CN211320066U - Wafer transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a wafer transfer device, it includes pivot and a plurality of robotic arm, robotic arm follows the axial order of pivot sets up, at least part robotic arm can wind the pivot is rotatory. The utility model has the advantages of, wafer transfer device can shift a plurality of wafers simultaneously, has improved the efficiency that the wafer shifted, has saved production time.

Description

Wafer transfer device

technical field

The utility model relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, in particular to a wafer transfer device for transferring wafers between wafer cassettes.

Background technique

The removal of wafers from a wafer cassette (FOUP) is often involved in semiconductor manufacturing. The reason may be that the old wafer cassette has reached the cleaning date, and the wafers need to be removed to clean the wafer cassette; it may also be that the wafers have been separated in the previous process and are located in several different wafer cassettes. For the convenience of subsequent processes, these wafers need to be merged into a wafer cassette; there may also be trouble shooting, which requires changing the position of the wafers in the wafer cassette, etc.

At present, the common devices for transferring wafers have low wafer transfer efficiency and cannot meet the demand.

Utility model content

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a wafer transfer device, which can improve the wafer transfer efficiency and save production time.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a wafer transfer device, which includes a rotating shaft and a plurality of robotic arms, the robotic arms are sequentially arranged along the axial direction of the rotating shaft, and at least part of the robotic arms can rotate around the rotating shaft. The shaft rotates.

Further, the robotic arm has a rotation plane, and the robotic arm rotates in the rotation plane.

Further, the rotation planes of the robotic arms are parallel.

Further, the rotation plane is perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotation shaft.

Further, the robotic arm has a bearing surface, and the bearing surfaces of the robotic arm are parallel.

Further, the bearing surface of the robotic arm is parallel to the rotation plane of the robotic arm.

Further, the robotic arm can rotate at least 180 degrees around the rotation axis.

Further, the rotating shaft can be self-propagated to drive the mechanical arm to rotate.

Further, the wafer transfer device further includes a fixing member, and the rotating shaft is connected to the fixing member.

Further, the distance between the adjacent robotic arms is the same as the distance between the wafers to be transferred.

The wafer transfer device of the utility model can transfer a plurality of wafers at the same time, thereby improving the wafer transfer efficiency and saving production time.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a specific embodiment of the wafer transfer device of the present invention;

2 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 1 of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer device of the present invention;

3 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 2 of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer device of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 3 of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer device of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The specific embodiments of the wafer transfer device provided by the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a specific embodiment of the wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , the wafer transfer device includes a rotating shaft 10 and a plurality of robotic arms 11 , and the robotic arms 11 are arranged in sequence along the axis A of the rotating shaft 10 . The robotic arm 11 can carry wafers (not shown in the drawings). Specifically, the robot arm 11 has a bearing surface B, and the bearing surface B is used for bearing wafers. The robot arm 11 can be a flat plate configuration or a Y-shaped configuration, which can lift the wafer from the bottom surface of the wafer.

At least a part of the robotic arm 11 can rotate around the rotating shaft 10 . In this specific embodiment, all the robotic arms 11 of the wafer transfer apparatus can rotate around the rotating shaft 10 . In other specific embodiments of the present invention, some of the mechanical arms may be rotatable around the rotating shaft, and other mechanical arms may be fixed relative to the rotating shaft.

When several wafers need to be transferred from one wafer carrier (for example, a wafer cassette) to another wafer carrier or other positions, the robotic arm corresponding to the wafers rotates around the rotating shaft 10 to Below the wafer to be transferred and carrying the wafer; after carrying the wafer, the robotic arm rotates around the rotating shaft 10 to a preset position, and transfers the wafer to another wafer carrying device or a target position .

In FIG. 1 , four of the robotic arms 11 are schematically shown, and one of the robotic arms 11 is rotated by an angle. In other specific embodiments of the present invention, the number of the robotic arms 11 can be set according to requirements. For example, if the number of wafers that can be loaded in the wafer carrier is 25, the wafer transfer device can be provided with 25 robotic arms, so that the wafers in the wafer carrier can be loaded once Sex transfer, improve wafer transfer efficiency.

The wafer transfer device of the utility model is provided with a plurality of mechanical arms, which can transfer a plurality of wafers at one time, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of wafer transfer; at the same time, at least a part of the mechanical arms of the wafer transfer device can also go around the When the rotating shaft 10 rotates, the wafer at a specific position can be transferred, and the accuracy and efficiency of the wafer transfer can be improved.

Preferably, the robotic arm 11 can rotate at least 180 degrees around the rotating shaft 10 to increase the range of motion of the robotic arm 11, so that the robotic arm 11 can cover a larger range and reduce the swing of the wafer carrier device. Place the requirements of the location, improve the user's convenience of operation.

In this specific embodiment, only one of the robotic arms 11 is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft 10 to avoid mutual interference between the robotic arms 11 and affect the transfer of the wafer. Further, the distance between the adjacent robotic arms 11 is the same as the distance between the wafers to be transferred, then when multiple robotic arms 11 are used to transfer wafers at the same time, the robotic arms 11 can directly correspond to the wafers, and do not need to be Then, the distance between the robotic arms 11 is changed, so as to improve the convenience of the user's operation.

Further, the rotating shaft 10 can be connected with a fixing member 12 . The fixing member 12 is fixed on the external member, for example, the fixing member 12 is fixed on the side wall or the base of the conveyor table. Preferably, in this specific embodiment, the rotating shaft 10 is rotatably connected to the fixing member 12 , that is, the rotating shaft can self-transmit. The rotating shaft 10 transmits itself and can drive the robotic arm located on the rotating shaft 10 to follow the rotating shaft 10 to rotate, thereby changing the direction of the robotic arm 11 as a whole, so that the robotic arm 11 can correspond to the wafer, and then Transfer wafers.

Further, the wafer transfer device can also move as a whole according to the position of the wafer carrier device, so as to facilitate the operation of the user.

The robot arm 11 has a rotation plane C, and the robot arm 11 rotates in the rotation plane C. As shown in FIG. Preferably, the rotation planes A of all the robotic arms 11 are arranged in parallel, so that multiple robotic arms 11 can transfer wafers at the same time, and can avoid mutual interference between the robotic arms 11 when transferring wafers. The rotation plane C is perpendicular to the axial direction A of the rotating shaft 10 , that is, the robotic arm 11 rotates in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction A of the rotating shaft 10 .

In this specific embodiment, the bearing surfaces B of all the robotic arms 11 are parallel, and the bearing surfaces B of the robotic arms 11 are parallel to the rotation plane C of the robotic arm 11, then all the motions of the robotic arms 11 are The path is the same. When using the robotic arm 11 to transfer the wafer, any one of the robotic arms 11 can be used, and no matching selection is required, which improves the user's operational convenience.

Examples of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer device of the present invention are listed below.

Example 1

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 1 of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2 , in this embodiment, the number of the robotic arms 11 is the same as the number of wafers in the wafer cassette 20A, and all the wafers 21 in the wafer cassette 20A need to be transferred to the wafer cassette 20B. The robotic arm 11 rotates to the position corresponding to the wafer cassette 20A, the robotic arm 11 carries the wafer and then rotates around the axis of rotation by a number of angles to the position of the wafer cassette 20B, and places the wafer in the wafer cassette 20B to realize the wafer self-removal. The purpose of transferring the pod 20A to the pod 20B. The wafers before and after transfer are shown with different shading in FIG. 2 .

Embodiment 2

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the third embodiment of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer device of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3 , in this embodiment, the number of the robotic arms 11 is the same as the number of wafers in the wafer cassette 20A, and some of the wafers 21 in the wafer cassette 20A (the shaded wafers in FIG. 3 ) To be transferred to the wafer box 20B, the robot arm 11 corresponding to the wafers 21 to be transferred is rotated to the corresponding position of the wafer box 20A, and the robot arm 11 carries the wafer and then rotates around the rotation axis by a certain angle to the wafer. The position of the cassette 20B, the wafers are placed in the wafer cassette 20B, and the purpose of transferring the wafers from the wafer cassette 20A to the wafer cassette 20B is realized. The wafers before and after transfer are shown with different shading in FIG. 3 .

Embodiment 3

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 3 of wafer transfer using the wafer transfer device of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4 , in this embodiment, the number of the robotic arms 11 is the same as the number of wafers in the wafer cassette 20A, and the single wafer 21 in the wafer cassette 20A (the shaded wafer in FIG. 3 ) ) needs to be transferred to the wafer box 20B, then the robot arm 11 corresponding to the wafer 21 is rotated to the corresponding position of the wafer box 20A, and after the robot arm 11 carries the wafer, it rotates around the rotation axis by several angles to the position of the wafer box 20B. position, the wafer 21 is placed in the wafer cassette 20B, and the purpose of transferring the wafer 21 from the wafer cassette 20A to the wafer cassette 20B is realized. The wafers before and after transfer are shown with different shading in FIG. 4 .

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can also be made. It should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A wafer transfer device, characterized in that it comprises a rotating shaft and a plurality of robotic arms, the robotic arms are sequentially arranged along the axial direction of the rotating shaft, and at least part of the robotic arms can rotate around the rotating shaft. 2 . The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the robot arm has a rotation plane, and the robot arm rotates in the rotation plane. 3 . 3 . The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the rotation planes of the robotic arms are parallel. 4 . 4 . The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the rotation plane is perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotation shaft. 5 . 5 . The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the robot arm has a bearing surface, and the bearing surfaces of the robot arm are parallel. 6 . 6 . The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the bearing surface of the robotic arm is parallel to the rotation plane of the robotic arm. 7 . 7 . The wafer transfer apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the robotic arm can rotate at least 180 degrees around the rotation axis. 8 . 8 . The wafer transfer device of claim 1 , wherein the rotating shaft is capable of self-transmission to drive the robotic arm to rotate. 9 . 9 . The wafer transfer device according to claim 1 , wherein the wafer transfer device further comprises a fixing member, and the rotating shaft is connected to the fixing member. 10 . 10 . The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the distance between the adjacent robotic arms is the same as the distance between the wafers to be transferred. 11 .

Images