JP5657376B2 - Substrate transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus applied to a vacuum processing apparatus or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus applied to a vacuum apparatus that performs vacuum processing using a large substrate.

Conventionally, with respect to a substrate vacuum transfer apparatus applied to a vacuum processing apparatus or the like, a transfer apparatus is known in which a plurality of chambers are provided on a straight line and a substrate held on a tray is transferred so as to penetrate the plurality of chambers. (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In Patent Document 1, the substrate is transported more by moving the vertical tray holding the substrate on both sides by using the transport unit upper rack / pinion mechanism. The tray
Patent Document 2 describes that when a substrate is placed on a tray, a horizontal substrate is placed on a vertical tray in the atmosphere, and then the tray holding the substrate is transported and processed in a vacuum processing chamber. Yes.

  By the way, if the rack of the carriage does not mesh with the pinion in the rack / pinion, it causes a shock of the substrate. Therefore, Patent Document 3 discloses a transport device that minimizes the impact when the rack and the pinion are engaged by reducing the moving speed of the carriage when the pinion and the rack are engaged with each other.

JP 2010-34586 A JP 2009-146932 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-158835

Substrates processed by the substrate processing apparatus are becoming larger year by year. For example, liquid crystal panels, solar cell substrates, and the like have become necessary to process substrates with a size of about 2 square meters.
As the size of the apparatus increases, it becomes more difficult to make adjustments that improve straightness at the time of conveyance adjustment due to the fact that components are loaded and warped.

Conventionally, in a transfer apparatus that transfers a substrate held on a tray so as to pass through a plurality of chambers, adjustment of the transfer unit has been performed based on a normal processing chamber.
Therefore, when the distance from the processing chamber to the substrate transfer section through the load lock chamber is increased, the angular deviation of each transport unit is integrated. On the other hand, it is necessary to place the substrate from both sides in order to place it on a tray that holds the substrate on both sides. For this reason, the angle of the transfer unit must be adjusted to a position where the substrate can be appropriately transferred during substrate transfer.
However, when the substrate is transported, it must have straightness with the transport unit adjusted from the processing chamber as described above.
Since the substrate is enlarged, the influence of the angle deviation is large, and even if the speed of the carriage is reduced as in Patent Document 3, the carriage may not be transported at the other end.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a substrate transport that can be smoothly transferred and transported to the transport unit when the tray is transported from the tray transport unit that transfers the substrate to the tray to the transport unit. An object is to provide an apparatus.

A substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate transfer unit having a substrate stage on which a substrate for transfer to the tray is arranged in a substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate by transferring a tray holding a substrate. A transport unit that transports a tray from the substrate transfer unit to the load lock chamber in a horizontal direction, a first tray transport unit disposed in the substrate transfer unit, and a second tray disposed in the transport unit A rotation axis that includes a transport unit and a third tray transport unit, and a control unit that controls the substrate transport, and the first tray transport unit can adjust an angle of the transport direction of the tray within a horizontal plane. By rotating about the rotation axis, the first position, the second position, and the third position stored in advance in the control means, First A ray conveyance unit adjustable angle, wherein, when transferring the substrate to the tray by the rotating the first tray conveying unit to the first position, the first tray When transporting a tray from the transport unit to the second tray transport unit, the first tray transport unit is rotated to the second position, and the third tray transport is performed from the first tray transport unit. When transporting the tray to the unit, the first tray transport unit is rotated to the third position.

According to the present invention, even when the apparatus is increased in size, it is possible to suppress the straight line start of the roller for carrying the tray at an appropriate level. Even in this state, troubles in carrying the tray, damage to the substrate, Occurrence of serious problems such as damage can be eliminated and the operating rate is improved.
Further, the adjustment cost and the member cost can be reduced, and a cheaper device can be provided even if the size is increased.

It is the schematic of the film-forming apparatus using the tray conveyance unit which concerns on this invention. It is one aspect | mode of the tray conveyance unit which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the tray transport unit in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the tray transport unit of FIG. 2 as viewed from the front. It is a schematic diagram explaining the position of a tray conveyance unit. It is another example of a tray conveyance unit. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of a drive unit on a rotating base plate in the tray transport unit of FIG. 6. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state in which the drive part of FIG. 9 was provided on the rotation base plate. It is the upper surface schematic of the modification of a drive part. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the drive unit of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a top schematic view showing a state in which the direction of the tray transport unit is changed in the drive unit of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a top schematic view showing a state in which the direction of the tray transport unit is changed in the drive unit of FIG. 5.

(Vacuum processing equipment)
A vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention.

The substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes a processing chamber 1, a transfer chamber 2 for transferring a substrate to the processing chamber 1, and a load lock chamber 3. A transfer unit 6 for attaching and detaching the substrate 10 to and from the tray 12 is provided on the atmosphere side of the load lock chambers 3 and 4. Between the transfer unit 6 and the load lock chambers 3 and 4, a slide unit 5 is provided for transferring the substrate from the transfer unit 6 to the load lock chambers 3 and 4.

  A cassette unit 8 that holds the substrate 10 is provided on the atmosphere side. Between the transfer unit 6 and the cassette unit 8, a robot 7 for transferring the substrate of the cassette unit 8 to the transfer unit 6 is provided.

  The transfer unit 6 is provided with a substrate stage 11 and a tray transport unit 13 having an angle adjustment function. The tray transport unit 13 is provided with a mechanism for adjusting the angle. Further, the transfer unit 6 includes a transfer mechanism 6 a for holding the substrate placed on the substrate stages 11 a and 11 b on the tray 12 when the tray 12 is positioned at a predetermined position on the tray transport unit 13. Is provided.

The slide unit 5 is provided with tray transport units 14a and 14b having a slide mechanism. The tray transport units 14a and 14b are adapted to cope with the difference in the position of the load lock chambers 3 and 4 which are the entrances of the vacuum chambers and the Y-axis direction of the tray transport units 14a and 14b (the transport direction of the tray 12). It is configured to be slidable in the Y-axis direction.
In this aspect, two tray transport units 14 are provided, but the number of tray transport units 14 is not limited to two. It is preferable to provide a plurality of tray transport units 14 in order to improve tact.
The load lock chamber 3 is provided with a tray transport unit 15, and the load lock chamber 4 is provided with a tray transport unit 16.

In the transfer chamber 2, tray transfer units 17a and 17b provided with a slide mechanism 6a are provided. The tray transport unit 17 is configured to be slidable in the Y-axis direction so as to cope with the difference in position from the load lock chambers 3 and 4.
In this aspect, two tray transport units 14 are provided, but the number of tray transport units 14 is not limited to two. It is preferable to provide a plurality of tray transport units 14 in order to improve tact.

  The processing chamber 1 is provided with a tray transport unit 18 and processing means such as sputtering (not shown).

Next, a substrate transfer method using the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention will be described.
(Position setting)
First, the first position, the second position, and the third position are taught to the control means in advance by the tray transport unit 13 of the transfer unit 6 by the following method.
Each position will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the angle of the tray transport unit 13 is adjusted at each position.

(1) First position The first position is a position where the substrate 10 of the substrate stages 11a and 11 is appropriately transferred to the tray 12 stationary at a predetermined position on the tray transport unit 13 (FIG. 5A). reference). The angle of the tray transport unit 13 is adjusted so that the tray transport unit 13 is in the first position. This position is stored in the control means as the first position.
In this position, it is preferable that the tray transport unit 13 is in parallel with each of the substrate stages 11a and 11b.

(2) Second position The second position is a position where the tray transport unit 13 is angle-adjusted so that the tray can be appropriately transported from the tray transport unit 13a to the tray transport unit 14a (see FIG. 5B). .
If the substrate is enlarged, the tray is enlarged and the tray transport unit 14 is also enlarged. For this reason, the tray transport units provided in the respective chambers may not be perfectly aligned. This is because the size of the tray 12 is increased and the size of the tray transport unit is increased, so that even if the deviation is a small angle at one end, the deviation is increased at the other end.
For this reason, the tray transport unit 14a may not have a straight-rolling property with the tray transport unit 13 in some cases. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the angle of the tray transport unit 14a so as to have straightness.
In a state where the tray transport unit 14a is slid in the Y-axis direction (direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the tray 12) to the position of the tray transport unit 13, the tray transport unit 13 and the tray transport unit 14a have a roller straightness. The angle of the tray transport unit 13 is adjusted. This position is stored in the control means as the second position.

(3) Third position A position in which the tray transport unit 13 is angle-adjusted so as to have a straight-roller property with respect to the tray transport unit 14b is defined as a third position (see FIG. 5C).
In a state where the tray transport unit 14b is slid in the Y-axis direction to the position of the tray transport unit 13, the angle of the tray transport unit 13 is adjusted so that the tray transport unit 13 and the tray transport unit 14b have straightness of rollers. This position and the third position are stored in the control means.

(Substrate transport method)
A substrate transfer method using the transfer apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
The substrates 10 held horizontally in the cassette unit 8 are taken out one by one by the robot 7 and placed on the substrate stages 11 a and 11 a of the transfer unit 6. The substrate 10 placed on the substrate stages 11a and 11b is moved from the substrate stage 11 to the tray 12 by moving the substrate from the horizontal state to the vertical state by the transfer mechanism 6a. Before the substrate 10 is transferred from the stages 11a and 11b to the tray 12, the angle of the tray transport unit 13 is adjusted to the first position.

In order to eliminate damage to the substrate, instead of directly holding the substrate by the substrate transfer unit, a substrate holder capable of holding the substrate may be used and the substrate holder may be placed on the tray.
The tray 12 holding the substrate 10 is transferred from the tray transfer unit 13 to the tray transfer unit 14a provided in the slide unit by a rack / pinion mechanism. Before starting the transfer, the tray transport unit 13 is adjusted to the second position by the control means, and the tray transport unit 14a slides to the position of the tray transport unit 13 in the Y-axis direction.

  The tray transfer unit 14a slides to the position of the load lock chamber 3, and the door valve 9a provided between the load lock chamber 3 and the slide unit 5 is opened, and is provided in the load lock chamber 3 that is in an atmospheric pressure state. The tray 12 holding the substrate is transferred to the tray transport unit 15.

The door valve 9a is closed, and the load lock chamber 3 is exhausted by an exhaust means (not shown).
After exhausting the load lock chamber 3, the slit valve 9b provided between the transfer chamber 2 and the processing chamber 1 is opened, and the tray 12 holding the substrate 10 is transferred from the tray transfer unit 15 to the tray transfer unit 17a. Is done. Prior to the start of transfer, the tray transport unit 17a slides in the Y-axis direction so as to come to a position where the tray transport unit 15 and the roller linearly move.
The tray 12 transported to the transport chamber 2 is transferred from the tray transport unit 17a to the tray transport unit 18 of the processing chamber 1.

In the processing chamber 1, after the process for the substrate 1 is completed, the substrate 10 is transferred to the cassette unit through the reverse path.
That is, first, the tray 12 holding the processed substrate 1 is transported from the tray transport unit 18 to the tray transport unit 17b.

The slit valve 9b between the load lock chamber 4 in a vacuum state is opened, and the tray 12 holding the processed substrate is transferred from the tray transfer unit 17b to the tray transfer unit 16. Thereafter, the slit valve 9b is closed, and the internal pressure of the load lock chamber 4 is returned to atmospheric pressure by a vent mechanism (not shown) provided in the load lock chamber 4.
After the load lock chamber 4 is at atmospheric pressure, the door valve 9a is opened.
By the slide mechanism of the tray transport unit 14b, the transport lines of the tray transport unit 16 and the tray transport unit 14b are aligned, and the tray 12 holding the processed substrate is transported to the tray transport unit 14b.
The tray transport unit 13 is aligned with the transport line of the tray transport unit 13 by the slide mechanism of the tray transport unit 14 b, and the tray 12 is transported to the tray transport unit 13. Before being transported, the tray transport unit is adjusted to the third position by the control means.

The processed substrate held in the tray transport unit 13 is transferred to the substrate stages 11a and 11b by the transfer mechanism 6a, and then stored in a predetermined position of the cassette by the robot 7.
In the above example, the description has been made focusing on one tray, but a plurality of trays are successively sent out and collected in the vacuum transfer device.
(Transfer unit tray transfer unit)
(First aspect)

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, an aspect of the tray transport unit 13 that can adjust the angle used in the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a state in which the tray is conveyed to the tray conveyance unit, as viewed from the side, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram as viewed from the top. FIG. 4 is a schematic view seen from the front. In FIG. 3, parts hidden under the base plate 26 are omitted.

The tray transport unit 13 according to the present invention includes a base plate 26, a pinion 22, and a tray transport drive source 27 fixed to the base plate 26. The tray conveyance drive source 27 is connected to the pinion side so as to enable conveyance by rack / pinion, and is configured to rotate the pinion 22.
Further, the base plate 26 is provided with a roller 23 for holding and restraining the tray 12.

The tray 12 is configured to hold the substrate 10 on both sides as shown in FIG. The tray 12 is provided with a rail 24 to be engaged with the roller 23 and a rack 25 to be engaged with the pinion 22.
The connection between the roller 23 and the rail 24 may be reversed.

A rotating base plate 21 is provided above the base plate 26 of the tray transport unit 13. The base plate 26 is provided with a central axis 28 that serves as a rotation center of the rotary base plate 21. The central axis 28 is provided at a central position relative to the substrate transfer arm. A rotating power source (motor) 29 for rotating a rotating shaft 34 having a gear 35 fixed to the shaft tip is fixed to the rotating base plate 26. Further, the rotating base plate 26 is provided with a guide 30 for holding the base plate 26 of the tray transport unit 13.
A bearing holder that holds the central shaft 28 is disposed on the base plate 26. A gear 33 is fixed to the outer periphery of the bearing holder 31.

  In the bearing holder 31, the center 28 is held by a bearing 32. A gear 35 provided at the tip of the rotating shaft 34 is disposed so as to mesh with the gear 33 of the bearing holder 31.

  A method for adjusting the angle of the tray transport mechanism will be described.

By rotating the rotation shaft 34 by a rotation power source (motor) 29, the gear 35 provided at the tip of the rotation shaft 34 rotates, and the gear 33 of the bearing holder rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the gear 35. As a result, the bearing holder 31 to which the gear 33 is fixed rotates, and the rotating base plate 21 to which the bearing holder 31 is fixed also rotates.
Thereby, the rotation base plate 21 can rotate the tray transport mechanism 13 around the rotation shaft 28 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2 or in the opposite direction.
(Second aspect)

Other modes for adjusting the angle of the tray transport unit will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the tray 2 is placed on the tray transport unit 13 according to this aspect. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the driving unit is provided on the rotating base plate 21.
This mode is an example in which the drive unit is provided at the end of the tray transport unit in the first mode.
A ball screw 43 having a gear is fixed to an end portion of the rotating base plate 21 by a fixing member 44. A drive source (motor) that rotates the gear 42 is fixed to the base plate 26. By rotating the gear 42, the gear of the ball screw 43 rotates and the rotating base plate rotates.

As a modification of the above example, it is possible to eliminate the bearing at the center of rotation and use an R guide as a guide for holding the rotating base plate 26.
The tray conveyance unit of this aspect can reduce the size of the power source and reduce the cost. This is because the drive unit can be moved with less power by providing the drive unit at a position away from the center of rotation. Further, this is because the arc at the outermost point of the tray transport unit is closer to a straight line, and a linear drive mechanism can be used.
The effect can be obtained more in a large-sized substrate transfer apparatus.

A further another mode for adjusting the angle of the tray transport unit will be described with reference to FIGS.
This aspect is an example in which the linear drive mechanism is replaced with cylinder drive in the second aspect.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic top view showing a position where the linear drive mechanism of this embodiment is provided on the base plate 26. FIG. 9 is a schematic top view showing a state in which the drive mechanism of this aspect is provided on the base plate 26. 10 is a schematic side view of FIG. 9 viewed from the direction A. FIG.

The drive mechanism of this aspect is provided in the portion of the dotted frame 51 at the end of the base plate 26 (FIG. 8). On the base plate 26, a slide plate 55 is slidable on the LM guide 54 on the LM guide 54 to which the third stopper pin 58, the LM guide 54, and the second cylinder 53 are fixed. The first stopper pin 56, the second stopper pin 57, and the first cylinder 52 are fixed on the slide plate 55 on which the slide plate 55 can be directly moved by the expansion and contraction of the second cylinder 53. ing. A main stopper block 59 is connected to the tip of the first cylinder 52, and the main stopper block can be moved linearly by the expansion and contraction of the first cylinder 52.

(How to change position)
Next, a method for changing the position of the tray transport unit 13 of the transfer unit 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.
11 is a schematic diagram showing the state of the second position in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the state of the third position in FIG.

FIG. 10 shows an initial state, that is, a state where the tray transport unit 13 is operated to the first position.
Control is performed so that the first cylinder 52 is extended and the second cylinder 53 is contracted. The main stopper block 59 moved by the first cylinder 52 is configured to be restrained by a second stopper pin 57. The slide plate 55 moved by the second cylinder 53 is configured to be restrained in position at the stroke end of the second cylinder 53. Therefore, the position can be fixed.

Next, FIG. 11 shows a state in which the tray transport unit 13 is operated from the first position to the CW side. In FIG. 11, the alternate long and short dash line indicates the position of the main stopper block 58 in the state of FIG.
When the tray transport unit 13 is operated from the above position to the second position, the first cylinder 52 is changed from the extended state to the contracted state. As a result, the tray transport unit 13 can rotate about the central axis 28 toward the CW (clockwise) side, and the position can be changed to the second position.
The main stopper block 59 moved in the direction of the arrow from the position of the one-dot dotted line by the first cylinder 52 at this time is configured to be restrained by the first stopper pin 57. Fixing becomes possible.

  Conversely, when the substrate transfer unit tray transport unit 13 is rotated from the first position to the CCW (counterclockwise) side, the second cylinder 53 is rotated from the contracted state to the extended state. be able to. Since the slide plate 55 moved by the second cylinder 53 at this time is configured to be restrained by the third stopper pin 58, the position can be fixed.

By adjusting the three stopper pins, it is possible to rotate and fix the substrate transfer unit tray transport unit to a desired position on the CW side and the CCW side.
In this aspect, in the tray transport unit of the second aspect, the three positions in the case described above can be operated by a linear motion, so that further cost reduction can be achieved.

1 processing chamber 2 transfer chamber 3 load lock chamber 4 load lock chamber 5 slide unit 6 transfer unit 7 loader robot 8 cassette unit 9 gate valve 10 substrate 11 substrate stage 12 tray 13 tray transfer unit 14 of transfer unit Second tray transport unit 15 Tray transport unit 16 in load lock chamber 16 Tray transport unit 17 in transport chamber Tray transport unit 21 in processing chamber 21 Base plate 22 Pinion 23 Roller 24 Rail 25 Rack 26 Rotating base plate 27 Tray transport drive source 28 Central shaft 29 Rotational power source 30 Guide 31 Bearing holder 32 Bearing 33 Gear 34 Rotating shaft 35 Gear 41 Drive source 42 Gear 43 Ball screw 52 First cylinder 53 Second cylinder 54 ML guide 55 Slide play 56 first stopper pin 57 second stopper pin 58 third stopper pin 59 main stopper block

Claims (2)

In the substrate transfer apparatus for transferring the substrate by transferring the tray holding the substrate,
A substrate transfer unit having a substrate stage on which a substrate to be transferred to the tray is disposed, a transfer unit for horizontally transferring the tray from the substrate transfer unit to the load lock chamber, and the substrate transfer unit. A first tray transport unit disposed, a second tray transport unit and a third tray transport unit disposed in the transport section, and a control means for controlling the substrate transport,
The first tray transport unit has a rotating shaft capable of adjusting the angle of the transport direction of the tray within a horizontal plane, and is stored in the control means in advance by rotating around the rotating shaft. The angle of the first tray transport unit can be adjusted to any one of the first position, the second position, and the third position,
The control means rotates the first tray transport unit to the first position when transferring the substrate to the tray, and the second tray transport unit is moved from the first tray transport unit to the first position. When transporting the tray to the second tray, the first tray transport unit is rotated to the second position, and when transporting the tray from the first tray transport unit to the third tray transport unit, A substrate transfer apparatus, wherein the first tray transfer unit is rotated to the third position. The first position is a position in which the first tray transport unit is angle-adjusted so that the tray stationary at a predetermined position of the first tray transport unit and the substrate stage are in a parallel state,
The second position is a position whose angle is adjusted so that the first tray transport unit and the second tray transport unit are arranged in a straight line,
2. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third position is a position whose angle is adjusted so that the first tray transfer unit and the third tray transfer unit are aligned in a straight line. .