JPH0374858A - Carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reverse an object to be carried without smearing its abrasion surface and enable it to be carried to a next process automatically by holding a recessed part for retaining and storing the object to be carried with spray of a fluid from the bottom surface using two retaining stands which can be reversed and then carrying it. CONSTITUTION:A silicon wafer 30 which is machined by a branches and leaves type abrasion machine has its abrasion surface to be directed downward by a vacuum chuck 40, is positioned on a retaining stand 1, and is retained in a lifted state by spray of pure water from a spray port 11. Then, a second retaining stand 2 is rotated and is placed on the retaining stand 1, pure water is sprayed also from a second spray port 22, thus resulting in inversion around an axis 15 by a rotary actuator 17 while the wafer 30 is lifted halfway at a recessed part of both retaining stands and directing the abrasion surface upward. By stopping spraying of water of the retaining stand 1 and then opening it, the wafer 30 can be automatically carried to another treatment device 50 without being in contact with the retaining stand since the spray port 22 of the retaining stand 2 slants toward the opening side of the recessed part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a transport device, and is particularly used for transporting polished thin plates, such as silicon wafers and quartz photomasks.

[Problems to be solved by conventional techniques and inventions] Conventionally,
Polished silicon wafers, quartz photomasks, and the like are transported using, for example, a bin set with the polished surface facing downward turned upward.

However, when a bottle set is used, (1) the polished surface of a silicon wafer or quartz photomask is sandwiched between the bottle sets, so dirt from the bottle set is transferred to the polished surface.

■Since it is done by hand, when inserting a silicon wafer or quartz photomask into the cassette, it comes into contact with the cassette and dirt from the □cassette is transferred to the polished surface.

■Since it is a manual process, it has to be processed in units of lofts, making it unsuitable for intermittent processing or single-wafer processing, such as processing one sheet per minute.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device that can perform single-wafer processing without contaminating the polished surfaces of silicon wafers and quartz photomasks.

[Means to solve the problem]

The conveyance device of the present invention has a recess capable of accommodating a flat plate-shaped object to be conveyed, and a first holding table provided with a fluid spout at the bottom of the recess, and a rotatable portion of the first holding table. The first holding table has a recess capable of accommodating a flat object and having one side open so as to face the recess of the first holding table, and a fluid inclined toward the open side at the bottom of the recess. The present invention is characterized by comprising a second holding stand provided with a spout, and a mechanism for inverting the first and second holding stands about a horizontal axis.

[For production]

The transport device of the present invention transports objects to be transported, such as silicon wafers and quartz photomasks, in the following manner. The object to be transported that has been processed by the polishing machine is transported onto the first holding table with its polished surface facing downward by another transport device. Fluid such as water or air is ejected from the first holding table onto the polishing surface of the object to be conveyed, the object to be conveyed is released from the other conveyance device, and the object is levitated in the recessed part of the first holding table. Hold.

After the second holding table was placed over the first holding table, fluid was ejected from the first and second holding tables to both sides of the object to be transported, and the object to be transported was levitated in the recess between them. hold in condition.

inverting the first and second holding tables around the horizontal axis;
Turn the polished side of the transported object upward. The ejection of fluid from the first holding table is stopped, and the first holding table is removed from the second holding table. When fluid continues to be ejected from the ejection port of the second holding table, since this ejection port is inclined toward the open side,
It can be transferred from the open side of the second holding table onto another processing device by receiving a horizontal propulsion force.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1(a) to 1(e) are cross-sectional views showing the operating method of the conveying device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the ■-■ arrow in FIG. 1(b), and FIG. It is a ■-■ arrow view of (b). In the following embodiments, a case will be described in which a silicon wafer whose surface has been polished is transported using a transport device according to the present invention.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, a first holding stand 1 and a second holding stand 2 are rotatably attached by a hinge 3. As shown in FIGS. The first holding table 1 has a circular recess 11 capable of accommodating a silicon wafer, and a spout 12 is provided in the bottom surface of the recess 11 in the vertical direction.

This spout 12 communicates with a flow passage 13 provided inside the first holding table 1, and a pipe 14 is connected to this flow passage t3. In this first holding table 1 , pure water that is force-fed from the outside passes through the vibrator 14 and the flow path 13 and is ejected from the ejection port 12 . Also, this first holding table 1 has a shaft 1.
5 is attached, this shaft 15 is supported by a bearing 16, and can be rotated by a rotary actuator 17. The second holding table 2 is shown in FIG. 1(b).
so as to face the recess 11 of the first holding base 1 in the state of
Although it has a recess 21 capable of accommodating a silicon wafer, there is no recess side wall on the side of the second holding table 2 opposite to the hinge 3, and this side is open to the outside. The bottom of this recess 21 has a spout 2 that is open and slopes toward the side.
2 is provided. This spout 22 is connected to the second holding base 2
communicates with a flow path 23 provided inside the flow path 2.
3 is connected to a vibrator 24. In this second holding table 2, pure water pumped from the outside passes through the pipe 24 and the flow path 23 and is ejected from the ejection port 22.

The operation of transporting a silicon wafer using this transport device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1(a) to 1(e).

First, a silicon wafer 30 processed by a single-wafer polishing machine is transported and positioned on the first holding table 1 with its polished surface facing downward by a vacuum chuck 40. next,
Silicon wafer 30 from the spout 11 of the holding table 1 of IJI
The silicon wafer 30 is released from the vacuum chuck 40 and held in the recess 11 of the first holding table 1 in a suspended state. Next, the second holding table 2 is rotated, and the second holding table 2 is placed on the first holding table 1.
After covering with water, pure water is also spouted from the spout 22 of the second holding table 2. In this way, pure water is jetted onto both sides of the silicon wafer 30, and the silicon wafer 30 is held in a floating state in the recess between the first holding table 1 and the second holding table 2. Next, the rotary actuator 17 is actuated to invert the first holding table 1 and the second holding table 2 about the horizontal axis, so that the polished surface of the silicon wafer 30 faces upward. Thereafter, the jetting of pure water from the first holding table 1 is stopped, the first holding table 1 is rotated, and the first holding table 1 is removed from the second holding table 2. Furthermore, when pure water continues to be spouted from the spout 22 of the second holding table 2, since the spout 22 is inclined toward the opened side, it receives a horizontal driving force, and the second holding table 2 2 can be transferred onto another processing device 50 from the open side.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, by using the conveying device of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(2) When reversing the conveyed object, the polished surface does not come into contact with the main body of the conveying device, so dirt does not transfer to the polished surface.

- The operation of the transport device can be automated to transport objects in accordance with the cycle of the single-fed polisher.

(2) If pure water is used as the fluid spouted from the spout, a cleaning effect can also be imparted.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1(a) to (C) are cross-sectional views showing the operating method of the conveying device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the ■-■ arrow in FIG. 1(b), and FIG. It is a ■-■ arrow view of (b). 1... first holding stand, 2... second holding stand, 3...
・Hinge, IL 21... Recess, 12.22... Spout, 13.23... Flow path, 14.24... Pipe, 15... Shaft, IB... Bearing, 17. ...Rotary actuator, 30...Silicon wafer, 40
...Vacuum chuck, 50...Transfer device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a first holding table having a recess capable of accommodating a flat plate-shaped object and having a fluid spout provided at the bottom of the recess; Opposed to the recess of the holding table, the recess is capable of accommodating a flat plate-shaped object and is open on one side, and a fluid spout is provided at the bottom of the recess that slopes toward the open side. A conveying device comprising: a second holding table; and a mechanism for reversing the first and second holding tables about a horizontal axis.