JP6215031B2 - Wafer transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wafer delivery apparatus, and more particularly to a wafer delivery apparatus used when a wafer is automatically transferred between processing apparatuses.

  Conventionally, for example, a wafer such as a thin layer silicon wafer sliced and cut from a silicon ingot or the like is finally commercialized through various processings. In the processing of the wafer, the wafer is usually transferred to various processing steps in order and processed. In addition, there are cases where the wafers are carried over several times, and cases where the wafers are carried one by one. In the present invention, the wafers are carried one by one.

Furthermore, in the processing of a wafer having a high degree of cleanness such as a via penetrating a silicon chip, that is, TSV (through silicon via), the wafer cleaning accuracy is regarded as important. Moreover, each unit is divided into rooms (chambers) according to the degree of cleaning due to problems such as particles, and airflow is managed. In this case, dedicated transfer robots are arranged for transferring wafers between the units.

  Conventionally, in the conveyance of a wafer, a conveyance means using a suction hand is generally used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, in the TSV processing, the surface of the wafer after grinding and cleaning cannot be brought into contact, and only the outer peripheral edge portion (edge portion) of the wafer must be held. In such a case, a tray-type hand is used as the shape of the transfer hand, and there is a means for holding and transferring only the outer peripheral edge of the wafer with the hand (for example, see Patent Document 2).

JP-A-9-64152 JP-A-7-335714

  However, as in the invention described in Patent Document 2, the method of using a tray-type hand and holding and transporting only the outer peripheral edge of the wafer with the hand has a problem that the wafer delivery structure becomes complicated. It was.

  Therefore, there is also a transfer means that uses an edge clamp type hand that holds the outer peripheral edge of the wafer with a dedicated nail and delivers the wafer between the edge clamp type hands, and has already been put into practical use. In order to deliver the wafer between the edge clamp type hands, the height position and / or posture of the wafer must be matched in advance in each unit. The wafer is distorted and loaded due to the difference in height position and / or inclination posture, which is a problem.

  Therefore, when transferring wafers between edge clamp type hands, the wafer can be smoothly transferred without applying a load or the like by accurately adjusting the height position and / or posture of the wafer. The technical problem which should be solved in order to provide the wafer transfer apparatus which was made arises, and this invention aims at solving this problem.

  The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and the invention according to claim 1 is a wafer transfer apparatus for transferring a substantially disc-shaped wafer between processing apparatuses. A wafer receiver having a wafer receiving portion for receiving the lower surface of the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer and holding the wafer in a predetermined posture, and having a plurality of receivers provided at predetermined intervals along the outer periphery of the wafer arrangement region. A mechanism, (2) a main body attached to one end of the robot arm via a balancer mechanism so as to be swingable in the vertical direction, attached to the main body, and clamped on the outer peripheral edge of the wafer Wafer clamp holding means in which a plurality of clamp claws for holding a wafer are arranged at a predetermined interval in the outer peripheral direction of the wafer, and the main body portion corresponding to the reference surface of the plurality of receivers Provided with a plurality of positioning means, each of which is capable of disposing the corresponding clamping claw portion at a position corresponding to the reference surface when abutting against the corresponding reference surface. Provide a delivery device.

  According to this configuration, when the wafer carried by the wafer delivery mechanism is delivered to the wafer receiving mechanism, the positioning means on the wafer delivery mechanism side abuts on the reference surface on the wafer receiving mechanism side corresponding to the positioning means. Then, the clamping claw portion on the wafer delivery mechanism side corresponding to the reference surface is arranged at a height position corresponding to the reference surface, and the wafer also corresponds to the reference surface on the wafer reception mechanism side. Located in the upper position. Thereafter, when the clamping of the wafer by the clamp pawl is released, the wafer is transferred from the wafer transfer mechanism side onto the wafer receiving portion on the wafer receiving mechanism side. Further, the lower surface side of the wafer transferred onto the wafer receiving portion on the wafer receiving mechanism side is supported by the wafer receiving portions of the plurality of receiving devices. The wafers supported by the plurality of receivers can have different height positions and / or inclination postures where the wafers are arranged according to the positions of the respective wafer receiving portions.

  On the other hand, when the wafer receiving mechanism receives the wafer supported by the wafer receiving portions of a plurality of receiving devices, the positioning means on the wafer transferring mechanism side is set on the wafer receiving mechanism side corresponding to the positioning means. Contact the reference surface. Then, each clamp claw portion on the wafer delivery mechanism side corresponding to the reference surface is arranged at a height position corresponding to the reference surface, that is, a position where the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer can be clamped. Therefore, when the clamping operation of the wafer by each clamping claw portion is performed at that position, the clamping claw portion can clamp the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer and reliably receive it from the wafer receiving portion.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer transfer apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the number of the receiving tools is at least three.

  According to this configuration, on the wafer receiving mechanism side, the lower surface of the outer peripheral portion of the wafer can be supported by three or more wafer receiving portions and can be held in a well-balanced manner.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support is a cylindrical piece having the same shape, the upper end surface is the reference surface, a small diameter portion on the peripheral surface, and a small diameter thereof. Provided is a wafer delivery apparatus having a large diameter portion having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the portion and a tapered portion connected to the upper edge of the large diameter portion while being inclined downward from the lower edge of the small diameter portion. .

  According to this configuration, even if the outer diameters of the wafers are different, the difference in the outer diameter can be absorbed by the tapered portion, and the wafer can be placed on the wafer receiving portion in a tilted state other than horizontal.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer delivery apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the receiving member is provided so that its height can be adjusted in the vertical direction.

  According to this configuration, by adjusting the height of each receiving tool in the vertical direction, the height position and the tilt posture where the wafer is arranged can be set, and the delivery can be performed accurately.

  According to the present invention, since the wafer can be delivered smoothly by accurately adjusting the height position and / or tilting posture of the wafer, it occurs at the time of delivering the wafer, which has been a problem in the conventional apparatus. It is possible to eliminate the distortion and load of the wafer due to the difference in level, and it is possible to eliminate the drop due to the inclination and the like, and it is possible to eliminate the trouble with the wafer.

The perspective view which shows schematic structure of the wafer delivery apparatus to which this invention is applied. The figure explaining the level adjustment operation | movement in a delivery apparatus same as the above. The figure explaining the wafer clamp means in a delivery apparatus same as the above.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the object of the present invention, it is possible to provide a wafer transfer apparatus that can accurately perform the transfer without applying a load or the like to the wafer by accurately adjusting the height position and / or posture of the wafer. In addition, in a wafer delivery apparatus for delivering a substantially disc-shaped wafer between processing apparatuses, (1) a wafer receiving part for receiving the reference surface and the lower surface of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer and holding the wafer in a predetermined posture is provided. And a wafer receiving mechanism having a plurality of receivers provided at a required interval along the outer periphery of the wafer arrangement area, and (2) swinging up and down via the balancer mechanism at one end of the robot arm. A main body portion that is attached to the main body portion, and a plurality of clamp claws that are attached to the main body portion and clamp the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer to hold the wafer. A plurality of wafer clamp holding means disposed at a predetermined interval in the outer circumferential direction of the C, and a plurality of the main body portions corresponding to the reference surfaces of the plurality of receivers, each corresponding to the corresponding reference surface. This is realized by including a delivery mechanism including positioning means capable of arranging the corresponding clamping claw portions at positions corresponding to the reference plane when they come into contact with each other.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the wafer delivery apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a wafer delivery apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, a wafer transfer device 10 is constituted by a robot arm 11, a wafer receiving mechanism 12, a wafer transfer mechanism 13, and the like, and the entire operation is performed according to a procedure of a program stored in a control unit such as a computer (not shown). Operated.

  The robot arm 11 moves the wafer from at least two different processing devices (units), such as a cutting processing device (cutting processing unit) to a cleaning processing device (cleaning processing unit), or vice versa. The delivery mechanism 13 is moved. The robot arm 11 and the wafer delivery mechanism 13 may be prepared for each processing apparatus, or one robot arm 11 and the wafer delivery mechanism 13 may be commonly used for each processing apparatus. It is changed depending on the arrangement configuration of the apparatus, the tact time, and the like.

  The robot arm 11 is configured as a cantilever member in which one end side (base end side) 11a is attached to a robot body (not shown) and the other end side 11b is a free end. In addition, the delivery mechanism 13 is attached to the lower surface side of the other end side 11b via the balancer mechanism 14 so as to be swingable in the vertical direction.

The receiving mechanism 12 is provided inside each processing apparatus or between the processing apparatuses. The receiving mechanism 12 includes a base plate 15, four support columns 16 erected in a state of protruding upward from the substrate 15, and a receiving tool attached to each upper end of each support column 16. It is composed of four receiving pieces 17. Note that these four receiving pieces 17 correspond to the outer periphery of a substantially circular area (hereinafter referred to as “wafer arrangement area SW”) in which a substantially disk-shaped wafer W is arranged, in the outer circumferential direction. Each is provided in a state shifted by a required amount.

  Each receiving piece 17 is a substantially cylindrical piece, the upper end surface is a reference surface 17a, a small diameter portion 17b on the peripheral surface, and a large diameter portion 17c having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the small diameter portion 17b, A tapered portion 17d as a wafer receiving portion connected to the upper edge of the large diameter portion 17c while being inclined downward from the lower edge of the small diameter portion 17b.

  In each receiving piece 17, the small diameter portion 17b is positioned just outside the wafer arrangement region SW, and the large diameter portion 17c and the tapered portion 17d are positioned inside the wafer arrangement region SW. The lower surface of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W that has been transferred into the wafer arrangement area SW can be received and supported by the outer surface of the tapered portion 17d of each receiving piece 17. In addition, when the reference surface 17a of each receiving piece 17 is horizontal and each reference surface 17a is arranged at the same height as the horizontal line H shown in FIG. 2, the wafer W has a horizontal line as shown in FIG. Parallel to H, that is, horizontally. Further, when the height of any of the four receiving pieces 17 is adjusted upward or downward, the wafer W is tilted in an amount and direction according to the position of the adjusted piece.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the delivery mechanism 13 includes a main body 13a, positioning means 13b and wafer clamp holding means 13c attached to the main body 13a.

  The main body portion 13a is attached to the lower surface of the other end side (free end side) 11b of the robot arm 11 via the balancer mechanism 14 so as to be swingable in the vertical direction. Therefore, the wafer clamp holding means 13b and the positioning means 13c attached to the main body 13a swing integrally with the main body 13a in the vertical direction around the balancer mechanism 14.

  The positioning means 13b extends in two directions from the main body portion 13a, and has a first arm portion 20a for height adjustment attached to the main body portion 13a, and a first arm for height adjustment. One arm portion 20a and a pair of second arm portions 20b for height adjustment that are horizontally attached to the front end of the first arm portion 20a so as to intersect each other at a substantially right angle. Further, the heights of the pair of height adjusting second arm portions 20b are adjusted so as to correspond to the reference surface 17a of the receiving piece 17 in the wafer receiving mechanism 12 toward the lower side. An adjustment pin 22 is attached.

  The wafer clamp holding means 13c extends in two directions from the main body portion 13a, and has a first arm portion 19a for a claw attached to the main body portion 13a, a first arm portion 19a, Each of the second arm portions 19b for a pair of claws, which are attached horizontally and intersecting each other at a substantially right angle, protrudes downward at each end of the second arm portion 19b for the pair of claws. It is composed of four clamp claws 21 and the like that are attached in such a state.

The four clamp claws 21 respectively attached to the both ends of the second arm part 19b for the pair of claws are shifted from the height adjustment pin 22 by a required amount in the outer circumferential direction, respectively, and It is provided corresponding to the outside of the wafer arrangement area SW.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, each clamp claw portion 21 has a lower claw 23a, an upper claw 23b, a lower claw 23a, and an upper claw 23b on the surface facing the peripheral surface of the wafer W. And a vertical surface portion 23c connecting the two. Further, the upper surface side of the lower claw 23a is formed in a tapered shape connected to the lower edge of the vertical portion 23c while inclining upward from the upper edge, and the lower surface side of the upper claw 23b is inclined downward from the lower edge to the vertical portion 23c. It is formed in a taper shape that connects to the upper edge.

The clamp claws 21 are moved to the inner area from the outer side of the wafer arrangement area SW by rotating the first arm part 19a for claw (shown by a solid line in FIG. 3). Position) and a non-clamping position (position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) in which the lower claw 23a has moved from the inside of the wafer placement area SW to the outside area can be switched selectively. It has become.

Next, the operation of the wafer delivery apparatus 10 according to the present invention will be described. First, when the lower surface side of the outer peripheral edge portion is supported by the lower claw 23a of the clamp claw portion 21, the wafer W is disposed above the wafer delivery position shown in FIGS. The lower end portion of the height adjusting pin 22 in each positioning means 13b is opposed to the reference surface 17a above the reference surface 17a of the receiving piece 17 corresponding thereto. When the robot arm 11 is lowered, the lower end portion of the height adjusting pin 22 in each positioning means 13b comes into contact with the reference surface 17a of the corresponding receiving piece 17a.

When the lower end portions of the height adjusting pins 22 of the positioning means 13b come into contact with the reference surfaces 17a of the corresponding receiving pieces 17 in this way, the main body portion 13a of the wafer transfer mechanism 13 is brought into contact with the robot arm 11. Are connected via the balancer mechanism 14, the posture of the main body 13 a is controlled with reference to the reference plane 17 a by adjusting the posture of the balancer mechanism 14. In this embodiment, the reference surface 17 of the receiving piece 17 is shown in a state where all the reference surfaces 17a are set to the same horizontal line H as shown in FIG. The wafer clamp holding means 13c is adjusted horizontally. The wafer W is also adjusted to a horizontal state, and the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W comes into contact with the same position on the tapered portion 17d of each corresponding receiving piece 17.

  Subsequently, the first arm portion 19a for the claw is controlled by the control unit, and the clamp claw portion 21 is moved from the clamp position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 to the non-clamp position indicated by the two-dot chain line. As a result, the wafer W is released from the clamp of the clamp claw portion 21, placed on the tapered portion 17d of each receiving piece 17, and transferred from the wafer transfer mechanism 13 side to the wafer receiving mechanism 12 side.

  Next, when the robot arm 11 is raised and the wafer delivery mechanism 13 is raised together with the robot arm 11, the wafer W is left on the tapered portion 17d of each receiving piece 17, and only the robot arm 11 and the wafer W delivery mechanism 13 are moved forward. Return to the processing step. Then, the next wafer W is prepared to be carried from the pretreatment process.

  Next, the empty wafer transfer mechanism 13 that does not hold the wafer W from the post-processing step is moved together with the robot arm 11 above the wafer transfer position where the previously left wafer W is placed. Next, when the robot arm 11 is lowered, the lower end portion of the height adjusting pin 22 in each positioning means 13b comes into contact with the reference surface 17a of the corresponding receiving piece 17 respectively.

  When the lower end portions of the height adjustment pins 22 are in contact with the reference surface 17a of the receiving piece 17a in this way, the main body portion 13a of the wafer delivery mechanism 13 is connected to the robot arm 11 via the balancer mechanism 14. Therefore, the posture of the main body 13a is controlled with reference to the reference surface 17a by adjusting the posture of the balancer mechanism 14. At the same time, the lower claw 23 a of the clamp claw portion 21 is disposed at a position slightly below the lower surface of the wafer W. Subsequently, the first arm portion 19a for the claw is controlled by the control unit, and the clamp claw portion 21 is moved from the non-clamping position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 to the clamping position indicated by the solid line. Thereby, the wafer W is clamped by the clamp claw portion 21.

  Next, when the robot arm 11 is raised and the wafer delivery mechanism 13 is raised together with the robot arm 11, the lower surface side of the wafer W is supported by the lower claw 23 a of the clamp claw portion 21, and together with the robot arm 11 and the wafer delivery mechanism 13 It is sent to the post-processing process. In the post-processing step, when the wafer W is placed at the wafer transfer position on the post-processing step side in the same manner as the operation at the previous wafer transfer position, the wafer W is transferred to the wafer transfer position on the post-processing step side. .

  As described above, according to the configuration of the wafer delivery apparatus 10 of the above embodiment, when the wafer W transported by the wafer delivery mechanism 13 is delivered to the wafer delivery mechanism 12, the positioning means on the wafer delivery mechanism 13 side. The height adjustment pin 22 of 13 b is brought into contact with the reference surface 17 a on the wafer receiving mechanism 13 side corresponding to the height adjustment pin 22. Then, the clamp claw portion 21 on the wafer transfer mechanism 13 side corresponding to the reference surface 17a is arranged at a height position corresponding to the reference surface 17a, and the wafer W is also the reference surface 17a on the wafer receiving mechanism 12 side. Are arranged at a position on the taper portion 17d corresponding to the wafer receiving portion. Thereafter, when the clamping by the clamp claw portion 21 is released, the wafer W is transferred from the wafer transfer mechanism 13 side onto the tapered portion 17d on the wafer reception mechanism 12 side. The wafer W delivered onto the tapered portion 17d on the wafer receiving mechanism 12 side is supported on the lower surface side by the tapered portions 17d of the plurality of receiving pieces 17. The wafer W supported by the taper portions 17d of the plurality of receiving pieces 17 is set in a height position and / or an inclination posture where the wafers are arranged according to the position on each taper portion 17d. It will be.

  On the other hand, when the wafer transfer mechanism 13 receives the wafer W supported by the tapered portions 17d of the plurality of receiving pieces 17 on the wafer receiving mechanism 12 side, the height adjusting pin 22 of the positioning means 13b on the wafer transfer mechanism 13 side. Is brought into contact with the reference surface 17 a on the wafer receiving mechanism 12 side corresponding to the height positioning pin 22. Then, each clamp claw portion 21 on the side of the wafer delivery mechanism 13 corresponding to the reference surface 17a has a height position corresponding to the reference surface 17a, that is, the plurality of clamp claw portions 21 are located on the previous wafer. The wafer W is arranged at the same position as when the wafer W is delivered from the delivery mechanism 13 to the wafer receiving mechanism 12, and is adjusted to the height position, the inclination posture, etc. of the wafer W arranged on the tapered portion 17d. That is, the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W is disposed at a position where it can be clamped. Therefore, when each clamping claw portion 21 performs the clamping operation of the wafer W at that position, the clamping claw portion 21 can clamp the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer W and reliably receive the wafer W from the tapered portion 17d. .

  Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate the distortion and load of the wafer W due to the difference in level generated during the delivery of the wafer, which has been a problem in the conventional apparatus, and to solve the problem with the wafer W. In addition, since the wafer W is tilted to a position other than horizontal and disposed on the wafer receiving portion, and even the tilted wafer W can be received smoothly, dropping due to tilt can be eliminated. In the above-described embodiment, a configuration in which four receiving pieces 17 constituting the receiving member are provided is disclosed, but three or more receiving pieces 17 may be provided at a required interval.

  The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention naturally extends to the modified ones.

  The present invention can be applied to the case of transferring a circuit board in addition to transferring the wafer W.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wafer transfer apparatus 11 Robot arm 11a One end side 11b The other end side 12 Wafer receiving mechanism 13 Wafer transfer mechanism 13a Main body part 13b Positioning means 13c Wafer clamp holding means 14 Equilibrium mechanism 15 Substrate 16 Supporting body 17 Receiving piece (receiving tool)
17a Reference surface 17b Small diameter part 17c Large diameter part 17d Tapered part (wafer receiving part)
19a First arm portion 19b for claw Second arm portion 20a for claw First arm portion 20b for height adjustment Second arm portion 21 for height adjustment Clamp claw portion 22 Height adjustment pin 23a Lower claw 23b Upper claw 23c Vertical surface part SW Wafer arrangement area H Horizontal line

Claims (4)

In a wafer delivery device that delivers roughly disc-shaped wafers between processing equipment,
(1) A plurality of wafer receiving portions that receive the reference surface and the lower surface of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer and hold the wafer in a predetermined posture, and are provided at predetermined intervals along the outer periphery of the wafer placement region. A wafer receiving mechanism comprising a receiver;
(2) A main body part attached to one end side of the robot arm so as to be swingable in the vertical direction via an equalizer mechanism;
A wafer clamp holding means which is attached to the main body and clamps the outer peripheral edge of the wafer to hold the wafer and is provided with a plurality of clamp claws in the outer circumferential direction of the wafer at a required interval;
A plurality of the main body portions are provided corresponding to the reference surfaces of the plurality of receivers, and the corresponding clamp claws are respectively placed at positions corresponding to the reference surfaces when abutting against the corresponding reference surfaces. Positionable positioning means;
A delivery mechanism comprising:
A wafer delivery apparatus comprising:   2. The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there are at least three of the receiving tools.   The receiver is a cylindrical piece having the same shape, the upper end surface is the reference surface, a small-diameter portion on the peripheral surface, a large-diameter portion having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the small-diameter portion, and the small-diameter portion 3. The wafer delivery apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tapered portion that is inclined downward from the lower edge and is connected to the upper edge of the large-diameter portion.   4. The wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving member is provided so as to be adjustable in height in the vertical direction.

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