JPH0465149A - Substrate conveyance arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance a throughput and to effectively utilize a space by a method wherein a conveyance arm is driven and, at the same time, a prealignment operation is executed by using the conveyance arm. CONSTITUTION:The reference face in the X-axis of a substrate 1 is positioned in such a way that, when the substrate 1 is placed on a substrate-mounting body 9, two pressure parts 19 installed at a positioning member 14 press the side face in the X-axis of the substrate 1 and that the reference face in the X-axis is decided. Consequently, when the LCD substrate 1 is taken out by using a conveyance arm and the substrate 1 is placed on the substrate-mounting body 9 by the expansion and contraction action of the arm without separately executing a prealignment operation, the substrate 1 is prealigned automatically; it is conveyed by using the conveyance arm; and the substrate 1 can be carried into a process chamber from a load-lock chamber. That is to say, when the conveyance arm is driven, the substrate can be prealigned simultaneously while the substrate is being conveyed by using the conveyance arm. Thereby, a throughput can be enhanced and a conveyance space can effectively be utilized.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

"Purpose of invention"

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a substrate transfer arm.

[Conventional technology]

Normally, when transporting a substrate from an indexer containing an LCD substrate to a process chamber via a load lock chamber,
After the board is taken out from the indexer by the arm mechanism, the board is aligned in advance by the pre-alignment mechanism. Further, the aligned substrate is carried into the process chamber via the load lock chamber by another arm mechanism.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional transfer arm described above has the following problems. In other words, it requires an arm to take it out from the carrier and another arm to carry it into the process chamber, and also requires a pre-alignment mechanism and a drive mechanism to drive it because it is positioned in advance in the pre-alignment mechanism after it is taken out from the indexer. Since it is required separately from the transfer arm, there are drawbacks such as not only requiring space for the substrate transfer arm but also making the transfer process more complicated than necessary. The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and aims to improve throughput and effectively utilize space by driving the transport arm and simultaneously enabling pre-alignment with the transport arm. "Structure of the invention"

[Means to solve problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention rotatably provides a substrate mounting body at the tip of an arm mechanism consisting of multiple joints, and positions the substrate placed on the mounting body by this rotational movement. This is a substrate transfer arm designed like this. [For use]

In the substrate transfer arm of the present invention, the substrate placed on the mounting body is positioned by the rotation of the substrate mounting body rotatably provided at the tip of the arm mechanism. When the board is expanded and contracted and transported, the board transport body rotates, and the board is automatically positioned by the board holder. There is no need to perform pre-alignment, and the board can be positioned by simply transporting it to the transport process. transported in the same condition. [Example] An example of a substrate transfer arm according to the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. This is an example in which an appropriate LCD board 1 stored in an indexer is taken out by a telescoping transport arm, transported, and carried into a process chamber. The first with the
The articulated arm 3 and the belt 4 wound around the pulley 2,
Connected to a pulley 5 housed at the other end of the first articulated arm 3,
A pulley 6 coaxially interlocked with this pulley 5 is housed in a second articulated arm 7, and is provided so that the second articulated arm 7 is rotated in conjunction with the rotational operation of this pulley 5.
The other end of the belt 8 is wound around an arm pulley 11 housed in the arm portion 10 of the substrate holder 9, and as the arm pulley 11 rotates, the substrate holder 9
is provided so that it can be rotated to form a multi-joint arm. This substrate mounting body 9 is provided with a mounting portion 12 made of four O-rings, etc., a substrate locking portion 13 is provided at the tip, and a positioning member is further provided at a position in the upper width direction of the substrate mounting body 9. 14 is provided so as to be movable forward and backward via a connecting portion 15, and a roller 18 is provided on an elongated 16 formed in the center of the positioning member 14, and on an interlocking piece 17 provided coaxially with the arm pulley 11.
8 is locked in the elongated hole 16 described above, and the positioning member 14 is provided so as to be freely movable forward and backward by rotation of the arm pulley 11. Further, pressing portions 19 are provided on the positioning member 14 via springs 20 to press the Y-axis side surface of the substrate 1 at uniform positions in the width direction of the positioning member 14 to determine a reference plane on the Y-axis of the substrate 1. Furthermore, the base of the abbreviated suppressing piece 21 that presses the side surface of the Y-axis of the substrate 1 to determine the reference plane of the Y-axis of the substrate 1 is attached to one end of the positioning member 14 via the rotation shaft 22. The pressing piece 21 is pivoted to one end side of the substrate mounting body 9 located below, and the projection 23 provided in the middle of the pressing piece 21 is fitted into the locking hole 24 of the positioning member 14, and the projection 23 is inserted into the locking hole 24 of the positioning member 14. One side is pressed by a leaf spring 25 and the positioning member 14 advances to press the pressing piece 21 against the side surface of the board 1, thereby absorbing errors in the external shape of the board 1. On the other hand, the base of the pressing piece 26 that presses the other side of the Y-axis of the substrate 1 to determine the reference plane of the substrate 1 on the Y-axis is pivoted 27 to the other end of the substrate mount 9. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. When the multi-joint transfer arm is extended, the arm pulley 11 rotates counterclockwise in FIG.
Since the pressing piece 21 is released by retracting 4,
The LCD board 1 is housed in an indexer or the like, and is placed on the board holder 9, and is pulled out by being locked by the board locking part 13. 9 in the clockwise direction in FIG.
4 in the direction of the board 1, and then the leaf spring 25
3, the pressing piece 21 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 to press the Y-axis reference plane of the board 1, and together with the other pressing piece 26, determines the Y-axis reference plane of the board 1. do. On the other hand, the Y-axis reference plane of the substrate 1 is such that the substrate 1 is
When placed on the substrate 1, the two pressing portions 19 provided on the positioning member 14 press the Y-axis side surface of the substrate 1, and the Y-axis reference plane is determined and positioned. Therefore, when the LCD board 1 is taken out by the transfer arm, the board 1 is simply placed on the board mounting body 9 by the extension and contraction action of the arm without performing any pre-alignment, and the board 1 is automatically pre-aligned. The substrate 1 can then be transported as it is by the transport arm and carried into the process chamber from the load lock chamber. In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment showed an example of transporting an LCD board by an arm mechanism, it is not limited to this example, and other transportable items that can be transported in conjunction with the expansion and contraction action of the arm mechanism, such as It can also be widely applied to semiconductor wafers. "Effects of the Invention" As is clear from the above, the present invention has the following excellent effects: By driving the transport arm, it is possible to carry out pre-alignment while simultaneously transporting with the transport arm. Therefore, it is possible to improve the throughput and to make effective use of the transport space.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the substrate transfer arm according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the substrate mounting body portion, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional front view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a multi-jointed structure. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view of the arm, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the arm in FIG. 3.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Substrate transport characterized in that a substrate mounting body is rotatably provided at the tip of an arm mechanism consisting of a plurality of joints, and the substrate placed on the mounting body is positioned by this rotational movement. arm.