CN210223982U

CN210223982U - Wafer deviation correcting device and wafer conveying device

Info

Publication number: CN210223982U
Application number: CN201921252792.6U
Authority: CN
Inventors: Lei Wang; 王磊; Boting Chen; 陈伯廷; Zongyou Wu; 吴宗祐; Zongxian Lin; 林宗贤
Original assignee: Huaian Imaging Device Manufacturer Corp
Current assignee: Huaian Imaging Device Manufacturer Corp
Priority date: 2019-08-05
Filing date: 2019-08-05
Publication date: 2020-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 2029-08-05

Abstract

The utility model relates to a wafer deviation correcting device, include: an actuator configured to cause the push rod to move horizontally; a guide rail configured to guide the support body of the push rod to horizontally slide; and a push rod having: a putter body configured to be elongated; a support body connected to the pusher body and slidable on the guide rail, wherein the support body is movable by the actuator through a transmission; and a flange disposed at an end of the pusher body for pushing the wafer. By the wafer deflection correcting device and/or the transfer device, the horizontal deviation of the wafer can be corrected without opening the equipment door or touching the wafer by hand.

Description

Wafer deviation correcting device and wafer conveying device

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a semiconductor manufacturing field generally, particularly, relate to a wafer deviation correcting device. Furthermore, the utility model discloses still relate to a wafer conveyer who has this wafer deviation correcting device.

Background

During semiconductor manufacturing, it is often necessary to frequently transfer wafers. For example, in a furnace transfer apparatus, wafers are transferred between a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) and a Boat (Boat). However, due to the deviation in the control or movement process, the wafer may have a deviation in the horizontal direction and not be completely put into the FOUP or the boat. In this case, it is a general way of handling that the door of the apparatus is opened and the wafers are pushed into the FOUP or boat by hand, but there is a risk that the wafers may be oxidized or contaminated by contacting the atmosphere, and the wafers may be abnormal or scratched by contacting the hand.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The task of the utility model is to provide a wafer deviation correcting device and a wafer conveyer who has this wafer deviation correcting device, through this wafer deviation correcting device and/or this conveyer, can correct the horizontal skew of wafer, and need not to open the equipment door or contact the wafer with the hand.

According to the utility model discloses, this task is solved through a wafer deviation correcting device, and the device includes:

an actuator configured to cause the push rod to move horizontally;

a guide rail configured to guide the support body of the push rod to horizontally slide; and

a push rod having:

a putter body configured to be elongated;

a support body connected to the pusher body and slidable on the guide rail, wherein the support body is movable by the actuator through a transmission; and

a flange disposed at an end of the pusher body for pushing the wafer.

In the present invention, the term "flange" refers to a structure protruding in a lateral direction from the pusher body, which can be used to provide an increased contact area with the wafer to more reliably push the wafer. The flange may be sized, i.e., sized to extend beyond the structure of the putter body, as desired.

In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the actuator comprises a cylinder or an electric motor.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the actuator is an electric motor, wherein the transmission comprises:

the gear is arranged on the main shaft of the actuator and is meshed with the rack so as to drive the rack to move horizontally; and

and the rack is connected with the supporting body of the push rod so as to drive the supporting body to slide on the guide rail.

In the case of a motor, other means of converting the rotational movement of the motor into a linear movement of the push rod may be used, for example a threaded rod.

The actuator is an air cylinder, wherein the transmission device comprises:

and one end of the piston rod is connected with the air cylinder, and the other end of the piston rod is connected with the supporting body of the push rod, so that the supporting body can slide on the guide rail under the driving of the piston rod.

With this preferred arrangement, the driving force for the linear motion can be directly provided by the cylinder without a transmission for converting the rotational motion into the linear motion.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the device further comprises a limit sensor which is arranged at one or more limit positions on the guide rail, wherein the limit sensor emits a warning signal when the support body of the push rod reaches the limit position. The limit sensor may be, for example, an infrared sensor, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, or the like. The limit sensor can emit a signal when the support body approaches or makes contact, and the system can, for example, automatically emit a stop command to stop the actuation of the actuator upon receipt of this signal.

The utility model discloses an in the extension stipulate, the device still includes the stopper, the stopper is arranged on the guide rail in order to be used for defining the biggest distance of moving of push rod. The stop elements are, for example, stops fixed at two suitable positions on the guide rail, which stops can prevent the support body from sliding further on the guide rail.

In a further embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the guide rail comprises two guide rails arranged in parallel. With this embodiment, the stability of the guidance can be increased.

Furthermore, the aforementioned task is solved by a wafer transfer device having a wafer deviation correction device according to the invention.

The utility model discloses have following beneficial effect at least: the utility model discloses a wafer deviation correcting device can push into FOUP or the wafer boat through the actuating of actuator in the wafer that takes place the skew accurately, and need not to open the equipment door or contact wafer, and the degree of automation of multiplicable technology from this improves the process speed and reduces the risk that the wafer is damaged or pollutes.

Drawings

The invention will be further elucidated with reference to the drawings in conjunction with the detailed description.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wafer deflection correcting device according to the present invention; and

fig. 2 to 3 show schematic views of a wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

It should be noted that the components in the figures may be exaggerated and not necessarily to scale for illustrative purposes. In the figures, identical or functionally identical components are provided with the same reference symbols.

In the present invention, "disposed on …", "disposed above …" and "disposed over …" do not exclude the presence of an intermediate therebetween, unless otherwise specified. Further, "disposed on or above …" merely indicates the relative positional relationship between two components, and may also be converted to "disposed below or below …" and vice versa in certain cases, such as after reversing the product direction.

In the present invention, the embodiments are only intended to illustrate the aspects of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting.

In the present application, the terms "a" and "an" do not exclude the presence of a plurality of elements, unless otherwise indicated.

It is further noted herein that in embodiments of the present invention, only a portion of the components or assemblies may be shown for clarity and simplicity, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the components or assemblies may be added as needed for specific scenarios, given the teachings of the present invention.

It is also to be noted that, within the scope of the present invention, the expressions "identical", "equal", etc., do not mean that the two values are absolutely equal, but allow a certain reasonable error, that is, the expressions also cover "substantially identical", "substantially equal". By analogy, in the present disclosure, the terms "perpendicular to", "parallel to", and the like in the table direction also cover the meaning of "substantially perpendicular to", "substantially parallel to".

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wafer deviation rectifying device 100 according to the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, wafer rectification apparatus 100 includes the following components, some of which are optional:

an actuator 101 configured to cause the push rod 103 to move horizontally, that is, the actuator 101 is used to provide thrust to the push rod 103. Here, the actuator 101 is configured as a motor, such as a stepping motor, and in other embodiments, the actuator 101 may be other driving means, such as a cylinder or the like. In the present embodiment, the actuator 101 pushes the push rod 103 through a gear (not shown) and a rack 104 as a transmission device, wherein the gear is disposed on a main shaft of the actuator 101 and is engaged with the rack 104 to move the rack 104 horizontally; the rack is connected with the supporting body 103c of the push rod 103 to drive the supporting body 103c to slide on the guide rail 102. The force that the actuator 101 pushes should be chosen appropriately to avoid excessive pushing force to hit the boat or FOUP. The actuator 101 may for example be slowly pushed, the position or moment of which is adjustable.

A guide rail 102 configured to guide a support body 103c of the push rod 103 to slide horizontally. Here, two guide rails 102 are provided parallel to each other. The guide rail is, for example, a rail having a guide groove, wherein the support body 103c has a projection or a pulley slidable in the guide groove.

A push rod 103 having the following components:

◇ the pusher body 103a is elongate, for example the pusher body 103a is rod-shaped, i.e. its length is greater than its width one end or some part of the pusher body 103a is fixed to or connected to the support body 103c so as to be able to be moved with the support body 103 c.

◇ supporting body 103c, which is fixed or connected to the tappet body 103a and can slide on the guide rail 102, wherein the supporting body 103c can be moved by the actuator 101 via a transmission (here a gear and a rack 104), i.e. the supporting body 103c supports the tappet body 103a on the one hand and can slide on the guide rail 102, the supporting body 103c is, for example, a bridge block with a bearing surface.

◇ Flange 103b disposed at the end of the pusher body 103a for pushing the wafer (not shown). in the present invention, the term "flange" refers to a structure that protrudes laterally from the pusher body 103a and can be used to provide increased contact area with the wafer for more reliably pushing the wafer.A size of the flange 103b, i.e., a dimension beyond the structure of the pusher body, can be provided as desired.

An optional limit sensor 105, which limit sensor 105 is arranged at one or more limit positions on the guide rail, here at the front and rear limit positions, wherein the limit sensor emits a warning signal when the bearing body 103c of the push rod reaches the limit position. The limit sensor 105 may be, for example, an infrared sensor, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, or the like. When the support 103c approaches or contacts the limit sensor 105, it may send a signal, upon which the system may, for example, automatically send a stop command to stop the actuation of the actuator 101.

Fig. 2 to 3 are schematic diagrams of a wafer transfer apparatus 200 according to the present invention, wherein in fig. 2, the wafer transfer apparatus 200 corrects offset wafers 205 in a boat 203, and in fig. 3, the wafer transfer apparatus 200 corrects offset wafers 205 in a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) 204.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the transfer device 200 is used to transport and buffer wafers 202, such as transferring or transporting the wafers 202 between a substrate boat 203 and a FOUP 204. The transfer apparatus 200 has a wafer-aligning device 100 for correcting a horizontal offset of the offset wafer 205. The offset wafer 205 refers to a wafer that is not properly placed in the wafer boat 203 or the FOUP 204 due to an offset or deviation in the horizontal direction. To correct the offset wafer 205, the transfer device 200 may be shifted up and down and horizontally to align the offset wafer 205, and then the pusher rod of the wafer correction device 100 is extended to push the offset wafer 205 into the boat 203 or the FOUP 204. After completing the rectification task, the pusher of the wafer rectification device 100 is retracted, and then the transfer device 200 can continue to perform the next task, such as wafer transfer or rectification. Further, a safety 201 is provided on the transfer device 200 for preventing the pusher from erroneously hitting the wafer 205, and for this reason, the safety 201 is beyond the pusher in the reset state in the horizontal direction. In addition, the safety device 201 can prevent the push rod from erroneously pushing the protruding upper and lower edges of the boat 203 or the FOUP 204.

In fig. 3, the conveyor 200 may be rotated in a horizontal plane to face the FOUP 204, then shifted up and down and horizontally to align the offset wafer 205 in the FOUP 204, and finally perform a deskew operation thereon.

The rectification process can be automatically realized. The automated deskewing process is described below.

First, the registration sensor detects the presence of an offset wafer 205 in the wafer boat 203 or FOUP 204 and determines its position. Subsequently, the transfer device 200 rotates to face the boat 203 or the FOUP 204. Based on the detected position, the transfer device 200 performs up and down and/or horizontal shifting to align the offset wafer 205, wherein the height positions of the upper and lower edges of the boat or FOUP are taken into account during the up and down movement to avoid mis-positioning. The transfer device 200 then pushes the offset wafers 205 into the substrate boat 203 or FOUP 204 with the appropriate pushing force using the push rod. Finally, the transfer device 200 is reset.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described in the present document, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are shown by way of example only. Numerous variations, substitutions and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art in light of the teachings of the present invention without departing from the scope thereof. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that methods and structures within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.

Claims

1. A wafer deviation rectifying device is characterized by comprising:

an actuator configured to cause the push rod to move horizontally;

a push rod having:

a putter body configured to be elongated;

a flange disposed at an end of the pusher body for pushing the wafer.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a pneumatic cylinder or an electric motor.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuator is a motor, and wherein the transmission comprises:

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the actuator is a pneumatic cylinder, and wherein the transmission comprises:

5. Device according to claim 1, further comprising a limit sensor arranged at one or more extreme positions on the guide rail, wherein the limit sensor emits an alerting signal when the support body of the push rod reaches the extreme positions.

6. The device of claim 1, further comprising a stopper disposed on the guide rail for defining a maximum movement distance of the push rod.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the guide comprises two parallel arranged guides.

8. A wafer transfer apparatus having the wafer correcting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.