CN112151432B - Device and method for clamping silicon wafers stored in silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment - Google Patents
Device and method for clamping silicon wafers stored in silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment Download PDFInfo
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- CN112151432B CN112151432B CN202011347533.9A CN202011347533A CN112151432B CN 112151432 B CN112151432 B CN 112151432B CN 202011347533 A CN202011347533 A CN 202011347533A CN 112151432 B CN112151432 B CN 112151432B
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- 235000012431 wafers Nutrition 0.000 title claims abstract description 176
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 title claims abstract description 157
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 title claims abstract description 157
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 157
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 15
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 50
- 238000013507 mapping Methods 0.000 claims description 6
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 description 16
- 238000003780 insertion Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000037431 insertion Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000006467 substitution reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005489 elastic deformation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012423 maintenance Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67766—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67742—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67775—Docking arrangements
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67778—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading involving loading and unloading of wafers
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Robotics (AREA)
- Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
Abstract
The embodiment of the invention discloses a device and a method for clamping silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment, wherein the device comprises: a drive shaft rotatable about its longitudinal axis; the clamping arms extend along a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the driving shaft so as to extend into the silicon wafer box and clamp the silicon wafer when the driving shaft moves close to the silicon wafer box; the buckle mechanism between arm and the drive shaft is got at every clamp to the setting, and buckle mechanism can switch between locking state and unblock state, and under the locking state, the drive shaft is got the arm to the clamp and is driven and make to get the arm and rotate together with the drive shaft when the drive shaft is rotatory, and under the unblock state, the drive shaft can't drive the arm to the clamp and get the arm and keep immovably when the drive shaft is rotatory.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor production, in particular to a device and a method for clamping silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment.
Background
Multi-arm silicon wafer transfer apparatuses for transferring silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer cassette are known in the art, in which the silicon wafer cassette generally has a plurality of slots arranged in a stacked manner in the silicon wafer cassette, each slot being adapted to receive a single silicon wafer, and the multi-arm silicon wafer transfer apparatus has a plurality of gripping arms that can grip a corresponding plurality of silicon wafers in the slots corresponding to the plurality of gripping arms simultaneously or at once, and the plurality of gripping arms can move together with the robot arm of the apparatus to transfer the gripped silicon wafers to a target position. Compared with the device with only a single clamping arm, the multi-arm silicon wafer conveying device can greatly improve the working efficiency.
The conventional multi-arm silicon wafer transfer apparatus has the following drawbacks. The silicon wafers may be lost in a plurality of slots of the silicon wafer box, or the silicon wafer box may be in a non-full-load state, for example, during the production and processing of the silicon wafers, the silicon wafers are easily damaged and scrapped, and the silicon wafers are all taken out of the silicon wafer box. Thus, when a plurality of gripping arms of the apparatus grip silicon wafers in a corresponding plurality of slots in a silicon wafer box, the following situation occurs: and under the condition that one or more slot positions of the plurality of slot positions lack the silicon wafer, the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position lacking the silicon wafer cannot clamp the silicon wafer. Because the equipment is established with the fool-proof mechanism through the sensor on the clamping arm, or the equipment can automatically stop when the clamping arm entering into the silicon wafer box senses that the silicon wafer cannot be clamped and taken through the sensor, when the above situation occurs, the equipment cannot clamp multiple wafers, and only can clamp a single wafer as described in detail below. Moreover, even if the fool-proof mechanism is cancelled, the number of the continuous slots in the target silicon wafer box is necessarily larger than the number of the clamping arms of the equipment, so that the flexibility and the working efficiency of the equipment are reduced.
Therefore, a conventional multi-arm silicon wafer transfer apparatus is generally shown in fig. 1, and the apparatus 10A includes a gripping arm group 11A and a separate gripping arm 12A, wherein the gripping arm group 11A includes, for example, four gripping arms as shown in fig. 1, the gripping arm group 11A is movable together with a first robot arm 13A to transfer the gripped four silicon wafers to a target position, and the separate gripping arm 12A is movable together with a second robot arm 14A to transfer the gripped single silicon wafers to the target position.
For example, suppose that the apparatus 10A needs to transfer silicon wafers placed in first to fifth slots of a wafer cassette that are consecutive from top to bottom: in the case where silicon wafers are placed in all of the five slots, the gripping arm group 11A and the separate gripping arm 12A of the apparatus 10A may simultaneously grip the silicon wafers so as to transfer five silicon wafers of the five slots to the target position at one time; in the case where the silicon wafer is missing in the first or fifth slot, the gripping arm group 11A of the apparatus 10A may be configured to grip the silicon wafer, and thus four silicon wafers in the five slots may be transferred to the target position at one time, and the individual gripping arm 12A may be in a standby state at this time; however, in the case where, for example, the third slot is missing, the silicon wafer cannot be gripped by the gripping arm group 11A of the apparatus 10A first, because one gripping arm cannot grip the silicon wafer in the gripping arm group 11A, the apparatus 10A may stop automatically and cannot continue further transfer operation, in which case, the four silicon wafers placed in the first, second, fourth, and fifth slots can only be gripped and transferred by the single gripping arm 12A of the apparatus 10A in multiple times, in other words, the conventional apparatus 10A shown in fig. 1 cannot achieve simultaneous transfer or one-time transfer of the four silicon wafers. It can be understood that in the case where the silicon wafer is missing in the second or fourth slot, and in the case where the silicon wafer is missing in two slots of the five slots, the single gripping arm 12A is required to be used to transfer the silicon wafers in multiple times, or the silicon wafers cannot be transferred simultaneously or at one time, and obviously, the operation efficiency of the apparatus 10A is reduced in these cases.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the above technical problems, embodiments of the present invention desirably provide an apparatus, a method, and a silicon wafer conveying device for clamping silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer cassette, so that even in the case where one or more slots are missing in a plurality of corresponding slots corresponding to a plurality of clamping arms, the silicon wafers placed in the plurality of slots can be conveyed simultaneously or at once, thereby improving the work efficiency.
The technical scheme of the invention is realized as follows:
in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for clamping silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer cassette, where the apparatus may include:
a drive shaft rotatable about its longitudinal axis;
a plurality of gripping arms provided on the driving shaft, the gripping arms extending in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the driving shaft so as to protrude into the silicon wafer cassette and grip the silicon wafer when the driving shaft moves close to the silicon wafer cassette;
a catch mechanism disposed between each of the gripping arms and the drive shaft, the catch mechanism being switchable between a locked state in which the drive shaft drives the gripping arms such that the gripping arms rotate with the drive shaft when the drive shaft rotates, and an unlocked state in which the drive shaft cannot drive the gripping arms such that the gripping arms remain stationary when the drive shaft rotates.
In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for clamping silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer cassette by using the apparatus according to the first aspect, and the method may include:
enabling the clamping mechanism associated with the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position where the silicon wafer is lost to be in the locking state, and enabling the clamping mechanism associated with the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position where the silicon wafer is placed to be in the unlocking state;
and the driving shaft rotates around the longitudinal axis of the driving shaft, so that the clamping arms corresponding to the slot positions where the silicon wafers are placed are kept fixed, and the clamping arms corresponding to the slot positions where the silicon wafers are lost rotate together with the driving shaft to be far away from the corresponding slot positions.
In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a silicon wafer conveying apparatus, where the apparatus may include:
according to the apparatus of the first aspect,
a robotic arm for moving the device to any target location in space.
The embodiment of the invention provides a device and a method for clamping silicon wafers stored in a silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment, wherein under the condition that one or more slot positions in a plurality of corresponding slot positions corresponding to a plurality of clamping arms are missing silicon wafers, a clamping mechanism associated with the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position of the missing silicon wafer can be in a locked state, and a clamping mechanism associated with the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position of the silicon wafer is in an unlocked state, so that when a driving shaft rotates around the longitudinal axis of the driving shaft, the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position of the silicon wafer is kept fixed and kept corresponding to the corresponding slot position, the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position of the missing silicon wafer rotates along with the driving shaft to be far away from the corresponding slot position, and therefore, when the driving shaft moves close to the silicon wafer box to ensure that the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position of the silicon wafer is extended into the silicon wafer box, the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position of the missing silicon wafer can be positioned outside the silicon wafer box. The clamping arm positioned outside the silicon wafer box does not need to clamp the silicon wafer, so that the sensor on the silicon wafer box does not sense whether the silicon wafer is clamped or not, the clamping arm stretching into the silicon wafer box needs to clamp the silicon wafer, the sensor on the silicon wafer box can sense whether the silicon wafer is clamped or not, and a foolproof mechanism of the equipment is guaranteed. Meanwhile, the number of the slots in the target silicon wafer box is not limited by the number of the arms, and the device is high in flexibility and working efficiency.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a silicon wafer transfer apparatus in the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of an embodiment of an apparatus for gripping silicon wafers stored in a wafer cassette according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing a clamping arm corresponding to a slot missing a silicon wafer deviating from the corresponding slot of the apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the apparatus according to the present invention, wherein the gripping arm corresponding to the slot in which the silicon wafer is placed is located outside the silicon wafer cassette when the gripping arm corresponding to the slot in which the silicon wafer is missing extends into the silicon wafer cassette;
FIG. 5 is a top view of the device according to the present invention showing a schematic view of an embodiment of the snap mechanism of the device;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of the dashed box portion of FIG. 5 with the latch tongue in position for insertion into the card slot;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the dashed square portion of FIG. 5, wherein the latch is in a position disengaged from the slot;
FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a normally unlocked catch mechanism with the catch in a position disengaged from the catch groove;
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a normally unlocked catch mechanism with the catch in position for insertion into the catch slot;
fig. 10 is a schematic top view of a gripping arm of the apparatus according to the invention;
FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a component of a drive tongue according to the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a schematic front view showing another embodiment of the apparatus for gripping silicon wafers stored in a wafer cassette according to the present invention;
FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a method for gripping silicon wafers stored in a wafer cassette according to the present invention;
fig. 14 is a schematic view showing a silicon wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention.
Detailed Description
The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus 100 for picking up silicon wafers W stored in a wafer cassette WP, wherein fig. 2 exemplarily shows that five silicon wafers W are placed in first to fifth slots S1-S5 of the wafer cassette WP in series from top to bottom, and the apparatus 100 may include:
a drive shaft 110, said drive shaft 110 being rotatable about its own longitudinal axis X, as schematically shown in fig. 2 by arrow a 1;
a plurality of gripping arms 120 provided on the driving shaft 110, first to fifth gripping arms 120-1 to 120-5 corresponding to the first to fifth slots S1-S5, respectively, being exemplarily shown in fig. 2, the plurality of gripping arms 120 extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X of the driving shaft 110 so as to be inserted into and grip the silicon wafer W when the driving shaft 110 moves close to the silicon wafer cassette WP (as schematically shown by an arrow a2 in fig. 2);
a catch mechanism 130, first to fifth catch mechanisms 130-1 to 130-5 are respectively shown in fig. 2, provided between each gripping arm 120 and the drive shaft 110, the catch mechanism 130 being switchable between a locked state in which the drive shaft 110 drives the gripping arm 120 such that the gripping arm 120 rotates together with the drive shaft 110 when the drive shaft 110 rotates, and an unlocked state in which the drive shaft 110 cannot drive the gripping arm 120 such that the gripping arm 120 remains stationary when the drive shaft 110 rotates.
It will be appreciated that fig. 2 is not drawn to scale with respect to the actual scale of the wafer cassette WP and apparatus 100, but rather, for purposes of clarity, the spacing between the five slots S1-S5 and the spacing between the five gripping arms 120 have been increased, for example.
In this way, when the plurality of gripping arms 120 of the apparatus 100 grip the silicon wafers W in the corresponding plurality of slots in the wafer cassette WP, in the case where one or more slots among the plurality of slots are missing a silicon wafer W, such as in the case where the third slot S3 shown in fig. 3 is missing a silicon wafer W, the third catch mechanism 130-3 associated with the third gripping arm 120-3 corresponding to the third slot S3 may be brought into a locked state, and the first catch mechanism 120-1, the second gripping arm 120-2, the fourth gripping arm 120-4, and the fifth gripping arm 130-5 associated with the first slot S1, the second slot S2, the fourth slot S4, and the fifth slot S5, respectively, in which a silicon wafer W is placed, the first catch mechanism 130-1, the second catch mechanism 130-2, the fourth catch mechanism 130-4, and the fifth catch mechanism 130-5 may be brought into an unlocked state, the drive shaft 110 may then be rotated about its longitudinal axis X, such as by an angle of 180 ° as shown in fig. 3. In this way, since the first, second, fourth, and fifth latch mechanisms 130-1, 130-2, 130-4, and 130-5 are in the unlocked state, the first, second, fourth, and fifth gripping arms 120-1, 120-2, 120-4, and 120-5 do not rotate together with the drive shaft 110 and still correspond to the first, second, fourth, and fifth slots S1, S2, S4, and S5, respectively, and since the third latch mechanism 130-3 is in the locked state, the arm gripping arm 120-3 rotates together with the drive shaft 110 by an angle of, for example, 180 ° away from the third slot S3, as shown in fig. 3.
Thereafter, when the driving shaft 110 moves close to the silicon wafer cassette WP so that the first, second, fourth and fifth gripping arms 120-1, 120-2, 120-4 and 120-5 are inserted into the silicon wafer cassette, as shown in FIG. 4, the gripping arm 120-3 is located outside the silicon wafer cassette WP.
In summary, in the case where one or more slots are missing from the corresponding slots corresponding to the plurality of gripping arms, the latch mechanism associated with the gripping arm corresponding to the slot in which the silicon wafer is missing may be in a locked state, and the latch mechanism associated with the gripping arm corresponding to the slot in which the silicon wafer is placed may be in an unlocked state.
Therefore, no matter whether a plurality of slots of the silicon wafer box have missing silicon wafers or not, and no matter what the specific missing situation is, the device can clamp the silicon wafers placed in the slots corresponding to the clamping arms simultaneously or at one time, so that the working efficiency can be greatly improved.
The wafer cassette WP for storing the wafers W is generally fully loaded, and when the apparatus 100 according to the present invention is used to clamp the wafers in the fully loaded wafer cassette WP, it may not be necessary to rotate the drive shaft 110, but it may be necessary to rotate the drive shaft only in the case where one or more missing wafers W are present in a plurality of slots of the wafer cassette WP, more specifically, in a plurality of slots corresponding to the plurality of clamping arms 120 of the apparatus 100. Moreover, the number of slots in which the silicon wafer W is missing is generally smaller than the number of slots in which the silicon wafer W is placed. Based on this, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the latch mechanism 130 may be normally unlocked and not normally locked, in other words, the latch mechanism 130 is in the unlocked state without performing a targeted operation, whereby switching of the latch mechanism 130 between the locked state and the unlocked state may be reduced.
It will be appreciated that the above-described latch mechanism 130 may be implemented in a number of different ways, and in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 5 to 7, the latch mechanism 130 may comprise a latch 131 provided on one of the drive shaft 110 and the gripper arm 120, and a catch slot 132 provided on the other of the drive shaft 110 and the gripper arm 120, wherein fig. 5 shows the latch 131 provided on the drive shaft 110 and the catch slot 132 provided on the gripper arm 120, the latch 131 being movable between a first position in which the latch 131 is inserted into the catch slot 132 to place the latch mechanism 130 in the locked state and a second position in which the latch 131 is disengaged from the catch slot 132 to place the latch mechanism 130 in the unlocked state, as shown in fig. 7.
In the above-described implementation of the catch mechanism 130, the catch mechanism 130 can be unlocked or the catch 131 can be disengaged from the catch groove 132 without being actuated, which can be implemented in many different ways. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, see fig. 8 to 9, the latch 131 may be connected to the driving shaft 110 or to the gripping arm 120 by means of an elastic element 131C, such as a spring, wherein fig. 8 and 9 show that the latch 131 is connected to the driving shaft 110, the elastic element 131C is elastically deformed when the latch 131 is in the first position, or in the case that the elastic element 131C is a spring, the spring is in a state of being forced to be stretched, as shown in fig. 9, and when the latch 131 is in the second position, the elastic element 131C is in a free state, or in the case that the elastic element 131C is a spring, the spring is in an initial state of being free from any external force, as shown in fig. 8. Here, the free state refers to a state in which the elastic member 131C is not subjected to any external force. In this way, after the external force for making the latch 131 in the first position is removed, the latch 131 can be automatically reset to the second position under the elastic restoring force generated by the elastic element 131C due to the elastic deformation, thereby making the latch mechanism 130 in the normally unlocked state.
Generally, as shown in fig. 10, the gripping arm 120 may include a main body portion 121, a chucking portion 122, and a first pneumatic actuator 123, the main body portion 121 being for supporting the silicon wafer W, the chucking portion 122 being movable by the first pneumatic actuator 123 relative to the main body portion 121 between a chucking position (a position where the chucking portion 122 is located as shown by broken lines in fig. 10) in which the chucking portion 122 locks the silicon wafer W to the main body portion 121, and a release position (a position where the chucking portion 122 is located as shown by solid lines in fig. 10), as shown by a double-headed arrow a3 in fig. 10, in which the chucking portion 122 releases the silicon wafer W from the main body portion 121.
Since the conventional gripping arm 120 uses a pneumatic actuator to grip and release the silicon wafer, it is considered that the pneumatic actuator is also used to drive the latch 131 of the latch mechanism 130 according to the present invention or move the latch 131 between the first position and the second position. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 11, the latch mechanism 130 may further include a second pneumatic actuator 133 for driving the latch 131 to move between the first position and the second position. In this way, the driving of the latch 131 can be achieved in a convenient manner, and the first and second pneumatic actuators 123 and 133 can use the pressurized gas supplied from the same pressurized gas supply source, whereby the number of parts can be reduced.
The silicon wafer transfer apparatus generally requires a mapping sensor to sense the number of silicon wafers stored in the silicon wafer cassette and the slots in which the silicon wafers are placed, however, the current apparatuses employ a separate mapping sensor, occupy space, and are inconvenient for apparatus maintenance. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 12, the apparatus 100 further includes a mapping sensor 140 disposed at the end of the gripping arm 120, preferably at the end of the topmost gripping arm 120-1 among the plurality of gripping arms 120, as shown in fig. 12, the mapping sensor 140 being for sensing the number of silicon wafers W stored in the silicon WP cartridge and the slots where the silicon wafers W are placed. This arrangement saves space, reduces cost and makes the device easy to maintain.
Referring to fig. 13, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for clamping silicon wafers W stored in a wafer cassette WP using the apparatus 100 according to the present invention, and the method may include:
s131: enabling the buckling mechanisms 130 associated with the clamping arms 120 corresponding to the slot positions where the silicon wafers W are missing to be in the locking state, and enabling the buckling mechanisms 130 associated with the clamping arms 120 corresponding to the slot positions where the silicon wafers W are placed to be in the unlocking state;
s132: the driving shaft 110 is rotated around its longitudinal axis X, so that the gripping arm 120 corresponding to the slot where the silicon wafer W is placed is kept stationary, and the gripping arm 120 corresponding to the slot where the silicon wafer W is missing rotates together with the driving shaft to be away from the corresponding slot.
With respect to the above method, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drive shaft 110 is rotated about its longitudinal axis X by an angle comprised between 90 ° and 180 °.
Referring to fig. 14, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a silicon wafer conveying apparatus 10, where the apparatus 10 may include:
in accordance with the apparatus 100 of the present invention,
a robotic arm 200, the robotic arm 200 for moving the device 100 to any target location in space.
It should be noted that: the technical schemes described in the embodiments of the present invention can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.
The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the appended claims.
Claims (10)
1. An apparatus for gripping silicon wafers stored in a wafer cassette, the apparatus comprising:
a drive shaft rotatable about its longitudinal axis;
a plurality of gripping arms provided on the driving shaft, the gripping arms extending in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the driving shaft so as to protrude into the silicon wafer cassette and grip the silicon wafer when the driving shaft moves close to the silicon wafer cassette;
a catch mechanism disposed between each of the gripping arms and the drive shaft, the catch mechanism being switchable between a locked state in which the drive shaft drives the gripping arms such that the gripping arms rotate with the drive shaft when the drive shaft rotates, and an unlocked state in which the drive shaft cannot drive the gripping arms such that the gripping arms remain stationary when the drive shaft rotates.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the snap mechanism is normally unlocked.
3. The device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the catch mechanism comprises a catch provided on one of the drive shaft and the gripping arm and a catch provided on the other of the drive shaft and the gripping arm, the catch being movable between a first position in which it is inserted into the catch to place the catch mechanism in the locked state and a second position in which it is disengaged from the catch to place the catch mechanism in the unlocked state.
4. Device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the latch is connected to the drive shaft or to the gripper arm by means of a resilient element which is elastically deformed when the latch is in the first position and is in a free state when the latch is in the second position.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the gripper arm comprises a body portion for supporting the silicon wafer, a catch portion that is movable relative to the body portion by the first pneumatic actuator between a gripping position in which the catch portion locks the silicon wafer to the body portion and an undamped position in which the catch portion releases the silicon wafer from the body portion.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein the catch mechanism further comprises a second pneumatic actuator for driving the latch between the first and second positions.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a mapping sensor provided at a distal end of the gripping arm, the mapping sensor being configured to sense the number of silicon wafers stored in the wafer cassette and the slot in which the silicon wafers are placed.
8. A method for gripping silicon wafers stored in a wafer cassette using the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the method comprising:
enabling the clamping mechanism associated with the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position where the silicon wafer is lost to be in the locking state, and enabling the clamping mechanism associated with the clamping arm corresponding to the slot position where the silicon wafer is placed to be in the unlocking state;
and the driving shaft rotates around the longitudinal axis of the driving shaft, so that the clamping arms corresponding to the slot positions where the silicon wafers are placed are kept fixed, and the clamping arms corresponding to the slot positions where the silicon wafers are lost rotate together with the driving shaft to be far away from the corresponding slot positions.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the drive shaft is rotated between 90 ° and 180 ° about its longitudinal axis.
10. An apparatus for transferring a silicon wafer, comprising:
the device of any one of claims 1 to 7,
a robotic arm for moving the device to any target location in space.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202011347533.9A CN112151432B (en) | 2020-11-26 | 2020-11-26 | Device and method for clamping silicon wafers stored in silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202011347533.9A CN112151432B (en) | 2020-11-26 | 2020-11-26 | Device and method for clamping silicon wafers stored in silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN112151432A CN112151432A (en) | 2020-12-29 |
| CN112151432B true CN112151432B (en) | 2021-03-05 |
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Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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| CN202011347533.9A Active CN112151432B (en) | 2020-11-26 | 2020-11-26 | Device and method for clamping silicon wafers stored in silicon wafer box and silicon wafer conveying equipment |
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| US12217997B2 (en) * | 2022-02-07 | 2025-02-04 | Kla Corporation | Cleanroom compatible robotic end effector exchange system |
| CN116031188B (en) * | 2023-02-23 | 2024-09-27 | 上海御微半导体技术有限公司 | Silicon wafer handover device |
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