JPH0590384A - Cassette chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability, safety and certainty of a cassette conveying operation into a cassette chamber. CONSTITUTION:Rails 10 to be engaged with a roller 81 provided on a table 8 for placing a cassette 4 are provided on a door 53 of a cassette chamber. The rails 10 are formed similarly to the rails of a movable base 91 provided in the chamber. After the cassette 4 is placed on the table 8 placed on the rails 10 of the door 53, the table 8 is moved along the rails 10, and conveyed onto the rails of the base 91. In this case, the table 8 is secured to a predetermined position of the chamber by positioning means, and the cassette 4 is secured to a predetermined position on the table 8 by a link provided on the table 8. Further, fly-out of a board having no cassette 4 from the front surface of the cassette 4 is prevented by a stopper 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette chamber for accommodating a cassette containing an object to be processed in order to convey the object to a processing step.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a wafer, such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for LCD, is to be processed, a cassette containing the object is placed on an elevating means of a cassette chamber to move the cassette up and down. At the same time, the transport mechanism transports the objects to be processed in the cassette one by one to the processing step.

For example, in the case of a vacuum processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 7, such a cassette chamber 100 is connected via a load lock chamber 101 to a vacuum processing chamber 102 such as a plasma processing apparatus, and the cassette chamber 100.
A gate valve 103 is provided between the load lock chamber 101 and the load lock chamber 101, and between the load lock chamber 101 and the processing chamber 102, and the object 104 to be processed is delivered through the opening 100a of the chamber with the gate valve 103 closed. Be done. In the load lock chamber 101, a transfer arm 105 that holds the object 104 to be processed is rotatably and horizontally expandable and contractable, and the object 104 to be processed stored in the cassette 106 along a predetermined transfer line. With the gate valve 103 open, take out the wafers one by one, and
Transport to. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the cassette chamber 100 is provided with an elevating mechanism 107 for moving the cassette 106 up and down, and the elevating mechanism 107 moves the cassette 106 up or down with respect to the transfer line. As a result, another object 104 to be processed can be taken out by the transfer arm 105.

By the way, such a cassette chamber 1
00 is a table 108 for mounting the cassette 106.
Is provided. This table 108 has a lifting mechanism 1
Rail 109a provided on the side edge of the movable base 109 of 07
A roller 108a that engages with the table 1 is guided by this rail 109a to move the table 109 to the chamber 1.
It can be loaded into 00. Therefore, in order to put the cassette 106 into the chamber 100, first, the load lock chamber 10
With the valve 103 between 1 and 1 closed, the door 100a of the cassette chamber is opened, and the cassette 106 in which the object to be processed 104 is stored is placed on the table 108.
The roller 08a is moved so that the roller 108a engages with the rail 109a of the movable table 109 in the chamber, and then is moved along the rail 109a to be carried into the chamber 100.

[0005]

However, for example, in the case of a cassette chamber that accommodates 25 glass substrates for LCD, the total weight of the cassette chamber is 20 kg or more, so that the cassette 106 may be placed on the table 108 at a fixed position. It was very difficult, and even after the cassette 106 was placed on the table 108, it was very difficult to move the table 108 to a position where its roller 108a engages with the rail 109a. Further, the table 108 is set to the cassette 1
When it is moved into the chamber 100 along the rail 109a together with 06, the cassette 106 is moved by the inertia of the movement.
There was a case where the object to be processed 104 jumped out from the front surface of the and the position in the cassette was displaced. Therefore, it is not possible to effectively perform the preheating of the object 104 to be processed from the lower portion of the cassette 106 in the chamber 100, and a positional deviation occurs when the object 104 to be processed is transferred by the transfer arm 105,
There is a problem that the object 104 to be processed is damaged.

[0006]

An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems, and to provide a cassette chamber in which a cassette can be carried into a predetermined position in the cassette chamber very easily and accurately. To aim.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cassette chamber of the present invention which solves the above-mentioned problems is a cassette chamber for accommodating a cassette accommodating an object to be processed, and a door for loading and unloading the cassette and a cassette. A table on which the table is placed, the door is provided with a guide means for guiding the table, and the door is further provided with a positioning means for fixing the table at a predetermined position of the cassette chamber. Further, the table is provided with a cassette fixing means for fixing the cassette at a predetermined position on the table, and is provided with a stopper for preventing the object to be processed housed in the cassette from jumping out.

[0008]

The table is placed on the guide means of the door and moved into the cassette chamber along the guide means. The table is sequentially guided by the guide means of the door and the guide means provided in the elevating mechanism in the cassette chamber, and can be moved without labor. Further, the table is positioned in the cassette chamber at a predetermined position in the cassette chamber by the positioning means, and the cassette is fixed at a predetermined position on the table by the cassette fixing means. Further, the object to be processed in the cassette is restricted from projecting from the front surface of the cassette by the stopper.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the cassette chamber of the present invention is applied to a vacuum processing apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings. In a vacuum processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, an object to be processed, for example, a glass substrate for LCD (hereinafter, simply referred to as a substrate) 2 in a vacuum processing chamber 3 is subjected to plasma processing such as etching and assembling, or CVD processing and oxidation processing. With such a device, a cassette chamber 5 that stores a cassette 4 that stores a plurality of, for example, 25 substrates 2, a substrate 2 in the cassette chamber 5 is transferred to a processing chamber 3, and a vacuum in the processing chamber 3 is maintained. Load lock chamber 6 and a vacuum processing chamber 3 for processing the substrate 2 in a vacuum. The load lock chambers 6 are arranged on both sides of the processing chamber 3, and the load lock chambers 6 and 6 ′ each have a cassette chamber 5 as a sender for storing a cassette storing unprocessed substrates and a cassette for storing processed substrates. And a cassette chamber 5'as a receiver for housing the. In the figure, the cassette chambers 5 and 5 ', the load lock chambers 6 and 6', and the vacuum processing chamber 3 are linearly arranged side by side, but two cassette chambers and two vacuum processing chambers centering on the load lock chamber are shown. It may be a multi-processing device arranged so as to form 90 ° with each other.

The sender side will be described below. A gate valve 7 is provided between the cassette chamber 5 and the load lock chamber 6 and between the load lock chamber 6 and the vacuum processing chamber 3 to seal each chamber. The load lock chamber 6 is provided with a transfer arm 6a for transferring the substrate 2. The transfer arm 6a is at a level (transfer level) at which the arm portion transfers the substrate 2, and the transfer arm 6a is centered on the support shaft. It is rotatable and the arm is horizontally expandable. Thus, the transfer arm 6a can transfer the substrate in the cassette chamber 5 to the vacuum processing chamber 3 and the processed substrate to the cassette chamber 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette chamber 5 comprises a support base 51, a main body 52 fixed to the support base 51, and a table 8 on which the cassette 4 is placed. The main body 52 carries the cassette 4 in and out. Door 53 that can be opened and closed to open the load lock chamber 6 on the side facing the door 53.
a is provided. Further, the cassette chamber 5 has an elevating mechanism 9 for moving the cassette 4 up and down, and the elevating mechanism 9 is a movable table 91 for supporting the table 8 on which the cassette 4 is placed and a drive not shown installed on the supporting table 51. And a lifting assembly 92 for moving the movable base 91 up and down by a mechanism. The cassette 4 is carried in through the door 53 when the elevating mechanism 9 is located below.

A gas spring 54 is provided between the door 53 of the cassette chamber 5 and the main body 52 as shown in FIG. 3 (a).
Opening / closing means such as the like is provided, and when the door 53 is open, a biasing force is applied in a direction to close the door 53, whereby the door 53 is opened.
Even if the weight of the cassette 4 is added to the weight of the above, the weight can be withstood and the door 53 can be easily closed. The door 53 is connected to the main body 52.
A shock absorber 55, which is composed of an elastic body or an air cushion for supporting the, is provided. When the door 53 is opened, the biasing force of the gas spring 54 is applied in the direction of opening the door 53 so that the door 53 can be opened and closed with a relatively light force. In the figure, 53a is a handle.

Further, a rail 10 is formed on the inner surface of the door 53 as a guide means for guiding the table 8. This rail 10 is a roller 8 provided on the table 8.
It has a cross-sectional shape that engages with 1, and the table 8 can be moved on the rail 10 only by pushing with a light force. FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 3A and shows the engagement state of the rail 10 and the roller 81. The guide means can be arbitrarily changed by providing a rail on the table 8 side and a guide roller engaging with the rail on the door 53 side. However, in that case, the table guide mechanism provided in the lifting mechanism 9 needs to have the same structure as the guide means of the door 53.

The structure of the table 8 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of pairs (five pairs in the figure) of rollers 82 are pivotally mounted on the table 8 on the lower sides of the table 8. The rollers 81 serve as rails 10 of the door 53 and rails 91a of a movable base 91 described later. To guide the movement of the table 8 and to guide it. Further, a positioning roller 82 is attached to the tip of the table 8 as a positioning means for positioning the table 8 on the movable base 91, and the positioning roller 82 is mounted on the movable base 91 side by the loading movement of the table 8. The table 8 is positioned by being fitted into. The positioning operation will be described later.

Further, the table 8 is formed with a plurality of protrusions 83 at its end so that the cassette 4 can be placed substantially at the center of the table 8. In the vicinity of the protrusion 83a at one rear end of the table 8, a "doglegged" link member 11 is provided as a fixing means for fixing the cassette 4 at a predetermined position on the table 8. The link member 11 is the table 8
The end portion is rotatably fixed by a fixing pin 11a, and is further urged by a coil spring (not shown) wound around the fixing pin 11a in a direction away from the cassette 4 on the table 8 (arrow direction in the drawing). .. Further, a follower 13 that engages with a cam 12 provided on the movable base 91 is fixed to the link member 11, and when the table 8 advances into the cassette chamber 5, the follower 13 engages with the cam 12 and thereby. The link member 11 is driven in the direction of pressing the cassette 4 against the biasing force of the coil spring. When the cassette 4 is pressed by the link member 11, the protrusion 83a of the table 8 and the protrusions 83b and 83c on the diagonal side are formed.
It is pressed against the side and fixed.

Next, the structure of the movable base 91 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, a rail 91a with which the roller 81 of the table 8 is engaged is formed on the side surface of the movable table 91 as a guide means on the side of the lifting mechanism 9, and guides the table 8 to be carried in. The rail 91a and the roller 8 are shown in FIG.
The engagement state of No. 1 is shown. Further, the movable table 91 is provided with a positioning piece 14 as a positioning means for determining the position of the table 8 on the movable table 91, for example, at the center of the tip thereof (FIGS. 5A and 5B). The positioning piece 14 is biased upward by a spring (not shown),
The position of the table 8 on the movable base 91 is determined in cooperation with the positioning roller 82 provided at the tip. That is, the positioning piece 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a concave portion 14 with which the roller 82 at the tip of the table 8 is engaged.
Although it has a, it is normally urged upward by a spring and protrudes from the upper surface of the movable base 91, but when it is pushed by the roller 82 of the table 8 that has been carried in and the roller 82 fits into the recess 14a, the urging force is applied. Thus, the table 8 is regulated to be carried in and positioned.

Further, the movable table 91 has a cam 12 as a fixing means for fixing the position of the cassette 4 on the table 8.
Is provided. This cam 12 is the door 53 of the chamber 5.
A cam surface 12a that is inclined toward the side is formed, and when the table 8 is loaded, the table 8 is attached to the cam surface 12a.
When the follower 13 of the "doglegged" link member 11, which is the fixing means on the side, abuts, the link member 11 is driven and the position of the cassette 4 is fixed as described above.

When the cassette 4 is positioned and fixed in the chamber 5 as described above, a stopper 15 for preventing the substrate 2 stored in the cassette 4 from jumping out, for example, for regulating the front position, is provided in the cassette chamber main body 52. Is provided near the load lock chamber 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the stopper 15 is composed of a shaft 15a and a plate-shaped member 15b fixed to the shaft 15a. When the shaft 15a is rotated by about 90 ° by a drive mechanism (not shown) provided on the support base 51. Rotate. This allows the cassette to be loaded (Fig. 6).
In (b), the tip end of the plate-shaped member 15b faces the front surface of the cassette 4 and functions as a stopper for the substrate 2, and when the cassette 4 is moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 8, the tip of the plate-shaped member 15b rotates to form a plate-shaped member. The surface of the member 15b becomes parallel to the front surface of the cassette 4 (FIG. 6A), and it is possible to retract from the cassette 4.
Since the stopper 15 is below the main body 52 into which the cassette 4 is loaded, it does not interfere with the removal of the substrate 2 from the cassette 4.

The operation of the vacuum processing apparatus having the above structure will be described. First, the gate valve 7 between the cassette chamber 5 and the load lock chamber 6 is closed, the door 53 is opened, and the table 8 is placed on the rail 10 of the door 53. As a result, the roller 81 of the table 8 is engaged with the rail 10. Next, a cassette 4 accommodating a plurality of substrates 2 is placed on a table 8 manually or by a robot or the like, and the table 8 on which the cassette 4 is placed is moved along a rail 10. The front side of the roller 81 of the table 8 is the door 53
Of course, when the rail 10 is finished, it is disengaged from the rail 10, but since the following roller 81 is engaged with the rail 10, it can be moved as it is.
The table 8 enters the chamber main body 51 before it is disengaged from 0, and the front roller 81 is engaged with the rail 9a of the movable table 9 this time, so that the table 8 can be easily carried into the chamber.

When the table 8 further advances, the follower 1 of the "doglegged" link member 11 provided on the table 8
3 abuts on the cam surface 12a of the cam 12 of the movable table 9 (FIG. 4B), and when further advanced, the link member 11 moves in the direction of pressing the cassette 4 along the inclination of the cam surface 12a (FIG. 4B). 4 (a)). In this way, the link member 11 is driven to press the cassette 4 against the protrusions 83b and 83c of the table 8 and fix the position. At the same time, the positioning roller 82 of the table 8 is provided with the recess 1
4a is fitted and the table 8 is positioned.

At this point, the stopper 15 is the plate-shaped member 1
The tip of 5b is rotated to a position facing the front surface of the cassette 4, and restricts the substrate 2 from jumping out from the front surface of the cassette 4. As a result, the table 8, the cassette 4, and the substrate 2 are positioned and fixed at predetermined positions. After that, the door 53 is closed, the cassette 4 is lifted by the elevating mechanism 8, and before or after the gate valve 7 between the load lock chamber 6 and the load lock chamber 6 is opened, the lowermost substrate 2 is brought into contact with the lower part of the cassette 4 if necessary. Sense and / or preheat with a sensor or heating plate. Thereafter, the substrate 2 is taken out from below the cassette 4 by the transfer arm 6a of the load lock chamber 6 and transferred to the processing chamber 3. When the substrate 2 is taken out, the cassette 4 is lowered by one step and the second substrate 2 is moved to the transfer arm 6
can be retrieved by a. Thereafter, the substrates 2 are sequentially taken out in the same manner. At this time, since the substrate 2 is at the predetermined position, the transport arm 6a can be securely held and transported. The processed substrate 2 is similarly transferred by the transfer arm 6a of the load lock chamber 6'and stored in the cassette in the cassette chamber 5'on the receiver side.
Even when it is carried out from the table, the table on which the cassette is placed can be moved along the rail of the door 53,
You can work easily.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the cassette chamber of the present invention, since the guide means for guiding the cassette is provided on the door of the cassette chamber, it is possible to carry the cassette into and out of the chamber. It becomes very easy and workability is improved. Further, since the cassette and the table on which the cassette is placed are fixed at predetermined positions in the chamber, the transfer by the transfer arm can be performed safely and reliably.
Further, since the object to be processed stored in the cassette is prevented from jumping out by the stopper, the transfer can be performed safely and reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus to which a cassette chamber of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an embodiment of the cassette chamber of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a main part of the cassette chamber of FIG.
(A) is a side view of a door, (b) is CC sectional drawing of (a).

FIG. 4 is a top view showing a moving state of the table of the cassette chamber of FIG.

5 is a view showing a movable base of the cassette chamber of FIG.
(A) is a top view, (b) is a sectional view taken along the line AA of (a),
(C) is BB sectional drawing of (a).

6A and 6B are views showing a stopper of the cassette chamber of FIG. 2, in which FIG. 6A is a front view of the cassette and FIG. 6B is a side view of the cassette.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a conventional cassette chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ...- Substrate (object to be processed) 4 ... Cassette 5 ...- Cassette chamber 53 ...- Door 8 ...- Table 82・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Roller (positioning means) 9 ・ ・ ・ Lift / lower mechanism 91 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Movable base 10 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Rail (guide means) 11 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Link member (Cassette fixing means) 12 ... Cam (cassette fixing means) 14 ... Positioning piece (positioning means) 15 ... Stopper

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cassette chamber for accommodating a cassette accommodating an object to be processed in a vertically movable manner, comprising a door for loading / unloading the cassette and a table for mounting the cassette, the door guiding the table. A cassette chamber, characterized by comprising: 2. The cassette chamber according to claim 1, further comprising positioning means for fixing the table at a predetermined position of the cassette chamber. 3. The cassette chamber according to claim 1, wherein the table is provided with a cassette fixing means for fixing the cassette at a predetermined position of the table. 4. The cassette chamber according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper for preventing the object to be processed stored in the cassette from popping out.