Patent Application
20250128929
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-179649, filed on Oct. 18, 2023, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
A certain embodiment of the present invention relates to a transport device and a transport method for transporting a cryopump.
A cryopump is used in a vacuum process device that requires a high vacuum and is used in order to provide a high vacuum in a vacuum chamber. An example of the vacuum process device is a semiconductor manufacturing device for processing a semiconductor wafer. For example, the cryopump is attached to a side wall or the like of a vacuum process chamber in which the semiconductor wafer is processed.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a transport device for transporting a cryopump. The transport device includes a bogie that includes a front wheel and a rear wheel, a mast that extends from a front side of the bogie in a height direction, a raising and lowering unit that is supported by the mast and that has a changeable height, a guide rail that extends forward from the raising and lowering unit, an arm that is supported by the guide rail and that is slidable in a front-rear direction, a cargo platform that is provided at a tip part of the arm and that holds the cryopump, and a counterweight that is provided on a rear side of the bogie.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a transport method of a cryopump using the transport device of the one embodiment. The transport method includes a process of causing the cargo platform to hold the cryopump, a process of causing the bogie to move, a process of changing a height of the raising and lowering unit, a process of sliding the arm, and a process of removing the cryopump from the cargo platform.
In recent years, the size of a semiconductor wafer has been increased, and a vacuum process chamber that accommodates the semiconductor wafer also tends to be increased in size. Various devices for processing the semiconductor wafer are disposed around the vacuum process chamber. Therefore, there is a limitation to a space where a cryopump can be installed, and the cryopump may be attached, for example, at a high position of an upper portion of the vacuum process chamber. In addition, a large cryopump having a higher exhaust performance is used in some cases as the vacuum process chamber increases in size. In a case where a large and heavy cryopump is installed at a high place, it is not easy to safely and efficiently perform work of attaching and detaching the cryopump for maintenance. For example, it takes effort to assemble a temporary scaffold or the like using a limited space around the vacuum process chamber. In addition, when a maintenance work time becomes long by assembling the scaffold or the like, a stop time of the semiconductor manufacturing device becomes long, which leads to a decrease in productivity.
It is desirable to provide a technique of safely and efficiently transporting a cryopump.
Any combination of the components described above and a combination obtained by switching the components and expressions of the present invention between methods, devices, and systems are also effective as an embodiment of the present invention.
According to the one embodiment of the present invention, the cryopump can be safely and efficiently transported.
Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail. Configurations to be described below are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, in the description of the drawings, the same elements will be assigned with the same reference signs, and redundant description will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, in the drawings referred to in the following description, sizes and thicknesses of the respective components are for convenience of description and do not necessarily indicate actual dimensions or proportions.
The cryopump 70 includes a cryopanel container 72, a connection container 74, and a cryocooler 76. The cryopanel container 72 is a portion that accommodates a cryopanel which is cooled to a cryogenic temperature (for example, 10K to 20K) and is a portion that is attached to a vacuum process device via a flange 78. The cryopanel container 72 is a cylindrical vacuum chamber. The connection container 74 is a vacuum chamber that is provided at a side portion of the cryopanel container 72 and that connects the cryopanel container 72 and the cryocooler 76 to each other. The cryocooler 76 cools the cryopanel provided inside the cryopanel container 72 via the connection container 74.
The weight of the cryopump 70 also depends on a size and a performance, but is, for example, approximately 20 kg to 100 kg. Therefore, it is not preferable for a human to directly hold the cryopump 70 by hand to move, raise, and lower the cryopump 70 from a viewpoint of safety and efficiency.
The transport device 10 is a device for moving, raising, and lowering the cryopump 70, which is a heavy object, and is a so-called power lifter. For example, the transport device 10 is configured to hold the cryopanel container 72 of the cryopump 70. The transport device 10 includes a bogie 12, a mast 14, a raising and lowering unit 16, a guide rail 18, an arm 20, a cargo platform 22, and a counterweight 24.
The bogie 12 includes a front wheel 26 and a rear wheel 28 for traveling on ground G. In the present embodiment, a direction A from the rear wheel 28 toward the front wheel 26 will be referred to as the front, and a direction B from the front wheel 26 toward the rear wheel 28 will be referred to as the rear in some cases. A height direction H is a direction perpendicular to the ground G on which the bogie 12 travels.
The mast 14 is provided on a front side of the bogie 12. A raising and lowering handle 30 for moving the raising and lowering unit 16 along the mast 14 in the height direction His provided on the front side of the bogie 12. Herein, the front side of the bogie 12 refers to a position closer to the front wheel 26 than the rear wheel 28. When the raising and lowering handle 30 is manually operated, the height of the raising and lowering unit 16 can be adjusted.
A steering handle 32 for changing the direction of the rear wheel 28 is provided on a rear side of the bogie 12. By operating the steering handle 32 to cause the rear wheel 28 to travel, for example, the direction of the bogie 12 can be changed around the front wheel 26. The counterweight 24 is provided on the rear side of the bogie 12. The weight of the counterweight 24 is, for example, 200 kg or more and 1,000 kg or less and is, for example, 300 kg or more and 800 kg or less. The counterweight 24 is disposed between the front wheel 26 and the rear wheel 28 and is provided at a position close to the rear wheel 28 (that is, a position far from the front wheel 26). Herein, the rear side of the bogie 12 refers to a position closer to the rear wheel 28 than the front wheel 26.
The mast 14 is supported by the bogie 12 and extends in the height direction H from the bogie 12. As shown in
The raising and lowering unit 16 is configured to be supported by the mast 14, to move in the height direction H along the mast 14, and to be capable of changing the height. The raising and lowering unit 16 is configured, for example, to be raised and lowered by a hydraulic pump (not shown) that operates by manually operating the raising and lowering handle 30. The raising and lowering unit 16 may be configured to be raised and lowered by an electric hydraulic pump or an electric motor.
The guide rail 18 is supported by the raising and lowering unit 16 and extends linearly forward from the raising and lowering unit 16. The guide rail 18 supports the arm 20 so that the arm 20 is slidable in the front-rear direction. A length L0 (see
The guide rail 18, for example, the entire guide rail 18 can be positioned in front of the front wheel 26. As a result, there is a space S that can be freely used at a position between the ground G and the guide rail 18 and that has no structure which comes into contact with the ground G in order to support the transport device 10. A height h1 of the guide rail 18 can be adjusted in a range of, for example, 0.2 m or more and 2.5 m or less in accordance with the height of the raising and lowering unit 16.
The arm 20 is configured to be supported by the guide rail 18 and to be slidable in the front-rear direction along the guide rail 18. The arm 20 can be configured as a multi-joint arm. In the example shown in
The first arm member 34 is a portion supported by the guide rail 18. A length L1 of the first arm member 34 is, for example, 0.5 m or more and 1.5 m or less and is, for example, 0.7 m or more and 1.0 m or less. For example, the length L1 of the first arm member 34 is substantially the same as the length L0 of the guide rail 18. Accordingly, substantially the entire first arm member 34 can be accommodated inside the guide rail 18, and a distance from the raising and lowering unit 16 to a tip part (for example, the first joint 40) of the first arm member 34 can be made substantially the same as the length L0 of the guide rail 18. In addition, substantially the entire first arm member 34 can be extracted outside the guide rail 18, and a distance from the raising and lowering unit 16 to the tip part (for example, the first joint 40) of the first arm member 34 can be set to approximately twice the length L0 of the guide rail 18. The position of the first arm member 34 with respect to the guide rail 18 is configured to be fixed using a fixing pin 44.
The second arm member 36 is attached to the tip part of the first arm member 34. For example, a length L2 of the second arm member 36 is shorter than the length L1 of the first arm member 34. The length L2 of the second arm member 36 is, for example, 0.2 m or more and 1.0 m or less and is, for example, 0.3 m or more and 0.7 m or less. The second arm member 36 is configured to be attached to the first arm member 34 via the first joint 40 and to be pivotable with respect to the first arm member 34. The first joint 40 is configured to be pivotable around an axis extending in the height direction. Accordingly, the second arm member 36 is pivotable in a right-left direction with respect to the tip part of the first arm member 34.
The third arm member 38 is attached to a tip part of the second arm member 36. For example, a length L3 of the third arm member 38 is shorter than the length L2 of the second arm member 36. The length L3 of the third arm member 38 is, for example, 0.1 m or more and 0.7 m or less and is, for example, 0.2 m or more and 0.5 m or less. The third arm member 38 is configured to be attached to the second arm member 36 via the second joint 42 and to be pivotable with respect to the second arm member 36. The second joint 42 is configured to be pivotable around an axis extending in the height direction. Accordingly, the third arm member 38 is pivotable in the right-left direction with respect to the tip part of the second arm member 36.
The first joint 40 may include a sliding spacer that is disposed between the first arm member 34 and the second arm member 36 and that is for smoothly pivoting the second arm member 36 with respect to the first arm member 34. Similarly, the second joint 42 may include a sliding spacer that is disposed between the second arm member 36 and the third arm member 38 and that is for smoothly pivoting the third arm member 38 with respect to the second arm member 36. That is, the sliding spacer can be provided between the two arm members connected to each other by the joint. As the sliding spacer, for example, a resin spacer made of a fluororesin or the like can be used.
The cargo platform 22 is provided at a tip part 46 (for example, a tip part of the third arm member 38) of the arm 20 and is configured to hold the cryopump 70. For example, the cargo platform 22 is fixed to the tip part 46 not to pivot with respect to the tip part 46 of the arm 20. The cargo platform 22 may be attached to be pivotable with respect to the tip part 46 of the arm 20 via the joint or the like. The cargo platform 22 may be pivotable around an axis in the height direction H with respect to the tip part 46 of the arm 20 or may be pivotable around an axis in a horizontal direction (for example, the front-rear direction).
A gripping handle 54 that is gripped by a user in order to adjust the position or the direction of the cargo platform 22 is provided on an outer surface 52 of the cargo platform 22. For example, a pair of gripping handles 54 disposed on the right and left of the cargo platform 22 can be provided. A through-hole 56 is present between the outer surface 52 of the cargo platform 22 and the gripping handle 54. For example, a fixing tool 60 (see
The transport device 10 may further include an outrigger (not shown) that can be extended to the side of the bogie 12. The outrigger can be provided to extend from the front (for example, a position near the front wheel 26) to the side of the bogie 12. The outrigger may be provided to extend from the mast 14 to the side. For example, the outrigger is configured to be accommodated when the bogie 12 travels and to be extended to come into contact with the ground G when the bogie 12 is stopped to operate the arm 20 and to support the bogie 12. The outrigger can reduce a risk of the transport device 10 falling in the right-left direction.
The transport device 10 can hold the cryopump 70 at a position separated forward from the bogie 12 and the mast 14 with the guide rail 18 and the arm 20 extending forward from the raising and lowering unit 16. A distance from the mast 14 to the cargo platform 22 is, for example, 1.5 m or more and 5 m or less and, for example, 2 m or more and 4 m or less in a state where the arm 20 is extracted to the maximum from the guide rail 18. The transport device 10 can adjust the position of the cargo platform 22 in the front-rear direction by sliding the arm 20 with respect to the guide rail 18. The transport device 10 can adjust the position of the cargo platform 22 in the right-left direction and the direction of the cargo platform 22 with respect to the guide rail 18 by pivoting the first joint 40 and the second joint 42. The transport device 10 can adjust a height position of the cargo platform 22 by changing the height of the raising and lowering unit 16.
Subsequently, a method of using the transport device 10 will be described. For example, the transport device 10 can be used in order to transport the cryopump 70 that is removed from the vacuum process device or that is attached to the vacuum process device. An example of the vacuum process device is an ion implanter for irradiating a semiconductor wafer with an ion beam.
The ion beam generation device 110 generates an ion beam and transports the generated ion beam to the vacuum process chamber 112 along a beamline 120. The vacuum process chamber 112 is a vacuum chamber where a high vacuum is maintained, and ion implantation processing of irradiating a wafer W with the ion beam is performed inside the vacuum process chamber 112. The cryopump 70 is attached to a side wall of the vacuum process chamber 112. The wafer transport device 114 transports the wafer W between the vacuum process chamber 112 and the load port 116 along a transport line 122. The load port 116 receives a container (for example, a FOUP) for storing the wafer W. The outer casing 118 is provided at outer peripheries of the ion beam generation device 110, the vacuum process chamber 112, and the wafer transport device 114 and surrounds the ion beam generation device 110, the vacuum process chamber 112, and the wafer transport device 114. The outer casing 118 includes, for example, a radiation shielding material such as lead for shielding radiation generated near the beamline 120.
In the vacuum process device 100, a height h3 of the beamline 120 or the transport line 122 related to processing of the wafer W is often set to approximately 1 m to 1.5 m in consideration of convenience or the like of the user. In this case, various types of devices constituting the ion beam generation device 110 or the wafer transport device 114 adjacent to the vacuum process chamber 112 occupy a height position of approximately 1 m to 1.5 m. As a result, the cryopump 70 has almost no space at a height of approximately 1 m to 1.5 m, which is easy to work, and is often attached to an upper portion of the vacuum process chamber 112 having a relatively large space. A height h4 at which the cryopump 70 is installed is, for example, approximately 2 m to 2.5 m. The transport device 10 is useful for transporting the cryopump 70 installed at such a high place.
In the example shown in
Next, the cryopump 70 is removed from the vacuum process chamber 112, and the removed cryopump 70 is held by the cargo platform 22. The cryopump 70 can be firmly fixed to the cargo platform 22 using, for example, the fixing tool 60 such as a fastening band. Before the cryopump 70 is removed from the vacuum process chamber 112, the cryopump 70 may be fixed to the cargo platform 22. In this case, the cryopump 70 can be removed from the vacuum process chamber 112 in a state where the cryopump 70 is fixed to the cargo platform 22.
Next, the cryopump 70 can be transported inside the outer casing 118 by adjusting the position or the direction of the arm 20. For example, the arm 20 is accommodated inside the guide rail 18, so that the cargo platform 22 can be brought close to the bogie 12. After then, the bogie 12 is caused to travel rearward, so that the arm 20 can be extracted through the work port 126, and the cryopump 70 can be carried out to the outside of the outer casing 118. By lowering the height of the raising and lowering unit 16 outside the outer casing 118, the height of the cargo platform 22 can be lowered, and the cryopump 70 can be safely removed from the cargo platform 22.
In a case where the cryopump 70 is attached to the vacuum process chamber 112, procedures opposite to work of removing the cryopump 70 described above can be used. The cryopump 70 is held by the cargo platform 22 on the outside the outer casing 118, the cryopump 70 is transported to the inside of the outer casing 118 using the transport device 10, the cryopump 70 is removed from the cargo platform 22, and the cryopump 70 can be attached to the vacuum process chamber 112.
The transport method may further include, in a case where the arm 20 is a multi-joint arm, a process of pivoting a joint (for example, the first joint 40 or the second joint 42) to adjust the position or the direction of the cargo platform 22. The process of pivoting the joint can also be performed at any timing and any number of times between the process of S10 and the process of S18.
In the embodiment described above, a case where the transport device 10 is used for the purpose of transporting the cryopump 70 provided at the vacuum process chamber, which is the ion implanter, has been described. The transport device 10 may be used in transporting the cryopump provided at a location other than the vacuum process chamber or may be used in transporting the cryopump provided at the ion beam generation device 110 or the wafer transport device 114. The transport device 10 may be used in transporting the cryopump provided at any vacuum process device other than the ion implanter. The transport device 10 may be used in order to transport any device other than the cryopump or may be used in order to transport any device that constitutes the vacuum process device.
The present invention has been described hereinbefore based on the examples. It is clear for those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, various design changes are possible, various modification examples are possible, and such modification examples are also within the scope of the present invention.
It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be modified into various forms on the basis of the spirit of the invention. Additionally, the modifications are included in the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-179649 | Oct 2023 | JP | national |
