JPH071783B2 - Automatic transport device for flat objects - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plate-shaped object, a flat container or the like in order to automatically or semi-automatically inspect and manufacture a plate-shaped object such as a wafer or a stored object in the flat container. The present invention relates to an automatic transfer device for transferring flat objects.

(Background of the Invention) FIG. 13 is a schematic view of an example of an automatic wafer transfer device used in a conventional wafer appearance inspection device.

In the cassette 81 in which the wafer accommodating portions are arranged side by side in the up-down direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface), the wafer accommodating portions are sequentially positioned at predetermined positions by a first cassette placing device (not shown). One end of the pair of belts 84 is located at a predetermined position for pulling out and transporting the wafer in the wafer storage unit at the above-mentioned predetermined position from the cassette 81, and the other end thereof is located at a predetermined position of the second cassette 82 facing the cassette 81. Located in position. A pair of belts
Each of 84 is formed in a ring shape so as to be integrally rotated by left and right pulleys (not shown), and one of the pulleys is rotationally controlled by a motor. A third cassette 83 is arranged in juxtaposition with the second cassette 82, a pair of belts 85 is provided orthogonally to the pair of belts 84, and a pair of belts 86 orthogonal to the belt 84 is a predetermined portion of the third cassette 83. It is provided so that one end is located at the position. An alignment device 87 is provided in the middle of the pair of belts 84, and a delivery arm 88 is provided for delivering the wafer between the alignment device 87 and a microscope stage (not shown). Wafer detectors T ₁ and T ₂ are arranged at the intersections of the pair of belts 84 and the pair of belts 85 and at the intersections of the pair of belts 85 and the pair of belts 86. The detectors T ₁ and T ₂ detect that the wafer has come upward,
A detection signal is input to a control device (not shown). The control device uses the operation procedure command signal and the detection signal to detect the belts 84, 85,
It controls the rotation drive of 86, and also controls the operations of the alignment device 84 and the delivery arm 88.

As a normal usage, the cassette 81 is used for the sender (for storing the wafer before processing) and the cassettes 82 and 83 are used for the receiver (for storing the wafer after processing). Wafer cassette 81
→ conveyor belt 84 → alignment device 87 → delivery device 88 → microscope stage (not shown) delivery device 88 → alignment device 87
→ Stored in the cassette 82 via the conveyor belt 84, or in the cassette 83 via the conveyor belts 84, 85, 86.

However, in the case where three cassettes are used in such a conventional transfer apparatus, since the transfer belt 85 is provided, a space for one wafer is always required in the lateral dimension of the apparatus, and the lateral dimension of the apparatus becomes long. There was a drawback.

(Object of the Invention) It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the conventional problems and to provide a compact conveying device.

(Summary of the Invention) The present invention provides a first cassette placing device (1A), an alignment device (17) for aligning a flat object in a plane, the first cassette placing device and the alignment. A first conveying device (4, 400, 5, 500) which is linearly arranged between the first conveying device and the conveying device and conveys a flat object; and a conveying direction of the first conveying device with respect to the first cassette mounting device. Second cassette mounting device (1B) arranged in a direction orthogonal to the second cassette mounting device, and a third cassette mounting device (1C) arranged in parallel with the alignment device so as to face the second cassette mounting device. And a second transfer device (6, 6) linearly arranged between the second cassette mounting device and the third cassette mounting device for carrying a flat object.
700, 7, 600), a processing device (20, 20A) for processing a flat object, and a first delivery device (18, 18) for delivering a flat object between the alignment device and the processing device.
0) and a second delivery device (19, 19A, 1) for delivering a flat object between the alignment device and the second transport device.
9B), the first cassette mounting device, the second cassette mounting device, the third cassette mounting device, the first transport device, the second transport device, the alignment device, and the first delivery device And a control device (23) for controlling the drive of the second delivery device, the automatic conveyance device for a flat object.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a cassette 1 having wafer storages arranged in a vertical direction (a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing) is moved up and down to sequentially move the wafer storages of the cassette to a predetermined height. A first cassette placing device 1A for positioning the position is provided. The first cassette mounting device 1A is configured to be vertically movable by a structure in which a ball bush provided on a moving member slides up and down on a biaxial guide shaft provided on a fixed member. A nut provided on the moving member is screwed onto a feed screw provided on the fixed member, and the feed screw is rotationally driven by a stepping motor capable of positioning and the like in an open loop.

The same applies when a DC motor combined with an encoder is used instead of the stepping motor. The vertical movement direction can be easily switched by rotating the motor in the forward or reverse direction.

A first conveyor belt (a pair of parallel belts similar to the conventional one) 4 placed with one end facing the cassette 1 at a predetermined height position and a second conveyor linearly continuous with the first conveyor belt 4. A belt 5 is arranged. Further, a wafer push-out member 89 having a well-known structure for carrying out the wafer in the cassette or carrying the wafer in the cassette is used.
B, an extrusion push-back device having a push-back member 89A is provided. The conveyor belts 4 and 5 are formed of a urethane-based material in a loop shape, and the rotational movement of the belt is performed by a DC motor and a belt pulley as well known, and the rotation direction is switched between the forward and reverse rotations of the motor. Performed by.

A wafer alignment device 17 is arranged near the other end (the other end) of the second transfer belt 5 that does not face the other end of the first transfer belt 4. The alignment device 17 includes a stopper unit 17A that stops the wafer that has been transferred from the left to the right by the second transfer belt 5, and a suction rotation 1 that vacuum-sucks and rotates the wafer.
7C, pressing part 17 that presses the wafer against the three roller pins 17
Composed of B.

A second cassette loading device in the direction orthogonal to the wafer transport direction by the transport belt 4 with respect to the first cassette loading device 1A.
1B are arranged side by side (upper in the drawing in the figure), and a cassette 2 having wafer accommodating portions arranged side by side in the vertical direction is placed on the second cassette placing device 1B. A third cassette placement device 1C is arranged in parallel with the wafer alignment device 17 so as to face the second cassette placement device 1B. The second cassette loading device 1B and the third cassette loading device 1C are the first cassette loading device.
It has the same structure as 1a. The cassette 3 is mounted on the third cassette mounting device 1C. A third conveyor belt 7 is arranged in parallel with the first conveyor belt 4, one end of which faces the other end of the third conveyor belt 7, and the other end of which is slightly inserted into the cassette 3 at a predetermined position. Are arranged side by side on the second conveyor belt 5. An extrusion push-back device having a wafer push-out member 89B and a push-back member 89A is also provided on the third conveyor belt 7 side. Further, a fifth conveyor belt 8 orthogonal to the first conveyor belt 4 and the third conveyor belt 7 is arranged so as to connect the first conveyor belt 4 and the third conveyor belt 7.

The third conveyor belt 7, the fourth conveyor belt 6, and the fifth conveyor belt 8 are the same as the conveyor belts described above, but the conveyor belt 8 further includes a device that moves the belt 8 up and down together with the rotational movement. It is provided. When the conveyor belt 8 is not used (bottom dead center), the upper surface position (height direction) of the conveyor belt 8 is below the upper surface of the conveyor belts 4 and 7. During use, the upper surface of the conveyor belt 8 is stopped at a position higher than the upper surfaces of the conveyor belts 4 and 7 (top dead center). An air cylinder capable of speeding up is adopted for the up-and-down drive, but of course, another drive source such as various motors may be used.

The wafer processing apparatus 20 is provided on the opposite side of the second conveyor belt 5 from the fourth conveyor belt 6 and includes an XY stage, an observation device, etc., but only the cylinder 20A for adsorbing and holding the wafer is shown in the figure. It was A wafer is held on the cylinder 20A by vacuum suction, and the cylinder 20A is provided with a rotation mechanism. The XY stage stroke is set so that it can be moved over the entire wafer (for example, 150 mm for a 6-inch wafer). Since positional accuracy is required, a DC servo motor and encoder are combined.

Between the wafer alignment device 17 and the cylinder 20A, there is provided an arm 18 which constitutes a delivery device for delivering the wafer between each of them. The wafer is held by the arm 18 by vacuum suction, and a stepping motor that can be used in an open loop is used to drive the arm rotation.

Further, between the second conveyor belt 5 and the fourth conveyor belt 6,
An auxiliary transfer device 19 for transferring the wafer of the wafer alignment device 17 to the first transfer belt 4 and the fourth transfer belt 6 is provided. This auxiliary delivery device 19 has a wafer suction unit at the tip.
It has an auxiliary arm 19A with 19B. The structure of the auxiliary delivery device 19 will be described later.

Crossing position of the first conveyor belt 4 and the fifth conveyor belt 8, the second
Photoelectric detectors 9, 10, 13, for detecting the presence or absence of a wafer, in the vicinity of one end of the transfer belt 5, at the intersection of the third transfer belt 7 and the fifth transfer belt 8, and in the vicinity of one end of the fourth transfer belt 6.
12 is provided, and the alignment device 17 is also provided with a photoelectric detector 11 for detecting the cutout portion of the wafer.

A keyboard section 21 and a joystick 22 are provided on the left and right sides of the wafer processing apparatus 20, and a control section 23 connected to a housing 25 by a cord 24 is provided. The keyboard section 21, the joystick section 22, the control section 23, and the photoelectric Detectors 9, 10, 11,
A control device is constituted by various motors (described later) for controlling the rotational movements of the conveyor belts 12, 13, the conveyor belts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and the arms 18, 19.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of the auxiliary delivery device 19 described above.
As shown in FIG. 3, which is a sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 2, the auxiliary transfer device 19 is provided with a processed wafer (good,
It is classified as defective or regenerated. ) Is stored in a predetermined cassette, the wafer is transferred onto the transfer belt (16 or 4) closest to the cassette selected to store the wafer, and the auxiliary arm 19A is rotated, moved up and down, and moved linearly. You can move to. The rotation of the arm 19A is controlled by the motor 54
Timing belt 5 between the pulley 53B fixed to the rotary shaft of the motor 54 and the large pulley 53A integrated with the arm rotary shaft.
The arm 19A fixed to the arm rotation shaft 52 is rotated by transmitting to the arm rotation shaft 52 at 3. An angular contact bearing 56 is used as the bearing 55, and the arm 19A receives a thrust and radial load around the arm rotation shaft 52 and is rotatable with low friction. The motor 54 employs a stepping motor whose rotation can be controlled in an open loop.

The vertical movement of the arm 19A is a structure in which six bearings 58 mounted on the bearing 55 roll on two round guide shafts 57A and 57B, and the driving is performed by rotating a DC motor (not shown) with a cylindrical cam 59.
The roller 55a fixed on the bearing 55 is placed on the cam surface of the bearing 55 to convert it into a linear motion (vertical motion), and the bearing 55 moves up and down.
That is, the bearing 55 arm 19A and the arm rotation shaft 52 move up and down integrally. It should be noted that the arm rotating shaft 52 slides on the shaft of the large pulley 53A by the key 60 during the vertical movement. The linear movement of the arm 51 has a structure in which ball bushings 62 attached to both ends of the caging 64 slide on a linear guide shaft 61 fixed to the housing 25, and are driven by an air cylinder 63. The cylinder of the air cylinder 63 is fixed to the housing 25, and the piston 63a is fixed to the casing 64. A linear guide surface 25 'is formed on the housing 25 on the opposite side of the linear guide shaft 61 (upper side in FIG. 2), and a roller 64a fixed to the caging 64 is placed on the linear guide surface 25'. There is. FIG. 4 shows each state of the auxiliary arm 19A, and FIG. 5 shows the auxiliary arm 1
9A is a state diagram of the upper, middle, and lower positions of 9A. FIG. Each operation and state will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the initial state of the auxiliary arm 19A, the center of the wafer suction portion 19B at the tip of the auxiliary arm 19A is at the position S4 and the upper surface is at the height H1. The height H is a belt upper surface position of the conveyor belts 5 and 6. The processed wafer is sent by the delivery arm 18 onto the alignment device 17. At about the same time, the auxiliary arm 19A rotates at the height H1 until the wafer suction portion 19B reaches the position S3 (at this time, the rotation angle θ ₁ ). Next, the wafer suction unit 19B rises to the height H2 and vacuum-holds the wafer (thereby, the wafer is transferred from the transfer arm 18 to the auxiliary arm 19A). Next, one of two movements is performed depending on which cassette (1-3) the wafer is stored in.

First, the case where the wafer is stored in the cassette 2 or the cassette 3 will be described. Auxiliary arm 19A is in position S at height H2
Rotate to 4 (rotation angle θ ₁ ) to release the wafer suction.
Then, the auxiliary arm 19 passes through the concave portion of the belt 6 and descends to the height H3 so that the wafer is placed on the transfer belt 6. From now on, the conveyor belts 6 and 7 are rotationally moved, and the cassette 2 to be stored,
Enter any of the three. At the same time when the wafer enters the cassette, the auxiliary arm 19A returns to the initial position (position S4, height H1).
Next, in the case where the wafer is stored in the cassette 1, the auxiliary arm 19A moves from the point A to the point B in a linear motion while rotating to the rotation angle θ ₂ while keeping the height H2. (The wafer suction portion 19A comes to the position S1.) The rotation and the linear movement can be performed in parallel. Next, the suction of the wafer is released, and the concave portions of the conveyor belts 8 and 4 (V-shaped concave portions may be formed by three pulleys. The belts are separated into two, and each belt is formed into one pulley. It is also possible to hang it up.) To the height H3 to transfer the wafer to the conveyor belt 4
Place on top. From here, the conveyor belt 4 rotates and the wafer is stored in the cassette 1. And the auxiliary arm 19A
Goes up to height H1 and returns to the initial position (position S4, height H1). The above is the operation of the auxiliary arm 19A. Each operating mechanism may be of any method as long as it can achieve its intended function. For example, the air cylinder 63 may be replaced with a combination of a lead screw and a motor.

Next, a configuration related to electrical processing will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram, in which the control device 23 has photoelectric detectors 9, 10,
A wafer presence / absence signal is input from 11, 12, and 13, and a first wafer mounting device 1A, a second wafer mounting device 1B, a third wafer mounting device 1C, a first transfer device A400, and a first transfer device B500. , Second
A control signal is output to the transfer device A600, the second transfer device B700, the alignment device 17, the auxiliary transfer device 19, and the transfer device 180.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show flow charts relating to wafer transfer. These figures express not only the wafer stop position (FIG. 20A, FIG. 4 S1 to S4, 19) in the wafer transfer process but also the temporal flow.

FIG. 7 shows a case where the wafer is transferred from the cassette 1, and after processing, the wafer is transferred to the cassette 2 or the cassette 3, and FIG. 8 shows the case where the wafer is transferred from the cassette 1.
It shows the steps for carrying the wafer to the cassette 1 after the inspection process.

Incidentally, FIGS. 9, 10 and 12 are two-dimensionally abstract representations of the wafer transfer path in the actual embodiment.

Incidentally, the steps shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 take the transport path of FIG.

First, FIG. 7 will be described.

A process flow 100 shown by a broken line shows a process for one wafer.

When there are a plurality of wafers to be processed, the processing step 100 is performed on all the wafers.

During the processing operation, the nth wafer is positioned from the cassette 1.
Transported to S1 (101) and further transported to position S2 (102)
The fact that the wafer is at position S2 depends on the output of the photoelectric detector 10.

Here, when the (n-1) th wafer preceding the nth wafer exists at the position S3 (119) ... The nth wafer waits at the position S2 by the output of the photoelectric detector 11. Yes (103). That is, the belt rotation motor of the first conveyor B500 stops rotating, and the belt 5 stops moving. n-1
When the first wafer is transferred (120) to the wafer processing device (20) by the arm 18 of the transfer device 180 and no wafer is left at the position S3, the nth wafer can be transferred to the position S3 and the first transfer is performed. The belt rotating motor of the device B500 rotates and is conveyed to the position S3 (104).

Then, the n-th wafer is prepared (positioned) for transfer to the wafer processing apparatus (20) at the position S3 (10).
Five).

The (n-1) th wafer transferred to the processing apparatus 20 is processed at the same time as the completion of the transfer to the processing apparatus 20 (12
1).

Then, when the nth wafer is transferred from the position S2 to the position S3 (104), a new wafer can be transferred to the position S2, and the first mounting device 1A descends by one wafer storage unit, A part of the (n + 1) th wafer is placed on the belt 4, and the belt 4 is rotated by the rotation of the belt rotation motor of the first transfer device A400.
Move the n + 1th wafer from cassette 1 to position S2
Be transported to (125, 126). Here, when the n-th wafer is transferred to the position S2 (103), the n + 1-th wafer can be transferred to the position S1, but from the cassette 1 of the n + 1-th wafer to the position S2. Transported (125,126)
If the time is within the time for completing the alignment of the nth wafer at the position S3, it has no effect on the processing speed.

Further, considering an embodiment of the present apparatus (described later), it is not a good idea to make the subsequent wafer stand by at the position S1.

When the processing of the (n-1) th wafer in the processing device (20) is completed, the (n-1) th wafer is transferred to the position S3. At this time, the nth wafer is moved to the position S3. If the alignment (105) is not completed at the position of (1), the (n-1) th wafer is not transferred to the position S3 until the alignment of the nth wafer is completed.

That is, the progress of the process is limited to the later one of the completion of the alignment of the nth wafer and the end of the processing of the n-1th wafer in the processing apparatus (20). In the embodiment of this apparatus, speeding up is realized in both processes.

The n-1th wafer that has been processed by the processing device (20) is transferred to the position S3 by the arm 18 of the transfer device 180, and at the same time, the nth wafer is processed by the arm 18. It is delivered to the device (20) (107, 122). At this time, the auxiliary arm 19A of the auxiliary delivery device 19 is on standby at the position S3. The n-1st wafer is the auxiliary arm (19A) at position S3.
Then, the control device 23 judges it according to the output of the photoelectric detector 12 and proceeds to the next step (123, 124). That is, the (n-1) th wafer is transferred to the position S4 by the auxiliary arm (19A), and the control device 23 knows it by the output of the photoelectric detector 12, and the second transfer device A600, the second transfer device A600. B700
A control signal is input to the wafer and the (n-1) th wafer is stored in the cassette 2 or the cassette 3 based on a command to the keyboard unit 21.

At the same time when the (n-1) th wafer is transferred onto the position S4, n +
The first wafer proceeds through the same steps as those followed by the preceding wafer (128, 129, 130), (S2 → S3 → alignment). Then, since it becomes possible to transfer a new wafer to the position S2, the (n + 2) th wafer is transferred to the position S2. (132, 133).

The nth wafer is processed at the same time as it is delivered to the processing device 20 (121). Then, at the time when the cassette (2 or 3) to be accommodated is designated for the wafer processed according to the user's instruction or the instruction of the apparatus itself, the processing ends.

When the processing of the nth wafer is completed and the alignment of the (n + 1) th wafer is completed, the nth wafer is delivered to the position S3 by the arm 18 (109). At the same time, the (n + 1) th wafer is delivered to the processing apparatus 20 (131).

The nth wafer passed to position S3 is the auxiliary arm 19A.
Is passed to position S4 (110). Then, the nth wafer is transferred from the position S4 to the cassette (2 or 3) by the belt (7 or 6). That is, the wafer processed by the processing device (20) is transferred from the position S3 to the auxiliary arm 19
Using A will have no effect on the belt (4 or 5) carrying the new wafer to be passed to the belt (6 or 7).

FIG. 9 shows the abstracted transport route.

In order to improve the throughput of the apparatus, the conveyor belt and the cassette are arranged in a straight line, and the movement of each part is minimized. However, this embodiment satisfies this purpose.

The process 200 of FIG. 8 will be described.

With respect to the wafer to be processed, the nth wafer is inspected by the processing apparatus (20), and the auxiliary arm (19
Up to the steps (201 to 209) transported to A), the process shown in FIG.
~ 109). After being transferred to the auxiliary arm (19A), the n-th wafer is transferred to position S1 (210) by rotation and linear motion while maintaining the height H2, and stops at position S1.

At this time, as described in the flow of the wafer (FIG. 100 in FIG. 7), the (n + 2) th wafer is transferred from the position S2 to the position S3, and moves to the (211) position S2 to the n + 3th wafer. Can be transported.

The (n + 3) th wafer passes under the nth wafer at the height H2 of the position S1 and is transferred to the position S2 (212, 21).
3).

Then, the nth wafer is transferred to the cassette 1 (211).

Here, the nth wafer is transferred to position S1 (21
At the time 0), the n + th wafer is not transferred, but the nth wafer is first transferred to the cassette 1 (211), and then the n +
It does not matter if the third wafer is transferred (this is not shown). However, in this case, the (n + 3) th wafer is positioned
The condition is that the time of arrival at S2 is before the time of completion of the alignment of the (n + 2) th wafer.

In FIG. 9, the wafer processing steps 100 and 200 can be realized at the same time, but they may be realized independently depending on the configuration of the apparatus. When returning to the cassette where the unprocessed wafer was stored after the process, the conventional wafer had to be returned to the cassette by tracing the transfer route to the processing device in reverse, so the next wafer was stored unless the preceding wafer was stored again. I couldn't deliver the product.

In this apparatus, the processing speed can be made faster than that of the conventional apparatus by separating the transportation path to the processing apparatus and the transportation path for storage. This is an effective means for shortening the process time in the semiconductor element manufacturing process.

The above-mentioned wafer processing step is for transferring a wafer from the cassette 1, but there are cases where the number of wafers to be processed at one time cannot be stored in one cassette.

This device has been devised to process up to two wafers at a time.

This will be described.

FIG. 10 shows a transfer path when a wafer is transferred from the cassette 1 and the cassette 2 for processing.

10 (a) is similar to FIG. 9, but in FIG. 10 (a), since the unprocessed wafer is stored in the cassette 2, the wafer is transferred from the cassette 1 to the cassette 2. There is no transport process.

Therefore, the processed wafer is either a cassette 1 or a cassette 3.
Is stored in.

FIG. 10 (b) shows a case where the wafer is transferred from the cassette 2, and the wafer transferred from the cassette 2 is transferred to the position S1 in FIG. 4 by the fifth transfer belt 8 shown in FIG. Further, it is transported to the processing device (20).

In this case, since the cassette 1 contains the already processed wafers, there is no step of transferring the wafer from the processing apparatus 20 to the cassette 1.

Therefore, the processed wafer is a cassette 2 or a cassette 3.
Is stored in.

In the process shown in FIG. 10, when two or more cassettes worth of wafers are to be processed, new unprocessed wafers can be installed in the cassettes 1 and 2 for processing.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart for carrying the conveyance shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b). It is judged whether the cassette 1 or the cassette 2 is selected on the keyboard portion 21 (110), and if the cassette 1 is selected, the steps 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206 of FIG. 207, 208, 20
When the wafer is stored in the cassette 1 in step 211 through the same steps as those in steps 9, 210 and 211, the cassette 1 is moved up or down (111) to transfer the next wafer. Cassette 2
Is selected, the sheet is conveyed to the position S5 (112), then to the position S1 (113), and the subsequent steps 202, 203, 2 in FIG.
After passing through the same steps as 04, 205, 206, 207, 208 and 209, they are delivered to position S4 in step 210 and then transported to position S5 (21
1) It is stored in the cassette 2 (212). When the wafer is stored in the cassette 2, the cassette 2 is moved up or down 213) to transfer the next wafer. The wafer processing steps described above are all described for the case where the wafer is subjected to the inspection processing in the processing apparatus 20 of the present apparatus.

In an actual IC (inspection) process, there is a step of transferring a wafer from one cassette to another without requiring inspection processing.

This device is devised to realize such a process. FIGS. 12 (a), (b), and (c) show a transfer path of a transfer process that does not require the processing in the processing apparatus (20) for the wafer. Cassettes in which unprocessed wafers are stored are classified into three types of (a), (b), and (c) depending on the selection of cassettes in which processed wafers are stored. Further, the number of wafers to be transferred can be controlled.

In the above description, only wafer transfer is described, but it goes without saying that it can be used to transfer flat objects (including wafers) such as flat containers.

In the embodiment, the separated first conveyor belt 4 and second conveyor belt 5 can be considered as one, and in the present specification, the first conveyor belt 4 and the second conveyor belt 5 are referred to as the first conveyor device ( 400, 500), and the third conveyor belt 7 and the fourth conveyor belt 6 are also considered to be contained in the second conveyor device (600, 700).

In the embodiment, the belt assembly surrounded by the chain double-dashed line is regarded as one block, and the total of three wafer transfer units 14, 15, 16 are used to facilitate assembly and adjustment.

Further, it goes without saying that the wafers may be transferred not by the belt but by the air flow.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the space can be effectively used to make it compact, and the second wafer transfer device can perform the wafer flow in one direction without reversing the flow. As a result, it is possible to obtain an automatic conveying apparatus for flat objects, which does not reduce the throughput as compared with the conventional one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the auxiliary transfer device used in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is an explanatory plan view of the auxiliary arm, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of vertical movement of the auxiliary arm, and FIG. 8 and 11 are flowcharts relating to wafer transfer, and FIGS. 9 and 10.
Figures (a), (b), Figures 12 (a), (b), and (c) are diagrams schematically showing a wafer transfer path, and Figure 13 is an example of a conventional wafer transfer apparatus. ,. [Explanation of reference numerals of main parts] 1A: first cassette placing device 1B: second cassette placing device 1C: third cassette placing device 4: first conveyor belt 400: first conveying device A 5 ... second conveyor belt 500 ... first conveyor B 6 ... fourth conveyor 600 ... second conveyor A 7 ... third conveyor 700 ... second conveyor B 17 ... alignment Device 18 ... Arm, 180 ... Delivery device 19 ... Auxiliary delivery device 20 ... Processing device, 23 ... Control device 89A ... Wafer pushing member 89B ... Wafer pushing member

Front page continued (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Maekawa 471 Nagaodai-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Nippon Optical Industry Co., Ltd.Yokohama Works (72) Inventor Kikuo Hirata 471 Nagaodai-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Nihon Kogaku Industrial Co., Ltd. Yokohama Works

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first cassette placing device, an aligning device for aligning a flat object in a plane, and a linear arrangement between the first cassette placing device and the aligning device. A first transporting device for transporting the flat object, a second cassette loading device juxtaposed in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the first transporting device with respect to the first cassette loading device, A third cassette placing device arranged in parallel with the alignment device so as to face the two cassette placing device and a linear arrangement between the second cassette placing device and the third cassette placing device. A second transfer device that is provided to transfer the flat object; a processing device that processes the flat object; a first transfer device that transfers the flat object between the alignment device and the processing device; Of the alignment device and the second transfer device. A second delivery device for delivering a flat object by means of the first cassette mounting device, the second cassette mounting device, the third cassette mounting device, the first transport device, the second transport device, and the second transport device. An automatic conveying device for a flat object, comprising: a positioning device; a control device for controlling the drive of the first delivery device and the second delivery device.