WO2008004501A1

WO2008004501A1 - Gas supply unit

Info

Publication number: WO2008004501A1
Application number: PCT/JP2007/063104
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tsunenaga Nakashima; Hiroaki Inadomi; Yoshio Kimura
Original assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
Priority date: 2006-07-04
Filing date: 2007-06-29
Publication date: 2008-01-10
Also published as: KR20090027697A; JP4818835B2; KR101226830B1; JP2008012405A

Abstract

A gas supply unit has a connection block with a rectangular solid shape, and a solenoid valve block made up of solenoid valves and a speed controller block made up of speed controllers are connected to one side face of the connection block. In the connection block, there are formed first flow paths and second flow paths. The first flow paths are for connection between each solenoid valve and each speed controller that correspond to each other, and the second flow paths are communicated to the other side face from the speed controllers. In the output side of the second flow paths that is on the other side face are provided connection ports. Gas supply tubes communicated with gas pressure-type drive sections are connected to the connection ports via a multi-connector. The gas supply unit can stabilize quality of a gas supply facility for supplying gas to gas pressure-type drive sections used for substrate processing device.

Description

Specification

Gas supply unit

Technical field

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a gas supply unit that supplies gas to a plurality of pneumatic drive units used in a substrate processing apparatus. Background art

[0002] For example, a photolithography process in a semiconductor device manufacturing process is applied to a coating and developing processing system equipped with a large number of processing apparatuses! / Hurry up! / The coating and developing system includes, for example, a resist coating device that coats a resist solution on a wafer to form a resist film, a pre-baking device that heats the wafer coated with the resist solution, and a post that heats the exposed wafer. An exposure baking apparatus, a development processing apparatus for developing a resist film, and a post baking apparatus for heating the developed wafer are provided.

[0003] The various processing devices described above include, for example, an air cylinder for driving a wafer lift pin, a casing shirt processing container lid, an air-driven opening / closing valve for controlling the supply of processing liquid, and the like. A number of pneumatic drive units are provided. An air supply pipe is connected to each of these pneumatic drive units. Each supply pipe has an electromagnetic valve for controlling the supply of gas to the pneumatic drive unit and a speed for controlling the gas supply rate. A controller is provided (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11 285662

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11 125212

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0004] However, as described above, each processing apparatus of the coating and developing treatment system is provided with a multi-system air supply pipe, and a speed controller and an electromagnetic valve are connected to each of the air supply pipes. For this reason, for example, the construction and assembly of these pipes has become extremely complicated work, and the assembly operator has sometimes mistakenly connected and installed the pipes. In the coating and developing system, it is necessary to install multiple lines of piping in a narrow space. Or gas leaks may occur at various connections. In this way, with conventional technology, mistakes and malfunctions occurred during pipe construction and assembly, and the quality of the gas supply equipment was not stable immediately.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the strong point, and stabilizes the quality of gas supply equipment for supplying gas to a plurality of pneumatic drive units used in a processing apparatus for a substrate such as a wafer. Is the purpose.

Means for solving the problem

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a gas supply unit for supplying gas to a plurality of pneumatic drive units used in a substrate processing apparatus, and a plurality of valves for switching between supply and stop of gas. And a plurality of speed control devices for controlling the supply speed of gas supplied from the valve to the pneumatic drive unit, the plurality of valves and the plurality of speed control devices, and a corresponding valve and speed control device, And a connecting block for communicating with each other.

[0007] According to the present invention, since a plurality of valves and speed control devices of multiple systems are assembled and attached to one connecting block, it is easy to install and assemble piping to a plurality of pneumatic drive units. Thus, it is possible to stabilize the quality of the gas supply equipment to the pneumatic drive unit.

[0008] The connection block has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the valve is attached to one surface of the connection block, and the velocity control corresponding to the gas input from the valve is provided in the connection block. There is provided a first flow path that outputs to the device and a second flow path through which the gas input from the valve flows, and the second flow path is the other side opposite to the one surface of the connection block. You may communicate with the other side.

[0009] The plurality of speed control devices may be attached to the one surface of the connection block.

[0010] The plurality of speed control devices may be attached to an orthogonal surface orthogonal to the one surface of the connection block.

[0011] An inclined surface that is inclined toward the one surface side may be formed on an orthogonal surface of the connection block, and the plurality of speed control devices may be attached to the inclined surface.

[0012] The plurality of speed control devices and the plurality of valves are respectively attached in parallel to the connection block, and the row of the speed control devices and the row of the valves are parallel to each other. May be.

[0013] The valve may have two output ports, and the speed control device may have two gas flow paths communicating with the two output ports of the valve.

[0014] The speed control device may have two output ports formed between two input ports of two gas flow paths.

[0015] The connecting block may be flexible. Further, the connecting block may be divided for each of the corresponding valve and the speed control device!

[0016] A gas supply speed adjustment member is provided on the surface of the speed control device on the opposite side of the connecting block, and the positions of the adjustment members of the plurality of speed control devices are arranged in a staggered manner. As described above, the plurality of speed control devices may be arranged in the connection block.

[0017] The output port of the speed control device may be formed in a protruding shape, and the connection block may be formed with a recess into which the protruding portion of the output port of the speed control device is fitted. .

[0018] The concave portion may be formed in a tapered shape with a diameter on the bottom side, and the tapered portion of the concave portion may be formed by a resilient member.

[0019] The gas supply unit may include a connector that connects a plurality of pipes that communicate with each of the pneumatic drive units and a plurality of output units of the connection block that communicate with the output side of the speed control device. Good.

The invention's effect

[0020] According to the present invention, the quality of the gas supply equipment for supplying gas to the plurality of pneumatic drive units of the substrate processing apparatus is stabilized, and the operation of the pneumatic drive unit is stabilized. The substrate is processed properly.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration of a coating and developing treatment system.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a longitudinal section showing an outline of the configuration of a resist coating apparatus. FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a gas supply unit.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the gas supply unit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal configuration of a connection block.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a gas supply unit when a speed controller block is provided on the upper surface of a connection block.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a gas supply unit when a speed controller block is provided on the inclined surface of the upper surface of the connection block.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a gas supply unit when the connecting block has flexibility.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a divided connection block.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the gas supply unit when the speed controllers are arranged in a staggered pattern.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a connecting portion between a speed controller and a connecting block.

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of the gas supply unit when the first flow path is formed in a U shape.

FIG. 15 is a partial cross-sectional view of the gas supply unit in the case where two upper and lower speed controllers are arranged.

Explanation of symbols

1 Coating and developing system

20 Resist coater

170 Gas supply unit

180 Solenoid valve block

181 Speed controller block

182 connecting blocks

182a One side

182b Other side

190 Solenoid valve

200 speed controller

210 First channel

211 Second channel 222 Connection port

W wafer

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0023] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. First, a coating and developing processing system equipped with a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses having a gas supply unit according to the present invention.

1 will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the coating and developing treatment system 1. FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system 1. FIG. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system 1. .

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the coating and developing treatment system 1 carries out, for example, 25 wafers W in the cassette unit to the external force coating and developing treatment system 1, and carries the wafers W into and out of the cassette C. Cassette station 2, a processing station 3 in which a plurality of various processing apparatuses for performing predetermined processing in a single wafer process in a photolithography process are arranged in multiple stages, and a processing station 3 adjacent to the processing station 3. The interface station 4 for transferring wafer W to and from an exposure apparatus (not shown) is integrally connected.

[0025] The cassette station 2 is provided with a cassette mounting table 5, and the cassette mounting table 5 is capable of mounting a plurality of cassettes C in a row in the X direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1). The cassette station 2 is provided with a wafer transfer body 7 that can move on the transfer path 6 in the X direction. The wafer carrier 7 is also movable in the wafer arrangement direction (Z direction; vertical direction) of the wafer W accommodated in the cassette C, and with respect to the wafer W in each cassette C arranged in the X direction. Selective access.

[0026] The wafer carrier 7 is rotatable in the Θ direction around the Z-axis, and also with respect to a temperature control device 50 and a transition device 51 belonging to a third processing device group G3 on the processing station 3 side described later. Accessible.

[0027] The processing station 3 adjacent to the cassette station 2 includes, for example, five processing device groups G1 to G5 in which a plurality of processing devices are arranged in multiple stages. On the negative side of the processing station 3 in the X direction (downward in FIG. 1), the cassette station 2 side force first processing device group Gl and second processing device group G2 are arranged in this order. X direction of processing station 3 On the positive direction (upward in FIG. 1) side, the cassette station 2 side force third processing device group G3, fourth processing device group G4, and fifth processing device group G5 are arranged in this order. A first transfer device 10 is provided between the third processing device group G3 and the fourth processing device group G4. The first transport device 10 can selectively access the processing devices in the first processing device group Gl, the third processing device group G3, and the fourth processing device group G4 to transport the wafers and W. . A second transfer device 11 is provided between the fourth processing device group G4 and the fifth processing device group G5. The second transfer device 11 can selectively access each processing device in the second processing device group G2, the fourth processing device group G4, and the fifth processing device group G5 to transfer the wafer W.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the first processing unit group G 1, a liquid processing apparatus that supplies a predetermined liquid to the wafer W and performs processing, for example, a resist coating apparatus 20 that applies a resist liquid to the wafer W. 21, 22 and bottom coating devices 23 and 24 for forming an antireflection film for preventing reflection of light during the exposure process are also stacked in five steps in order. In the second processing unit group G2, liquid processing units, for example, developing processing units 30 to 34 for supplying a developing solution to the wafer W and performing development processing are stacked in five stages in descending order. In addition, chemical chambers 40 and 41 for supplying various processing liquids to the liquid processing apparatuses in the processing apparatus groups Gl and G2 are provided at the bottom of the first processing apparatus group G1 and the second processing apparatus group G2. Each is provided.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the third processing unit group G3 includes a temperature control unit 50, a transition unit 51 for transferring the wafer W, and the temperature of the wafer W under high-precision temperature control. The high-precision temperature control devices 52 to 54 to adjust and the high-temperature heat treatment devices 55 to 58 to heat the woofer W at high temperature are also stacked in 9 steps in order.

[0030] In the fourth processing unit group G4, for example, a high-precision temperature control unit 60, pre-baking units 61 to 64 for heating the wafer W after the resist coating process, and the wafer W after the development process are heated. The post-baking devices 65 to 69 to be processed are stacked in 10 steps in order of the lower force.

[0031] In the fifth processing apparatus group G5, a plurality of heat processing apparatuses for heat-treating the wafer W, for example, high-accuracy temperature control apparatuses 70 to 73, post-exposure before development and post-exposure chambers for performing W heat processing. One king device 74-79 is stacked in 10 steps from the bottom.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of processing devices are arranged on the positive side in the X direction of the first transfer device 10, for example, to hydrophobize the wafer W as shown in FIG. Adhijo The heat treatment devices 82 and 83 for heating the wafer devices 80 and 81 and the wafer W are stacked in four steps in order of the lower force. As shown in FIG. 1, on the positive side in the X direction of the second transport device 11, a peripheral exposure device 84 that selectively exposes only the edge portion of the wafer W, for example, is arranged.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the interface station 4 is provided with a wafer transfer body 101 that moves on a transfer path 100 extending in the X direction, and a noffer cassette 102. The wafer carrier 101 can move up and down and can also rotate in the Θ direction, and accesses an exposure apparatus (not shown) adjacent to the interface station 4, a nother cassette 102 and a fifth processing unit group G5. Wafer W can be transferred.

Next, the configuration of a resist coating apparatus 20 will be described as an example of a substrate processing apparatus provided with a gas supply unit according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a schematic configuration of the resist coating apparatus 20.

For example, the resist coating apparatus 20 has a casing 20a as shown in FIG. 4, and a spin chuck 120 that holds the wafer W horizontally is provided at the center of the casing 20a. The spin chuck 120 can be rotated by a rotation drive unit (not shown) such as a motor. The spin chuck 120 is provided with an air cylinder 121 for moving the spin chuck 120 up and down! The wafer W can be transferred between the spin chuck 120 and the first transfer device 10 by moving the spin chuck 120 up and down by the air cylinder 121.

[0036] Around the spin chuck 120, a cup 122 for receiving and collecting a liquid such as a resist solution scattered from the wafer W is provided. On the lower surface 122a of the cup 122, there are provided a drain pipe 123 for draining the collected resist solution and the exhaust pipe 124 for exhausting the inside of the cup 4.

[0037] A resist solution discharge nozzle 130 is provided in the casing 20a to discharge the resist solution to the wafer W held on the spin chuck 120. The resist solution discharge nozzle 130 is connected to a resist solution supply source 132 by a supply pipe 131. The supply pipe 131 is provided with an air pressure type on-off valve 133 for controlling the discharge and stop of the resist liquid. The resist coating apparatus 20 includes a plurality of resist solution discharge nozzles 130, a supply pipe 131, and an on-off valve 133 in order to change the type of resist solution according to the wafer processing recipe. [0038] A loading / unloading port 140 for the wafer W is provided in the casing 20a. The loading / unloading port 140 is provided with a shirter 141. The shirter 141 can be driven by an air cylinder 142, for example, to open and close the loading / unloading port 140.

As described above, the resist coating apparatus 20 includes a plurality of pneumatic drive units such as the air cylinder 121, the on-off valve 133, and the air cylinder 142, for example. Each pneumatic drive is connected to a gas supply unit 170 by a respective supply pipe 160 !.

Here, the configuration of the gas supply unit 170 will be described. The gas supply unit 170 is mainly composed of an electromagnetic valve block 180, a speed controller block 181 and a connection block 182 as shown in FIG.

[0041] The connection block 182 has, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is formed of, for example, grease.

An electromagnetic valve block 180 and a speed controller block 181 are attached to one side surface 182a of the front side of the connecting block 182 (the Y direction negative direction side in FIG. 5).

The electromagnetic valve block 180 includes a plurality of electromagnetic valves 190 arranged in the horizontal direction (X direction in FIG. 5). An external port 191 is formed at the end of the electromagnetic valve block 180. The external port 191 is connected to a factory-side gas supply source 192 shown in FIG. 4, and can supply air to each electromagnetic valve 190, for example. The operation of each of these electromagnetic valves 190 is controlled by a control unit 193, for example.

As shown in FIG. 5, the speed controller block 181 is arranged on the electromagnetic valve block 180 and includes a plurality of speed controllers 200 corresponding to the electromagnetic valves 190 arranged in the X direction. On the Y direction negative direction side of the speed controller block 181, an adjustment knob 201 as an adjustment member of each speed controller 200 is arranged side by side.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 6, a first flow path 210 that penetrates from the lower input opening 210a of one side 182a to the output opening 210b of the upper side 182a is formed inside the connection block 182. Is formed. The first flow path 210 is bent in a V shape on the way. In addition, a second flow path 211 that penetrates from the input opening 211a at the top of one side 182a to the output opening 211b at the top of the other side 182b on the opposite side is formed inside the connection block 182. ing. The second channel 211 is formed, for example, linearly in the horizontal direction. The output opening 210b of the first channel 210 is formed at a position higher than the input opening 21 la of the second channel 211. It is.

[0045] The first flow path 210 and the second flow path 211 form a pair, and the pair of the first flow path 210 and the second flow path 211. As shown in FIG. Formed side by side!

As shown in FIG. 6, the output port 190a of the electromagnetic valve 190 is connected to the input opening 210a of each first flow path 210. The output port 190a and the input opening 210a are connected by, for example, a push lock mechanism. Note that an O-ring packing seal may be used at the connection between the output port 190a and the input opening 210a.

An input port 220 a of the gas flow path 220 in the speed controller 200 is connected to the output opening 210 b of each first flow path 210. The output port 220b of the gas flow path 220 is connected to the input opening 21 lb of each second flow path 211. The input port 220a of the gas flow path 220 is formed above the output port 220b. An O-ring packing seal is used at the connection between the first flow path 210 and the gas flow path 220 and at the connection between the second flow path 211 and the gas flow path 220. Moyo.

[0048] Each speed controller 200 is fixed to the connection block 182 with, for example, a screw 221 arranged vertically.

[0049] A connection port 222 as a cylindrical output portion is provided at the outlet portion of each second flow path 211 on the other side surface 182b side of the connection block 182. The connection port 222 protrudes from the other side surface 182b.

[0050] A plurality of air supply pipes 160 communicating with each pneumatic drive unit are collectively connected to the multi-connector 230. The multi-connector 230 is formed with a connection hole 230a. For example, by fitting the connection hole 230a of the multi-connector 230 to the connection port 222 of the connecting block 182, the plurality of supply pipes 160 are connected to the gas supply boot 170. Can be connected.

[0051] Next, the operation of the gas supply unit 170 configured as described above will be described. When an operation command signal is output by the control unit 193, a predetermined electromagnetic valve 190 is activated, the flow path is opened, and the air supplied from the external port 191 passes through the electromagnetic valve 190 into the connection block 182. Inflow. The air that has flowed into the connection block 182 flows to the speed controller 200 through the first flow path 210. The air flows into the second flow path 211 of the connection block 182 through the gas flow path 220 of the speed controller 200. This gas flow path 2 Not shown when 20 passes! Air speed is adjusted by throttle valve. The air speed is set by the adjustment knob 201. The air that has flowed into the connecting block 182 from the speed controller 200 flows into the air supply pipe 160 from the connection port 222 through the second flow path 211. The air that has flowed into the supply pipe 160 is supplied to a predetermined atmospheric pressure driving unit, and the atmospheric pressure driving unit is driven. Thereafter, when the air supplied to the pneumatic drive unit is exhausted, for example, it is exhausted from the external port 191 through the original air supply route.

[0052] According to the above embodiment, in the gas supply unit 170, the plurality of electromagnetic valves 190 and the speed controller 200 are assembled and attached to the connecting block 182. Therefore, piping that leads to a number of pneumatic drive units Can be easily connected and assembled. For this reason, for example, mistakes and problems during pipe construction and assembly are reduced, and the quality of the gas supply equipment that leads to the pneumatic drive unit can be stabilized.

[0053] Since the plurality of electromagnetic valves 190 and the speed controller 200 are mounted side by side on the one side 182a side of the connecting block 182, the gas supply unit 170 can be made compact. In addition, since the rows of the solenoid valves 190 and the rows of the speed controller 200 are parallel, the corresponding solenoid valve 190 and the speed controller 200 can be easily grasped and assembled and maintained easily.

[0054] Since the plurality of supply pipes 160 and the plurality of connection ports 222 of the connecting block 182 are connected by the multi-connector 230, the plurality of supply pipes 160 are properly connected without interfering with each other. Can be connected to 170.

In the above embodiment, the speed controller block 181 is attached to the one side 182a side of the connecting block 182. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the speed controller block 181 is attached to the upper surface 182c as an orthogonal plane orthogonal to one side. It may be attached. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the upper surface 182c may be inclined so that the side surface 182a side thereof is lowered, and the speed controller block 181 may be attached to the inclined upper surface 182c. In these cases, since the adjustment knob 201 of the speed controller 200 faces upward, the operation of the adjustment knob 201 is simplified, and maintenance such as setting and replacement of the air speed can be easily performed.

[0056] The connecting block 182 in the above embodiment may have flexibility as shown in FIG. In such a case, the connecting block 182 is made of, for example, rubber material, silicon rubber, or urethane. It is formed by tanned oil. According to this example, for example, when maintenance is performed by operating the adjustment knob 201 of the speed controller 200, the connecting block 182 can be held and the adjustment knob 201 of the speed controller 200 can be directed upward. By doing so, the adjustment knob 201 can be easily operated even when a large number of speed controllers 200 are arranged in an integrated manner. Further, in normal times, the connecting block 182 does not move and the adjustment knob 201 of the speed controller 200 is in the horizontal direction, so that the gas supply unit 170 can be compactly installed.

[0057] When the connecting block 182 has flexibility, the connecting block 182 may be divided into each set of electromagnetic valves 190 and speed controllers 200 that communicate with each other and correspond to the upper and lower sides. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the connecting block 182 is divided so that a plurality of rectangular parallelepiped pieces vertically aligned are arranged in the horizontal direction. According to this example, for example, only the connecting block 182 of the speed controller 200 to be maintained can be bent and the adjustment knob 201 of the speed controller 200 can be operated, so that maintenance can be performed more easily.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the force in which the plurality of speed controllers 200 are arranged in a straight line on the connecting block 182 As shown in Fig. 12, the speed controllers 200 may be arranged in a staggered pattern in the vertical direction. Good. By doing so, the position of the adjustment knob 201 of the adjacent speed controller 200 is shifted, so that the adjustment knob 201 becomes easy to operate and maintenance is facilitated.

In the speed controller 200 described in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the input port 220a and the output port 220b are formed with protrusions 220c and 220d protruding to the connection block 182 side, and connected. The output opening 210b of the first flow path 210 of the block 182 and the input opening 211a of the second flow path 211 are formed with recesses 182c and 182d that fit into the protruding portions 220c and 220d. Also good. For example, the protruding portions 220c and 220d may be formed in a tapered cylindrical shape, and the concave portions 182c and 182d may be formed in a tapered shape with a smaller diameter on the bottom surface side. Further, the surface of the tapered portion of each of the recesses 182c and 182d may be formed of a resilient member 182e such as a soft resin that can ensure airtightness, for example, a rubber material. The speed controller 200 and the connecting block 182 are fitted with protruding rods 220c, 220d and four rods 182c, 182d. In the combined state, it is fixed with screws 211. According to this example, the airtightness of the connecting portion between the speed controller 200 and the connecting block 182 can be improved. Further, the positioning of the speed controller 200 and the connecting block 182 can be performed accurately and easily.

[0060] Although the first flow path 210 of the connection block 182 is formed in a V shape, it may be formed in a U shape as shown in FIG. In this case, a vertical flow path 210e that vertically penetrates the connection block 182 and a horizontal flow path 210f that leads from one side surface 182a to the vertical flow path 210e are formed in each of the upper and lower portions of the connection block 182. A seal 210g may be provided at the upper and lower ends of the path 210e. In such a case, the first channel 210 can be easily processed.

In the above embodiment, one system of gas flow paths 220 is formed in the speed controller 200. However, as shown in FIG. 15, two systems of gas flow paths 240, 241 may be formed. In such a case, for example, a corresponding electromagnetic block 190 having two output ports 190a is used. In addition, two lines of the first flow path 210 and the second flow path 211 are formed in the connection block 182 each. The two gas flow paths 240 and 24 1 of the speed controller 200 are arranged one above the other, between the input port 240a of the upper gas flow path 240 and the input port 241a of the lower gas flow path 241. The output port 240b of the gas flow path 240 and the output port 241b of the lower gas flow path 241 are formed. That is, the input port 241a, output port 241b, output port 240b, and input port 240a are formed in this order from the bottom. Further, on the other side surface 182b of the connecting block 182, connection ports 222 are formed vertically corresponding to the second flow paths 211 of the two systems, and connection holes 230a are formed vertically on the multiconnector 230. .

[0062] According to this example, since the gas supply unit 170 can supply air to a larger number of the pneumatic drive units, more air supply pipes 160 can be aggregated to simplify the air supply piping. In addition, by bringing the two output ports 240b and 241b closer to each other, the positions of the corresponding upper and lower connection ports 222 are closer, and furthermore, the positions of the corresponding upper and lower connection holes 230a of the multiconnector 230 are closer. For example, the multi-connector 230 can be reduced in size.

As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that those skilled in the art can arrive at various changes or modifications within the scope of the idea described in the claims. Of course, it is understood that they belong to the technical scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the number of electromagnetic valves 190 and speed controllers 200 can be arbitrarily selected. The connection block 182 described in the above embodiment has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but may have another shape that is not necessarily a strict rectangular parallelepiped shape. Further, the valve for operating and stopping the supply of air is not limited to the electromagnetic valve, and may be another type of valve. The present invention can also be applied to the case of supplying a gas other than air for driving the pneumatic drive unit. In addition, the gas supply unit of the present invention may be provided for each processing apparatus of the coating and developing treatment system 1, or may be provided for each of a plurality of processing apparatuses, for example, for each processing apparatus of the same type. The present invention can be applied to a substrate other than a wafer, for example, an FPD (Flat Panel Display), a mask reticle for a photomask, and the like after supplying gas to a substrate processing apparatus.

Industrial applicability

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for stabilizing the quality of a supply facility that supplies gas to a plurality of pneumatic drive units used in a substrate processing apparatus.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] A gas supply unit for supplying a gas to a plurality of pneumatic drive units used in a substrate processing apparatus,

A plurality of valves for switching between gas supply and stop;

A plurality of speed control devices for controlling the supply speed of the gas supplied from the valve to the pneumatic drive unit;

The plurality of valves and the plurality of speed control devices are attached, and the corresponding valves are connected to the speed control device.

[2] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

The connection block has a rectangular parallelepiped shape,

The valve is attached to one side of the connecting block;

In the connection block, there are provided a first flow path for outputting the gas input from the valve to a corresponding speed control device, and a second flow path for the gas input by the valve force to flow, The second flow path communicates with the other surface on the opposite side of the one surface of the connection block.

[3] In the gas supply unit according to claim 2,

The plurality of speed control devices are attached to the one surface of the connection block.

[4] In the gas supply unit according to claim 2,

The plurality of speed control devices are attached to orthogonal surfaces orthogonal to the one surface of the connection block.

[5] In the gas supply unit according to claim 4,

An inclined surface that is inclined toward the one surface side is formed on the orthogonal surface of the connection block.

The plurality of speed control devices are attached to the inclined surface.

[6] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

The plurality of speed control devices and the plurality of valves are attached in parallel to the connection block,

The row of speed control devices and the row of valves are parallel.

[7] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

The valve has two output ports,

The speed control device has two gas flow paths communicating with the two output ports of the valve.

[8] In the gas supply unit according to claim 7,

In the speed control device, two output ports are formed between two input ports of two gas flow paths.

[9] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

The connection block has flexibility.

[10] The gas supply unit according to claim 9,

The connection block is divided for each of the corresponding valve and the speed control device.

[11] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

A gas supply speed adjusting member is provided on the opposite surface of the connecting block in each speed control device,

The plurality of speed control devices are arranged in the connection block so that the positions of the adjusting members of the plurality of speed control devices are arranged in a staggered manner.

[12] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

The output port of the speed control device is formed in a protruding shape,

The connection block is formed with a recess into which the protruding portion of the output port of the speed control device is fitted.

[13] The gas supply unit according to claim 12,

The concave portion is formed in a tapered shape with a smaller diameter on the bottom side,

The tapered portion of the recess is formed of an elastic member.

[14] In the gas supply unit according to claim 1,

It has a connector which connects a plurality of piping which leads to the above-mentioned each pressure type drive part, and a plurality of output parts of the above-mentioned connection block which leads to the output side of the speed control device.