JPH0448855Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> The present invention is directed to a rotational processing device such as a so-called spinner, which performs rotational processing by supplying processing liquid to a substrate that is held and rotated approximately horizontally within a chamber. Regarding parallel rotary processing equipment in which multiple rotary processing equipment are installed in parallel, even if the exhaust volume for the chamber of the relevant equipment is controlled in order to suspend some of the rotary processing equipment, the To provide a device that can perform stable processing without changing the air flow in the chamber of the remaining equipment.

<Prior art> The basic structure of the parallel rotary processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied is as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 61-96537.
A rotating body that supports and rotates a substrate is installed in a chamber, and multiple rotary processing devices are installed in parallel to perform rotation processing by supplying processing liquid to the top surface of the substrate through a nozzle while exhausting air into the chamber. It is. The device described in this publication connects at least one exhaust pipe provided in each chamber of a plurality of rotary processing devices to an exhaust chamber provided correspondingly to each chamber, and an exhaust outlet of each exhaust chamber. communicates with multiple exhaust communication ports attached to the common exhaust chamber. The exhaust outlet of the common exhaust chamber is connected to a forced exhaust means, and an exhaust damper is provided at each exhaust communication port of the common exhaust chamber.

The operating principle of the device described in the above publication is as shown in FIG. 6, in which a plurality of exhaust chambers 8 are connected to a common exhaust chamber 18.
The exhaust ports 19 are connected to a single forced exhaust means 25 via the exhaust holes 19, and the air in each chamber is exhausted. The exhaust dampers 20 provided at each exhaust communication port 19 are individually controlled to open and close by a push-pull drive source 21, thereby adjusting and controlling the exhaust volume for each chamber.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> In the above-mentioned conventional technology, when operating a plurality of rotary processing devices, the state in which each exhaust damper 20 is fully opened is used as the processing standard, and the exhaust gas in any one of the chambers 2 is When only the damper 20 is selectively blocked in order to change and set the amount to a state different from the reference, the suction force of the forced exhaust means is opened because each exhaust chamber 8 is connected to a common exhaust chamber. As a result, the exhaust balance of each processing device is disrupted compared to when all dampers are open.

As a result, the exhaust volume inside the chamber 2 during operation fluctuates and the air atmosphere is disturbed. For example, when applying a photoresist solution to the substrate surface, there may be uneven film thickness, or during development processing, uneven development may occur. Occurs.

The technical problem of the present invention is that even if the exhaust volume of some of the plurality of rotary processing apparatuses is controlled, the air atmosphere in the other chambers can be maintained well and stable processing can be performed.

<Means for Solving the Problems> Means for achieving the above-mentioned problems will be explained below using FIGS. 1 to 5, which correspond to embodiments.

That is, in the present invention, a plurality of rotary processing devices are installed in parallel in a chamber to supply a processing liquid to a substrate supported substantially horizontally and perform rotation processing, and each chamber of each rotary processing device is connected to a common exhaust chamber. Each exhaust communication port that connects the common exhaust chamber to the forced exhaust means and introduces exhaust gas from each chamber to the common exhaust chamber is provided with an exhaust damper capable of closing the exhaust communication port. In a parallel rotary processing device configured to control the flow of air exhausted from each chamber by being driven by a drive source, the same number of outside air communication ports as each of the above exhaust communication ports are opened in the common exhaust chamber. An outside air damper capable of closing the outside air communication port is provided for each outside air communication port, and one outside air damper is provided for each of the above exhaust dampers, and when the exhaust damper is in the closed position, the outside air damper is in the open position; The open air damper is characterized in that it is connected to the same driving source in a positional relationship in which the open air damper is in the closed position.

<Function> The outside air damper 30 is interlocked with each of the exhaust dampers 20, and the interlocking relationship is such that when the exhaust communication port 19 opens, the outside air communication port 32 closes, and the exhaust communication port 19 closes. Then, the outside air communication port 32 is configured to open, so once the exhaust volume in each chamber 2 is set based on the entire operating state of the processing equipment, it is possible to suspend some of the processing equipment, etc. Furthermore, even if some of the exhaust communication ports are closed, the exhaust volume of the common exhaust chamber 18 can be kept constant, and the inside of the chamber 2 of the device with the exhaust communication ports in the fully open state can be maintained in the reference state.

For example, as shown in FIG.
When one or two of the exhaust communication ports 19 are closed at 0 to block the corresponding exhaust chamber 8 from the common exhaust chamber 18, one of the outside air communication ports 32 is closed by the outside air damper 30.
One or two of them are opened and the common exhaust chamber 18 is communicated with the outside air.

As a result, the amount that was previously being exhausted to the forced exhaust means through the exhaust communication port (that is, the amount that was being exhausted from the open exhaust communication port 19)
Since the corresponding outside air is sucked by the forced exhaust means from the common exhaust chamber 18 through the outside air communication port 32, the amount of exhaust gas passing through the exhaust communication port 19 of the processing device with the exhaust damper in the fully open state is varied. It is possible to maintain the air atmosphere in the chamber 2 of the device at a constant level without any change, and it is possible to maintain the air atmosphere in the chamber 2 of the device in the same manner as the reference state.

Conversely, when the exhaust communication port 19 that was blocked by the exhaust damper 20 is opened and the exhaust chamber 8 is communicated with the common exhaust chamber 18, the outside air damper 30 closes the outside air communication port 32, so that the outside air is not communicated until then. Mouth 3
The same amount of exhaust air as was being sucked in from chamber 2 will be sucked in from exhaust chamber 8, which was previously blocked by the exhaust communication port, and the amount of exhaust gas into chamber 2 that communicates with the exhaust chamber 8 will be changed. The air atmosphere can be maintained as constant as before without causing any problems.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Figures 1 to 4 show parallel processing equipment, with the first
2 is a partially cutaway plan view, FIG. 3 is a front view, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 2.

In the above figure, numeral 1 is a base frame, 2 is a chamber, 3 is a rotating body that is installed in the chamber and rotates by suctioning and holding the mounted substrate 4, and 5 is a rotating body 3.
6, 6 is an exhaust pipe attached to the chamber; 7 is a drain pipe;
Reference numeral 50 indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure is a nozzle for supplying a processing liquid.

An individual exhaust chamber 8 and a processing liquid recovery chamber 9 are arranged below each chamber 2, and two exhaust pipes 6, 6 attached to each chamber 2 are connected to the exhaust chamber 8.
One drain pipe 7 attached to each chamber 2 is introduced into a recovery container 10 installed in a processing liquid recovery chamber 9.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rotating body 3 is removably attached to the rotating shaft 11, and by pulling up the rotating body 3 and removing it, the chamber 2 can be removed from the top surface of the base frame 1. It is configured so that it can be done.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the exhaust pipes 6 and 6 and the drain pipe 7 have one end seated in each of the stepped openings 12, 12, and 13 formed on the upper surface of the base frame 1. These exhaust pipes 6, 6 and drain pipe 7 are also configured to be able to be pulled upward and taken out after removing the chamber 2 from the base frame 1, thereby facilitating maintenance work.

A baffle plate 14 is provided in each exhaust chamber 8 disposed on the lower surface of each chamber 2 so as to cover the lower end of the exhaust pipe 6.
The upper side 14a of the exhaust pipe 6 is positioned higher than the lower end surface 6a of the exhaust pipe 6, so that the mist contained in the exhaust gas can be easily separated.

Exhaust outlet 15, 15, 1 of each exhaust chamber 8, 8, 8
5 is each exhaust communication port 1 arranged in parallel in the common exhaust chamber 18
9, 19, 19 via ducts 16, 16, 16.

In the common exhaust chamber 18, as shown in FIG.
An exhaust communication port 19 and an outside air communication port 32 are provided in three stages facing each other on both the left and right walls, and this outside air communication port 32 communicates with an outside air intake chamber 33 formed on the left side of the common exhaust chamber 18. be done.

A push/pull drive source 21 outside the outside air intake chamber 33;
Specifically, a solenoid is attached, a push/pull shaft 34 extending from the drive source 21 is positioned in a direction connecting the centers of both communication ports 19 and 32, and an exhaust damper 20 is attached to the tip of the push/pull shaft 34. An outside air damper 30 is commonly fixed to each midway portion.

The two dampers 20, 30 are supported at a predetermined distance from each other, and the exhaust damper 20 faces the exhaust communication port 19, and the outside air damper 30 faces the outside air communication port 32 so as to be able to abut and close the port. When the drive shaft 34 is pushed or pulled by the drive source 21 controlled by a manual or automatic control device (not shown), the two dampers 2
One of the dampers 0, 30 is set to close one of the two communication ports 19, 32 while the other of the dampers opens the other communication port.

That is, if the exhaust damper 20 comes into contact with the exhaust communication port 19 and closes it, the outside air damper 30 moves away from the outside air communication port 32 to open it, and conversely, the damper 20 moves away from the damper 19 to open it. For example, the outside air damper 30 is configured to come into contact with the outside air communication port 32 to close it off.

Exhaust outlet 22 bored at the rear of the common exhaust chamber 18
A forced exhaust duct 25 is connected via a common exhaust damper 23, and the common exhaust chamber 18 is configured to be forcibly evacuated by a forced exhaust means (not shown) connected to the free end side of the forced exhaust duct 25.

Note that the drive source 21 that operates the push/pull shaft 34
Therefore, a double-acting hydraulic cylinder may be used instead of a solenoid.

Further, reference numeral 35 indicates a plurality of outside air intake holes bored in the front surface of the air intake chamber 33, and the common exhaust chamber 18 is configured to be able to take in outside air through the outside air communication port 32 and the outside air intake hole 35. .

Therefore, the functions of the above-mentioned parallel rotation processing apparatus will be described below.

(1) When operating all rotary processing devices, the drive source 21 pulls the push/pull shaft 34, all the outside air communication ports 32 are closed with the outside air damper 30, all the exhaust communication ports 19 are opened, and all By communicating the exhaust chamber 8 with the common exhaust chamber 18 and appropriately setting the amount of forced exhaust from the exhaust outlet 22, the surface of the substrate 4 can be cleaned, coated, etc. while maintaining an appropriate air flow within the chamber 2. Perform processing such as development.

(2) When suspending some of the processing equipment installed in parallel, the drive source 21 corresponding to the processing equipment to be suspended
Push the push/pull shaft 34 with the
9 is partially sealed off with an exhaust damper 20.

At this time, the exhaust damper 30 provided on the push-pull shaft moves away from the outside air communication port 32 and opens it, so that the outside air corresponding to the amount of exhaust that has passed through the exhaust communication port 19, which had been open until then, is transferred to the outside air. The air is sucked into the common exhaust chamber 18 through the communication port 32.

As a result, the amount of exhaust gas passing through the exhaust communication port 19 of the processing equipment currently in operation is maintained at the same level as in the case (1) above when all the processing equipment was in operation. The air flow inside the outside air communication port 32 is maintained in an appropriate state without changing, and stable processing can be continued.

In other words, in the case of the processing equipment, even if the number of operating units of the equipment changes and the number of open exhaust communication ports decreases, the outside air communication ports open accordingly (or
Conversely, even if the number of open exhaust communication ports increases, the outside air communication ports close accordingly), and the increase or decrease of the amount of exhaust gas from the common exhaust chamber 18 from the processing device is increased or decreased by sucking outside air. Since it can be compensated appropriately, the suction force will not be concentrated in the exhaust chamber 8 during operation, and the exhaust balance within the chamber 2 of the processing apparatus during operation can always be maintained properly.

In the above embodiment, the box body 2 is integrally formed by partitioning each exhaust chamber and the common exhaust chamber.
4 can be pulled out in the direction of arrow A, and after taking out the exhaust pipe 6 and drain pipe 7 upward, the box body 24 can be pulled out to dispose of the used processing liquid or for daily use. It is constructed so that maintenance can be easily performed.

Further, in addition to the respective exhaust chambers and the common exhaust chamber, even the processing liquid recovery chamber can be formed integrally and can be drawn out in the direction of the arrow.

Although the above-mentioned embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned contents, and various modifications and applications are possible.

Further, in the above embodiment, the exhaust damper 20 is connected to the exhaust communication port 19, and the outside air damper is connected to the outside air communication port 32.
In contrast, each damper was designed to move forward and backward, but each damper was configured to slide between a position where a communication port was formed and a position where no communication port was formed, along the wall surface where each communication port was formed. Also good.

In addition, when such a mechanism is adopted, each damper can be operated not only in an alternative operation of opening and closing, but also in an intermediate state between open and closed.

Therefore, for example, if the exhaust damper is set to 1/3 open, the outside air damper will be 1/3 closed compared to fully closed, so that the outside air damper can be linked to operate in reverse to the exhaust damper. can be controlled.

<Effects of the invention> Even if the exhaust communication ports of some of the multiple rotary processing devices are closed, the corresponding outside air communication ports can maintain the exhaust volume of each chamber of the other processing devices constant. , maintaining a good air atmosphere inside the chamber to ensure stable and smooth processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a longitudinal sectional front view of the vicinity of the common exhaust chamber, Figure 2 being a partially cutaway plan view of the parallel rotary processing equipment, and Figure 3 being the same. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view of the device, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a diagram of the operating principle of the device, and FIG. 6 is a view equivalent to FIG. 2... Chamber, 4... Board, 18... Common exhaust chamber, 19... Exhaust communication port, 20... Exhaust damper, 21... Drive source, 30... Outside air damper,
32...Outside air communication port.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A substrate 4 supported substantially horizontally within the chamber 2.
A plurality of rotary processing apparatuses for supplying processing liquid and performing rotational processing are arranged in parallel, each chamber 2 of each rotary processing apparatus is communicated with a common exhaust chamber 18, and the common exhaust chamber 18 is connected to a forced exhaust means. By providing an exhaust damper 20 capable of closing the exhaust communication port 19 for each exhaust communication port 19 that introduces exhaust gas from each chamber 2 into the common exhaust chamber 18, and driving each exhaust damper 20 with a drive source 21, In the parallel rotary processing apparatus configured to control the flow of air exhausting the inside of each chamber 2, each of the exhaust communication ports 19 is connected to the common exhaust chamber 18.
The same number of outside air communication ports 32 are opened, and an outside air damper 30 capable of closing the outside air communication ports 32 is provided for each outside air communication port 32, and one outside air damper 30 is provided for each exhaust damper 20, and one outside air damper 30 is provided for each of the exhaust dampers 20. 20 is in the closed position, the outside air damper 30 is in the open position, and when the exhaust damper 20 is in the open position, the outside air damper 30 is in the closed position. .