JP2961114B2 - Supply and recovery method of raw material container for single crystal silicon pulling machine and transport device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

Large BACKGROUND OF THE invention, which is used in large-diameter single crystal silicon ingot pulling machine in accordance with the CZ method
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for automatically supplying and recovering a raw material stored in a container such as a crucible made of carbon or quartz and a crucible shaft of a single crystal silicon pulling machine can be moved up and down. A method for supplying and recovering a raw material container for a single crystal silicon pulling machine, which enables automatic supply and recovery by using a transfer device equipped with a position indexing mechanism and position correction of the raw material container, and It relates to a transport device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-225596, a single crystal silicon ingot pulling machine is rotatably held by fitting a bottom portion of a raw material container to an upright crucible shaft. In order to heat the raw material container mounted on the raw material container as uniformly as possible, it has a configuration that has a heating device that covers and heats other than the opening of the raw material container. It grows a single crystal by pulling it while rotating it,
The heating melting and pulling are performed in a heating vessel, and the heating vessel is usually divided near the upper surface of the raw material vessel and the upper part on the pulling side is moved by various holding mechanisms to take out the single crystal ingot that has been pulled. Although it is configured as possible, the fixed side in which the raw material container is stored is devised so as to make the outer diameter as small as possible in order to reduce the moving distance on the upper side. That is, there is only an opening having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the raw material container on the upper surface of the heating container which is the apparatus main body. In addition, raw material containers such as carbon crucibles and quartz crucibles used in the pulling machine are vulnerable to impacts and the like due to their materials, and are easily damaged, so that they are mounted on a crucible shaft installed in the main body or collected. The supply and recovery of the raw material containers were not mechanized, and depended only on humans.

[0003] That is, when the raw material container is mounted on the pulling machine, the container is not mounted as it is, but because the opening is small, a crucible for storing silicon and an assembling type protective container for storing and protecting the silicon are used. In general, a bottom plate of a protective container is mounted on a crucible shaft, and, for example, three divided protective containers are sequentially placed and integrated on the bottom plate. Thereafter, a crucible containing silicon is inserted into the protective container.

[0004]

However, the recent trend is that with the increase in the size of single crystal silicon ingots, the size of carbon and quartz crucible parts used has been increasing, and the total weight is about 150 kg. Some of the above-mentioned three-part type single parts also exceed 30 kg, so that handling by hand is dangerous and poses a safety problem. In addition, since the crucible shaft is not visible from the outside when mounting or collecting the raw material container, and the above-mentioned assembly and disassembly are involved, even a skilled worker requires about 1 to 2 hours to work, and the productivity is high. There is also a problem of deterioration. Furthermore, the improvement of the cleanliness inside the furnace has become indispensable due to the recent high quality.However, the supply and recovery of the raw material containers is not mechanized and requires a long time, so that dust contamination during manual mounting is difficult. It is a big problem.

The present invention relates to a single crystal silicon ingot.
In a single crystal silicon ingot pulling apparatus according to size and furnace CZ method cleanliness improvement is required, it is used
Supply and collection of raw material containers for single crystal silicon pulling machines that can automatically supply and collect raw material containers such as carbon or quartz crucibles weighing 150 kg or more while storing a large amount of raw materials It is intended to provide a method and its transport device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a bottom portion of a raw material container is fitted to an upright crucible shaft, the container itself is held rotatably , and the raw material container mounted on the shaft is removed. Has a heating device for heating in a heating vessel, and has a single crystal larger in diameter than molten silicon
In a single crystal silicon pulling machine for pulling silicon upward, a rotatable crucible shaft is mounted above an open heating vessel.
It increased to wear the source container is exposed, and the heating vessel
A fork-like jig for holding a raw material container is provided on a bogie having a crucible shaft elevating mechanism capable of descending to a fixed position and a traveling mechanism capable of self-propelling on a floor provided near the upper end of the heating container. The container holding mechanism that supports the tool so that it can move in the horizontal direction is placed, and the container holding mechanism is provided with a fork-shaped jig position control unit and a crucible shaft axis indexing unit, and the crucible shaft and the raw material container are fitted. Using a transfer device that detects the amount of deviation from the location and that can correct the amount of deviation, stops the transfer device near the crucible shaft that is raised to the upper end of the heating container when supplying or collecting the raw material container, and forks Jig position control hand
The axial position indexing means of the step and the crucible axis, while moving the jig performs indexing axial position of the crucible axis, whether or material container put material container placed on the fork-shaped jig to a crucible axis A method for supplying and recovering a raw material container for a single crystal silicon pulling machine, characterized in that the raw material container is detached from a crucible shaft.

Further, the present invention provides a single crystal silicon pulling machine.
A container holding mechanism for supporting a fork-shaped jig for holding a material container so as to be freely movable in a horizontal direction is mounted on a carriage provided with a self-propelled traveling mechanism used in the method for supplying and collecting material containers for use. The container holding mechanism is provided with a fork-shaped jig position control means and a crucible shaft position indexing means,
A material crystal transfer device for a single crystal silicon pulling machine, characterized in that a shift amount between a crucible shaft and a fitting portion of the raw material container is detected and the shift amount can be corrected. further,
According to the present invention, there is provided a single crystal silicon pulling machine according to the above structure, wherein a laser displacement sensor which irradiates a laser to the shaft to the shaft position determining means and allocates a shaft center based on a reflected light arrival time is used. We also propose a transport device for raw material containers. Furthermore, the present invention proposes a single crystal silicon pulling machine material transfer device, wherein a pair of laser displacement sensors are arranged on the inner facing surface of the fork-shaped jig in the above configuration. I do.

In the present invention, the carriage of the transfer device includes:
A drive source that is as clean as possible is desirable.For example, it has a self-propelled configuration equipped with a traveling mechanism that employs a battery-driven electric motor, and can be operated by an operator according to the situation, in a semi-automatic mode, or on a floor in advance. It is desirable that a configuration such as enabling a switching operation such as a full-automatic mode for reading and driving the floor mark is performed.

In the present invention, the container holding mechanism to be mounted on the carriage of the transfer device has a fork-like jig for holding the raw material container and moves the fork-like jig at least in the horizontal direction and, if necessary, in the vertical direction. The fork-shaped jig has an exchange-type jig or a structure in which the width of a pair of fork members is made variable to appropriately hold the material container according to the outer diameter of the container. Any known structure can be used for the mechanical mechanism for moving the jig in the X, Y, and Z axes. For example, a structure using a rail-type linear guide can be used. Also,
The position control means of the fork-shaped jig is appropriately selected according to a mechanical mechanism for supporting the adopted fork-shaped jig so as to be movable in the horizontal and vertical directions. For example, X, Y, Z
A configuration in which a motor dedicated to each axial direction of a rail-type linear guide that moves in three axial directions can be appropriately adopted.

[0010] The means for indexing the crucible axis and the means for detecting the displacement between the crucible axis and the place where the material container is fitted include, for example, a laser displacement sensor for indexing the axis position on a fork-shaped jig. By disposing and detecting the crucible axis position as the origin, the fork-shaped jig is moved for indexing the axis position of the crucible shaft, and at the same time, the deviation between the center point of the container on the fork-shaped jig and the origin, that is, Means for controlling the position of the fork-shaped jig to the origin while detecting the displacement between the crucible shaft and the fitting position of the raw material container can be adopted.

[0011]

The present invention relates to a single crystal silicon ingot to be pulled.
The crucible shaft of the single crystal silicon pulling machine is raised and lowered until the crucible shaft of the single crystal silicon pulling machine is exposed in order to automatically supply and recover the raw material container with the raw material container, which has increased in size and weight increased with the increase in size, It is characterized by raising the crucible shaft at the time of supply and recovery, using the crucible shaft axis indexing means provided in the transport device stopped near the lifting machine, By moving the fork-shaped jig by the position control means while detecting the deviation from the fitting position of the raw material container, the raw material container placed on the fork-shaped jig is placed on the crucible shaft or the raw material container is moved to the crucible shaft. Can be removed from.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus for transferring a raw material container for a single crystal silicon pulling machine according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a carriage 1 having a tricycle structure, a one-wheel unit 2 having a steering operation mechanism, and another two-wheel unit.
A traveling mechanism for driving the wheel unit 3 with a motor 4 using a battery is provided. Depending on the situation, a switching operation between a semi-automatic operation by a worker and a fully automatic operation by a floor mark reading operation is enabled. The container holding mechanism 5 placed on the trolley 1 has a weight (about 150 kg) of the raw material container 10 and the like.
A table 7 that is made of a strength member that can withstand the above, for example, stainless steel, is horizontally moved with a pair of frame rails 6 also serving as a bogie frame as tracks, and is disposed on the table 7 in a direction orthogonal to the frame rails 6. The table 7 and the fork-like jig 9 are provided below the table 6 and the fork-like jig 9 on a screw shaft arranged between the rails. The nut member is screwed, and the screw shaft is rotated by an electric motor or a handle. The motor for driving the screw shaft is connected to a computer for controlling the position of the fork-shaped jig (not shown), the traveling control of the bogie, and the crucible shaft position indexing, which will be described later.

A portion of the fork-shaped jig 9 which comes into contact with the raw material container 10 is made of a resin material, for example, Teflon, so that breakage at the time of impact can be prevented. The resin member 9a also serves to position the raw material container 10, and when the size or the shape of the container is changed, the resin member 9a can be replaced. Further, in the case of vibration during transportation or an external impact, the outer peripheral portion of the upper portion of the container 10 can be held by the guide ring 13 for preventing lateral displacement and falling of the container, and can be stored when not in use. ing.

The raw material container is generally set on a crucible shaft 12 in a heating container 11 of a pulling machine, and the positioning is determined by the fitting of the shaft and the container.
The crucible shaft 12 can be moved up and down so that the upper end is exposed to a predetermined height from the upper surface of the heating vessel 11. Therefore crucible shaft
Reference numeral 12 denotes a shaft rotating mechanism for rotating the material container to be mounted.
And the elevating mechanism described above. In this transport device, the position of the raw material container is determined by the holding mechanism,
Once the position of the crucible shaft 12 is determined, a mechanism for moving the container core on the shaft center, that is, the position of the fork-shaped jig 9 may be controlled. As a shaft position indexing mechanism, as shown in FIG. 3A, a laser displacement of a method in which a laser is applied to a shaft, a time required for reflection and return is calculated, and a shaft center is assigned, as shown in FIG. The sensor 14 is used, and in the front-rear indexing, the maximum diameter portion of the shaft is allocated on the light emitting side / light receiving side, and the optical fiber type sensors 15a and 15b which find the shaft 12 core from the preset shaft diameter are used. The position of the crucible shaft 12 is detected. When controlling the above computer,
A function of displaying the position detected by each of the sensors 14, 15a, and 15b on a separate display unit and recognizing an amount of deviation from a preset numerical value (appropriate fitting value between the shaft and the container);
After the shaft position is determined, the fork-shaped jig 9 on which the raw material container 10 is placed is moved and transported to the set value.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, each of the detection sensors 14, 15a, and 15 is determined in advance in accordance with the outer diameter of the crucible shaft 12.
b, the position of attachment to the fork-shaped jig 9 is set, the point where the axis and the container coincide is taken as the origin of the sensor, and the display unit is adjusted in accordance with the origin. Since the centers have already been adjusted to match, the movement is controlled manually or automatically so that the container center is aligned with the axis, that is, to correct the amount of displacement of the display unit. Therefore, the transfer device according to the present invention is composed of the crucible shaft 12 and the raw material container 10.
By moving the fork-like jig 9 by the position control means while detecting the deviation from the fitting position of the material, the raw material container 10 placed on the fork-like jig 9 is placed on the crucible shaft 12 or the raw material container 10 is moved. Can be removed from the crucible shaft 12.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the method for supplying and recovering a raw material container using the apparatus for transporting a raw material container for a single crystal silicon pulling machine can cope with an increase in the size and weight of the raw material container. Thus, the burden on the worker is greatly reduced. Also, the present invention relates to a single crystal silicon pulling machine.
The crucible shaft can be moved up and down until it is exposed above the device, and
By using a transfer device with a specific control device,
Achieved mechanization and automation that were not possible before ,
The amount of dust generated can be significantly reduced, dust can be prevented from being manually attached, and productivity can be improved by handling high-temperature containers, and labor can be saved by automation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory top view showing a configuration of a transport device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory front view showing the configuration of the transfer device according to the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views illustrating a shaft position indexing mechanism according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 cart 2 one wheel 3 two wheel 4 motor 5 container holding mechanism 6 frame rail 7 table 8 rail 9 fork jig 9a resin member 10 raw material container 11 heating container 12 crucible shaft 13 guide ring 14 laser displacement sensor 15a, 15b Optical fiber sensor

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heating device that fits the bottom of a raw material container to an upright crucible shaft, holds the container itself rotatably , and heats the raw material container mounted on the shaft in a heating container, In a single crystal silicon pulling machine that pulls single crystal silicon larger in diameter than molten silicon, the rotatable crucible shaft is raised until the raw material container mounted above the open heating container is exposed , and the temperature inside the heating container is kept constant. Crucible that can be lowered to the position
A fork-shaped jig for holding the raw material container can be moved horizontally in a bogie equipped with a shaft elevating mechanism and a traveling mechanism capable of self-running on the floor provided near the upper end of the heating container. The container holding mechanism to be supported is placed, and the container holding mechanism is provided with a fork-shaped jig position control unit and a shaft position indexing unit for the crucible shaft, and detects a shift amount between the crucible shaft and the fitting position of the raw material container. and, using the transfer device without enabling correct the shift amount, and the conveying device in the vicinity of the crucible shaft is raised to the heating vessel upper end when supplying or recovering the raw material container is stopped off
The position control means of the oak-shaped jig and the axis position indexer of the crucible axis
The stage performs indexing axial position of the crucible axis while moving the jig, and wherein the removing the material container placed on the fork-shaped jig or the source container placed in the crucible axis of the crucible shaft A method for supplying and recovering a raw material container for a single crystal silicon pulling machine. 2. A container holding mechanism for supporting a fork-shaped jig for holding a material container so as to be freely movable in a horizontal direction is mounted on a carriage having a self-propelled traveling mechanism. to providing a shaft position indexing means of the position control means and the crucible axis of the fork-shaped jig, characterized in that the deviation between the locations fit of the crucible shaft and the raw material container without a detectable claims
Item 1. A conveying device for a raw material container for a single crystal silicon pulling machine according to item 1 . 3. A single crystal silicon pull-up according to claim 2, wherein a laser type displacement sensor is used for irradiating a laser to the shaft for the shaft position determining means and allocating a shaft center based on the arrival time of the reflected light. Equipment for transporting raw material containers. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a pair of laser displacement sensors are arranged on the inner facing surface of the fork-shaped jig.