interfered. Automatically move to a safe nearby position, and then move it manually to match the two exactly as described above and store the position coordinates at that time in the control unit. Note that the positioning substrate is made of, for example, a transparent plate, on which a pick to be aligned and a contour of another mounting table or the like are drawn in advance.

In addition, the manual operation (manual) means that the moving direction (+ / _) and the moving amount are input to the control unit using a keyboard or a joystick, and the arm including the pick is operated. .

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-127690, which is a prior art, an orienter is used to save labor and increase the accuracy of the teaching operation. There is a problem that the above manual operation is required in a part of the work. Disclosure of the invention

By the way, in the teaching method as described above, the transport mechanism itself is automatically moved to a sufficiently safe position in the vicinity of the target position to be taught, and then the manual operation is performed while visually confirming the safety. The pick is moved by a small distance in the horizontal and vertical directions to move the pick to the target position.

For this reason, although the pick was automatically moved to a sufficiently safe position near the target position first, the section in which the pick was moved little by little by manual operation became considerably longer. There was a problem that the operation took a long time. In particular, as described above, such a teaching operation has to be performed at almost all positions where the semiconductor wafer is transferred, so that there has been a problem that the entire time of the teaching operation becomes extremely long. The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems and effectively solving them. An object of the present invention is to provide a teaching method and a processing system capable of greatly reducing and shortening a teaching operation time. The present inventors have conducted intensive studies on shortening the teaching operation time, and as a result, even after automatically moving the transport mechanism to the vicinity of the target position, pay attention to the pick of the transport mechanism at a specific location. The present invention was achieved by obtaining the knowledge that there is a certain part that can be automatically moved before reaching the target position if it is adjusted and moved.

The teaching method according to the present invention is a teaching method in which a movement target position of the transport mechanism in a processing system including a transport mechanism for holding and transporting an object to be processed by a pick is stored in a control unit. In the middle of the movement route to the temporary movement target position, the transportation mechanism pauses to confirm that there is no interference with other members at the point of caution where there is a risk of interference with other members. A pause step of causing the transport mechanism to pause and resume the movement of the transport mechanism by inputting a movement command; a repetition step of repeatedly performing the pause step and the movement resumption step; The position of the pick is adjusted or moved when the pick-up target position is reached or the pick target is moved to the control means without being adjusted. And a storing step of storing. In this way, the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped only at places (points) where the transport mechanism may interfere with other members, and the position is adjusted if necessary. If the transport mechanism does not interfere with other members, the transport mechanism is stopped. Since the robot is automatically and positively moved, the time required for teaching operation can be significantly reduced as a whole.

In this case, when there is a risk that the temporarily stopped transport mechanism may interfere with other members, the transport mechanism can be adjusted and moved to a position where there is no risk of interfering with other members. '

Further, the interference caution point may be calculated and obtained in advance by the control means based on a design dimension of the processing system.

Further, the control means can display a message for calling attention to interference to the operator on the display unit every time the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped. As described above, a message for calling attention to interference is displayed on the display unit, so that the operator recognizes this message, thereby more reliably preventing the transport mechanism from interfering with other members. Becomes possible.

Further, it is preferable that the transport mechanism has a multi-joint arm that can be bent and extended and turned.

Further, it is preferable that the movement target position is a predetermined position in an introduction port for taking the object to be processed into the processing system.

A processing system according to the present invention includes a processing chamber for performing a predetermined process on a processing target, an introduction port for introducing the processing target, an orienter for positioning the processing target, and holding the processing target. In a processing system comprising: a transport mechanism having a pick for transporting an object to be processed; and control means for controlling the operation of the transport mechanism, wherein the control means moves the transport mechanism to a temporary movement target position. A suspending step of suspending to confirm that no interference occurs with another member at a point of caution where the transport mechanism may interfere with another member in the middle of a moving path; A movement resumption step of resuming the movement of the transport mechanism by input of a movement command, a repetition step of repeatedly performing the pause step and the movement resumption step, and And adjusting the position of the pick when it reaches the movement target position, or storing the pick position in the control means as the movement target position without performing the adjustment movement. Things.

In this case, the control unit may calculate and obtain the interference attention point in advance based on a design dimension of the processing system.

Further, the control unit is connected to a display unit, and the control unit may cause the display unit to display a message for calling attention to an operator on the display unit every time the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped. it can. Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a processing system for implementing the teaching method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the processing system shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an introduction port.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an orienter.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a load lock chamber.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the operation unit.

FIG. 7A is an example when a teaching operation is performed on an introduction port according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a first interference attention point.

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of performing a teaching operation on the introduction port according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a second point of caution for interference.

FIG. 7C is a diagram showing an example of performing a teaching operation on the introduction port, which is the first embodiment of the method of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a third point of caution for interference.

FIG. 7D is an example of performing a teaching operation on the introduction port according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a temporary movement target position.

FIG. 7E is an example of performing a teaching operation on the introduction port, which is the first embodiment of the method of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a movement target position.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the teaching method of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example when a teaching operation is performed on an orienter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9A is an example when a teaching operation is performed on an orienter according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a first point of caution for interference.

FIG. 9B is an example when a teaching operation is performed on the orienter according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a second point of caution for interference.

FIG. 9C is an example when a teaching operation is performed on the orienter according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a temporary movement target position.

FIG. 9D is an example when a teaching operation is performed on the orienter according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a movement target position.

FIG. 1OA is an example when a teaching operation is performed on a load opening chamber according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a first interference attention point.

FIG. 1OB is a diagram showing an example of performing a teaching operation on a load lock chamber according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a second point of caution for interference. FIG. 1 OC is an example of performing a teaching operation on a load lock chamber according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a third point of caution for interference.

FIG. 10D is an example when a teaching operation is performed on the load lock chamber according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a fourth point of caution for interference.

FIG. 10E is an example when a teaching operation is performed on the load opening chamber according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a temporary movement target position. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a teaching method and a processing system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a processing system for implementing the teaching method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the processing system shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an introduction port, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a load lock chamber, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an operation unit.

First, the processing system will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing system 2 includes a plurality of, for example, four processing chambers 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D, a substantially hexagonal common transfer chamber 6, and a first locking apparatus having a load lock function. And a second load lock chamber 8A, 8B, and a slender inlet-side transfer chamber 10 mainly.

Specifically, the processing chambers 4A to 4D are joined to four sides of the substantially hexagonal common transfer chamber 6, and the first and second load lock chambers 8A are connected to the other two sides. , 8B are joined respectively. The introduction-side transfer chamber 10 is commonly connected to the first and ^second load lock chambers 8A and 8B.

The space between the common transfer chamber 6 and the four processing units 4A to 4D and the space between the common transfer chamber 6 and the first and second load lock chambers 8A and 8B are airtight, respectively. The gate valve G, which can be opened and closed, is joined to form a cluster tool, and can be communicated with the common transfer chamber 6 as necessary. Gate valves G, which can be opened and closed in an airtight manner, are also interposed between the first and second load lock chambers 8A and 8B and the introduction-side transfer chamber 10 respectively. I have. In the four processing chambers 4A to 4D, susceptors 12A to 12D for mounting semiconductor wafers as processing objects are provided, respectively, and the semiconductor wafer W to be processed is provided. To the same or different types of processing. In the common transfer chamber 6, the two load lock chambers 8A and 8B and the four processing chambers 4A to 4D can be bent, stretched, raised and lowered, and turned in a position where they can be accessed. A second transfer mechanism 14 comprising an articulated arm is provided, which has two picks B 1 and B 2 which can bend and extend independently in opposite directions, and two picks B 1 and B 2 at a time. It can handle wafers. It should be noted that a mechanism having only one pick may be used as the second transport mechanism 14.

The introduction-side transfer chamber 10 is formed of a horizontally long box. One or more of the horizontally long boxes are used to introduce a semiconductor wafer to be processed. One carry-in entrance 16 is provided, and each carry-in entrance 16 is provided with an opening / closing door 21 which can be opened and closed. In addition, introduction ports 18 A, 18 B, and 18 C are respectively provided corresponding to the respective entrances 16, and one cassette container 20 can be placed in each of the introduction ports 18 A, 18 B, and 18 C. . Each cassette container 20 is capable of accommodating a plurality of wafers W, for example, 25 wafers W, mounted in multiple stages at an equal pitch. The cassette container 20 is also provided with an opening / closing lid 2OA (see FIG. 3). Fig. 3 shows the central introduction port 18B of the three introduction ports 18A to 18C, and each of the introduction ports 18A to 18C opens and closes the cassette container 20. A drive mechanism 21 A for an opening / closing door 21 that can move up and down and move forward and backward to open and close the lid 2 OA is provided.

In the introduction-side transfer chamber 10, a first transfer mechanism 22, which is an introduction-side transfer mechanism, for transferring the wafer W along its longitudinal direction is provided. The first transfer mechanism 22 is slidably supported on a guide rail 24 ′ provided so as to extend along the length direction in the center of the introduction-side transfer chamber 10. This in the guide rail 2 4, Riniamota having, for example, an encoder as moving mechanism and is built, the first transport mechanism 2 2 by driving the re Niamota is moving Te沿Tsu the guide rail ² 4 become.

The first transfer mechanism 2 2 is composed of two articulated arms 3 arranged in two upper and lower stages. It has two, three and four. At the tip of each of the articulated arms 3 2 and 3 4, a bifurcated pick A 1 and A 2 are attached, respectively, and the wafer W is directly placed on each of the picks A 1 and A 2. To be held. Therefore, each articulated arm

Reference numerals 32 and 34 are provided to be able to freely bend and elongate and ascend and descend in the radial direction from the center, and the bending and elongation of each of the articulated arms 32 and 34 is individually controllable. The rotating shafts of the articulated arms 32 and 34 are coaxially rotatably connected to the base 36, respectively, so that they can rotate integrally in the direction of rotation with respect to the base 36, for example. It has become. Here, the picks A 1 and A 2 may not be two but only one.

An orienter 26 for aligning a wafer is provided at the other end of the introduction-side transfer chamber 10. Further, in the longitudinal direction of the introduction-side transfer chamber 10, the two port lock chambers are provided. 8A and 8B are provided via the above-mentioned gout pulp G which can be opened and closed, respectively.

The orienter 26 has a turntable 28 rotated by a drive motor 27 as shown in FIG. 4, and rotates with the wafer W mounted thereon. An optical sensor 30 for detecting the peripheral edge of the wafer W is provided on the outer periphery of the turntable 28, and thereby a positioning notch of the wafer W, for example, the position direction of the notch-orientation flat or the wafer W It is possible to detect the amount of positional deviation of the center of the image.

In the first and second load lock chambers 8A and 8B, mounting tables 38A and 38B each having a diameter smaller than the wafer diameter are provided for temporarily mounting the wafer W. (See Figure 5). The control of the entire operation of the processing system 2, for example, the operation control of each of the transport mechanisms 14, 22 and the aligner 26, is performed by a control unit 40 including, for example, a microphone computer. The control unit 40 includes a display unit composed of a liquid crystal display unit or the like so that a predetermined message or the like can be used for the operator.

An operation unit 41 provided with a key group 44 such as 42 or a numeric keypad for performing a predetermined input is connected. Note that a touch panel method may be used for the display section 42 so that the function of the key group 44 is shared with the display section 42. The teaching operation is carried out while holding the operation unit 41 when performing teaching and watching the pick. Is

Next, a teaching method performed in the processing system formed as described above will be described.

First, only by assembling the processing system 2 as described above, the transfer target positions of the transfer mechanisms 14 and 22 for the transfer and transfer of the semiconductor wafer W are not determined. This operation must be stored in the control system, and this operation is called teaching. In this case, the temporary movement target position determined by calculation from the design dimensions of each part of the processing system 2 due to an assembly error of the processing system 2 or an error in the initial setting of each transport mechanism 14, 22 is actually In general, it is likely that the position is shifted by a certain distance from the movement target position in the processing system 2 after assembly.

Therefore, if the transport mechanism including the pick is automatically moved to another movement target position calculated by the design dimensions of the processing system for teaching operation, it will collide with other members in the movement path and collide. There is fear. Therefore, in the conventional teaching operation, it is a position far before the tentative movement target position obtained by calculation, that is, a position where there is a possibility that the transport mechanism absolutely interferes with other members, and In addition, the transport mechanism is automatically moved to the position closest to the temporary movement target position, and thereafter, as described above, a slight distance is manually operated by hand while confirming that there is no interference with other members. By moving the transport mechanism, the pick is finally positioned at a predetermined appropriate position, and the coordinates at that time are stored as the movement target position. However, this conventional teaching method has a problem in that the time required to move the transport mechanism by manual operation while visually observing becomes extremely long, and the teaching operation requires a long time.

Therefore, in the teaching method of the present invention, the transfer mechanism is moved to the temporary movement target position in the course of the movement, and the transfer mechanism may interfere with other members at a position where the transfer mechanism may interfere with other members. A pause process for temporarily stopping the transfer mechanism to make sure that no transfer occurs, a resumption process for resuming the resumption of the suspended transport mechanism by input of a relocation command, and a resumption process for the pause process and the resumption process. Performing the repetition step, and when the pick reaches the temporary movement target position, the pick And a storing step of adjusting the position of the moving object or storing the moving position as the moving target position without performing the adjusting movement in the control means. That is, a position where the transport mechanism may interfere or collide with another member in the middle of the movement route to the temporary movement target position determined from the design dimensions of the processing system or the like is obtained in advance as an interference caution point. When determining this interference caution location, the dimensions and the turning radius of the articulated arm and pick of the transport mechanism are taken into account. The location of the interference depends on the assembly error of the processing system and the error of the initial setting of the drive system of the transport mechanism.However, the transport mechanism including the pick has a It is a place (place) approaching a distance. Then, when this adjustment movement is performed, the coordinates of the interference attention point to be temporarily stopped next are increased or decreased by the adjustment movement amount.

As described above, if the point of caution is calculated, the transport mechanism is actually driven to operate automatically, but at this time, the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped every time it reaches the point of caution. At this stop, visually check that no interference occurs with other members even if the transport mechanism is moved to the next step. At this time, if there is a risk that the transport mechanism will interfere with other components, the operator adjusts the transport mechanism to a position where there is no risk of interference with other components by manual operation.

Next, when the operator inputs a movement command, the transport mechanism is automatically moved to the next point of caution. Then, the above-described visual confirmation of the absence of interference, the adjustment movement when necessary, and the input of the movement command are sequentially repeated.

Then, when the pick reaches the temporary movement target position obtained from the design dimensions of the processing system, etc., if necessary, the operator adjusts the pick position to the optimum position by manual operation while visually checking. This position is stored in the control means as the movement target position. As a result, the teaching operation for the original movement target position is completed.

First embodiment>

Next, an example of performing the teaching operation on the introduction port will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7E and FIG.

7A to 7E show an example of performing a teaching operation on an introduction port according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 shows a flow of the teaching method of the present invention. _ It is a row chart. 7A to 7E, the teaching operation of one pick A1 of the first transport mechanism 22 is performed on the central introduction port 18B of the three introduction ports 18A to 18C. Shows the case. In this case, an alignment substrate W formed in the same size and shape as the semiconductor wafer is placed on the lowermost support shelf (not shown) of the cassette container 20, and immediately below the alignment substrate W It is assumed that the position where the pick A 1 has been inserted (accessed) up to this point (FIG. 7D) is the temporary movement target position. When the position of the pick with respect to the positioning substrate placed on the lowermost support shelf is determined, the pitch of each support shelf is specified, and the access of the pick to each support shelf is determined based on the pitch. Will be possible.

First, in the middle of the movement path from the reference position of the first transfer mechanism 22 to the temporary movement destination position shown in FIG. 7D, an attention point where the transfer mechanism 22 may interfere with other members. Is determined in advance based on the design dimensions of the processing system 2, the dimensions of the articulated arm of the transfer mechanism 22, the turning radius, and the like, as described above. In this case, a position at which the transport mechanism 22 comes close to another member, for example, up to a distance of 1 cm on the design dimensions is determined as an interference caution point, and this information is stored in the control means 40. In FIGS. 7A to 7E, the three positions of the arm shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C are the positions determined as interference attention points. Here, it is assumed that the position of the right end of the guide rail 24 shown in FIG. 2 is the reference position (home position) 50 of the first transport mechanism 22.

First, with the first transport mechanism 22 positioned at the reference position 50 (see FIG. 2), the operator operates the key group 4 4 connected to the control unit 40 shown in FIG. 4 Press A (see Fig. 6) to input a movement command (S1). Then, since the current position of the first transport mechanism 22 is not the temporary movement target position (NO in S2), the control means 40 controls the drive of the first transport mechanism 22 and, for example, To the location corresponding to the introduction port 18B, move the articulated arm in the vertical direction and the turning direction, bend and extend the articulated arm, e.g. Is automatically stopped at the first point of caution as shown in Fig. 7A (S3).

The first point of caution is the tip of this pick A 1 and the tip of the alignment substrate W. The distance X1 from the edge is about 1 cm in the design dimensions of the processing system. As described above, when the first transport mechanism 22 is temporarily stopped, as shown in FIG. 6, the display unit 42 displays a message to alert the operator to a pick interference, for example, Does not interfere with other parts? " It should be noted that a similar message may be transmitted by voice from a speaker or the like simultaneously or independently.

Here, the operator determines whether or not the pick A1 is positioned about 2 to 3 mm below the other member, that is, the lower end of the positioning substrate W with respect to the vertical distance of the pick A1, It is visually checked whether or not there is a risk of interfering with the positioning substrate W even if 1 is moved forward as it is (S4). Here, if there is a possibility that the positioning board W and the pick A1 may interfere (YES in S4), the operator manually operates the pick A1 so that the pick A1 does not interfere with the positioning board W. , Ie, by a small distance so as to be positioned about 2 to 3 mm below the lower end (S5). This adjustment movement is performed by operating the movement button 44 C of the key group 44.

When the adjustment movement of the pick A1 is completed as described above, or when the operator determines in S4 that the pick A1 does not interfere with other members (NO in S4), the operator again performs Press the progress button 4 4 A (S 1) to input the movement command. Then, the pick A1 of the first transport mechanism 22 automatically advances slightly, and as shown in FIG. 7B, the distance at which the tip of the pick A1 and the peripheral edge of the positioning substrate W overlap with each other in design dimensions. It automatically moves to the position where X2 becomes about 5 mm, that is, the second interference caution position, and pauses (32, 3, S3). Even during this pause, a message for calling attention to pick interference is displayed on the display section 42. At this time, the operator confirms that the tip of the pick A1 has surely penetrated below the positioning substrate W. The reason why the pick A1 was temporarily stopped when the overlap between the pick A1 and the positioning substrate W was about 5 mm was that if the two interfered, the damage such as breakage was minimized. It is.

Then, when the operator presses the advance button (S 1), and inputs a movement command, the pick A 1 of the first transport mechanism 22 automatically advances again slightly, and FIG. As shown in C, the position where the horizontal distance X 3 between the base of the pick A 1 and the upper end of the lid opening / closing mechanism 21 (see FIG. 3) is about 1 cm, that is, the third interference Automatically move to the caution position and pause. Even during this pause, a message is displayed on the display unit 42 that calls attention to interference with the pick. At this time, the operator confirms that the base of the pick A1 does not interfere with the lid opening / closing mechanism 21 even if the base advances. At this time, if the operator determines that the base of the pick A1 may interfere, the pick A1 is slightly moved upward by manual operation as described above.

Then, when the operator presses the advance button to input a movement command, the pick A 1 of the first transport mechanism 22 automatically advances again, and temporarily moves on the design dimensions as shown in FIG. 7D. Move to the target position and pause. Note that, when the temporary movement target position is manually adjusted in the middle of the movement path so far, the movement target position is shifted by the movement adjustment amount.

In this way, if the pick A1 advances to the temporary movement target position (YES in S2), the operator checks whether or not this position is an appropriate position with respect to the positioning substrate W. If necessary, that is, if the position is misaligned, manually move this pick A 1 by a minute distance to the movement target position by manual operation, and immediately below the positioning substrate W as shown in FIG. (S 6). FIG. 7E shows a state in which the pick A1 has been moved upward by a small distance. If the position of the pick A1 at the temporary movement target position shown in FIG. 7D is an appropriate position as shown in FIG. 7E, it goes without saying that the adjustment movement operation shown in S6 is unnecessary.

When the pick A1 reaches the proper position, that is, the movement target position in this way, the user presses the memory button 44B (see FIG. 6) of the key group 44 to thereby select the pick A1. Is stored in the control means 40 (S8). This completes the teeing operation.

In this way, by storing the position coordinates of the movement target position in the control means 40, the pick A1 can automatically move to this movement target position without interfering with other members. it can. When picking up wafers from inside cassette container 20, The wafer is received at a predetermined height from the movement target position described above. Also, when taking wafers from other support shelves, since the pitch of the support shelves provided in multiple stages is known in advance as described above, the height corresponding to the number of stages of the support shelves should be easily obtained. Can be.

Such teaching operation is performed in the same manner for the pick A2, and also for the other pick-up ports 18A and 18C for both picks A1 and A2. Become. Incidentally, in the conventional teaching method, after the pick A1 is automatically advanced to the first point of caution shown in FIG. 7A, the pick A1 is gradually moved to the pick A1 shown in FIG. 7E by manual operation. Are moving.

Therefore, in the method of the present invention, the pick is temporarily stopped only at the point of interference where the pick or the like may interfere with other members, and the pick is adjusted and moved by manual operation if necessary at each stop. Since the pick is automatically moved to the next point of caution, the time for the pick to move along the entire transport path is shortened, and the teaching operation can be performed in a short time and quickly by that much. it can.

In the first embodiment, the case where the teaching operation is performed on the introduction port has been described as an example. In the second embodiment, the case where the teaching operation is performed on the orienter will be described as an example.

9A to 9D are views showing an example when a teaching operation is performed on an orienter according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 9A to 9D, plan views are partially shown. Here, a case where the teaching operation is performed on the pick A1 of the first transport mechanism 22 will be described. In addition, every time the pick A1 temporarily stops at the point of interference, a message is displayed on the display unit to alert the operator of the interference, but a description of that point is omitted. .

First, like the first embodiment, the processing system 2 of the design dimensions such as the control means obtains a movement target position of the interference attention point and the temporary against Orient motor 2 6 based _on: stored in a 4 0. In the illustrated example, FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B show an interference attention point, and FIG. 9C shows a temporary automatic target position.

First, advance with the first transport mechanism 22 positioned at the reference position 50 (see Fig. 2). PT / JP2003 / 011734 When button 4 4 A (see Fig. 6) is pressed and a movement command is input, the first transport mechanism 22 automatically drives, and its pick A 1 is moved to the first position as shown in Fig. 9A. Pause at the point where caution is required. The first point of caution is that the horizontal distance Y 1 between the wall 10 A of the inlet transfer chamber 10 on which the orienter 26 is installed and the tip of the pick A 1 is determined by the design dimensions of the processing system. In this example, the position is about 1 cm. This is to prevent the tip end of the pick A1 from colliding with the wall surface 10A because the height of the opening of the orienter 26 is as small as about 3.6 cm. At this first point of caution, the operator can manually move the pick A 1 in the height direction if necessary, so that the pick A 1 can enter the orienter 26 without interference. To do.

Next, when the operator presses the progress button and inputs a movement command, the pick A1 automatically advances in the horizontal direction and temporarily stops at the second point of caution as shown in FIG. 9B. The second point of caution is a position where the horizontal distance Y2 between the periphery of the turntable 28 and the pick A1 is, for example, about 1 cm in the design dimensions of the processing system. At this second point of caution, the operator adjusts the position of the pick A1 in the horizontal direction by manual operation if necessary, so that the pick A Set so that the turntable 28 can be fully accommodated between 1. That is, when the pick A 1 is further advanced, the position is manually adjusted so that the pick A 1 does not interfere with the turntable 28.

Next, when the operator presses the progress button and inputs a movement command, the pick A1 further advances in the horizontal direction automatically, and reaches the temporary movement target position as shown in FIG. 9C.

Then, if necessary, the operator adjusts and moves the pick A1 to an appropriate position by manual operation, and positions the pick A1 at the movement target position as shown in FIG. 9D. By pressing B (see FIG. 6), the position coordinate data at this time is stored in the control means 40. In this case, prior to pressing the memory button 44B, for example, a transparent positioning board W is placed on the pick A1 as shown in the plan view of FIG. Check that platform 28 is positioned.

In the case shown in FIG. 9D, the pick A 1 is moved to the turntable 2 at the temporary movement target position (FIG. 9C). Since it is located below the position 8, the pick A 1 is manually adjusted upward and moved upward, and the position is properly adjusted as described above using the positioning W. .

In the case of the second embodiment as well, the pick is temporarily stopped only at the point of caution where there is a possibility that the pick may interfere with other members, and the pick is adjusted and moved by manual operation if necessary at each stop. Then, the pick is automatically moved to the next point of caution, so the time for the pick to move along the entire transport path is shortened, and the teaching operation can be performed in a short time and quickly by that much. It can be carried out.

Third embodiment>

Next, a case where a teaching operation is performed on a load lock chamber as a third embodiment will be described.

10A to 10E are views showing an example when a teaching operation is performed on the load lock chamber according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Here, as an example, a case in which the teaching operation of the pick A1 is performed on one of the load lock chambers 8A of the two load lock chambers 8A and 8B will be described. Here, the positioning substrate W is previously mounted on the mounting table 38A in the load lock chamber 8A. Then, four interference caution points as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10D are obtained in advance from the design dimensions of the processing system and the like, and FIG. 10E shows a temporary movement target position. Since the display contents of the display unit are the same as those described above, the description is omitted here.

First, while the first transport mechanism 22 is positioned at the reference position 50 (see FIG. 2), when the advance command button 44A (see FIG. 6) is pressed to input a movement command, the first transport mechanism 22 is automatically activated. And the pick A1 is temporarily stopped at the first interference attention point as shown in FIG. 1OA. The first point of caution is that the horizontal distance Z 1 between the wall 10 B of the transfer chamber 10 on the loading side where the load lock chamber 8 A is installed and the tip of the pick A 1 is the processing system. This is a position that is, for example, about 1 cm in design dimensions. This is to prevent the tip of the pick A1 from colliding with the wall surface 10B because the height of the opening of the load lock chamber 8A is as small as about 4.9 cm. At this first point of caution, the operator can manually select the pick A 1 if necessary. Move the pick A1 into the load opening chamber 8A without interfering with it by adjusting the height.

Next, when the operator presses the progress button and inputs a movement command, the pick A1 automatically advances in the horizontal direction, and stops at the second interference attention point as shown in FIG. 10B. The second point of caution is that the horizontal distance Z2 between the periphery of the positioning substrate W on the mounting table 38A and the pick A1 is set to, for example, about 1 cm in the design dimensions of the processing system. It is a position that has become. At this second point of caution, the operator manually adjusts the height and the horizontal position of the pick A1 if necessary, so that when the pick A1 is further advanced, Set so that the table 38 A above fits sufficiently between A 1. That is, when the pick A1 is further advanced, the position is adjusted by manual operation so that the pick A1 does not interfere with the mounting table 38A and the positioning substrate W.

Next, when the operator presses the advance button and inputs a movement command, the pick A1 advances slightly automatically in the horizontal direction and temporarily stops at the third interference attention point as shown in FIG. 10C. The third interference point is a position where the horizontal distance Z3 between the peripheral portion of the positioning substrate W and the tip of the pick A1 in the vertical direction is about 5 mm in the design dimensions of the processing system. It is. The reason for suspending Pick A1 here is to minimize damage such as damage if they interfere with each other. Here, the position is manually adjusted as needed so that the pick A1 does not interfere with other members in the next progress.

Next, when the operator presses the advance button and inputs a movement command, the pick A1 advances slightly automatically in the horizontal direction and temporarily stops at the fourth interference attention point as shown in FIG. 10D. The fourth point of caution is where the horizontal distance Z4 between the upper end of the open gate valve G and the base end of the pick A1 is about l mm in the design dimensions of the processing system. is there. The reason why the pick A1 is temporarily stopped here is to prevent the base of the pick A1 from colliding with the opened gate valve G. Here, the position is adjusted by manual operation as needed so that the pick A1 does not interfere with other members in the next progress.

Next, when the operator presses the advance button and inputs a movement command, The vehicle further advances in the horizontal direction automatically, and reaches the temporary movement target position as shown in FIG. 10E.

Then, if necessary, the operator adjusts and moves the pick A 1 to an appropriate position by manual operation, positions the pick A 1 at the movement target position, and presses the memory button 44 B (see FIG. 6). The position coordinate data at this time is stored in the control means 40. In this case, before pressing the memory button 4 4 B, make sure that the pick A 1 is at an appropriate position with respect to, for example, the transparent alignment substrate W placed on the mounting table 38 A. I do.

In the case of the third embodiment as well, the pick is temporarily stopped only at the point of caution where there is a possibility that the pick may interfere with other members. Since the pick is adjusted and moved automatically to the next point of caution, the pick travels along the entire transport path in a shorter time, and the teaching operation can be shortened by that much time. Can be done quickly.

The teaching operation described above is, of course, performed for each of the mouth lock rooms 8A and 8B for each of the picks A1 and A2.

In each of the above embodiments, the teaching method of the first transfer mechanism 22 has been described, but the picks B 1 and B 2 of the second transfer mechanism 14 in the common transfer chamber 6 also have processing chambers 4A to 4A. Perform the same procedure as described above for 4D and each load lock chamber 8A, 8B.

Also, in practice, after performing the teaching method described above, the alignment substrate W set at each of the determined moving destination positions is transported to the orienter 26 fully automatically, and the alignment substrate W at that time is transferred. The coordinate data of the movement target position is further corrected based on the minute shift amount of the position.

Furthermore, the configuration of the processing system 2 and the configuration of each of the transport mechanisms 14 and 22 described here are merely examples, and all transport mechanisms installed in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere are described below. Of course, the teaching method of the present invention can be applied. Further, although a semiconductor wafer has been described as an example of an object to be processed, the present invention is not limited to this, and the method of the present invention can be applied to a glass substrate, an LCD substrate, and the like. As described above, according to the teaching method and the processing system of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited.

According to the present invention, the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped only at a location (location) where the transport mechanism may interfere with other members, and the position is adjusted if necessary, so that the transport mechanism does not interfere with other members. Since the transport mechanism is automatically and positively moved, the time required for the teaching operation can be significantly reduced as a whole.

Further, according to the present invention, a message for calling attention to interference is displayed on the display unit. By recognizing this message, the operator can reduce the interference of the transport mechanism with other members. It can be reliably prevented.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. In a teaching method in which a movement target position of the transport mechanism is stored in a control unit in a processing system including a transport mechanism for holding and transporting an object to be processed by a pick,

The transport mechanism is checked to make sure that there is no interference with other members at a cautionary point where the transport mechanism may interfere with other members in the middle of a movement path for moving to a temporary movement target position. A suspending step for suspending for

A movement restarting step of restarting movement of the temporarily stopped transport mechanism by input of a movement command;

A repetition step of repeatedly performing the pause step and the movement resumption step; and adjusting and moving the position of the pick when the pick reaches the temporary movement target position, or as the movement target position without adjustment movement. A storage step for storing in the control means;

A teaching method comprising:

2. The tee according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism is adjusted and moved to a position where there is no fear of interference with other members when the temporarily stopped transport mechanism may interfere with other members. One-ching method.

3. The teaching method according to claim 1, wherein the point of caution is calculated and determined in advance by the control unit based on a design dimension of the processing system.

4. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each time the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped, a message is displayed on a display unit to alert the operator to interference. Teaching method described in 1.

5. The teaching method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transport mechanism has a multi-joint arm capable of bending and extending and turning.

6. The teaching method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the movement target position is a predetermined position in an introduction port for taking the object to be processed into the processing system.

7. A processing chamber for performing predetermined processing on the object to be processed,

An introduction port for introducing an object to be processed,

An orienter for positioning the object,

A transport mechanism that transports the workpiece with a pick that holds the workpiece, a control unit that controls the operation of the transport mechanism,

In the processing system having

The control means,

A processing system configured to execute the processing.

8. The processing system according to claim 7, wherein the control means calculates and obtains the interference attention point in advance based on a design dimension of the processing system.

9. The control unit is connected to a display unit, and the control unit causes the display unit to display a message for calling the operator to be alert to interference each time the transport mechanism is temporarily stopped. The processing system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein