JP2020061400A - Substrate holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate holding device which is structured in compact and can achieve a low cost.SOLUTION: A substrate holding device comprises: a plurality of substrate holding bodies; support parts that support the substrate holding bodies by being corresponded to the plurality of substrate holding bodies respectively so as to be arranged side by side in one direction; and a driving device which is connected to the support part arranged on an end of one side of the one direction among the plurality of support parts, and moves the support part to one side and the other side in one direction. In the case where the support part arranged at the end is moved to the one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other support part adjacent to the one support part moves due to being pulled by the one support part when an interval between the one support part and the other support part becomes a second pitch, and in the case where the support part arranged at the end is moved by the driving device to the other side in the one direction, the other support part is moved by being depressed by the one support part when the interval between the one support part and the other support part becomes a first pitch.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate holding device that holds a substrate such as a silicon wafer.

  Conventionally, in a process of processing a semiconductor or the like, a plurality of substrates such as silicon wafers are stored so as to be lined up at a predetermined first pitch in the thickness direction, and transferred from a hoop to a boat that stores the substrates at a second pitch. There is a known substrate holding device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The second pitch is different from the first pitch due to the necessity in the front and rear processing steps, and the substrate holding device is configured to change the pitch when transferring the substrate.

  In the substrate holding device of Patent Document 1, a pitch conversion mechanism unit 3 that changes the distance between the five substrates is provided. In detail, the end effector mounting plate is attached to one end of the end effector that holds the substrate, and each end effector mounting plate is connected to the pitch converting cylinder. In such a configuration, the end effector mounting plate can be reciprocated in the thickness direction of the board by the expansion and contraction operation of the pitch conversion cylinder, so that the interval between the end effectors, that is, the board pitch is changed. ing. The pitch is changed in two steps, that is, a wide pitch and a narrow pitch.

JP, 2006-313865, A

  However, in the substrate holding device of Patent Document 1, although the pitch of five substrates can be changed, when the pitch of, for example, ten or twenty substrates is to be changed, the driving force for realizing it can be changed. It is necessary that only the pitch converting cylinder is used. Therefore, the size of the pitch converting cylinder becomes significant, the structure becomes complicated, the weight increases, and the cost also increases.

  Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate holding device that is compact and can realize cost reduction.

  A substrate holding device according to the present invention is a substrate holding device for changing a space between respective substrates to a first pitch which is a minimum space or a second pitch which is a maximum space, the plurality of substrate holding bodies and the plurality of substrate holding devices. A support portion that supports each of the substrate holders so as to be aligned in one direction corresponding to each of the bodies, and is connected to a support portion that is arranged at one end of the one direction among the plurality of support portions, A drive device that moves the support part to one side and the other side of the one direction, and when the support part arranged at the end is moved to one side of the one direction by the drive device, The other support portion adjacent to the one support portion moves by being pulled by the one support portion when the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion reaches the second pitch. And a support portion arranged at the end is provided with the drive device. When it is moved to the other side of the one direction by the, the other support portion, when the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion becomes the first pitch, It is configured to be pushed and moved by the support portion.

  According to the present invention, when the supporting unit arranged at the end is moved to one side in one direction by the driving device, the other supporting unit adjacent to the one supporting unit is replaced with the one supporting unit and the other supporting unit. When the distance between the first support portion and the second support portion reaches the second pitch, the first support portion can be pulled and moved. As a specific example, when the uppermost support portion is lifted by the drive device, the hook is hooked on the second support portion, so that the two support portions rise together. When the second support part rises, its hook catches on the third support part and the three support parts start to rise together. In this manner, the lower supporting portions are chained and raised one after another, and finally the pitch of all the supporting portions becomes the second pitch (maximum interval).

  On the other hand, when the supporting unit arranged at the end is moved to the other side in one direction by the driving device, the other supporting unit is arranged such that the distance between the one supporting unit and the other supporting unit is the first When the pitch is reached, it can be moved by pressing the one support portion. As a specific example, when the uppermost support portion is lowered by the drive device, the second support portion is pressed down by coming into contact with the second support portion, so that the second support portion is also lowered. Then, when the second support portion descends, the third support portion comes into contact with the third support portion and presses down the third support portion, so that the third support portion also descends. In this way, the lower support portions are successively linked and descend, and finally the pitch of all the support portions becomes the first pitch (minimum interval).

  With the above configuration, it is not necessary for only one driving device to bear the driving force for changing the pitch of the plurality of support portions. As a result, it is possible to avoid increasing the size of the drive device. Along with this, the substrate holding device can be made compact, and the cost of the substrate holding device can be reduced.

  In the above invention, an engaging portion is provided on the one supporting portion, and when the supporting portion arranged at the end is moved to one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other supporting portion is provided. Is configured to move by engaging the engagement portion of the one support portion with the other support portion when the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion reaches the second pitch. May be configured to do.

  According to the above configuration, with a simple configuration, it becomes possible to chain the respective support portions and move them to one side and the other side in one direction.

  In the above invention, the engagement portion of the one support portion is formed in a hook shape that is caught by the other support portion when moving to one side in the one direction, and the one support portion and the other It is preferable that another one of the support portions sandwiching the support portion is provided with a notch for avoiding interference when the one support portion moves to the other side in the one direction.

  According to the above configuration, since the notch is provided, it is possible to prevent interference with the another support when the one support moves to the other side in one direction. it can.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate holding device that is compact in size and can realize cost reduction.

It is a figure showing composition of a substrate transportation system containing a substrate maintenance device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing composition of each support part which supports each substrate holder. (A) is a figure which shows the state which the space | interval of each support part became 2nd pitch, (b) is a figure which shows the state which the space | interval of each support part became 1st pitch. It is a perspective view which shows the structure for holding a board | substrate. It is a figure which shows the modification of each support part.

  A substrate holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The substrate holding device described below is only one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and additions, deletions and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a substrate transfer system 1 including a substrate holding device 100.

  Examples of the substrate transported in the substrate transport system 1 include a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate for a thin display (liquid crystal display, organic EL display, etc.) processed by a semiconductor process. Examples of semiconductor wafers include silicon wafers, silicon carbide wafers, and sapphire wafers.

  The substrate transfer system 1 is not particularly limited as long as it transfers a substrate. The substrate transfer system 1 transfers, for example, a silicon wafer substrate from the hoop 2 to the boat 3 in a semiconductor manufacturing line. The substrate transfer system 1 of this embodiment carries out a circular substrate housed in the hoop 2 and carries the substrate into the boat 3. The hoop 2 has an opening 2a for loading and unloading substrates, and the boat 3 also has an opening 3a for loading and unloading substrates. The hoop 2 and the boat 3 are arranged so that these openings 2a and 3a face each other. The hoop 2 accommodates the substrates so that the substrates are arranged in the vertical direction at a pitch P1. The boat 3 accommodates the substrates so that the substrates are lined up in the vertical direction at a pitch P2 smaller than the first pitch P1.

  The substrate transfer system 1 includes a substrate holding device 100 attached to a tip thereof, a robot 4 for transferring a substrate stored in a hoop 2 to a boat 3, an elevating table 5 for raising and lowering the robot 4, and a substrate holding device 100. A control unit (not shown) that controls the robot 4 and the lift 5 including the control unit is provided.

  The robot 4 is, for example, an industrial robot, and the substrate holding device 100 is attached to the tip of this arm. In this embodiment, the robot 4 is a so-called horizontal articulated robot, and its arm operates in a horizontal plane. Since the robot 4 can be constituted by a well-known horizontal articulated robot, further description will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate holding device 100 includes five substrate holders 10a to 10e arranged in a vertical direction (one direction) and a support mechanism that supports the base end portions of these substrate holders 10a to 10e. 12 and 12. Note that, hereinafter, for convenience, the direction from the base end side of the substrate holders 10a to 10e to the front end side is described as front, and the opposite direction is described as rear.

  The substrate holders 10a to 10e are formed in a plate shape, and are formed in a U shape having an opening on the front side. However, the shapes of the substrate holders 10a to 10e are not limited to this. Further, the substrate holders 10a to 10e are provided with cutouts 11 at the base ends thereof. Further, on the upper surfaces of the substrate holders 10a to 10e, two fixed holding members (not shown) fixed to the upper surfaces and holding a substrate together with a movable holding member 24 (FIG. 4) described later are provided. Since the movable holding member 24 and the fixed holding member are well known, further description will be omitted.

  The support mechanism 12 supports the substrate holders 10a to 10e as described above, and changes the intervals between the substrate holders 10a to 10e in the direction in which the substrate holders 10a to 10e are arranged (that is, the vertical direction). . In the present embodiment, the intervals between the substrate holders 10a to 10e are finally changed to either the first pitch, which is the minimum interval, or the second pitch, which is the maximum interval.

  The support mechanism 12 is provided corresponding to each of the substrate holders 10a to 10e and supports the substrate holders 50a to 50e, and is connected to the support portion 50e located in the upper stage to move the support portion 50e up and down. It has a drive belt 23 that moves in the direction, and a pair of drive shafts 22 that movably support the drive belt 23 (the drive shaft at the bottom of FIG. 2 is not shown). As will be described later in detail, when the support portion 50e is moved in the vertical direction by the drive belt 23, the support portions 50d to 50a are also moved in the vertical direction accordingly. A drive motor (not shown) for rotating the drive shaft is connected to the drive shaft (not shown) of the pair of drive shafts 22. The pair of drive shafts 22 are rotated by the operation of the drive motor to rotate the drive belt 23, which moves the support portion 50e in the vertical direction. The drive shaft 22, the drive belt 23 and the drive motor correspond to a drive device. A support wall 20 that rotatably supports the drive shaft 22 is provided on the side of the support portion 50e. The support wall 20 is provided with a pair of guides 21 for restricting the upper limit position of the support portion 50e.

  The support portions 50a to 50e are formed in a thick plate shape and are arranged so as to extend in parallel to the extending direction of the substrate holders 10a to 10e. Hook-shaped engaging portions 51a to 51e are provided at the rear ends of the supporting portions 50a to 50e. The main body portions of the engaging portions 51a to 51e extend in the vertical direction, and the claw portions project forward.

  Further, the disposition of each engaging portion is set as follows in order to prevent interference between the engaging portions. That is, the engaging portion 51d is displaced from one side of the engaging portion 51e in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction, and similarly, the engaging portion 51c is disposed in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction with respect to the engaging portion 51d. It is arranged so as to be offset to one side. On the other hand, the engaging portion 51b is arranged offset from the engaging portion 51c on the other side in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction, that is, the engaging portion 51b is arranged immediately below the engaging portion 51e. Further, the engaging portion 51a is arranged so as to be offset from one side of the engaging portion 51b in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction.

  Further, at least a part of the rear end of the support portion 50d extends to a position (engageable position) where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engagement portion 51e can abut the lower surface of the support portion 50d. Similarly, at least a part of the rear end of the support portion 50c extends to a position where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engagement portion 51d can contact the lower surface of the support portion 50c. At least a part of the rear end of the support portion 50b extends to a position where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engagement portion 51c can contact the lower surface of the support portion 50b. At least a part of the rear end of the support portion 50a extends to a position where the upper surface of the claw portion of the engagement portion 51b can contact the lower surface of the support portion 50a. In addition, what the engaging part of one support part engages corresponds to another supporting part. For example, the support part 50d is the other support part for the support part 50e that is one support part because the engagement part 51e of the support part 50e is engaged, but not only that, the support part 50d is also engaged. Since the portion 51d engages with the support portion 50c, the support portion 50c, which is another support portion, is one support portion.

  Here, a notch 52e for avoiding interference when the engaging portion 51e of the supporting portion 50e moves downward is provided at the rear end of the supporting portion 50c. Similarly, at the rear end of the support portion 50b, a notch 52d for avoiding interference when the engaging portion 51d of the support portion 50d moves downward is provided. A notch 52c is provided at the rear end of the support portion 50a to avoid interference when the engaging portion 51c of the support portion 50c moves downward.

  In the above-described configuration, when the distance between the substrate holders 10a to 10e is set to the second pitch (maximum distance), the drive belt 23 moves the support portion 50e upward. As a result, the one support portion and the other support portion finally change the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion from the first pitch (minimum distance) to the second pitch, and finally the second support portion. Move to the pitch position. Specifically, when the support portion 50e starts to move upward due to the operation of the drive belt 23, the engagement portion 51e of the support portion 50e engages with the rear end of the support portion 50d in the middle thereof, so that the support portion 50d also rises. Then, when the support portion 50d starts moving, the engagement portion 51d of the support portion 50d engages with the rear end of the support portion 50c, so that the support portion 50c also rises. Similarly, the support parts 50b and 50a also rise. Depending on the above, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the support portions are chained and raised one after another, and finally the distance between all the substrate holders becomes the second pitch.

  On the other hand, when the intervals between the substrate holders 10a to 10e are set to the first pitch, the drive belt 23 moves the support portion 50e downward. With this, the one support portion and the other support portion are finally positioned at the first pitch while changing the distance between the one support portion and the other support portion from the first pitch to the second pitch. Move up to. Specifically, when the support portion 50e starts moving downward due to the operation of the drive belt 23, the support portion 50e comes into contact with the support portion 50d and presses the support portion 50d in the middle thereof, so that the support portion 50d also descends. Then, when the support portion 50d starts moving, the support portion 50d comes into contact with the support portion 50c and presses the support portion 50c, so that the support portion 50c also descends. Similarly, the support parts 50b and 50a also descend. Depending on the above, as shown in FIG. 3B, the supporting portions are chained and lowered one after another, and finally the distance between all the substrate holders becomes the first pitch.

  Subsequently, a configuration for gripping the substrate and releasing the grip on the substrate will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate holding device 100 includes a movable body 16, a biasing member 18, and a push-back member 60. The movable body 16 has a rod-shaped body portion 16a extending in the front-rear direction, and a rod-shaped lever portion 16b provided on the body portion 16a and extending in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the body portion 16a. Guide grooves 57 for guiding the main body portion 16a of the movable body 16 are formed in the support portions 50a to 50e. The guide groove 57 is formed by cutting out a thick portion of each support portion from the front end toward the inside.

  The rear end portion of the main body portion 16a is disposed in the guide groove 57, and the main body portion 16a is guided by the guide groove 57 and moves in a direction toward a position for holding the substrate and a direction away from the position for holding the substrate. The front end of the main body portion 16 a is attached to the rear end of the movable holding member 24. Thereby, the movable holding member 24 moves in the front-rear direction together with the movable body 16. The lever portion 16b is pushed back by the push-back member 60 as described later.

  The biasing member 18 biases the movable body 16 toward the front. As a result, the movable holding member 24 contacts the substrate and presses and grips the substrate. As the biasing mechanism 18, for example, a compression coil can be used. In this case, the push-back member 60 is retracted in the notch 11 to a position where it does not contact the lever portion 16b.

  The support parts 50a to 50e include a stopper 6 that restricts the movement of the lever part 16b. The stopper 6 is formed in an L shape in a side view so as to project forward from the front surfaces of the support portions 50a to 50e, and is arranged so as to abut the lever portion 16b. In such a configuration, when the substrate is not placed on the substrate holder, the movable body 16 moves further forward than the position where the substrate is gripped, and the lever portion 16b contacts the stopper 6, Further forward movement of the movable body 16 is restricted.

  On the other hand, the case of releasing the grip of the substrate is as follows. The push-back member 60 is configured to be movable in the front-rear direction within the notch 11 by the operation of an actuator such as a cylinder. When the push-back member 60 moves rearward by the operation of the actuator, the push-back member 60 contacts the lever portion 16b, and then the lever portion 16b moves rearward against the biasing force of the biasing member 18. Along with this, the movable holding member 24 moves rearward, so that the grip of the substrate is released.

  As described above, according to the substrate holding apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, when the driving belt 23 raises the first-stage supporting portion 50e, the engaging portion 51e is caught by the second-stage supporting portion 50d, so that the two holding portions 50e are formed. The support parts 50e and 50d start to rise together. When the first-stage support portion 50e is further raised, the engaging portion 51d of the second-stage support portion 50d is caught by the third-stage support portion 50c, and the three support portions 50e, 50d, 50c start to rise together. In this way, the lower supporting portions are chained and raised one after another, and finally the distance between all the supporting portions becomes the second pitch.

  On the other hand, when the drive belt 23 lowers the first-stage support portion 50e, the first-stage support portion 50e comes into contact with the second-stage support portion 50d and presses the second-stage support portion 50d. The support portion 50d at the stage also descends. When the second-stage support portion 50d descends, the second-stage support portion 50d comes into contact with the third-stage support portion 50c and presses the third-stage support portion 50c, so that the third-stage support portion The part 50c also descends. In this way, the lower supporting portions are chained and descend one after another, and finally the distance between all the supporting portions becomes the first pitch.

  With such a configuration, it is not necessary for one driving device to bear the driving force for changing the pitches of the plurality of support portions, and thus it is possible to avoid the size increase of the driving device. As a result, the substrate holding device 100 can be made compact, and the cost of the substrate holding device 100 can be reduced.

(Other embodiments)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modified example of the support portion. As shown in FIG. 5, the supporting portions 70e, 70d, 70c are provided with push-down portions 71e, 71d, 71c having a thickness thicker than other portions at their rear ends. Adjacent push-down parts are connected by a connecting member 72 formed of a string or the like. The connecting member 72 has a slack in a state where the pressing portions are in contact with each other. That is, when the pressing portion moves, the length of the connecting member 72 in the up-down direction (one direction) changes. Although FIG. 5 exemplifies three stages of supporting portions, the number of stages of supporting portions is not limited to this.

  In such a configuration, when the upper supporting portion 70e is lifted by the drive belt 23, the supporting portion 70d is pulled through the connecting member 72 and lifted. When the support portion 70d rises, the support portion 70c is pulled through the connecting member 72 and rises. In this way, while the distance between the one support part and the other support part changes between the first pitch and the second pitch, the lower support parts are chained and raised one after another, and finally, all The interval between the support portions is at the second pitch. On the other hand, when the drive belt 23 lowers the upper stage supporting portion 70e, the supporting portion 70d is pushed down by the pushing portion 71e of the supporting portion 70e and is lowered. When the support portion 70d descends, the support portion 70c is depressed by the depression portion 71d of the support portion 70d and descends. In this way, while the distance between the one supporting portion and the other supporting portion changes between the first pitch and the second pitch, the lower supporting portions are successively chained and descend, and finally all The interval between the support portions is at the first pitch.

  With such a configuration, as in the above-described embodiment, it is not necessary for only one driving device to carry the driving force for changing the pitch of the plurality of supporting portions, so avoiding an increase in size of the driving device. You can As a result, the substrate holding device 100 can be made compact, and the cost of the substrate holding device 100 can be reduced.

  In addition to this, the present invention may be modified in various ways as described below without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the number of steps of the substrate holder, that is, the number of steps of the supporting portion is set to 5 (supporting portions 50a to 50e), but the number of steps is not limited to this, and for example, 10 or 20 steps can be supported. You may comprise and provide a part.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the drive belt 23 is used as the drive device that moves the upper support portion 50e in the vertical direction. However, the configuration of the drive device is not limited to this, and other components such as a cylinder may be used. A drive device may be adopted.

  Further, although the U-shaped substrate holder is used in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a rectangular substrate holder or a circular substrate holder may be used. The body can be adopted.

10a-10e Substrate holder 22 Drive shaft 23 Drive belt 50a-50e Support part 51a-51e Engagement part 52c, 52d, 52e Notch 70c-70e Support part 72 Connection member 100 Substrate holding device 100

Claims (3)

A substrate holding device for changing the space between the substrates to a first pitch which is the minimum space or a second pitch which is the maximum space,
A plurality of substrate holders,
A support portion that supports each of the substrate holders so as to be aligned in one direction corresponding to each of the plurality of substrate holders;
A drive device that is connected to a support portion arranged at one end of the one direction among the plurality of support portions and moves the support portion to one side and the other side of the one direction;
When the supporting unit arranged at the end is moved to the one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other supporting unit adjacent to the one supporting unit includes the one supporting unit and the other supporting unit. Is configured to be moved by being pulled by the one support portion when the distance between the support portion and the second pitch becomes the second pitch,
When the supporting unit arranged at the end is moved to the other side in the one direction by the driving device, the other supporting unit has a space between the one supporting unit and the other supporting unit. A substrate holding device configured to be pressed and moved by the one support portion when the first pitch is reached. An engagement portion is provided on the one support portion,
When the supporting unit arranged at the end is moved to the one side in the one direction by the driving device, the other supporting unit has a space between the one supporting unit and the other supporting unit. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein when the second pitch is reached, the engaging portion of the one support portion engages with the other support portion to perform the movement. . The engagement portion of the one support portion is formed in a hook shape that is caught by the other support portion when moving to one side in the one direction,
A notch for avoiding interference when the one support part moves to the other side in the one direction is provided in another one support part that sandwiches the other support part together with the one support part. The substrate holding device according to claim 2, which is provided.

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