JPH0777998B2 - Substrate heating device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate heating apparatus used for heating a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a mask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a substrate heating apparatus of this type, a mechanism for raising and lowering a substrate on a hot plate and a shutter for opening and closing a substrate supply / discharge port provided on a cover surrounding the hot plate are the same. The present applicant has applied for a device that is linked by a driving source (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-26592).
3).

FIG. 5 shows a vertical side surface of a substrate heating apparatus provided with such interlocking means for a substrate elevating mechanism and a shutter driving mechanism. An upper cover 3 forming a heat treatment chamber C is provided above the hot plate 1, and a substrate supply / discharge port 5 formed on the front surface of the upper cover 3 is provided with a liftable shutter 17. Further, an elevating member 12 which is elevated and lowered by an air cylinder 14 is provided below the hot plate 1, and three substrate support pins 10 which are erected on the elevating member 12 via a supporting member 11 are provided on the hot plate 1. A substrate elevating mechanism that elevates and lowers the substrate W on the plate by penetrating through and moving to and from the upper surface of the plate is configured.

Then, the elevating plate 21 and the elevating member 12 connected to the shutter 17 are engaged and connected to both ends of an oscillating arm 18 which oscillates like a balance around a fulcrum P, so that the substrate supporting pin 10 The shutter 17 descends when it rises to open the substrate supply / discharge port 5, and the shutter 17 descends when the substrate support pin 10 descends.
Are raised to close the substrate supply / discharge port 5.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional device has the following problems. That is,
By engaging the pins 18a and 18b provided at both ends of the swing arm 18 with the long grooves 26a and 27a of the engaging members 26 and 27 provided to the lift plate 21 and the lift member 12, respectively, The horizontal displacement difference between the circular arc motion and the linear vertical motion of the support plate 21 and the elevating member 12 is absorbed. As a result, at the time of this absorption operation, the pins 18a, 18b are locked in the long grooves 26a, 27b.
Particles are generated because they move inside, and consideration must be given to prevent the generated particles from soaring into the heat treatment space on the hot plate. In particular, since the rocking arm 18 and the elevating member 12 are heated under the radiant heat from the hot plate 1 and the mechanical strength thereof is likely to decrease, the long grooves 26a and 27a are likely to be deteriorated or abraded due to abrasion. However, there is also a problem that worn parts must be frequently replaced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in mechanically linking the elevating member and the shutter via the swing arm, by improving the linking means, An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate heating apparatus that suppresses generation of particles and can be used favorably for a long time without requiring maintenance such as replacement of worn parts.

[0007]

The present invention adopts the following constitution in order to achieve the above object. That is, the present invention is
A board support pin that moves up and down with respect to the hot plate to horizontally lift and support the board on the hot plate, and to mount the board on the hot plate, and a board support pin below the hot plate. An elevating member that supports and raises and lowers the shutter, an elevating shutter that opens and closes a substrate supply / discharge port formed in a cover that surrounds the hot plate, and a swing arm for driving the shutter that is located below the hot plate. The lifting member and the swing arm are connected to each other via a leaf spring in a vertical posture in which the plate surface is substantially along the vertical direction, and the swing arm and the shutter are in the same vertical posture. The shutter is opened or closed depending on the elevation of the elevating member.

[0008]

The operation of the present invention is as follows. That is,
Since the leaf spring that connects the swing arm and the shutter and the leaf spring that connects the swing arm and the elevating member are in the vertical posture, the rigidity in the ascending / descending direction is high and the power transmission for ascending / descending is surely performed. The horizontal displacement difference between the vertical arc movement of the interlocking connection portion and the linear vertical movement of the shutter and the elevating member due to the swing of the swing arm is absorbed by elastic deformation in the plate thickness direction of each leaf spring. It

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are vertical side views of an embodiment of a substrate heating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a substrate elevating mechanism and a shutter elevating mechanism, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view thereof. This substrate heating apparatus is an apparatus having a structure in which heating units are stacked in multiple stages. FIG. 1 shows a first heating unit A, and FIG. 2 shows a second heating unit B provided below the first heating unit A. .

Each heating unit A, B is equipped with a rectangular hot plate 1. This hot plate 1
It is housed and supported by a box-shaped outer wall body 2 that is open upward, and is entirely covered by an upper cover 3 and a peripheral cover 4.

A substrate supply / discharge port 5 is provided on the front surface of the upper cover 3 (left side in FIGS. 1 and 2), and a perforated inner cover 6 for covering the hot plate 1 from above is provided on the inner surface of the upper cover 3. A gas supply duct 7 is attached to the upper surface of the inner cover 6. The gas supply duct 7 supplies N ₂ gas, gas for surface treatment, or the like to the inside through a small hole of the inner cover 6 during the substrate heat treatment, and requires the heat treatment space C above the hot plate 1. The gas atmosphere is supplied from the outside through the joint 8.

A substrate elevating mechanism 9 is housed in a space D between the hot plate 1 and the bottom surface of the outer wall body 2. The substrate elevating mechanism 9 penetrates the hot plate 1 in the vertical direction and causes the three substrate supporting pins 10 to move in and out on the upper surface of the plate. The detailed structure of the substrate lifting mechanism 9 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The substrate support pin 10 is erected and fixed on a T-shaped support member 11, and the support member 11 is connected and supported on an elevating member 12. The elevating member 12 extends outward through an opening 13 formed in the outer wall body 2, and the extending end is connected to a movable body 15 which is elevated and lowered by an air cylinder 14.
The movable body 15 is guided up and down by a pair of parallel guide shafts 16.

The elevating member 12 and the shutter 17 for opening and closing the substrate supply / discharge port 5 are interlocked with each other via a swing arm 18 which swings in a balance-like manner around a fulcrum P. In particular,
A pair of oscillating arms 18 is provided on both sides of the elevating member 12, and a rectangular leaf spring in a vertical posture with the plate surface facing forward and backward is provided at the front end of each oscillating arm 18 on the substrate supply / discharge port 5 side. One end of 19 is attached via a connecting fitting 20. And leaf spring
An elevating plate 21 and a shutter 17 are fastened and connected together over the left and right upper ends of 19. A vertically-long guide member 22 is provided at the center of the front surface of the elevating plate 21, and the guide member 22 is engaged with a rail 23 fixed to the outer wall member 2, so that the elevating plate 21 and the shutter 17 are vertically moved up and down. Is configured to slide.

The rear end surfaces of the pair of swing arms 18 (see FIG. 3).
In the right side), a horizontally long leaf spring 24 is installed in a vertical posture with the leaf surface facing forward and backward.
Connecting metal fittings 25 attached to the bottom surface of the lifting member 12
Is connected to the front of.

Therefore, the second heating unit B in FIG.
As shown in, the air cylinder 14 is retracted to raise and lower the member.
In the heat treatment state in which 12 is lowered and the substrate support pin 10 is retracted from the upper surface of the hot plate 1 to mount the substrate W on the hot plate 1, the swing arm 18 is rotated clockwise around the fulcrum P. By swinging, the lift plate 21 is pushed up, and the shutter 17 is closed. On the other hand, as shown by the first heating unit A in FIG. 1, the elevating member 12 rises due to the extension of the air cylinder 14, and the substrate support pins 10 project onto the hot plate 1 for substrate feeding / unloading and the substrate W is discharged. In a state in which the is lifted and supported horizontally, the swinging arm 18 swings counterclockwise to push down the elevating plate 21 and open the shutter 24.

In this case, the front end and the rear end of the swing arm 18 move up and down along an arcuate path centered on the fulcrum P, so that the up-and-down plate 21 and the connecting metal fitting move up and down linearly.
A displacement difference in the front-rear direction is generated between the spring 25 and 25, and this displacement difference is absorbed by the elastic deformation of the leaf springs 19 and 24, respectively.

The present invention can also be implemented in the following modes. (1) In the above embodiment, a pair of leaf springs 19 are used to connect the shutter 17 and the swing arm 18, but this is similar to the connecting structure of the lifting member 12 and the swing arm 18 in the above embodiment. It is also possible to connect with one horizontally long leaf spring.

(2) In the above embodiment, the rocking arm 18 was driven by using one point in the middle of the rocking arm 18 as a fulcrum, but one end side of the rocking arm was used as a fulcrum, and the shutter and the substrate were attached to this rocking arm. The elevating members for elevating and lowering the support pins may be interlocked with each other via leaf springs so that the elevating member and the shutter are moved in different directions with different strokes.
In this case, the shutter may be configured to open together with the raising / lowering member to open the substrate supply / discharge port, and to lower together with the raising / lowering member to close the substrate supply / discharge port.

(3) In the above embodiment, the rocking arm 18 is driven by driving the elevating member 12 by the air cylinder 14, but conversely, by driving the rocking arm 18,
The elevating member 12 may be driven. Further, instead of the air cylinder 14, a screw shaft driven by a motor may drive the elevating member 12 and the like up and down.

(4) In the above embodiment, the shutter 17 is opened and closed in conjunction with the substrate support pin 10. However, for example, in a heating device in which an openable and closable chamber is installed on the hot plate 1, the shutter is associated with the substrate support pin and the shutter. Then, the chamber may be configured to be opened and closed.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the shutter which moves up and down linearly and the elevating member for moving up and down the substrate support pins are mechanically mounted on a swing arm which moves in an arc shape. A leaf spring is used as a means for interlocking connection, and a horizontal displacement difference generated between the linear movement of the shutter and the elevating member and the arcuate movement of the swing arm is absorbed. Even when the moving arm swings, there is no sliding at the connecting portion with the shutter or the elevating / lowering member, so that generation of particles can be prevented and durability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a first heating unit of a substrate heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of a second heating unit provided below the first heating unit.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a substrate elevating mechanism and a shutter elevating mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a substrate elevating mechanism and a shutter elevating mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Hot plate 3 ... Top cover 5 ... Substrate supply / discharge port 10 ... Substrate support pin 12 ... Elevating member 17 ... Shutter 18 ... Swing arm 19, 24 ... Leaf spring W ... Substrate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate support pin that vertically moves up and down with respect to a hot plate to lift and support a substrate on the hot plate horizontally, or to mount the substrate on the hot plate, and below the hot plate. An elevating member that supports the substrate support pins and that raises and lowers the substrate support pins, a vertically movable shutter that opens and closes a substrate supply / discharge port formed in a cover that surrounds the hot plate, and a shutter driving device that is located below the hot plate. A swing arm is provided, and the elevating member and the swing arm are connected to each other via a leaf spring in a vertical posture in which the plate surface is substantially aligned with the ascending / descending direction. The substrate heating apparatus is characterized in that the shutter is opened or closed according to the elevation of the elevating member by connecting via a leaf spring in a facing posture.