JP2003163258A - Aligner device of wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aligner device for preventing position slippage of a wafer and detecting a notch/orientation flat position at a high speed by surely grasping the wafer. <P>SOLUTION: The aligner device has a machine base 10, a delivery arm 20 of the wafer 3, and a holding clamper 30. The holding clamper 30 has upper arms 33, 34 and 35 to grasp the wafer 3, to lift and lower it by a lifting and lowering drive part 15 so as to horizontally move one upper arm 33 by an opening and closing drive part 16. Consequently, a position of a notch is detected with a detection part by grasping the wafer 3 mounted on the delivery arm 20 by the holding clamper 30 to perform one rotation, and the notch is moved to a reference rotation position. Furthermore, an engaging pawl is arranged on one upper arm, and engaged with the notch of the wafer 3 when the wafer 3 is grasped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer aligner apparatus suitable for detecting a notch or an orientation flat of a large-sized wafer, and further to a wafer aligner apparatus improved to accurately position the wafer. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a silicon wafer has a chordally cut orientation flat or a V-shaped or U-shaped notch as a mark indicating a reference rotational position in the circumferential direction of the wafer. Etc. are formed in the outer peripheral portion. When performing processing such as semiconductor gate formation on a wafer, each wafer is required to be set on the processing stage under the condition that the orientation flat or notch position always matches the reference rotation position. It had been.

In a cassette, a plurality of wafers are normally arranged and stored in a vertical direction in a random state. Therefore, taking the wafer out of the cassette by the transfer robot and setting it directly on the processing stage means that the wafer is installed on the processing stage in a state where the orientation flat or notch position does not match the reference rotation position. On the other hand, the desired processing could not be performed.

Therefore, the wafer taken out from the cassette is carried into an orientation flat aligning device or a wafer aligner device, and the notch or the orientation flat position is made to coincide with a reference rotational position by the orientation flat aligning device or the wafer aligner device. Was set on the processing stage.

The conventional wafer aligner device is configured to support the wafer so that the back surface of the wafer is adsorbed, or to drop the wafer to support the outer peripheral surface of the back surface of the wafer. For example, in the case of the wafer aligner device 50 shown in FIG. 12, a fixed stage 51 formed with a receiving portion 52a that supports the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 3.
And a rotary stage 53 which is arranged below the fixed stage 51 and is vertically movable and rotatable are arranged on the machine base 55 (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-21956).

The fixed stage 51 has three arms 52 extending at equal intervals based on the center of rotation,
The wafer 3 held by the hand of the robot is formed so as to be lowered and held from a position above the receiving portion 52a by the descending movement of the hand. 3 arms 5
Wafer 3 having the number 4 and supported by the fixed stage 51
The position of the notch or the orientation flat can be detected by lifting the and rotating it once.

[0007]

However, when the back surface of the wafer is adsorbed and supported, the back surface of the wafer is scratched or particles are attached, so that the method of adsorbing the back surface of the wafer tends to be avoided. There was Further, the conventional wafer aligner device 50 disclosed in the above publication is also disclosed.
Supports the outer peripheral surface of the back surface of the wafer 3 so that the wafer 3
Although the wafer 3 is damaged and the generation of particles is minimized, since the wafer 3 is supported by the guide portion of the rotary stage 53 by being dropped, the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 3 is grasped so as to be pressed by the guide portion. Not necessarily. Therefore, when the wafer 3 is rotated to detect the position of the notch or orientation flat, the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 3, the arm 54 of the rotary stage 53, and the wafer receiver 54 are rotated.
The slip occurred between a and it was not possible to secure the accuracy of the rotation direction. From this, it is necessary to drive at a speed that does not slip in order to ensure accuracy,
High speed rotation was to be limited. Further, since there is a slight gap between the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 3 and the guide portion 54b of the arm 54, the positioning accuracy is lowered not only in the rotation direction but also in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems and to improve the positioning accuracy by securely grasping the edge of the wafer without damaging the wafer or generating particles, and at the time of high speed rotation. An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer aligner device capable of detecting the position of a notch or an orientation flat.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a wafer aligner apparatus according to the present invention is configured as follows. That is, claim 1
In the invention described above, holding means for holding the wafer and rotatably arranged, delivery means for holding the wafer transferred from the robot and delivering it to the holding means, and a notch or orientation flat position during rotation of the wafer. A aligning device for the wafer, which is configured to match a notch or orientation flat position of the wafer with a reference rotation position, and the delivery means has the wafer holding part, The holding means is configured to be rotatable by a predetermined angle by the first rotation driving means, and the holding means is configured to have a wafer gripping portion that can be moved up and down with the wafer holding portion of the delivery means being interposed between the holding means and the second rotation driving means. And it is possible to move the wafer from the wafer holding position of the delivery means to a rotatable upper position of the wafer by the lifting drive means. While it is configured, and is characterized in that it can be opened and closed configuration by the opening and closing drive means for gripping or grasping releasing edges of the wafer.

Further, preferably, as shown in the invention described in claim 2, the holding means has at least three clamp arms arranged in a radial direction from a rotation center, and each of the clamp arms has the above-mentioned structure. It suffices to have a wafer gripper and at least one clamp arm configured to be movable in the horizontal direction by the opening / closing drive means.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the opening / closing drive means is provided with a first cam means having a cam surface formed in a vertical direction, and the cam surface arranged so as to be engageable with the first cam means. More preferably, it is configured to have a first roller means that can move along.

According to the invention of claim 4, the first
It suffices that the rotation drive means is configured to be rotatable by a shift angle for avoiding the overlap between the holding means and the delivery means.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the first
It is more preferable that the rotation driving means includes an eccentric cam and a swing lever having a cam roller engageable with the eccentric cam.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a wafer aligner apparatus, a holding means for holding a wafer and rotatably arranged, and a delivery means for holding a wafer conveyed from a robot and delivering it to the holding means. And holding means for detecting the notch or orientation flat position during rotation of the wafer, the holding means being configured to match the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer with a reference rotational position. Is provided with a plurality of wafer gripping portions for gripping an edge of the wafer, and at least one wafer gripping portion is configured to be engageable with a notch or an orientation flat of the wafer.

Further, in the wafer aligner apparatus according to the invention as set forth in claim 7, the delivery means has the wafer holding portion and is configured to be rotatable by a predetermined angle by the first rotation driving means, and the holding means is The wafer is configured to be rotatable by a second rotation drive unit, and is configured to be movable to a rotatable upper position of the wafer from the wafer holding position of the delivery unit by an elevating drive unit, and the edge of the wafer is It suffices if it can be opened and closed by an opening / closing drive means for gripping or releasing the grip.

Further, in the wafer aligner apparatus according to the present invention, a holding means for holding the wafer and rotatably arranged, and a delivery for holding the wafer conveyed from the robot and delivering it to the holding means. And holding means for detecting the notch or orientation flat position during rotation of the wafer, the holding means being configured to match the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer with a reference rotational position. After detecting the notch or orientation flat position by the detecting means, the notch or orientation flat position is once moved to the set preliminary reference position,
Further, the rotation control is performed so as to match the reference rotation position with the preliminary reference position as a reference.

[0017]

According to the wafer aligner apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, when the wafer transferred by the robot hand is gripped by the transfer means configured to be openable and closable, the wafer is opened and closed to transfer the wafer. Possible holding means move up and down to hold the wafer edge at the wafer gripper.
Then, the wafer gripping portion of the holding means moves up beyond the wafer holding portion of the delivery means to move the wafer to a rotatable position and then rotate the wafer once. By gripping and rotating the wafer, the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer is detected by the detection means, and the notch or orientation flat position is rotated to the reference rotation position. Therefore, according to the present invention, since the edge of the wafer is gripped and rotated, the wafer does not slip between the wafer gripping part of the holding means and can be rotated without causing the deviation of the wafer. Therefore, positioning accuracy can be improved and high-speed rotation can be achieved. Further, since the back surface of the wafer is not adsorbed and held, particles are not attached.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the holding means has at least three clamp arms and one clamp arm is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction. By opening the wafer gripping portion of the clamp arm larger than the outer diameter of the wafer, the wafer can be delivered from the delivery means without interfering with the wafer, and by further closing, the edge of the wafer can be reliably grasped.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the opening / closing drive means has the cam surface of the first cam means formed in the vertical direction and the first roller means movable along the cam surface. Therefore, at the same time when the holding means moves up and down, the first roller means moves horizontally along the cam surface of the first cam means formed in the vertical direction, and the clamp arm of the holding means moves horizontally. It can be moved.
Therefore, it becomes possible to grip the edge of the wafer by moving the holding means to the height position of the wafer. Moreover, since the cam surface of the first cam means is formed in the vertical direction, it is possible to provide a compact aligner device with a small lateral space.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, when the holding means for moving up and down is at a position overlapping with the delivery means, that is, the wafer whose notch or orientation flat position is detected by the detection means is set to the reference rotation position. When the combined holding means has the wafer gripping portion of the holding means and the wafer holding portion of the delivery means aligned at the same angular position, the delivery means is temporarily overlapped with the holding means by the first rotation drive means. Rotate by the amount to avoid. As a result, it is possible to avoid interference with the wafer holding portion of the delivery means when the wafer holding portion of the holding means is raised.

Therefore, it is possible to control the wafer alignment during one cycle without any trouble.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the first rotation drive means is constructed so that the delivery means is rotatable in order to avoid the overlap between the holding portion of the holding means and the holding portion of the delivery means. Since the swing lever having the cam roller and the cam roller is provided, the swing lever can be swung by a predetermined angle by the eccentric cam. As a result, the delivery arm unit is swung by a predetermined angle, and the holding means and the delivery means can be swung. The interference can be avoided, and the overlap can be avoided with a simple configuration.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, at least one position of the holding means for holding the wafer engages with the notch or the orientation flat of the wafer. can do.

That is, after the wafer placed on the wafer transfer means is once supported by the holding means, the holding means is rotated once and the notch or orientation flat position is detected by the detection means to determine the notch or orientation flat position. Move to position. Then, at that position, the wafer is again delivered to the delivery means. After that, the holding means is rotated to move the wafer gripping portion that can be engaged with the notch or orientation flat to a position that coincides with the notch or orientation flat position in the circumferential direction, and the holding means is raised to grip the wafer again. At this time, since the wafer gripping portion is engaged with the notch or orientation flat of the wafer at one wafer gripping portion and the edge of the wafer is gripped at the other wafer gripping portion, the wafer is rotated together with the holding means. Even so, the wafer engaged with the notch or the orientation flat is securely gripped by the holding means. Therefore, in the present invention, since at least one wafer gripping portion of the holding means engages and grips with the notch or orientation flat of the wafer, when the wafer rotates together with the holding member, the edge of the wafer and the wafer gripping portion are held. It is possible to prevent slippage by preventing slippage. Therefore, positioning accuracy can be improved and high-speed rotation can be achieved. Furthermore, since the back surface of the wafer is not adsorbed and held, particles are not attached to the wafer.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, at least one wafer gripping portion that engages with the notch or orientation flat of the wafer is configured to be lifted and lowered by the lifting and lowering means and opened and closed by the opening and closing means. While the detected position of the notch or orientation flat moves to a predetermined position and is held by the transfer means, it is raised by the elevating means to support the wafer and the opening / closing means engages the wafer gripper with the notch or orientation flat. Therefore, the wafer can be reliably gripped.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since at least one wafer gripping portion of the holding means engages with and grips the notch or orientation flat of the wafer, the slip generated between the edge of the wafer and the wafer gripping portion. It is possible to prevent the displacement and prevent the displacement. Therefore, positioning accuracy can be improved and high-speed rotation can be achieved.
Furthermore, since the back surface of the wafer is not adsorbed and held, particles are not attached to the wafer.

According to the invention described in claim 8, after the wafer placed on the wafer transfer means is once supported by the holding means, the holding means is rotated once and the notch or orientation flat position is detected by the detecting means. , Move the notch or orientation flat position to the set preliminary reference position. And
The wafer is again delivered to the delivery means at the preliminary reference position. After that, the holding means is rotated to move the wafer gripper that can be engaged with the notch or the orientation flat to a position that coincides with the notch or orientation flat position in the circumferential direction, or a position 180 ° opposite to that position, and raise the holding means. Then, the wafer is gripped again. Then, the wafer held by the holding means is matched with the reference rotation position.

Therefore, in the present invention, for example, when aligning a wafer having a warp or aligning a wafer having a different outer diameter with respect to a set diameter, the wafer is temporarily placed at the preliminary reference position. By setting the preliminary reference position, it is possible to absorb the rotational angle deviation and perform accurate alignment.

[0029]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A wafer aligner device of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an aligner device) is a notch or orientation flat formed on a wafer transferred by a robot hand with its position accuracy improved by gripping the edge of the wafer. Is detected and aligned with the reference rotational position.

The aligner device 1 of the embodiment is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, the machine base 10, the delivery arm unit 20 as a delivery unit for temporarily supporting the wafer 3 transferred by the robot hand 5, and the wafer 3 supported by the delivery arm unit 20 are gripped and notched. Alternatively, a holding clamper 30 serving as a holding unit configured to be rotatable for detecting the position of the orientation flat, and protruding upward from one end of the machine base 10 and being held and rotated by the holding clamper 30. The detection unit 40 as a detection unit that detects the position of the notch or orientation flat of the wafer 3 is configured.

The machine base 10 is formed in the shape of a case, and in the center thereof,
The rotation center shaft portion 11 fixed to the bottom of the machine base 10 and protruding from the bottom onto the machine base 10 is erected, and the delivery arm 20 and the holding clamper 30 are arranged on the machine base 10 so as to project. There is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the machine base 10 includes a shift angle rotation drive unit 13 for rotating the delivery arm unit 20 by a predetermined angle with respect to the axis, and a rotation drive unit 14 for rotationally driving the holding clamper 30. An elevation drive unit 15 that raises and lowers the holding clamper 30 and an opening and closing drive unit 16 that opens and closes the holding clamper 30 are built in.

The delivery arm section 20 has a hollow rotary shaft portion 21 which projects upward from the machine base 10 and is rotatably supported via a bearing 24, and is mounted on the rotary shaft portion 21 so as to be bilaterally symmetrical. Two L-shaped lower arms 22 and 2 extending
3, the wafer 3 is placed on the upper ends of the lower arm portions 22 and 23, and the claw portions 221 and 231 each having two wafer receiving portions 221a and 231a are arranged. One swing lever 25 on the lower end surface of
Are arranged with a cam roller 26 (see FIG. 4) at the tip.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the holding clamper 30 has a cylindrical shaft portion 31 which covers the rotation center shaft portion 11 and is rotatably disposed on the rotation center shaft portion 11, and the cylindrical shaft portion 31. Three upper arm portions 33 each extending from a head portion 32 formed on the upper end portion and extending arms radially in three directions,
It has 34 and 35. Three upper arm parts 33,
Claws 331, 341, and 351 that hold the wafer 3 on the upper surface thereof are arranged at the tip ends of the reference numerals 34 and 35, respectively, and one of the upper arm portions 33 horizontally approaches and separates from the rotation center shaft portion 11. It is arranged so that it can move in any direction.

In other words, the upper arm portion 33 has the head portion 32.
The other two upper arm portions 34 and 35 are movably attached to the head portion 32 by a linear guide 36, and are integrally formed on the head portion 32 or fixed by screwing or the like. The base portion of the movable upper arm portion 33 is inserted into a notch groove 311 formed in one of the upper end portions of the tubular shaft portion 31 to include a cam roller 332 at the lower end portion, and a coil spring 333 is attached to the head portion 32. By being hooked, the upper arm portion 33 is constantly urged toward the head portion 32 side.

The shift angle rotation drive unit 13 for rotating the delivery arm unit 20 by a predetermined angle moves the holding clamper 30 to the reference rotation position by detecting the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer 3, and the upper arm unit 33 of the holding clamper 30. , 34, 35 when the claw portions 331, 341, 351 are raised, the lower arm portion 2 of the delivery arm portion 20
2, 23 are driven to avoid interference with the claw portions 221, 231. As shown in FIG.
The motor 131 supported in 0, the eccentric cam 132 mounted on the drive shaft of the motor 131, and the cam roller 25 mounted on one end of the swing lever 25 and engageable with the outer peripheral surface of the eccentric cam 132. Has been done.

Therefore, the eccentric cam 1 is driven by driving the motor 131.
By rotating 32, the cam roller 132 that engages with the eccentric cam 132 is moved. Since the cam roller 132 is attached to one end of the swing lever 25 having the other end fixed to the rotary shaft portion 21, the swing lever 25 swings about the center of rotation so that the rotary shaft portion 21 moves. It rotates by a predetermined angle with respect to the center of 21. This angle indicates an avoidance angle when the delivery arm unit 20 and the holding clamper 30 overlap each other, and is preferably set to about 5 to 7 °.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotary drive unit 14 for rotationally driving the holding clamper 30 includes a motor 141 supported in the machine base 10, a small pulley 142 mounted on the drive shaft of the motor 141, and a belt. It is configured to have a large shaft 144 integrally fixed to the cylindrical shaft portion 31 via a shaft 143. Therefore, when the motor 141 is driven to rotate, the large pulley 144 is rotated from the small pulley 142 via the belt 143, so that the cylindrical shaft portion 31 fixed to the large pulley 144 rotates around the rotation center shaft portion 11. It will be.

The elevating and lowering drive unit 15 for driving the elevating and lowering of the holding clamper 30 includes a motor 151 supported in the machine base 10.
Drive pulley 152 mounted on the drive shaft of motor 151
A driven pulley 154 connected to the drive pulley 152 via a belt 153; and a ball screw 155 supported in the machine base 10 and rotatable with the rotation of the driven pulley 154.
A nut member 156 which can be screwed up and down by being screwed into the ball screw 155, and an elevating plate 158 whose one end is fixed to the nut member 156 and whose central portion is supported by the tubular shaft portion 31 via a bearing 157. Is configured. The elevating plate 158 and the tubular shaft portion 31 are configured to integrally move up and down.

Therefore, when the motor 151 is rotationally driven,
The ball screw 155 rotates via the drive pulley 152 and the driven pulley 154, and the nut member 156 moves up and down accordingly, so that the tubular shaft portion 31 is moved up and down, and the upper arm portions 33, 34, 35 are moved up and down. .

The opening / closing drive unit 16 for driving the opening / closing of the holding clamper 30 has a large diameter portion 111a at the upper portion of the rotation center shaft portion 11.
A cam surface 111 having a small diameter portion 111b and formed in a vertical direction, and an upper arm portion 3 engaging with the cam surface 111.
3 cam rollers 332, and the elevation drive unit 15 is configured as a drive source. That is, when the tubular shaft portion 31 moves up and down by the drive of the up-and-down drive unit 15 to move up and down, the upper arm unit 33 moves up and down.
The cam rollers 332 move up and down at the same time. Cam roller 332
Moves up and down in the vertical direction along the cam surface 111, and therefore, when engaging with the large-diameter portion 111a of the cam surface 111, the upper arm portion 33 moves in the direction away from the rotation center shaft portion 11, and the cam roller 332 moves. When is engaged with the small-diameter portion 111b, it moves in a direction approaching the rotation center shaft portion 11 to perform opening / closing driving.

The detector 40 for detecting the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer 3 passes, as shown in FIG. 1, from one side end of the machine base 10 to the outside of the upper arm 33, and the upper end of the upper arm 33 and the lower arm 33. The U-shaped bracket 41 arranged so as to be located above the portion 22 and the light projecting portion 4 at the upper and lower positions with the wafer 3 in the bracket 41 interposed therebetween.
2 and a light receiving part 43 as a pair of sensors 44. The light projecting unit 42 and the light receiving unit 4 are located at positions where the light projecting unit 42 of the sensor 44 can emit light rays toward the edge of the wafer 3.
3 are respectively arranged in the bracket 41.

Next, the operation of the aligner device 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

Loading and unloading of the wafer 3 to and from the wafer aligner apparatus 1 of the embodiment is carried out by the hand 5 of the transfer robot. The hand 5 is from a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the delivery arm unit 20 in FIG. You will come and go. The hand 5 transfers the wafer 3 from above the claws 221 and 231 of the transfer arm 20 to the claws 221 and 231.
The wafer 3 is transferred onto the aligner device 1 by lowering and placing it on the wafer receiving portions 221a and 231a of 23. After the wafer 3 is loaded onto the aligner device 1, the hand 5 moves from the aligner device 1 to the robot side (not shown). In this state,
The upper arm portions 33, 34, 35 are at the height position shown in FIG. 3, and the cam roller 332 is positioned below the large diameter portion 111a of the cam surface 111 formed on the rotation center shaft portion 11.

When the wafer 3 is placed on the delivery arm unit 20, the lifting drive unit 15 of the holding clamper 30 operates,
The tubular shaft portion 31 is raised along with the nut member 156 and the elevating plate 158 that are screwed into the ball screw 155. Along with this, as shown in FIG. 5, the cam roller 332 rises toward the large diameter portion 111 a of the cam surface 111. Then, the upper arm portion 33 moves in a direction away from the rotation center shaft portion 11 and moves the claw portion 331 outward from the edge of the wafer 3, while raising the claw portion 331 to the height position of the edge of the wafer 3. To do. Other upper arms 34, 35
Will rise to a similar height without opening and closing.

Further, when the elevating and lowering drive unit 15 is actuated and the cam roller 332 ascends together with the tubular shaft portion 31, the cam roller 332 reaches the small diameter portion 111b of the cam surface 111 and the upper arm portion 33, as shown in FIG. 34 and 35 are moved to a position above the delivery arm portion 20, and the upper arm portion 33 is moved closer to the rotation center shaft portion 11 side by the urging force of the coil spring 333, and the edge of the wafer 3 is moved to the other upper arm portions 34 and 35. The edge of the wafer 3 is held at three points by bringing it into contact with the side.

The height position of the lifted wafer 3 coincides with the position of the wafer 3 shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1. Next, the holding clamper 30 is moved to 1 at this height position.
Rotate.

The drive motor 141 of the rotary drive unit 14 for rotationally driving the holding clamper 30 is operated to rotate the cylindrical shaft portion 31 once. The wafer 3 held by the claw portions 331, 341, 351 of the upper arm portions 33, 34, 35 is
As the cylindrical shaft portion 31 makes one rotation, it makes one rotation with respect to the machine base 10. The sensor 44 of the detection unit 40 detects the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer 3 by emitting light from the light projecting unit 42 toward the light receiving unit 43 toward the edge of the wafer 3 simultaneously with the rotation of the wafer 3.

The wafer 3 for which the notch or orientation flat position has been detected is rotated by a predetermined angle by the above-mentioned motor 141 which is calculated and driven by a controller (not shown), and the notch or orientation flat position is made to coincide with the reference rotational position. .

At this time, if any of the upper arm 33, 34, 35 of the holding clamper 30 has a claw portion 331, 34.
As shown in FIG.
When the lower arm portion 22 or 23 of the lower arm portion 22 or 23 overlaps with the claw portions 221, 231 of the lower arm portion 22 or 23, as shown in FIGS.
3 claw portions 221, 231 and upper arm portion 33 or 3
It is rotated by a predetermined angle to a position where it does not interfere with the 4 or 35 claw portions 331, 341, 351. This operation is performed by the shift angle rotation drive unit 13 of the delivery arm unit 20. That is, when the motor 131 is operated, the eccentric cam 13
2 rotates to move the cam roller 26 by the eccentric stroke of the eccentric cam 132, and the swing lever 25 mounting the cam roller 26 swings and rotates about the rotation center as shown in FIG. By rotating the shaft portion 21 by 5 to 7 °, the claw portion 22 of the lower arm portion 22 or 23
1, 231 and upper arm portion 33 or 34 or 35
The overlap with the claw portions 331, 341, and 351 of the above is avoided.

When the overlap between the delivery arm section 20 and the holding clamper 30 is avoided, the holding clamper 30 holding the wafer 3 is lowered, and one upper arm section 33 is opened, so that the wafer 3 is held. It is transferred onto the claws 221 and 231 of the delivery arm unit 20.

The wafer 3 is the claw portion 22 of the delivery arm portion 20.
When transferred onto the wafers 1, 231, the hand 5 moves to a position below the wafer and holds the wafer 3. And wafer 3
Are carried out by the hand 5. This completes one cycle.

As described above, in the aligner apparatus 1 of the embodiment, when detecting the notch or orientation flat position of the wafer, the edge portion of the wafer 3 is moved to the upper arm portions 33, 34 ,.
Since it is configured to be held by 35, it is possible to rotate the wafer without causing misalignment, and it is possible to reliably improve the positioning accuracy and enable high-speed rotation. Further, since the back surface of the wafer is not adsorbed and held, particles are not attached.

Further, since one upper arm portion 33 of the holding clamper 30 can move in the horizontal direction when moving up and down, the holding clamper 30 moves to a position where the holding clamper 30 is opened larger than the outer diameter of the wafer 3 and the wafer 3 can be held. Delivery is possible, and the edge of the wafer 3 can be reliably gripped by further closing.

Further, since the opening / closing drive section 16 has the cam surface 111 formed in the vertical direction and the cam roller 332 which can be engaged along the cam surface 111, the holding clamper 30 can be opened and closed at the same time as it is moved up and down. By being formed, the holding clamper 30 can move to the height position of the wafer 3 and hold the edge of the wafer 3. Moreover, since the cam surface 111 is formed in the vertical direction,
It is possible to provide the aligner device 1 configured to be compact by reducing the space in the lateral direction.

Furthermore, when the holding clamper 30 that moves up and down is in a position where it overlaps with the delivery arm portion 20, that is, the claw portions 331, 341 of the holding clamper 30,
351, and the claw portion 22 of the delivery arm portion 20.
When any one of 1, 2 and 231 is in the same angular position, the shift angle rotation drive unit 13 causes the delivery arm unit 20 to
Since it can be rotated by a predetermined angle so as to avoid the overlap, the holding clamper 30 moves up and down to move the wafer 3 to the delivery arm unit 20 at a position where the holding clamper 30 and the delivery arm unit 20 do not interfere with each other. Can be held.

At this time, the shift angle rotation drive unit 13 includes the eccentric cam 132 and the swing lever 2 having the cam roller 26.
Since the eccentric cam 132 swings the swing lever 25 by a predetermined angle, it is possible to avoid the interference between the holding clamper 30 and the delivery arm unit 20, and avoid the overlap with a simple configuration. Can be made.

The configuration of the aligner device 1 is not limited to the above, and for example, the shift angle rotation drive unit 1 can be used.
The configuration of 3 is not limited to the above-described eccentric cam and cam roller, and other cam mechanisms such as a groove cam and a cam roller or a cam mechanism using an irregular cam shape or a cam mechanism may be used. May be a cylinder mechanism using a cylinder.

Further, the opening / closing drive unit 16 may not be the above-mentioned cam mechanism, but may be another cam mechanism or a cylinder mechanism.

Further, the raising / lowering drive of the raising / lowering drive unit 15 may be performed by a cylinder mechanism instead of a ball screw mechanism, or by a cam mechanism or a crank mechanism.

Further, the lower arm portions 22 and 23 constituting the delivery arm portion 20 may be three or more as long as they are radially formed at equal angles. In this case, it may be designed so that the hand can move in and out.

The aligner device 7 shown in FIGS.
Is the upper arm portion 3 of the aligner device 1 described above.
Of 3, 3, 35, the upper arm 33 that is moved in the horizontal direction is engaged with the notch 3a or the orientation flat (hereinafter, referred to as the notch 3a) of the wafer 3.

That is, as shown in FIG.
Is placed on the lower arm parts 22 and 23 of the transfer arm part 20 by the hand 5 of the robot, and the claw parts 221.2 and 2
It is gripped by 31. The holding clamper 20 is provided with three upper arm portions 33, 34, and 35, and one of the upper arm portions 33 is, as shown in FIG.
The up-and-down drive unit 15 (see FIG. 3) moves vertically, and the open-close drive unit 16 allows horizontal movement. A claw portion 331 for gripping the edge of the wafer 3 is arranged on the upper arm portion 33, and an engaging claw 334 is fixed to the claw portion 331.

The engaging claws 334 are provided on the wafer 3 as shown in the figure.
In the case where the V-shaped notch 3a is formed, the tip portion has a tapered inclined surface so that the notch 3a can be engaged. Further, when the orientation flat is formed on the wafer 3, the tip end surface of the engaging claw 334 is formed to be flat.

In the aligner device 7 in this embodiment,
For the wafer 3 placed on the transfer arm unit 20 from the robot hand 5, the holding clamper 30 is once moved up by the lifting drive unit 15 and the upper arm unit 33 is opened and closed by the opening / closing drive unit 16 as in the above-described embodiment. After supporting the edge of the wafer 3, the holding clamper 3
The position of the notch 3a is detected by the detection unit 40 by rotating 0 once.

Next, the detected notch 3a position is shown in FIG.
As shown in, move to a predetermined position. At this position, the upper arm parts 33, 34, 35 of the holding clamper 30
The position is such that it does not overlap with any of the claw portions 221 and 231 of the lower arm portions 22 and 23, and in the illustrated example,
It is defined in a direction orthogonal to the transfer arm unit 20. Then, this position is set as a preliminary reference position.

Then, after the notch 3a is moved to the preliminary reference position, the wafer 3 is again transferred at the position where the notch 3a is transferred.
Pass to 0. That is, by moving the upper arm part 33 of the holding clamper 30 in a direction away from the wafer 3 and moving the upper arm part 33 of the holding clamper 30 below the transfer arm part 20 by the elevating drive part 15. The wafer 3 is transferred from the holding clamper 30 to the delivery unit 20 with the notch position aligned with the preliminary reference position.

When the wafer 3 is separated from the holding clamper 30, the holding clamper 30 is rotated to move the upper arm 3
Rotate 3 until it matches the preliminary reference position. Then,
The upper arm portion 33 coincides with the position of the notch 3a in the circumferential direction. In this state, the holding clamper 30 is raised again. As shown in the above-described embodiment, as the upper arm portion 33 moves upward, the upper arm portion 33 moves horizontally along the cam surface 111 of the opening / closing drive portion 16 toward the notch 3a of the wafer, and thus is fixed to the upper arm portion 33. The engaged claw 333 thus engaged with the notch 3a.

At this time, the edge of the wafer 3 is supported by the claws 341 and 351 of the upper arm portions 34 and 35 that do not move to open and close, and the wafer 3 is held and held by the movable upper arm portion 33 as it is pressed. Clamper 30
Will be surely gripped. Then, in this state, the notch 3a of the wafer 3 is rotationally moved from the preliminary reference position to the reference rotation position, whereby the wafer 3 is conveyed by the robot hand 5.

By moving the notch 3a position of the wafer 3 to the preliminary reference position, it is possible to eliminate the error in the rotation angle when moving from the preliminary reference position to the reference rotation position. That is, the rotation center of the rotated wafer 3
In a state where the rotation centers of the holding clamper 30 that holds the wafer 3 are substantially coincident with each other, the notch 3a caused by the rotation of the wafer 3
There is almost no deviation of the rotation angle. However, FIG.
As shown in, in the case of the wafer 3A having an outer diameter different from the set outer diameter, when the notch 3a is located off the axial line of the upper arm 33, the rotation center of the wafer 3A Since C1 and the rotation center C2 of the holding clamper 30 are displaced by ΔY, an angular displacement θ is generated between the notch 3a. Therefore, if the robot is rotated to the reference rotational position in this state, the accuracy will be reduced by the angle deviation θ, and the accuracy of the angle correction of the robot hand will be reduced. Therefore, in this case, the angular deviation θ can be set to 0 ° by moving the position of the notch 3a to the position on the axis of the upper arm portion 33. Then, this position is set as a preliminary reference position.

In the case of the embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The position of the notch 3a is moved to a position that coincides with the axis of the upper arm portion 33 that is horizontally movable. As described above, this position is set as the preliminary reference position. By temporarily moving the position of the notch 3a to the preliminary reference position, the angular deviation θ between the rotation center position of the wafer 3 and the notch 3a becomes 0 °.
The position a can be moved from the preliminary reference position to the reference rotation position at a set angle.

In the aligner device 7 shown in FIG. 9, since the upper arm portion 33 is moved to the notch 3a position,
The notch 3a of the wafer inevitably moves to the preliminary reference position, and no angular deviation occurs.

Regarding the setting of the preliminary reference position,
It is not limited to the aligner device 7 shown in FIG.
The present invention can be applied to the aligner device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and can also be applied to a conventional aligner device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a wafer aligner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view showing an aligner device excluding the detection unit in FIG.

4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which a holding clamper is lifted to a wafer gripping position and opened.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which the holding clamper is further raised to grip a wafer.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which a holding clamper and a delivery arm section overlap each other.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a state in which the holding clamper and the delivery arm section have released the overlap.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another form of an aligner device which holds a wafer by engaging an engaging claw with a notch of the wafer.

FIG. 10 is a partial front sectional view showing the aligner device in FIG.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an angular deviation when gripping wafers of different sizes.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a conventional wafer aligner device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 7 ... Wafer aligner 3 ... Wafer 3a ... notch 5 ... hand 10 ... Machine stand 11 ... Rotation center shaft 111 ... Cam surface (first cam means) 13 ... Shift angle rotation drive section (first rotation drive means) 132 ... Eccentric cam 14 ... Rotational drive section (second rotational drive means) 15 ... Elevating drive section (elevating drive means) 16 ... Open / close drive unit 20 ... Delivery arm part (delivery means) 21 ... Rotating shaft 22, 23 ... Lower arm 25 ... Swing arm 26 ... Cam roller 30 ... Holding clamper (holding means) 31 ... Cylindrical shaft 33, 34, 35 ... Upper arm part (clamp arm) 331, 341, 351 ... Claw (grip) 332 ... Cam roller (first roller means) 334 ... Engaging claw 40 ... Detection unit (detection means) 42 ... Projector 43 ... Light receiving part 44 ... Sensor

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5F031 CA02 FA01 FA07 FA12 FA15                       GA02 HA24 HA27 HA30 HA52                       HA58 HA59 JA05 JA15 JA34                       JA35 KA11 KA13 KA14 LA11                       LA12 LA13 LA15 PA16 PA23

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A holding unit that holds a wafer and is rotatably arranged, a delivery unit that holds a wafer transferred from a robot and delivers it to the holding unit, and a notch or orientation flat position during rotation of the wafer. A aligner for a wafer configured to match a notch or orientation flat position of the wafer with a reference rotation position, wherein the delivery means has a wafer holding part, and The rotation means is configured to be rotatable by a predetermined angle by one rotation driving means, and the holding means is configured to be rotatable by the second rotation driving means, having a wafer gripping portion capable of moving up and down with the wafer holding portion of the delivery means interposed therebetween. And a structure capable of moving the wafer from a wafer holding position of the delivery means to a rotatable upper position of the wafer by a lifting drive means. Together with the aligner device of the wafer, characterized in that it can be opened and closed configuration by the opening and closing drive means for gripping or grasping releasing edges of the wafer. 2. The holding means has at least three clamp arms arranged in a radial direction from a center of rotation, each clamp arm having the wafer gripper and at least one clamp arm. 2. The wafer aligner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said opening / closing drive means is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction. 3. The opening / closing drive means includes a first cam means having a cam surface formed in a vertical direction, and a first movable means arranged so as to be engageable with the first cam means and movable along the cam surface. 3. The wafer aligner apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a roller means. 4. The wafer according to claim 1, wherein the first rotation drive means is configured to be rotatable by a shift angle for avoiding an overlap between the holding means and the delivery means. Aligner device. 5. The first rotation drive means comprises an eccentric cam,
5. The wafer aligner apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a swing lever having a cam roller engageable with the eccentric cam. 6. A holding unit that holds a wafer and is rotatably arranged, a delivery unit that holds a wafer transferred from a robot and delivers it to the holding unit, and a notch or orientation flat position during rotation of the wafer. A aligner for a wafer configured to match a notch or orientation flat position of the wafer with a reference rotation position, wherein the holding means holds a plurality of edges of the wafer. A wafer aligner device comprising a wafer gripper, wherein at least one wafer gripper is configured to be engageable with a notch or an orientation flat of the wafer. 7. The delivery means has a wafer holding portion and is configured to be rotatable by a predetermined angle by a first rotation driving means, and the holding means is configured to be rotatable by a second rotation driving means, and is lifted and lowered. The driving unit is configured to move the wafer from the wafer holding position of the transfer unit to a rotatable upper position of the wafer, and can be opened and closed by an opening / closing driving unit for gripping or releasing the edge of the wafer. The wafer aligner apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the wafer aligner apparatus is configured. 8. A holding unit that holds a wafer and is rotatably arranged, a delivery unit that holds a wafer transferred from a robot and delivers it to the holding unit, and a notch or orientation flat position during rotation of the wafer. A aligner for a wafer configured to match a notch or orientation flat position of the wafer with a reference rotation position, wherein the holding means is a notch or orientation flat position by the detection means. After detecting, the notch or orientation flat position is once moved to the set preliminary reference position, and
A wafer aligner device, wherein rotation is controlled so as to match the reference rotation position with the preliminary reference position as a reference.