JPS5943822B2 - Automatic wafer extraction device from cartridge - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic wafer extractor for extracting wafers from a cartridge.

Semiconductor elements, which are the main components of semiconductor devices, are manufactured by subjecting semiconductor wafers to various treatments such as impurity diffusion treatment and photo-etching. Pull out each sheet and perform various processing.

The conventional structure of an automatic wafer extractor that extracts semiconductor wafers from a cartridge is that a cartridge receiver is provided on a part of the outer periphery of a cartridge transport rotary plate that rotates at a low speed, and a cartridge upper and lower plate that moves up and down by the rotation of a screw is installed below it. A wafer transport air bearing is arranged at the same height as the uppermost wafer held in the cartridge receiver, and the cartridge containing a large number of semiconductor wafers is transported by the cartridge transport rotary plate, and the cartridge receiver The semiconductor wafers are pulled out from the cartridge one by one when they reach the height of the air bearing while the cartridge is raised by the upper and lower cartridge plates, and the semiconductor wafers are transported to a predetermined location by the air bearing. There is.

However, in the automatic wafer drawer with the above structure, when drawing out the semiconductor wafer, the cartridge is lifted up and removed from the cartridge receiver before the semiconductor wafer is drawn out, so the cartridge loses support on the side and may fall over. There is a problem that this causes wafer damage.

Additionally, if the cartridge is misaligned when the cartridge is lowered and the cartridge catch is held in the cartridge holder again after the wafer has been pulled out, the cartridge will not be held in the slanted cartridge holder, and the next step will be become unable to do so. As a result, the drawing operation was interrupted and the wafer drawing operation could not be carried out smoothly. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to eliminate the fall of the cartridge when drawing out the wafer, prevent damage to the wafer caused by this, and return the cartridge to a predetermined position in the cartridge holder. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate misalignment of the cartridge when the wafer is removed, so that the cartridge is securely held in the cartridge holder, and to enable smooth wafer extraction work. The gist of the present invention to achieve the above object is to provide a cartridge holder that holds a part of the lower surface and side surfaces of a cartridge that stores a large number of wafers, an opening/closing device that opens and closes the cartridge holder as needed, and a a vertical movement device that holds the cartridge and moves the cartridge up and down on the other part of the lower surface; a mechanism that uses the vertical movement device to lift the cartridge in a down position with a side surface of the cartridge supported by the cartridge receiver; The cartridge has a mechanism for lowering the raised cartridge with the cartridge receiver open and in a prone position by the vertical movement device, and a large number of wafers are removed from the cartridge while the cartridge is moved up and down by the vertical movement device. An automatic wafer extraction device from a cartridge is characterized in that wafers are extracted sequentially. The present invention will be explained in detail below. Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the automatic wafer extraction device from a cartridge according to the present invention. A schematic diagram thereof is shown. In the same figure. 1 is a cartridge transport device consisting of a rotating plate. A large number of cartridge receivers 2 are arranged around the cartridge, which rotates as the cartridge rotates.

This cartridge holder 2 is made up of two corresponding swinging plates, each having a tab 3 protruding inward. A cartridge 6 containing a large number of semiconductor wafers 5 is held in a plurality of equally spaced grooves 4 formed in parallel on the inner wall surface as shown in the figure, and is moved in a fixed direction by intermittent rotation of the cartridge transfer device (rotary plate) 1. It is now being transported to At a predetermined position below the moving cartridge receiver 2, an opening/closing device 7 as shown in FIG. 2 is arranged to open and close the cartridge receiver 2 as necessary. This opening/closing device 7 includes a ratchet wheel 9 and a pawl lever 10 coaxial with a central gear 8, a ratchet pawl 11 attached thereto, and a ratchet wheel 9.
a left idle gear 13a that meshes with the central gear 8, a right idle gear 13b that meshes with the central gear 8, small idle gears 14a and 14b that mesh with the respective idle gears, and small idle gears Curved cams 15a, 15 coaxial with gears 14a, 14b
When the pawl lever 10 is moved up and down in the direction of the arrow, the central gear 8 rotates in a fixed direction, and the left and right curved cams 15a and 15b rotate outward (in different directions) via the idle gear. The lower side of the cartridge holder 2 can be opened by pressing the button. Also. A vertical movement device 16 for vertically moving the cartridge 6 as shown in FIG. 3 is disposed in parallel with the opening/closing device 7 and directly below the cartridge receiver 2. As shown in FIG.

This vertical movement device includes a vertical plate 18 supported by a support rod 17,
A feed nut 19 attached to the other end of the support rod, a guide rod 20 vertically arranged in parallel to support, guide, and move the feed nut 19, a feed screw rod 21, a gear 22 attached to the screw rod 21, and a gear 22 attached to the screw rod 21. It consists of a gear 23 and a motor 24 that are directly attached to a toothed motor 24. Cartridge holder 2
When opened, the motor 24 is rotated to move the cartridge 6 up and down by the upper and lower plates 18. Further, at the position where the opening/closing device 7 and the vertical movement device 16 are arranged, an air bearing is provided near the same height as the lowest semiconductor wafer 5 held in the cartridge receiver 2. A wafer transfer device 25 is arranged.

and. A cartridge 6 containing a large number of semiconductor wafers 5 is held in a down position with its side opening facing outward in a cartridge receiver 2 disposed around a cartridge transport device 1. The cartridge 6 is rotated at a slow speed of about 60 minutes per rotation, and when it reaches the opening/closing device 7 and the cartridge vertical movement device 16, the power cartridge transfer device (rotating plate ) 1 is stopped. The vertical movement device 16 is operated to cause the rotation of the feed screw rod 21 to raise the vertical plate 18.

At this time, the cartridge 6 is being held. Cartridge holder 2 is still closed. Next, as shown in FIG. 4b, the opening/closing device 7 is operated to convert the vertical movement of the claw lever 10 into a rotational movement, and the curved cams 15a and 15b open the cartridge receiver 2, and at the same time, the upper and lower plates 18 are further raised. This supports the cartridge 6 and raises it once. Then, as shown in FIG. 4c, the upper and lower plates 18 are gradually lowered with the cartridge receiver 2 left open until they reach a position at the height of the wafer transfer device 25 consisting of an air bearing, starting from the lowest semiconductor wafer 5. The semiconductor wafers 5 are sequentially pulled out and transported one by one by the wafer transport device 25 to a predetermined location, for example, a photoresist coating device. In this way. All the semiconductor wafers 5 are pulled out from the cartridge 6. the? As shown in FIG. 4d, the empty cartridge 6 is raised by the upper and lower plates 18, and the cartridge receiver 2 is closed at a position slightly higher than the original height.

With the cartridge receiver 2 closed, the upper and lower plates 18 are lowered to return the cartridge 6 to its original position and held by the cartridge receiver 2. After that, the cartridge transport device 1 is operated and deployed. The cartridge 6 from this position is rotatably conveyed from that position to another position, and at the same time, the cartridge 6 containing a large number of semiconductor wafers 5 is rotatably conveyed to this position.
Similarly, the cartridges 6 transferred to the opening/closing device 7 and the cartridge vertical movement device 16 are sequentially moved starting from the lowest semiconductor wafer 5 which has reached the height position of the wafer transfer device 25 as shown in FIGS. 4a-e. The wafers are pulled out and transported one by one to a predetermined location by the wafer transport device 25. In this manner, the cartridge 6 containing the semiconductor wafer 5 is transported and the semiconductor wafer 5 is pulled out from the cartridge 6.

The cartridge 6, which has become a shell, is pulled up from the cartridge transport device 1 during transportation, replaced with a cartridge 6 in which a large number of semiconductor wafers 5 are newly arranged and stored, and is intermittently transported by the cartridge transport device 1, and the semiconductor wafers 5 are continuously transported from the cartridge 6 to the cartridge 6. are drawn out sequentially. According to the present invention as explained above, the initial objective is achieved for the following reasons.

In other words, when drawing out semiconductor wafers, the cartridge is lowered and pulled out, and the cartridge receiver is opened at this time, but the cartridge is always supported at the top of the cartridge receiver to prevent it from falling over, thereby preventing wafer damage caused by the cartridge falling over. It can be prevented by light.

Also. After the semiconductor wafer has been drawn out, the cartridge is raised and returned while being supported by a part (upper part) of the cartridge receiver, so there is no displacement of the cartridge when returning it to the specified position, and the cartridge returns to the cartridge receiver securely. This eliminates work interruptions and enables smooth semiconductor wafer extraction work. moreover,
According to the present invention, since all operations are performed mechanically and by driving, remarkable effects such as reliable operation and high reliability of the automatic wafer extraction device are achieved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The cartridge transport device can use an inline (linear feeding) method instead of a rotational transport method.

Further, the automatic wafer extractor from a cartridge according to the present invention can be used not only for extracting semiconductor wafers, but also for extracting metal wafers and other wafers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which a is a front view, b is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the wafer transfer device, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the main part vertical movement device of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
e is an operational model diagram of the automatic wafer pull-out device of the present invention. 1... Cartridge transport device, 2...
Cartridge holder, 3...claw, 4...
・Groove, 5... Semiconductor wafer, 6...
Cartridge, 7...Switching device, 8...
・Central gear, 9... Ratchet wheel. 10・
...Claw lever, 11...Ratchet claw, 12...Rotation stop claw, 13a...
・Left idle gear. 13b...Right idle gear. 14a, 14b...Small idle gear, 1
5a, 15b...Curved cam, 16...
Vertical movement device, 17...Support rod. 18...
...Upper and lower plates, 19...Feed nut. 20...
...Guide rod, 21...Feed screw rod. 22,2
3...Gear, 24...Motor, 25
...Wafer transfer device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge receiver that holds a part of the lower surface and side surfaces of a cartridge that stores a large number of wafers, an opening/closing device that opens and closes the cartridge receiver as necessary, and other parts of the lower surface of the cartridge that hold the cartridge, a vertical movement device for vertically moving the cartridge; a mechanism for raising the cartridge by the vertical movement device while the side surface of the cartridge is supported by the cartridge receiver; and a mechanism for raising the cartridge with the cartridge receiver open. an automatic wafer extracting device from a cartridge, comprising a mechanism for lowering the wafer by the vertical moving device, and sequentially pulling out a large number of wafers from the cartridge while moving the cartridge up and down by the vertical moving device. .