Patent Application
20090053019
The present invention relates to a load port for opening and closing a cover of a substrate storing container in which semiconductor substrates are stored, more specifically to an inversion type load port capable of opening and closing the cover irrespective of a direction of the placed substrate storing container and the control method.
A conventional inversion type load port capable of opening and closing a cover of a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) irrespective of the placing direction of the placed FOUP is shown in
In
As explained above, according to a conventional load port, it is not required to provide a delivering means for delivering a FOUP from the placing plate 41 to the stage 44. The FOUP can be delivered to the stage 44 by lowering the placing plate 41.
Patent Document: JP2004-140011, A (see pages 4-8, FIG. 1)
In a conventional load port, a supporting portion 46 accommodating a control portion of the rotary lifting and lowering means 42 and 43 is large and protruded frontward with respect to the load port. Thus, there is a problem that a stocker, etc., which is to be connected at the load port front side, will be restricted in structure. There also was a problem that the supporting portion will be an obstacle at either the time of placing a load port or at the time of maintenance. In addition, since the placing plate 41 on which a FOUP is initially placed and the stage 44 are provided independently, at the time of delivering the FOUP from the placing plate 41 to the stage 44, it is required to position the stage 44 to a prescribed position. However, since the structure is not simple, there are costs and/or reliability problems.
The present invention was made in view of the aforementioned problems, and aims to provide a compact inversion type load port with no protruded supporting portion irrespective of the inversion type load port. It also aims to provide an inversion type load port high in operation efficiency.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention is constituted as follows.
According to the invention as recited in claim 1, a load port comprises:
a stage for placing a substrate storing container;
a transferring mechanism for transferring the stage;
a rotating mechanism for rotating the stage; and
a lifting and lowering mechanism for lifting and lowering the stage,
wherein a cover of the placed substrate storing container is opened and closed.
According to the invention as recited in claim 2, a load port comprises:
a stage for placing a substrate storing container, the stage having at least a first stage and a second stage;
a transferring mechanism for transferring the stage;
a rotating mechanism for rotating both the first stage and the second stage;
a lifting and lowering mechanism fixed to the rotating mechanism, the lifting and lowering mechanism being configured to lift and lower only the first stage; and
a clamp for fixing the substrate storing container placed on the second stage, wherein a cover of the placed substrate storing container is opened and closed.
According to the invention as recited in claim 3, the first stage is provided with a clamp for fixing the substrate storing container.
According to the invention as recited in claim 4, the load port further comprises a position sensor for detecting that any one of the transferring mechanism, the rotating mechanism, the lifting and lowering mechanism, and the clamp has reached a prescribed position.
According to the invention as recited in claim 5, the load port further comprises a timer for monitoring a time lapse from initiation of an operation of any one of the transferring mechanism, the rotating mechanism, the lifting and lowering mechanism, and the clamp.
According to the invention as recited in claim 6, the stage is eccentrically rotated with the rotating mechanism.
According to the invention as recited in claim 7, the rotating mechanism is provided with a rotary cylinder and a belt-pulley mechanism.
According to the invention as recited in claim 8, an electric motor is employed in place of the rotary cylinder.
According to the invention as recited in claim 9, the lifting and lowering mechanism is an air cylinder.
According to the invention as recited in claim 10, a load port control method of controlling a load port comprising a stage for placing a substrate storing container and a transferring mechanism for transferring the stage, the load port being configured to open and close a cover of the placed substrate storing container, wherein the stage includes a first stage and a second stage, the load port further comprising a rotating mechanism for rotating both the first stage together and the second stage, a lifting and lowering mechanism for lifting and lowering only the first stage, the lifting and lowering mechanism being fixed to the rotating mechanism, and a clamp for fixing the substrate storing container placed on the second stage,
the method comprises:
a step of placing the substrate storing container on the stage;
a step of lowering the stage;
a step of performing a clamp operation of the clamp provided at the second stage;
a step of rotating the stage; and
a step of performing a docking operation of the stage.
According to the invention as recited in claim 11, a load port control method of controlling a load port comprising a stage for placing a substrate storing container and a transferring mechanism for transferring the stage, the load port being configured to open and close a cover of the placed substrate storing container, wherein the stage includes a first stage and a second stage, the load port further comprising a rotating mechanism for rotating both the first stage and the second stage, a lifting and lowering mechanism for lifting and lowering only the first stage, the lifting and lowering mechanism being fixed to the rotating mechanism, and a clamp for fixing the substrate storing container placed on the second stage,
the method comprises:
a step of placing the substrate storing container on the stage;
a step of performing a clamp operation of the clamp provided at the first stage;
a step of lowering the stage;
a step of rotating the stage; and
a step of performing a docking operation of the stage.
According to the invention as recited in claim 12, after an operation at any step meets a prescribed interlock condition, another step is executed.
According to the invention as recited in claim 13, the prescribed interlock condition is a detection signal output of a position detection sensor for detecting that the operation has reached a prescribed position.
According to the invention as recited in claim 14, the prescribed interlock condition is a prescribed time lapse counted by a timer.
According to the invention as recited in claim 1 or claim 2, since the stage rotates, there is no limitation in a placing direction of the substrate storing container, and therefore the load port can be flexibly applied in accordance with a mode of a device to which the load port is connected. Furthermore, since the stage itself performs lifting, lowering, and rotating operations, it is compact.
Furthermore, according to the invention as recited in claims 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, since each load port axial operation can be performed simultaneously, the operation efficiency is high, which can improve the throughput.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to drawings.
The present invention is different from the aforementioned load port disclosed by Patent Document 1 in that the stage 12 itself is lifted/lowered and rotated and that a placing plate and a supporting portion accommodating a control portion for the rotary lifting and lowering means for the placing plate are eliminated.
Next, the lifting/lowering and rotating operation of the stage will be explained. When the shaft is pushed out in accordance with the driving of the air cylinder 39, the main body of the air cylinder 39 is lifted up and the lifting stage 36 fixed to the air cylinder 39 is also lifted up. To the contrary, when the shaft is retreated in accordance with the driving of the air cylinder 39, the lifting stage 36 is lowered. In short, in accordance with the driving of the air cylinder 39, the lifting stage 36 is lifted/lowered.
On the other hand, when the rotary cylinder 31 is rotary driven, the belt-pulley mechanism constituted by the pulley 32, the belt 33 and the pulley 34 is driven, which in turn rotates the member 35 fixed to the pulley 34. In accordance with the rotation of the member 35, the lifting stage 36 fixed to the air cylinder 39 will be rotated. Here, the rotation center of the member 35 is provided in an offset manner with respect to the center of the stage 12, which rotates the stage 12 eccentrically. The reason of eccentrically rotating the stage 12 is to avoid mutual interference of substrate storing containers adjacently placed on load ports. In this embodiment, the revolution (rotation) area of a substrate storing container placed on the stage 12 is held within a diameter of 505 mm.
Although the lifting/lowering and rotating operations of the stage 12 were explained separately, the lifting/lowering and rotating operations can be performed simultaneously.
Next, the operation of the entire load port, especially the opening operation of the substrate storing container in a state in which the substrate storing container is placed with the cover not facing to the load port door 11 will be explained. The opening operation of the substrate storing container will be performed in the following steps, assuming that the state in which the stage 12 (lifting stage 36) is in a lifted state is an initial state.
(1) The substrate storing container is placed on the stage 12.
(2) The stage 12 (lifting stage 36) is lowered.
(3) The clamp clamps the substrate storing container (clamp operation).
(4) The stage 12 is rotated with the substrate storing container placed thereon, so that the opening of the substrate storing container faces the load port door 11 (rotation operation).
(5) The stage 12 moves in the rightward direction of this figure, whereby the cover of the substrate storing container is docked with the load port door 11 (docking operation)
(6) The absorption means 15a and 15b absorb the cover of the substrate storing container.
(7) The latch keys 16a and 16b rotate the key of the substrate storing container to release the lock of the door.
Subsequent operations are the same as those of a conventional load port, and therefore the explanation will be omitted. The above steps (4) and (5) can be performed simultaneously.
Here, in cases where the substrate storing container is placed with the cover facing the load port door, the operation of the aforementioned step (4) is not required. Furthermore, in cases where an operator manually executes step (1), the lifting of the stage 12 (lifting stage 36) as an initial state, step (2) will not be required. In other words, by choosing the aforementioned steps in accordance with the placing method of the substrate storing container, flexible operations can be performed, so that the load port of this embodiment can be handled like a conventional load port with no inversion function.
As explained above, in the load port of this embodiment, since the stage rotates, there is no restriction in a placing direction of the substrate storing container, which enables flexible operation in accordance with the mode of the apparatus to which the load port is connected. Furthermore, the stage is compact in size since the stage itself performs the lifting/lowering, rotating operations, resulting in a smaller footprint.
Next, a load port according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained. In this load port of this embodiment, the clamp is provided at the lifting stage. The other structures other than the above are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the detailed explanation will be omitted.
The opening operation of the substrate storing container will be performed in the following steps.
(1) The substrate storing container is placed on the stage 12.
(2) The clamp clamps the substrate storing container (clamp operation).
(3) The stage 12 (lifting stage 36) is lowered.
(4) The stage 12 is rotated with the substrate storing container placed thereon, so that the opening of the substrate storing container faces the load port door 11 (rotation operation).
(5) The stage 12 moves in the rightward direction of
Since the subsequent steps are the same as those of embodiment 1, the explanation will be omitted. The aforementioned steps (2) to (5) can be performed simultaneously. The operation of the steps (3) to (5) can be arbitrarily selected and performed simultaneously. However, if the docking operation can be completed in a shorter time than another operation, to avoid the interference of the substrate storing container with the load port main body, before completion of the docking operation at the step (5), all of the operations at the steps (3) and (4) should be completed.
As an example in which the aforementioned steps are performed simultaneously, a case in which only the rotation operation (step (4)) and the docking operation (step (5)) are performed simultaneously will be explained. Here, it is assumed that the docking operation will be completed in a shorter time than the rotation operation and a detection means for detecting that the stage has reached a prescribed rotational position is provided as an interlock.
Initially, after the completion of step (3), the controller of the load port outputs a rotational operation command to rotate the stage 12. Next, when the stage has reached the prescribed rotation position, the detecting means outputs a signal (interlock signal) to the controller. Then, the controller receives the outputted signal and outputs a docking command. Thereafter, the docking operation will be performed simultaneously with the rotational operation.
By initiating the docking operation during the rotational operation as mentioned above, the operation time can be shortened as compared with the case in which the rotational operation and the docking operation are performed separately, thereby improving the operation efficiency.
The detecting means can be a position sensor for detecting that the stage has reached a prescribed position. Alternatively, it can be configured such that a time from the initiation of each operation is monitored and when a certain time has passed it is considered that the stage has reached a prescribed position. In any event, any detection can be employed so long as the docking will be completed first during the rotational operation and a position where the substrate storing container does not interfere with the load port can be detected.
Furthermore, the simultaneous operations are not limited to the aforementioned rotational operation and the docking operation, but can be any combination of another axis. Furthermore, it is not limited to two simultaneous axial operations, but a plurality of axes can be operated simultaneously.
As mentioned above, in the load port of this embodiment, the clamp is provided at the list stage. Therefore, after clamping the substrate storing container, operations can be executed simultaneously until docking, resulting in improved efficient operation, which improves the throughput.
In the aforementioned two embodiments, the load port of the present invention employs an air cylinder as a driving means. However, an electric motor can be employed as a driving means.
Although a belt-pulley mechanism is employed as a mechanism for rotating the stage 12, a direct drive by a rotary cylinder can be employed in place of the mechanism.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-063224 | Mar 2005 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2006/303143 | 2/22/2006 | WO | 00 | 9/7/2007 |
