JPH0786373A - Substrate attitude change equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a wet processing technique for carrying out a large rectangular or square substrate in a batch type with a low contamination degree and without a cassette and with high production efficiency. [Structure] When a rectangular or square substrate SB accommodated in a carrier cassette and carried in from the previous step is taken out of the carrier cassette and is transported without a cassette, the posture changing device 2 allows the adjacent substrates 2 to cross orthogonal to each other.
By changing the posture so that the sides SBa and SBb are inclined lower sides, it is possible for the substrate transfer devices 5 and 7 to support and convey these two inclined lower sides SBa and SBb in a suspended manner. As a result, with a simple configuration, a rectangular or square large substrate SB can be processed in a batch manner without using a cassette.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate posture changing device, and more particularly, it is a cassetteless thin or rectangular substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device or a glass substrate for a reticle or a photomask. The present invention relates to a technique for performing a wet process on a substrate, which is provided at a carry-in position or a carry-out position of a substrate and changes the posture of the substrate between a carry-in / carry-out posture and a processing posture.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that a liquid crystal display device is used for displaying an image on a home-use thin television or a laptop personal computer. Liquid crystal display devices have low power consumption, are thin and do not occupy a lot of space, and therefore demand for wall-mounted TVs and desktop personal computers is increasing, and accordingly, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices are also becoming larger year by year. .

By the way, in the wet processing technique for these glass substrates (hereinafter, referred to as substrates) and semiconductor wafers (hereinafter, referred to as wafers), a plurality of substrates and the like are accommodated in a carrier cassette for transportation and collectively processed. There are a cassette type and a cassetteless type in which substrates are directly held and processed by a substrate transfer device, and the cassetteless type is a single-wafer type in which the number of substrates to be held is one. There are one and a batch type of multiple sheets.

[0004]

Recently, in order to improve the cleaning efficiency, prevent the contamination of the cleaning liquid, and improve the production efficiency, a batchless wet process without a cassette is generally used for wafers. However, in the case of a substrate, on the other hand, the substrate is limited to a batch type using a carrier cassette or a cassette-less type single-wafer type, and a processing method such as a wafer has not been adopted.

That is, in the case of a wafer, the shape and dimension of the wafer are currently 8 inches and are circular with a diameter of about 200 mm.
It is still easy to hold chucking directly on the substrate transfer device. On the other hand, in the case of a substrate, the shape and size thereof are becoming larger year by year as described above, and recently, since it is a large rectangle of 400 × 500 mm, it is much more difficult to chuck and heavier than a wafer. For this reason, it has been considered impossible to perform batch type wet processing without a cassette.

However, in the wet processing using the above carrier cassette, the size of the carrier cassette is also increasing with the increase in size of the substrate, and during the wet processing after passing through many chemical solution tanks, the chemical solution remains in the carrier cassette. Since much of the drug solution remained attached, the drug solution was often taken out, and it was uneconomical to repeatedly replenish the drug solution.

Also, when the chemical solution is treated many times for a long time using the carrier cassette, the chemical solution permeates into the carrier cassette over time, and this time, the chemical solution permeates into the pure water for cleaning and is used for cleaning. It adversely affects the treatment process such as polluting pure water. Furthermore, in order to prevent such adverse effects, the carrier cassette must be discarded / replaced in a relatively short cycle, but the carrier cassette is expensive, which greatly increases the running cost and greatly increases. It was uneconomical.

On the other hand, in the cassetteless type single-wafer wet processing, a method is used in which substrates are taken out one by one from a carrier cassette by a loader device, conveyed by a rubber belt in a horizontal state, and a chemical shower is applied during the process. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-37016, there is a system in which one substrate is held by an L-shaped or V-shaped substrate holder and the substrate holder is transported by a transport means. However, all of them had the following problems.

That is, in the former case, the contact between the rubber belt and the substrate causes contamination, and not only a sufficient wet treatment effect cannot be obtained, but also the substrate having a large plane area is horizontally moved, so that the size of the apparatus is increased. I was invited. Also, in the latter, as in the case of the above-mentioned carrier cassette,
Taking out the chemical solution with the substrate holder, soaking the chemical solution,
The problem of contamination due to exudation, L-shaped or V-shaped substrate
Since the substrate is supported by the letter-shaped substrate holder, the diagonal line of the substrate becomes nearly horizontal, and thus the holding jig becomes large, leading to an increase in the size of the apparatus, and there is a problem that the production efficiency is poor due to the single-wafer type.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object thereof is to support a substrate in a posture in which the surface to be processed of the substrate is vertical and its lower side is slightly inclined from the horizontal. This allows large substrates to be loaded and unloaded in a batch-type wet processing system with high contamination efficiency and high production efficiency with low contamination level.
An object of the present invention is to provide an attitude conversion device that converts the attitude between the carry-out attitude and the processing attitude.

[0011]

In order to achieve this object, in a posture changing apparatus of the present invention, when a rectangular or square substrate is wet-processed without a cassette, the substrate transfer processing device adjoins the substrate adjacent thereto. A substrate wet processing apparatus having a processing posture of suspending and supporting the two inclined sides with the two sides being inclined lower sides is provided, and a plurality of the substrates are collectively housed in the same posture. And a rotation unit that rotates the substrate holding unit so that the substrate accommodated in the substrate holding unit is in the processing posture. The substrate holding unit is configured to rotate the substrate holding unit. A chuck means having a plurality of chuck claws for chuckingly supporting the front and rear surfaces of the peripheral edge portion in an openable and closable manner is provided. Both characterized in that it is driven and controlled to be in the closed state during the rotating operation of the substrate holder.

[0012] Here, the chucking support includes a state in which there is a gap that allows the substrate to be taken in and out, and the same applies hereinafter in this specification.

[0013]

In the present invention, when the rectangular or square substrate is wet-processed, the posture is changed so that the two adjacent sides of the substrate are inclined lower sides, so that the substrate transfer apparatus suspends these two inclined lower sides. It is possible to hold the substrate in a rectangular shape or a square shape, and it is possible to process a large-sized rectangular or square substrate in a batch method without using a cassette.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 A substrate wet processing apparatus according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and this substrate wet processing apparatus uses a plurality of (in this example, 20) substrates SB, SB, ... 2, which is a batch system for collectively carrying out the substrate loading section L, the loading side transfer section A, the wet processing section B, the unloading side transfer section C, the substrate unloading section U, and the cassette. Transport section D
And a control device E as a main part, and the posture conversion device 2 of the present invention is provided in the carry-in side transfer part A and the carry-out side transfer part C.
Are arranged. Hereinafter, each component will be sequentially described.

I. Substrate carry-in section L: The substrate carry-in section L is a part where the substrates SB, SB, ... Are carried in from the previous step, is arranged on the carry-in side of the wet processing section B, and is provided with a tact feed mechanism (not shown). The substrate-containing carrier cassette CC carried in from the previous process is indicated by the arrow mark by the tact feeding mechanism.
Tact is fed in the direction of (1) at a predetermined interval. At this time, the substrate SB is held in a horizontal state (falling state).

II. Transfer section A, C: The carry-in side and carry-out side transfer section A, C respectively include a transfer robot 1 and a posture conversion device 2.

The transfer robot 1 has a carrier cassette CC.
4 to transfer the substrate SB of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a transfer hand 1a for handling the substrate SB is provided. The transfer hand 1a is provided on the upper side of the robot body 1b so as to be movable up and down and rotatable via a support shaft 1c, and is linked to a drive source (not shown) inside the robot body 1b. A suction plate 1d for suction-chucking the substrate SB is provided at the tip of the transfer hand 1a, and the suction plate 1d is connected to a negative pressure source such as a vacuum pump (not shown).

The suction plate 1d extracts the substrates SB, SB, ... Stored in the carrier cassette CC one by one in a horizontal state, and rotates them horizontally by a predetermined angle (175 ° in the illustrated example). After that, insert it into the posture changing device 2 in the horizontal holding state and transfer it (arrow (2)
reference). In this case, the transfer hand 1a moves vertically 1 (upward or downward) every time one substrate SB is transferred.
After the ascending / descending operation by the pitch, the same operation as described above is sequentially repeated to drive and control all 20 substrates SB, SB, ... From the carrier cassette CC to the posture changing device 2.

The posture changing device 2 is specifically shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, a substrate holding portion 2A that holds and holds the substrate SB
And a rotating part 2B for rotating the substrate holding part 2A.

The substrate holder 2A is a unit for accommodating a plurality of the substrates SB in the same posture, and is composed of a holder main body 201 and an opening / closing unit 202.
It is attached to the rotating portion 2B via 0, 241 so as to be vertically rotatable.

The holding part main body 201 holds two adjacent sides SBa and SBb of each substrate SB, and is provided with a chuck part (chuck means) 205 on the inner peripheral part thereof.

The chuck portion 205 is formed on each of the substrates SB.
A plurality of chuck claws M for chucking and supporting the front and back surfaces of the peripheral portion, that is, the edge portions of the two sides SBa and SBb.
, And these chuck claws M, M, ... Are composed of a fixed-side chuck member 206 and a movable-side chuck member 207 that are arranged along the inner circumference of the holding unit main body 201.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the fixed-side chuck member 206 is fixedly provided on the inner periphery of the holding portion main body 201 so as to extend in the substrate arranging direction and is fixed to the inner portion thereof.
When the substrate holding groove M ₁ is in the vertical direction, that is, in the substrate arrangement direction
A plurality of substrates are formed with the same substrate arrangement pitch. Each substrate holding groove M ₁ has a side surface shape as shown in FIG.
The width dimension is set wider than the thickness dimension of the substrate SB. In FIG. 7, reference numerals 210 and 211 respectively denote a frame plate and a reinforcing plate constituting the holding portion main body 201, and 212 denotes a spacer for mounting the fixed side chuck member 206.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the movable side chuck member 207 is adjacent to the fixed side chuck member 206 on the inner periphery of the holding part main body 201 and is parallel to the fixed side chuck member 206. It is provided so as to extend in the substrate arrangement direction. In addition, the movable side chuck member 207
Inside the substrate, a plurality of substrate holding grooves M ₂ are formed in the vertical direction (substrate arrangement direction) with the same substrate arrangement pitch. Each substrate holding groove M ₂ has a side shape as shown in FIG. 8, and its width dimension is the same as that of the substrate holding groove M ₁ described above.
It is set wider than the thickness dimension of B.

As shown in FIG. 8, a specific mounting structure for the movable chuck member 207 is such that a support 215 is mounted on the frame plate 210 via a mounting spacer 216, and the support 215 is mounted on the support 215. A guide rod 217 of the movable chuck member 207 is supported via a linear ball bearing 218 so as to be movable in the up-down direction (substrate arrangement direction).

An air cylinder (driving section) 219 is provided downward at the lower end of the support 215,
The piston rod 219a is connected to the lower end of the movable chuck member 207 via a connecting bracket 220. Then, the movable-side chuck member 207 can reciprocate in the vertical direction, that is, the substrate arrangement direction by the projecting / retracting operation of the piston rod 219a.

In connection with this, the frame plate 2
The position detection sensor 22 as shown in FIG.
Two upper and lower two are provided, which detect the sensing plate 223 of the movable side chuck member 207, respectively, and reciprocate stroke of the movable side chuck member 207 (solid line position and chain double-dashed line position in FIG. 8). The air cylinder 219 is drive-controlled so as to define the distance between the air cylinder 219 and

Both of the chuck members 206, 207, ...
10, they are arranged corresponding to each other, and a corresponding set of the substrate holding grooves M ₁ , M ₂ , ... Of these two constitutes each chuck claw M.

That is, when the substrates SB, SB, ... Are in and out, the substrate holding groove M ₂ of the movable chuck member 207 is at the stroke rising position (solid line position in FIG. 8).
As a result, the lower surfaces 225 and 226 of both the substrate holding grooves M ₁ and M ₂ are at the same height position as shown in FIG. 10 (a), and the chuck claws M are in the open state. The peripheral edges of SB are the lower surfaces 225, 22 of the substrate holding grooves M ₁ , M ₂ .
6 is mounted and supported. In this case, the fixed side chuck member 2
The bottom surface 227 of the substrate holding groove M ₁ of 06 is an inclined surface as shown in the drawing, and functions as a positioning portion for the peripheral edge of the substrate SB, as will be described later.

On the other hand, when the substrate holding portion 2A is rotated, the substrate holding groove M ₂ of the movable chuck member 207 is at the stroke lowering position (the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 8). Thus, both the substrate holding groove M _1, M _2, ..., as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the upper surface 228 of the substrate holding groove M ₂ is close to the lower surface 225 of the substrate holding groove M _1, The chuck claw M is in a closed state, and the peripheral edge of the substrate SB is chucked and supported by the bottom of the lower surface 225 and the upper surface 228. in this case,
The chucking width at the bottom of the chuck claw M is set so as to support the peripheral edge of the substrate SB in a sandwiched manner or with a small gap, whereby the substrate SB can be taken in and out of the chuck claw M.

Further, the supporting surfaces of the chuck claws M, M, ... Of these chuck portions 205 are, as shown in FIG. 4, inner peripheral surfaces (side surface 210a, bottom surface 210) of the frame plate 210.
With respect to b), each has a linear cross-sectional profile that extends obliquely. As a result, these chuck claws M, M,
Each substrate SB held by ... is slightly inclined (5 ° in this example) with respect to a straight line orthogonal to the rotation axis of the substrate holding portion 2A, that is, a line parallel to the side surface 210a of the frame plate 210. Retained.

As a result, as will be described later, the substrate holder 2
When the posture of A is changed so that the surface to be processed of the substrate SB is in the vertical state (vertical holding state position) (two-dot chain line G in FIG. 5).
(See FIG. 11), the processing posture in which the adjacent two orthogonal sides SBa and SBb are inclined lower sides is obtained (see FIG. 11).

The opening / closing section 202 holds the other side SBc of the substrate SB in an openable manner, and has the same structure as the fixed side chuck member 206.
This opening / closing chuck member 23 is equipped with
0 is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the holding unit main body 201.

The open / close chuck member 230 is attached and fixed to the tips of a pair of upper and lower holding plates 231 and 231. The base ends of these holding plates 231 and 231 are paired with a pair of slide shafts 233 via a connecting plate 232. , 233 are fixed to the tips.

These slide shafts 233 and 233
Are guided and supported in the direction of the arrow (9) by a pair of slide guides 234 and 234 fixed to the frame plate 210. In this connection, the connecting plate 2
The tip end of 32 has a bifurcated shape and is inserted in the recesses 235 and 235 of the frame plate 210 in an intersecting manner, and is allowed to move in the arrow (9) direction (FIGS. 4 and 6). reference).

The slide guides 234 and 234 are also provided.
On the frame plate 210 between the air cylinder 23
6 is attached, and its piston rod is connected to the connecting plate 232 (not shown).

Then, the opening / closing chuck member 230 is driven (in the direction of the arrow (9)) by the projecting / withdrawing operation of the piston rod of the air cylinder 236, and the holding portion main body 201.
The other side SBc of each substrate SB held by the chuck unit 205 is held or released. The support surface of the opening / closing chuck member 230 is formed so as to hold each substrate SB in the inclined state, like the support surface of the chuck claws M, M, ... Of the chuck portion 205.

The rotating portion 2B is for rotating the substrate holding portion 2A so that the substrates SB, SB, ... Stored in the substrate holding portion 2A are in the processing posture described above, and is shown in FIGS. So as to rotate the substrate holding portion 2A,
A drive unit 242 that rotationally drives the rotation shaft 241 and a positioning unit 243 that defines the rotation range of the holding unit 2A are provided as main components.

The rotating shaft 241 is rotatably supported on a vertically provided vertical column 245, and the frame plate 210 of the substrate holding portion 2A is fixedly mounted on the tip thereof. Specifically, the vertical column 245 is provided in an upright state on a support base 246 fixed to the main body of the apparatus, and the rotary shaft 240 is rotated on a bearing bracket 247 fixed to the upper end portion thereof. It is pivotally supported.

In this connection, a vertical column 248 which is paired with the vertical column 245 is provided on the support base 246 in an upright state, and the spindle 240 is provided at the upper end thereof.
Are supported coaxially with the rotating shaft 241. The frame plate 210 is fixedly mounted on the support shaft 240, and the both ends of the substrate holding portion 2A are supported by the shafts 240 and 241 so as to be vertically rotatable.

The driving portion 242 comprises a rotating arm 250 and an air cylinder 251 for driving the rotating arm 250. The rotating arm 250 has its base end portion connected and fixed to the outer end portion of the rotating shaft 241. At the same time (see FIG. 4), its tip is connected to the air cylinder 251 via a connecting rod 252.

The base end of the air cylinder 251 is pivotally supported by the vertical column 245 via a mounting bracket 253, and the piston rod 251a is pivotable to the tip of the pivot arm 250 via the connecting rod 252. When the piston rod 251a is projected and retracted, the rotation shaft 2 is rotated through the rotation arm 250.
41 Further, the substrate holder 2A is rotated in the vertical direction.

The positioning section 243 comprises a horizontal positioning section 255 and a vertical positioning section 256. The horizontal positioning portion 255 includes horizontal positioning stoppers 255a and 255a provided on the fixed side, that is, the vertical columns 245 and 248, and the movable frame plate 210.
And stopper members 255b and 255b provided on the substrate holding member 255a, which are in contact with each other to define the horizontal holding state position (solid line position in FIG. 5) of the substrate holding unit 2A.

On the other hand, in the vertical state positioning portion 256, the vertical state positioning stoppers 256a and 256a provided on the both vertical columns 245 and 248 and the stopper member 256 provided on the frame plate 210 are also the same as above.
b and 256b, which are in contact with each other to define the vertical holding state position of the substrate holding portion 2A (position of the chain double-dashed line G in FIG. 5).

The above horizontal positioning stopper 25
Both 5a and the vertical state positioning stopper 256a have a built-in function as a shock absorber.

In the carrying-in side transfer section A having the above-described structure, the substrate S is accommodated in the carrier cassette CC in a horizontal state (falling state) and tact-fed.
As described above, B, SB, ... Are picked up one by one by the transfer robot 1 and transferred in the same posture in the substrate holding section 2A of the posture changing device 2 in the horizontal holding state.

In this case, the chuck jaws M of the holding part main body 201 are in the open state (see FIG. 10A), and the open / close chuck member 230 of the open / close part 202 is in the closed state (FIG. 4).
See). Therefore, the substrate SB in the horizontal state
Is the chuck claw M when it is bent to some extent by its own weight.
However, since the chuck claw M is in the open state, the substrate SB does not rub against the chuck claw and is not rubbed between the substrate holding groove M ₁ of the open / close chuck member 230 and the chuck claw M. Inserted smoothly, its 3 sides SBa,
SBb and SBc are supported on the mounting.

Further, the bottom surface 227 of the substrate holding groove M _{1 in} the fixed side chuck member 206 and the open / close chuck member 230.
Acts as a positioning portion for the peripheral edge of the substrate SB, that is, the three sides SBa, SBb, SBc, and positions and places the substrate SB transferred from the transfer robot 1 at a predetermined position.

Then, after the chuck claw M is closed and the two sides SBa and SBb of the substrate SB are chucked (FIG. 1).
0 (b)), the rotating portion 2B of the posture changing device 2 is actuated, and the substrate holding portion 2A in the horizontal state is 90 ° in the upright direction.
Rotate to stand up. As a result, the substrates SB, S
Also in B, ..., The surface to be processed is in a vertical state (standing state), and the lower side SBa thereof is slightly inclined from the horizontal (inclination of 5 ° in this example), that is, the posture is changed to the processing posture described above.

Finally, the air cylinder 236 is activated,
The open / close chuck member 230 of the open / close unit 202 is mounted on the substrates SB, S.
Separated from B, ... (Arrow (9) direction), the substrates SB, SB,
Only the adjacent lower inclined sides SBb and SBa are held by the chuck claws M of the holding unit main body 201, and the substrate transfer device 5 of the wet processing unit B stands by in this processing posture.

On the other hand, in the carry-out side transfer section C, the substrates SB, SB, ... Having undergone the wet processing step are transferred by the substrate transfer apparatus 7 into the substrate holding section 2A of the posture changing apparatus 2 in the upright state. To be done. In this case, the opening / closing chuck member 230 of the opening / closing unit 202 is separated from the substrates SB, SB, ...
Is in the closed state, and the substrates SB, SB. … Is chuck claw M
The two sides SBa and SBb are inserted from above and are held here.

Subsequently, the air cylinder 236 is actuated to close the opening / closing chuck member 230, and the three sides SBa, SBb, SBc of the substrates SB, SB, ... Are held by the chuck claws M and the opening / closing chuck member 230. The rotating portion 2B is actuated, and the substrate holding portion 2A in the upright state moves 90 degrees in the fall direction.
The substrate is rotated to be in a laid state, and the surfaces of the substrates SB, SB, ...

Finally, the air cylinder 219 is actuated again to open the chuck claws M, and the substrates SB, SB, ... Which are in the horizontal state are taken out one by one by the transfer robot 1 contrary to the above. Then, the wafer is transferred in the empty empty cassette CC waiting on the substrate unloading section U in a horizontal state. Also in this case, the substrate SB in the horizontal state is pulled out from between the chuck claws M in a state of being bent to some extent by its own weight, but since the chuck claw M is in the open state, the substrate SB is not the chuck claw. It is smoothly extracted from between the substrate holding groove M ₁ of the opening / closing chuck member 230 and the chuck claw M without rubbing between them.

The chuck portion 2 of the substrate holding portion 2A is
As shown in FIG. 11, 05 is arranged at a position where it does not mutually interfere with the chucking positions of the suspension arms 14 and 15 of the substrate transfer devices 5 and 7, which will be described later, and the holding groove M,
The inclination holding angles of M, ... Are also set corresponding to the inclination holding angles of the suspension arms 14, 15, and the transfer of the substrates SB, SB, ... Between the posture conversion device 2 and the substrate transfer devices 5, 7 is smooth. It is configured to be done in.

III. Wet Treatment Section B: As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wet treatment section B is a pair of treatment tanks arranged in parallel in two rows in a treatment chamber maintained in a high cleanliness atmosphere. The columns 3 and 4 and the substrate transfer devices 5 and 7 are provided, and the substrate transfer device 6 is provided at the connecting portion between these processing tank columns 3 and 4. As a result, the wet processing paths for the substrates SB, SB, ... Proceed from the end on the operator zone O side of the processing tank row 3 on the loading side to the end on the opposite side to the operator zone O, and on the other hand, the operator zone O on the processing tank row 4 on the unloading side. It is configured to proceed from the opposite end to the operator zone O end.

The processing tank line 3 on the loading side is composed of a plurality of processing tanks (six processing tanks 3a to 3a in the illustrated example).
f) and the substrate transfer device 5 is arranged on the side of these processing tanks 3a to 3f.

Specifically, the processing tank 3a is the substrate transfer device 5
Cleaning tanks for the hanging arms 14 and 15 (described later) and the processing tank 3b
Is an etching treatment tank for the substrates SB, SB, ...
Is a so-called QDR (quick dump rinse) tank, the processing tank 3d is a FINAL (final rinse) tank, and the processing tank 3e is an IPA (isopropyl alcohol) dryer. In addition, the processing tank 3f actually belongs to the carry-out side processing step described in detail below, and is filled with a stripping solution for stripping the photoresist film.

The substrate transfer device 5 has a structure for transferring the substrates SB, SB, ... Mounted on the posture changing device 2 of the loading side transfer section A without a cassette.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer device 5 is provided in the inside 8a of the main body of the apparatus, and the arrangement direction of the processing baths 3a to 3f (the arrow (3) direction in FIG. 2). A carriage 9 that can be reciprocally moved in parallel to the carriage 10, a column 10 that can be vertically moved up and down on the carriage 9, and a column 10
A supporting device base 11 mounted on the upper end of the tank, and a horizontal arm 12 extending from the supporting device base 11 toward the upper side of the processing tank.
And a plurality of substrates SB, SB, ... Received from the posture changing device 2 are arranged in the processing tank rows 3a to 3f. The surfaces of these substrates SB, SB, ...

Further, in the structure of each processing tank described above, the processing tanks 3a, 3c, 3d are single tanks made of a material such as vinyl chloride resin, and the processing tanks 3b, 3e, 3f are made of a material such as quartz glass. It is an overflow tank. A substrate holder 50 as shown in FIG. 12 is provided at the bottom of each of these tanks, for example, the processing tank 3e which is an overflow tank. The substrate holder 50 includes a base 3e ₁ and a pair of substrate holders 3e ₂ and 3e ₃ fixedly mounted on the base 3e ₁ .

The pair of substrate holding portions 3e ₂ and 3e ₃ are arranged at positions where they do not interfere with the chucking positions (solid line positions in FIG. 12) of the suspension arms 14 and 15 of the substrate transfer device 5, respectively. It has a plurality of substrate holding grooves M ₃ and M ₄ .

Each substrate holding groove M of one substrate holding portion 3e _2
3 holds one corner of the substrate SB, that is, the angle between the lower inclined sides SBa and SBb in a tilted state, and each substrate holding groove M ₄ of the other holding portion 3e ₃ has one side of the substrate SB, that is, the lower inclined side SBa. Configured to hold.

The inclination holding angles of the substrate holding grooves M ₃ , M ₄ correspond to the relative positions of the substrate holding bars 19, 19, ... Of the hanging arms 14, 15, which will be described later, and the lower side of the substrate SB. Is set so as to be held in a state of being inclined by about 5 ° from the horizontal.

The specific structure of the substrate suspension device 13 is shown in FIG.
2 to 14, a pair of left and right suspension arms 14,
15 and an arm control unit 16 for controlling opening / closing of these units as a main unit.

One of the suspension arms 14 is provided with two arm plates 17, 17 and three substrate holding bars 19, 19, 19 horizontally attached to the lower end portion and the center portion thereof. . Further, the other suspension arm 15 is similar to the suspension arm 14 and includes the arm plates 20 and 20 and a single substrate holding bar 19 provided in a bridge shape between the arm plates 20 and 20. Be prepared.

The arm plate 17 is made of a stainless steel material coated with a fluororesin and has excellent chemical resistance. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the substrate holding bar 19 is formed of fluororesin or the like, and has an outer cylinder 19b having a plurality of substrate holding grooves 19a, 19a, ... On its outer periphery, and the inside of the outer cylinder 19b. And a stainless steel mandrel 19c encapsulated in.

The upper ends of the suspension arms 14 and 15 are pivotally attached to the frame 21 connected to the horizontal arm 12 described above so as to be swingable, and are also connected to the arm controller 16. As a result, the suspension arms 14 and 15 are swung with respect to each other to chuck and hold the substrate SB in a suspended state at the closed position, and at the expanded position, the substrate S is held.
Unchuck B.

The relative positions of the four substrate holding bars 19, 19, ... Attached to both the suspension arms 14, 15 are such that when the suspension arms 14, 15 are closed and the substrate SB is chucked and held. The lower side of the substrate SB is set to be held in a suspended state with the lower side inclined from the horizontal by about 5 °.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the control unit 16 includes a swing shaft 33 for pivotally supporting the suspension arm 14 or 15 and an air cylinder 26 as a driving means as one set, and both suspensions are supported. Two sets are mounted to drive the arms 14 and 15 separately.

The swing shaft 33 is used for the frame 2
1 is rotatably supported by bearings 32, 32. Both ends of this swing shaft 33 are covered with the cover 2
8 is projected to the outside through 8 and the connecting block 2
The upper end of the suspension arm 14 or 15 is attached and fixed via 9, 29.

The air cylinder 26 is of a double rod type and is mounted on the frame 21 via a bracket 35. One piston rod 26a of the air cylinder 26 is oscillated via a connecting rod 36. It is connected to a swing lever 34 fixed to the moving shaft 33. A stopper 37 for stopping the other piston rod 26b of the air cylinder 26 is fixed to the frame 21.

Thus, in the substrate suspension device 13 configured as described above, the suspension arms 14 and 15 are oscillated by the air cylinders 26 and 26 of the arm control section 16 to expand and contract, Substrate SB in its closed position
Is held in a suspended state by chucking, and the chucking of the substrate SB is released at the expanded position to remove the substrate SB,
SB, ... Are transported without a cassette.

The substrate transfer device 6 following the loading-side processing bath array 3 transfers the substrates S from the loading-side processing bath array 3 to the unloading-side processing bath array 4.
A device for transferring and processing B, SB, ...
As shown in FIG. 5, it is installed in the part 8b of the apparatus main body.
The basic structure of the substrate transfer device 6 is almost the same as that of the substrate transfer device 5 described above, and the substrate lifting device 13 holds the substrates SB, SB, ... It is attached to the column 10 so that it can be held by a king.

The transfer side processing tank row 4 is provided with a plurality of processing tanks as in the case of the carry-in side processing tank row 3 described above, and the substrate transfer device 7 is arranged on the side of these processing tanks.
In the illustrated example, four processing tanks 4a to 4d and an IPA vapor dryer 4e are provided.

Specifically, the treatment tank 4a is a tank containing a stripping solution for performing the same stripping treatment, following the treatment tank 3f installed on the carry-in side, the treatment tank 4b is a rinse tank, and the treatment tank 4c.
Is a QDR tank, the treatment tank 4d is a FINAL tank, and I
The PA vapor dryer functions as a drying unit for the substrates SB, SB, ...

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer device 7 is installed in a portion 8c of the apparatus main body and has a basic structure similar to that of the substrate transfer device 5 described above. It is configured to perform a conveyance process up to the posture changing device 2.

IV. Substrate unloading unit U: The substrate unloading unit U is a portion for unloading the substrates SB, SB, ... To the next step, and is arranged on the unloading side of the wet processing unit B and has a tact feed mechanism (not shown). Prepare The carrier cassette CC in which the substrates SB, SB, ...
The tact feed mechanism feeds tact in the direction of the arrow (8) at a predetermined interval and carries it to the next step.

V. Cassette transport section D: Cassette transport section D
Is a portion that conveys the empty cassette CC from the substrate loading unit A to the substrate unloading unit C, and connects the substrate loading unit A and the substrate unloading unit C. Further, the cassette carrying section D includes a cassette carrying device 30 and a transfer path (7) for the cassette carrying device 30.
A cassette cleaning tank 31 is provided midway.

The cassette carrying device 30 is reciprocally provided in the portion 8d (see FIG. 3) of the main body of the device along the path of the arrow (7), and has a pair of chucking arms 30a for chucking the empty cassette CC. , 30a and the like.

VI. Control device E: The control device E synchronizes the tact feed mechanism (not shown), the transfer robot 1, the posture changing device 2, the substrate transfer devices 5, 6, 7 and the cassette transfer device 30 with each other. Drive control is performed by the controller E. The controller E performs the following wet processing steps on the substrate S.
It will be fully automatic from the time of carrying in B, SB, ...

A. Loading of substrates SB, SB, ...: The substrates SB, SB, ...
After being loaded into the substrate loading section L in the state of being housed inside, being tact-fed by the path indicated by the arrow (1) and being placed at the transfer position as described above, the carrier side CC is moved from the carrier cassette CC at the loading side transfer section A. At the same time it is taken out, the posture is changed. Subsequently, the substrate transfer device 5 of the cleaning unit B approaches, and the plurality of substrates SB, SB, ... The posture of which has been changed are collectively chucked and held in a suspended state.

B. Wet processing of the substrates SB, SB, ...:
Substrates SB, SB, ... Held in the substrate transport device 5 on the loading side without a cassette are subjected to a predetermined wet treatment by sequentially repeating immersion, transfer, etc. in the treatment baths 3a to 3f. The processing tanks 4 of the unloading side processing tank row 4 by the substrate transfer device 6
After being transported to a, and then held by the substrate transport device 7 without a cassette, and subjected to a predetermined wet treatment by sequentially repeating the dipping and transferring in each of the treatment tanks 4b to 4e,
It is transported to the unloading-side transfer section C (see arrow (5)) and placed on the posture changing device 2.

C. Conveyance of empty cassette CC: The carrier cassette CC emptied at the transfer section A is transferred by the cassette conveying device 30 in parallel with the cleaning process of the substrates SB, SB, ... Removed from the carrier cassette CC. ,
After a cleaning process is performed in the cassette cleaning tank 31, the cassette is transferred to the unloading side transfer section C (see arrow (7)).

D. Carrying out the substrates SB, SB, ...: Substrates SB, S for which the wet processing steps in both cleaning tank rows 3 and 4 have been completed
B, ... After being transferred from the posture changing device 2 to the empty cassette CC that has been cleaned by the transfer robot 1 in the same manner as at the time of loading (see arrow (6)), B, ... The tact feed mechanism feeds the tact along the path indicated by the arrow (8) and carries it out to the next process.

Embodiment 2 This embodiment is shown in FIG. 15 and is a modification of the configuration of the posture changing apparatus 2 of the first embodiment. This posture changing apparatus 2 includes a substrate holding section 20A for accommodating and holding a substrate SB. , A first rotating portion 20 for rotating the substrate holding portion 20A in the vertical direction.
B and a second rotating portion 20C (not shown) for tilting the substrate holding portion 20A in the tilting direction are main components.

The substrate holding portion 20A has the same basic structure as the substrate holding portion 2A of the first embodiment, and the rotating portion 2B of the first embodiment.
It is mounted on the first rotating portion 20B having the same structure as the above so as to be vertically rotatable.

In the substrate holding portion 20A, the supporting surfaces of the chuck claws M, M, ... Of the chuck portion 205 are, as shown in the figure, the inner peripheral surface (side surface 210) of the frame plate 210.
a and a bottom surface 210b), each has a linear cross-sectional profile extending in parallel. As a result, the substrates SB held by the chuck claws M, M, ... Are held in a state of being parallel to the straight line orthogonal to the rotation axis of the substrate holder 20A, that is, the side surface 210a of the frame plate 210.

Although the specific structure of the second rotating portion 20C is not shown, the support base 246 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) for supporting the vertical columns 245 and 248 is arranged in the direction of inclination of the substrate SB, that is, the above-described first base. In a direction (arrow (10) direction in FIG. 6) orthogonal to the rotation direction of the rotating portion 20B, the tilting state is configured to be tiltable between the vertical holding state position and the tilt holding state position, and a drive (not shown) is provided. It is linked to the source. Then, by this drive source, the support base 246 is
The entire upper device (first rotating unit 20B and substrate holding unit 2
0A) is integrally tilted in the tilting direction (10) of the substrate SB.

When the substrates SB, SB, ... Are transferred by the transfer robot 1 into the substrate holding part 20A of the posture changing device 2 in the horizontal holding state, the first rotating part 20B is first set. Substrate holding unit 20 in the horizontal holding state
A is rotated 90 ° in the upright direction to be in a vertical holding state, and the substrates SB, SB, ... Have their surfaces to be processed in a vertical state (upright state). Then, the second rotating portion 20C is activated,
The substrate holding portion 20A in the vertical holding state is kept in the vertical state, and the arrow (1
It is tilted in the (0) direction (in this example, tilted by 5 °) to be in the tilt holding state. As a result, the substrates SB, SB, ...
The posture of Ba is changed to a processing posture that is slightly inclined from the horizontal. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the first embodiment.

The above-described embodiment is merely a preferred specific example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this, and various design changes are possible. The target structure may have another configuration as long as it has the same function as that of the illustrated example, and the structure of another constituent device that constitutes the substrate wet processing apparatus is not limited to that of the illustrated example. It is possible to change to another structure having a similar function according to the purpose.

[0092]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
When the rectangular or square substrate is wet-processed, the posture is changed so that the two adjacent sides of the substrate become the inclined lower sides, so that the substrate transfer apparatus can hold these two inclined lower sides in a suspended state. With a simple configuration, a large substrate can be processed in a batch method without using a cassette, and thus a wet process with a low contamination level and high production efficiency can be realized.

Further, the substrate holding portion is provided with a chuck means having a plurality of chuck claws for chucking and supporting the front and back surfaces of the peripheral portion of each substrate so as to be openable and closable, and the chuck claws of the chuck means are used when the substrate is moved in and out. Since the drive is controlled so that it is in an open state, in particular, the substrate in the horizontal state is smoothly inserted between the chuck claws with little contact with the chuck claws, and damage to both the substrate and the chuck claws is minimized. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing the inside of a substrate wet processing apparatus including an attitude changing apparatus that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the inside of the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing the inside of the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an attitude conversion device in the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the same attitude conversion device as seen from the direction of arrow V in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a left side view from the direction of arrow VI in FIG. 4 showing the same posture changing device.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a mounting structure of a fixed-side chuck member of the same posture changing device.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a mounting structure of a movable chuck member of the same posture changing device.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a relationship between the movable-side chuck member and a position detection sensor.

10 is a side view showing an operation of a chuck claw composed of a fixed chuck member and a movable chuck member, and FIG.
10A shows an open state, and FIG. 10B shows a closed state.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer operation between the attitude conversion device and the substrate transfer device.

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of a processing bath in the substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a partial section of a substrate suspension device of a substrate transfer device in the same substrate wet processing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a plan cross-sectional view showing an arm control section of the substrate suspension device.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a posture conversion device that is Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

SB Substrate SBa, SBb Inclined lower side of substrate M Chuck claw 2 Posture changer 2A Substrate holding part 2B Rotating part 5-7 Substrate transfer device 20A Substrate holding part 20B First turning part 20C Second turning part 201 Holding Part main body 202 Open / close part 205 Chuck part (chuck means) 206 Fixed side chuck member 207 Movable side chuck member 219 Air cylinder 230 Open / close chuck member 236 Air cylinder 241 Rotating shaft 242 Drive part 243 Positioning part 251 Air cylinder 255 Horizontal state positioning part 256 Vertical Positioning Section 227 Bottom of Substrate Holding Groove of Fixed Side Chuck Member (Positioning Section)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G02F 1/13 101 H01L 21/027 21/304 341 C // H05K 3/26 7511-4E

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. When carrying out wet processing of a rectangular or square substrate without a cassette, a substrate transfer processing device
The substrate is provided in a substrate wet processing apparatus that takes a processing posture of suspending and supporting both adjacent two sides of the substrate so that the two adjacent sides are inclined lower sides. And a rotating unit for rotating the substrate holding unit so that the substrates accommodated in the substrate holding unit are in the processing posture. Is provided with chuck means having a plurality of chuck claws for chucking and supporting the front and back surfaces of the peripheral edge of each of the substrates, and the chuck claws of the chuck means are in an open state when the substrate is in and out, A substrate posture changing device, which is drive-controlled so as to be in a closed state when the substrate holding portion is rotated. 2. The substrate holding portion holds a holding portion main body that holds two adjacent sides of each substrate, and can be opened and closed with respect to the holding portion main body, and holds the other one side of the substrate openable. The posture changing device for a substrate according to claim 1, further comprising: an opening / closing unit, the holding unit main body being provided with the chuck means. 3. The chuck means comprises a plurality of substrate holding grooves, each of which has a width wider than the thickness of each of the substrates, arranged at predetermined intervals in the substrate arrangement direction, and is fixedly provided on the fixed side chuck. A member and a movable chuck member provided with a plurality of substrate holding grooves wider than the thickness dimension of each substrate at a predetermined interval in the substrate arrangement direction and provided so as to be reciprocally movable in the substrate arrangement direction, And a drive unit for reciprocating the movable chuck member, wherein each chuck claw is constituted by a corresponding set of the substrate holding groove of the fixed chuck member and the substrate holding groove of the movable chuck member. The posture changing device for a substrate according to claim 1. 4. The substrate holding unit is supported by the rotating unit so as to be vertically rotatable between a horizontal holding state position and a vertical holding state position, and a chuck claw of the chuck means is provided. The substrate is formed so as to be chucked and supported in a state of being slightly inclined with respect to a straight line orthogonal to the rotation axis of the holding means, and when the substrate holding portion is in the vertical holding state position, The substrate posture changing device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate posture changing device is configured to obtain a processing posture. 5. The first rotating means for rotating the substrate holding portion in a vertical direction between a horizontal holding state position and a vertical holding state position, and the substrate holding portion. A second rotation means for tilting between the vertical holding state position and the tilt holding state position in a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction, wherein the substrate holding portion is the first rotation means. Is rotatably supported in the vertical direction and is formed so that the chuck claws of the chuck means hold the substrate in a state of being parallel to a straight line orthogonal to the rotation axis of the holding means. 4. The substrate posture changing device according to claim 1, wherein when the substrate holding portion is in the inclined holding state position, the processing posture of the substrate is obtained. 6. The bottom surface of the chuck claw is a positioning portion that is inclined so as to position the peripheral edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion when the substrate holding portion is in the horizontal holding state position. 4. The substrate posture changing device according to 4 or 5.