JPH0831507B2 - Wafer floor transfer robot - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Industrial field of application" The present invention relates to a wafer cassette on a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in a process in a partial laminar flow type clean room used in the field of manufacturing VLSI, IC, etc. The present invention relates to a wafer floor transfer robot for automatically loading and unloading.

“Prior art” As is well known, when manufacturing circuit devices on semiconductor devices, especially when forming circuit elements on a semiconductor wafer, dust and vibration during circuit element formation in the preceding process are major enemies, and cleaning in a working atmosphere And the fact that vibration is not transmitted to semiconductor manufacturing equipment directly leads to product yield. Here, an example of the partial laminar flow type clean room is shown using FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral K is a partial laminar flow type clean room, 1 is a ceiling slab, and 2 is a floor slab. Ceiling slab 1 and floor slab 2
In the room between and, a ceiling plate 3 is provided in the ceiling portion, and an air supply duct 4 from a main air conditioner (not shown) is arranged above the ceiling plate 3. Further, air supply chambers 5, 5 are formed on both sides of the air supply duct 4, which are U
The air supply chamber 5a is communicated with the lower space (passage area) through LPA filters (or HEPA filters) 6,6 and also under the ceiling plate 3 on both sides of the air supply chambers 5,5. , 5a are provided, and they are communicated with the space (device area) below through ULPA filters (or HEPA filters) 6a, 6a. On the other hand, a perforated floor (grating, punching metal, etc.) 7, which is a floor having an opening above the floor slab 2, is installed on the floor of the room, and the free access floor 8 is provided between them. Are formed. Further, the room is divided into a working room 10 and a service area 11 by partition plates 9 and 9 standing upright between the air supply chambers 5a and 5a and the perforated floor 7, and the air supply chambers 5a and 5a. Air conditioners 12 and 12 with built-in fans are attached to the service area 11 side. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment such as LSI (hereinafter simply referred to as “manufacturing equipment”) 1 is provided near the lower part of the partition plates 9, 9.
3, 13 are arranged, and rails 14, 14 are laid on the floor of the passages region side of the manufacturing apparatuses 13, 13 and the manufacturing apparatuses 13, 13 are mounted on the rails 14, 14. The floor transfer robots M, M for automatically loading and unloading the wafer cassette 15 are installed at predetermined positions.

In the partial laminar flow type clean room K, first, the clean air sent through the air supply duct 4 is
Air supply chambers 5, 5, 5a, 5a installed on the ceiling to work room 10
Is blown out to. The clean air supplied to the work room 10 flows from the ceiling portion toward the perforated floor 7 in one direction in a substantially laminar flow state, and then from the free access floor 8 to the service area.
It reaches the air conditioner 12 via 11, and is further sent from the air conditioner 12 into the supply chamber 5a, passes through the ULPA filter 6, and is again supplied to the working chamber 10.

In addition, the conventional on-floor wafer transfer robot M used in this partial laminar flow type clean room is attached to an arm portion that supports a wafer cassette, a main body portion that supports the arm portion, and a lower portion of the main body portion. A wheel drive unit using a motor as a drive source is provided, and the wafer cassette 15 is stocker (not shown) while being moved by the wheels on rails 14 laid on the perforated floor 7 along the manufacturing apparatus 3. From the specified manufacturing device 13 to the manufacturing device
It is placed at a predetermined position on 13, and then the cassette 15 in which the wafers whose manufacturing process in the manufacturing apparatus 13 has been completed is stored is picked up from the manufacturing apparatus 13 and conveyed again to a predetermined position in the stocker. is there.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the conventional wafer floor transfer robot uses wheels driven by a motor as a driving means, vibration is likely to occur and dust is generated. The structure is easy to vibrate because the rails are fixed across the perforated floor in the aisle area and the floor in the equipment area. There is a problem in that vibration is transmitted to the product, resulting in a decrease in product yield.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a wafer floor transfer robot capable of suppressing the generation of dust, eliminating the influence of vibration on a manufacturing apparatus, and improving the yield of products. I am trying.

[Means for Solving Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a groove on a floor of an equipment part on which a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is mounted and a floor of a passage part through which a worker passes. A linear guide attached via a supporting member along the groove at the lower part of the floor of the passage part, and the base end of the floor transfer robot is attached to this linear guide via a connecting member, and A transfer driving shaft provided in parallel with the linear guide is installed on the connecting member, and the on-floor transfer robot is moved along the groove by rotating the transfer driving shaft.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a partial laminar flow type clean room equipped with a wafer floor transfer robot of the present invention, FIG. 2, and FIG. The figure is a detailed view of the on-floor wafer transfer robot. In these figures, the same components as those shown in the prior art of FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the partial laminar flow type clean room (hereinafter, simply referred to as “clean room”) K shown in FIG. 1, from the air supply chambers 5 and 5a, which are the air supply units installed on the ceiling, to the floor unit having the perforated floor 7. The room is kept in a clean state by flowing clean air toward it. In the clean room K, the room is divided into a device section region S and a passage section region T by screens 20 and 20, and a floor is provided with a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter, simply referred to as “manufacturing apparatus”) 13. The concrete device floors 7a, 7a to be placed and the concrete passage floor 7b through which the worker passes are provided with grooves (directions orthogonal to the paper surface) 21, 21 for separation. The aisle floor 7b is a perforated floor 7 to which a part of the floor is attached with gratings, and as shown in FIG.
Support members 22 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the.
Further, linear guides 23, 23 are fixed to the support member 22 so as to extend along the groove portion 21, and the linear guides 23, 23 extend in the direction in which the groove portion 21 extends, that is, the same line. Two wafer transfer robots on the floor (hereinafter, simply referred to as "transfer robots") M, M at the base end Mb
Is attached via a connecting member 24, and the connecting member 24 is attached with transfer drive shafts 25a, 25b made of screw rods provided in parallel with the linear guide 23.
A grating 27 that covers the groove 21 is rotatably attached to the end of the passage floor 7b that faces the groove 21.

The transfer robot M includes a holding part M1 for holding the wafer cassette 15, an arm part M2 for horizontally expanding and contracting the holding part M1, and a robot main body for vertically expanding and contracting and horizontally rotating the arm part M2. Main components are M3 and a connecting member 24 provided at the base end Mb of the robot body M3. The connecting member 24 is a sliding part 24a, 24a that slides with the linear guides 23, 23, and is integrated with it. Drive unit 24b to which the drive shafts 25a and 25b for transfer are attached, and the drive unit 24b.
And a connecting portion 24c for fixing to the base end portion Mb.

Then, the drive unit 24b of the transfer robot M on the front side with respect to the paper surface has a through hole through which the one transfer drive shaft 25a passes.
26 is formed and the other transfer drive shaft 25b
A female screw portion that is screwed to the drive shaft 24a of the transfer robot (not shown) M on the other side of the drawing is provided with a female screw portion that is screwed to the transfer drive shaft 25a. In addition to being formed, a through hole 26 that penetrates the other transfer drive shaft 25b is formed.

Next, the operation of the transfer robot M of the present invention will be described. First, by rotating the transfer drive shaft 25b screwed with the female screw portion of the connecting member 24 in a predetermined direction, the transfer robot M is moved to the groove portion 21. The wafer cassette 15 is transferred from a stocker (not shown) to the front (station) of a predetermined manufacturing apparatus 13 by sliding on a linear guide 23 laid on the floor 7b along the wafer cassette 15. Next, the holding part M1 is moved to a predetermined position on the manufacturing apparatus 13 by driving the arm part M2 horizontally and vertically, and the wafer cassette 15 is placed. Then, when the wafer for which the manufacturing process in the manufacturing apparatus 13 has been completed is housed in the cassette, the wafer is held by the holding unit M1.
Then, the arm part M2 is driven and the cassette 15
Is picked up from the manufacturing apparatus 13, and the transfer drive shaft 25b is rotated again in a predetermined direction to convey the transfer drive shaft 25b to a predetermined location on the stocker.

The other transfer robot is moved by rotating the transfer drive shaft 25a in a predetermined direction. A power feeding device (not shown) that supplies power for driving the transfer robot M is provided at a place (station) where the transfer robot M places the wafer cassette on the manufacturing apparatus 13. By automatically connecting the device and the contact point of the transfer robot M that has stopped,
The transfer robot M is adapted to perform a predetermined operation.
Further, the station is provided with a dust collector for sucking dust generated from the driving portion of the transfer robot M from the inside of the transfer robot M, and is automatically connected when the transfer robot M stops at the station. The dust generated from the drive part of the transfer robot M is removed.

Therefore, in the transfer robot M of this embodiment,
Since it is configured to slide on the linear guide 23 by the transfer drive shafts 25a and 25b, it is not necessary to load a drive source such as a motor on the robot main body M3, and the weight can be reduced. Vibration generated from the drive source can be basically eliminated. Further, since it is not necessary to collect electricity to the driving source for traveling during traveling, a sliding portion for collecting electricity is not required unlike the conventional case, and dust from that portion can be eliminated. Further, since the transfer robot M is rigidly supported by the concrete passage floor 7a and is separated from the device floor 7b through the groove 21, vibration generated when the transfer robot M travels is produced by the manufacturing apparatus. Transmission to 13 is greatly reduced, and work for forming circuit elements on a semiconductor wafer that requires fine precision is not adversely affected. Furthermore, when moving, it is possible to suppress the generation of dust from the drive part, and since the linear guide 23 is provided under the floor, the generated dust is discharged under the floor by the down blow of the air from the room. Does not impair the cleanliness of.

It should be noted that the transfer robot M of the above-described embodiment may be installed in one unit or in a plurality of two or more units on the same line. Further, the driving means of the transfer robot M in the above-mentioned embodiment is based on the transfer drive shafts 25a, 25b by screw rods and the female screw part of the connecting member 24 screwed thereto, but the transfer means is not limited to this. Any mechanism may be used as long as it is a mechanism for rotating the drive shaft for moving the connecting member, and for example, the driving connecting member is made by inserting the transfer connecting member made of round steel into the connecting member fixed with the bearing inclined. Good. Further, when the worker enters the screen 20 and approaches the manufacturing apparatus 13, the grating 27 may be tilted horizontally to cover the groove portion 21.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, the wafer floor transfer robot of the present invention separates the floor part by providing the groove part between the equipment part floor on which the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is mounted and the passage part floor through which the worker passes. A linear guide attached to the lower part of the passage floor along the groove via a supporting member, and the base end of the floor transfer robot is attached to the linear guide via a connecting member; A transfer drive shaft provided in parallel with the linear guide is installed, and by rotating the transfer drive shaft, the above-mentioned floor transfer robot is moved along the groove portion. It is possible to suppress the generation of dust, eliminate the influence of vibration on the manufacturing apparatus, and improve the product yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a partial laminar flow type clean room equipped with a wafer floor transfer robot of the present invention, and FIG. First
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing details of the on-floor wafer transfer robot used in the figure, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a holding part of the on-floor wafer transfer robot shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a conventional clean room. is there. K: Partial laminar flow type clean room, M
...... Wafer transfer robot on the floor (mobile robot), 5, 5a
...... Air supply chamber (air supply part), 7a ...... Device floor, 7b
...... Aisle floor, 13 ...... Semiconductor manufacturing equipment (manufacturing equipment), 15
...... Wafer cassette, 22 …… Support member, 23 …… Linear guide, 24 …… Coupling members, 25a, 25b …… Transfer drive shaft.

Front page continuation (72) Kenji Okamoto 2-16-1, Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Shimizu Construction Co., Ltd. (72) Shintaro Kobayashi 2-16-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Shimizu Construction Stock In the company

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus automatically supplies a wafer to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in a partial laminar flow type clean room in which clean air is supplied from an air supply section provided on a ceiling toward a floor section. A wafer on-floor transfer robot for attaching and detaching, wherein a groove is provided in an equipment floor on which a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is mounted and a floor through which a worker passes, and the floor is separated from the floor. A linear guide attached via a supporting member along the groove is installed, and the base end of the floor transfer robot is attached to this linear guide via a connecting member, and the connecting member is provided in parallel with the linear guide. An on-floor transfer robot for a wafer, wherein the on-floor transfer robot is moved along the groove by rotating the transfer drive shaft.