HK1112068A - Clean stocker and method of storing articles - Google Patents

Description

Clean storage machine and article storage method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a clean stocker for cleanly storing articles such as reticles (reticles) for semiconductor exposure, and a storage method therefor.

Background

A reticle is used for exposure of a semiconductor or the like, and the reticle is stored in a wafer cassette (ポツト) and transported between a stocker and an exposure apparatus. Regarding the storage of the reticle, patent document 1 discloses the following: a rack for storing the exposed reticle and a rack for storing the wafer cassette are provided on both sides of a traveling path of the transport device. However, in this case, the reticle may be contaminated by the traveling airflow of the transport device.

Patent document 1: japanese patent No. 3682170

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to store a plurality of articles and containers thereof compactly and cleanly.

An additional object of the invention according to claims 2 and 3 is to further compactly store a plurality of articles and containers thereof.

An additional object of the invention according to claim 4 is to enable efficient warehousing and delivery of containers containing articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for storing a plurality of articles and containers thereof in a compact and clean manner.

The present invention is characterized in that in a clean stocker which stores articles in containers and enters and exits from an entrance/exit port, and in which clean gas can be blown downward in the clean stocker, an opening/closing device for taking out and loading articles with respect to the containers is provided, and a storage rack for articles taken out of the containers is provided on an upper side, a storage rack for the containers is provided on a lower side, and the storage racks are arranged so as to overlap each other in a plan view, the present invention further comprises: a container transfer device for transferring the container between the opening/closing device and the storage/retrieval opening and a storage rack for the container; and an article transport device for transporting the article between the opening/closing device and the article storage rack.

Preferably, the article storage rack and the container storage rack are rotary racks that are horizontally rotatable independently of each other.

In particular, it is preferable that the article transport device and the container transport device are disposed on the side of the storage rack of the article and the storage rack of the container so as to face each other with the opening/closing device interposed therebetween.

Further, it is preferable that a rack for fixing the storage container is provided at a position where the container transport device can transport the container, the rack being independent of the container storage rack.

In addition, the present invention is characterized in that when articles are stored in a container and are delivered from a delivery port, and the articles can be stored in a clean manner by blowing clean gas downward, the articles are taken out and loaded into the container which is put in and out from the warehouse inlet and the warehouse outlet through the opening and closing device, and the storage rack of the container is arranged at the lower side, the storage rack of the articles is arranged at the upper side, the upper side and the lower side are arranged to be overlapped in a plan view, and clean gas is supplied from the storage rack side of the articles to the storage rack side of the container in sequence, and a container carrying means for carrying the container and an article carrying means for carrying the article are provided, the container is transported by the container transporting device between the opening/closing device and the storage port and the storage rack of the container, and the article is transported by the article transporting device between the storage rack of the article and the opening/closing device.

In the present specification, the description of the clean stocker is also applicable to a method of storing articles using the clean stocker unless otherwise specified, and the description of the method of storing articles is also applicable to the clean stocker unless otherwise specified. In the embodiments, the reticle for storing a semiconductor exposure and the wafer cassette for storing the reticle are taken as examples, but the type of the article to be stored and the type of the container for storing the article are arbitrary.

In the present invention, since the storage rack for the article is disposed on the upper side and the storage rack for the container is disposed on the lower side, and the submerged flow of the clean gas is supplied, the article taken out from the container can be stored in the storage rack cleanly. Further, since the article is taken out from the container and stored, a plurality of articles can be compactly stored. The number of articles to be stored and the number of containers are not necessarily equal, and for example, when the number of containers is smaller than the number of articles and only the number of containers necessary for loading and unloading the articles are stored, a plurality of articles can be stored in a more compact manner.

Here, when the article storage rack and the container storage rack are configured by a rotary rack (hereinafter referred to as a rotary rack) which is horizontally rotatable independently of each other, the container transport device and the article transport device may be set at predetermined positions of the rotary rack, and the container and the article may be loaded into and unloaded from the racks. Therefore, the operating range of these transport devices can be reduced, and as a result, a plurality of articles and containers can be stored in a more compact manner. In the rotating rack, a space is provided in the center of the rack, and this part can be used as an exhaust path for clean gas.

Here, when the article transport device and the container transport device are disposed opposite to each other with the opening/closing device interposed therebetween on one side of the article storage rack and the container storage rack, these transport devices can be disposed more compactly. In particular, when these transport devices are composed of a transport device main body and a lifting mechanism thereof, the containers and the articles can be easily transported even if the opening/closing devices are different in height level from the racks by making the rotating racks of the containers and the articles vertically stacked.

Here, when a rack for fixing the storage container is provided separately from the rotating rack of the container and the container storing the article scheduled to be delivered is stored in advance, the delivery can be efficiently performed in a short time. In the case of continuous warehousing, the containers can be temporarily stored in a fixed rack before being set on the opening/closing device. Therefore, the entry and exit can be efficiently performed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of a clean stocker of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view in the direction III-III of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view schematically showing a hand for a reticle in an example.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the operation ranges of the transport device with respect to the 2-piece rotating rack, the pod shutter, the holder, and the load port in the example.

Detailed Description

The following describes preferred embodiments for practicing the invention.

Fig. 1 to 5 show a clean stocker 2 and an article storage method according to an embodiment. In the figure, 2 is a clean stocker installed in a clean room of a semiconductor factory, a liquid crystal factory, or the like, 4 is a reticle-use rotating frame having a plurality of layers of upper and lower stages, and a reticle for exposure of a semiconductor and a liquid crystal substrate is held in each frame, and the reticle-use rotating frame 4 rotates as a whole, not for each layer. In order to perform the taking out and loading of the reticle at a higher speed, the reticle-rotating rack 4 may be divided into a plurality of blocks, and each block may be rotated independently. Reference numeral 6 denotes a wafer cassette rotating rack for storing the wafer cassettes from which the reticles are taken out, and the number of the wafer cassettes stored is smaller than the number of the reticles stored, for example, about 1/10 to 1/100. The wafer cassette rotating frame 6 is a multi-layered rotating frame, and rotates integrally as a whole.

When the stocker 2 is viewed from the front (fig. 1), a cassette transport device 8 is provided on one side of the right and left sides of the front surface side of the interior thereof, and a reticle transport device 10 is provided on the other side thereof, these devices being provided on one side of the front surface side of the rotating frames 4, 6, and a cassette shutter 12 is provided therebetween. Further, for example, although the pod holders 14 and 15 are provided above and below the pod shutter 12, the pod shutter may be provided only on one side of the upper and lower sides of the pod shutter 12. The transport devices 8 and 10 are raised and lowered along the lift rails 9 and 11. The wafer cassette transfer device 8 has a hand 8c at the tip of 2-joint arms 8a and 8b, for example, and 3 joints 8d, 8e, and 8f that operate in a horizontal plane, and these joints operate independently, for example, and can transfer the wafer cassette 26 in any direction within a range that can be reached by the 2-joint arms. Similarly, in the reticle carrier 10, the front ends of the 2-joint arms 10a and 10b operated by the joints 10c and 10d are provided with hands. The structure of the hand of the reticle carrying device 10 will be described later with reference to fig. 4.

The clean gas supply unit 16 is provided at the uppermost portion of the clean stocker 2, and supplies clean gas such as clean air and nitrogen gas as a submerged flow. The clean gas supply unit 16 is a device provided with a clean gas generating mechanism and a fan filter unit, or a device for introducing a submerged flow of clean gas from the ceiling of the clean room into the stocker 2. 18. Reference numeral 19 denotes a loading port for a bridge crane provided at a high position of the clean stocker 2, and between the loading port and the bridge crane, not shown, the wafer cassette 26 shown in fig. 3 and the like is loaded and unloaded. 20. Reference numeral 21 denotes a ground-side load port, which is used when, for example, a person enters and exits the magazine 26, and 22 denotes a terminal, which is used when the stocker 2 is manually operated by a person, when data is input and output, or when an ID of the magazine is read. 24 is the housing of the clean stock machine 2.

The reticle turret 4 is divided into a plurality of blocks 30 (fig. 2), and the flanges 28 are provided on the outer sides, and the blocks 30 are configured such that the layers 31 stacked one on top of another can be lifted up by the flanges 28 (fig. 4). The driving unit 32 rotates the reticle-use rotating frame 4, and the empty space inside the rotating frame 4 serves as a gas passage 36, so that the clean gas supplied from the clean gas supply unit 16 to the reticle-use rotating frame 4 is exhausted downward through the gas passage 36 (fig. 2). The wafer cassette rotating rack 6 has a driving unit 34 at the center of the rotating rack, rotates the rack 6, and exhausts the clean gas in the rack 6 downward from a gas passage 38 around the rack (fig. 3).

Fig. 4 shows the reticle rotating frame block 30 and the hand portions 42 and 44 at the tip of the reticle transporting apparatus 10. The hand 42 catches the flange 28 and lifts it upward, so that the reticle not shown can be taken out and put in. For example, a hand 44 for a reticle is provided on the lower side of the hand 42, and the hands are independently rotated in the horizontal plane by the joints 40 and 41, and when the layers 31a and 31b are lifted upward by the hand 42 catching the flange 28, the hand 44 is turned by the joint 41 to take out and load the reticle on the lower side of the layer 31 b. Reference numeral 46 denotes a clean gas supply path which is composed of openings provided in each layer 31, a filter film, and the like, and supplies clean gas to the reticle side.

The operation of the embodiment is explained. The cassettes 26 transported to the loading ports 18 to 21 by a bridge crane, a human hand, or the like are transported to the cassette shutter 12 or the cassette holders 14 and 15 by the cassette transport device 8. Since the height levels of the load ports 18, 19 and 20, 21, and the cassette shutter 12 and the holders 14, 15 are different, the cassette transfer device 8 is lifted along the lift rail 9. Here, the pod holders 14 and 15 are used as a buffer to compensate for a delay in processing of the pod shutter 12 when a plurality of pods are put in storage consecutively. Further, it is conceivable that the reticle which is frequently used in the exposure apparatus and is immediately taken out of the magazine after being put in the magazine is stored in the magazine holders 14 and 15 in a state of being loaded in the magazine 26 until being taken out of the magazine, instead of being separated from the magazine 26 by the magazine shutter 12. The reticle taken out by the pod shutter 12 is stored in the reticle rotating frame 4 by the reticle transporting device 10. Here, the rotation of the reticle-use rotating frame 4 and the elevation of the reticle-carrying device 10 are performed simultaneously, and a desired layer is lifted up as shown in fig. 4 to take out and load the reticle. The empty pod left on the pod shutter 12 is stored in the pod rotating rack 6 by the pod conveying device 8.

When the wafer cassette is taken out of the magazine, the empty wafer cassette is taken out of the wafer cassette rotating rack 6 by the wafer cassette conveying device 8 and set on the wafer cassette shutter 12, and similarly, a desired reticle is taken out of the reticle rotating rack 4 by the reticle conveying device 10 and set in the wafer cassette by the wafer cassette shutter 12. The wafer cassette with the reticle can be directly transported to the loading ports 18 to 21 by the wafer cassette transport device 8, and temporarily stored in the wafer cassette holders 14 and 15 in the case where the loading ports 18 to 21 are jammed, waiting for the empty loading ports 18 to 21.

In the cleaning stocker 2, the cleaning gas from the cleaning gas supply unit 16 is first supplied to the reticle spin stand 4 and then supplied to the pod spin stand 6. Therefore, the reticle-use rotating frame 4 containing the bare reticle can be kept in a particularly clean environment, and contamination of the reticle can be prevented.

Fig. 5 schematically shows the operation ranges of the wafer cassette transfer device 8 and the reticle transfer device 10. The wafer cassette transfer device 8 transfers wafer cassettes among the wafer cassette rotating rack 6, the wafer cassette shutter 12, the wafer cassette holders 14, 15, and the load ports 18 to 21, and by moving a transfer device main body having a plurality of arms and joints up and down along an up-and-down guide rail, the wafer cassettes can be efficiently transferred to various levels in a narrow space. The reticle transfer device 10 transfers reticles between the reticle rotating frame 4 and the pod shutter 12, and similarly, by moving a transfer device body having a multi-link arm and a plurality of joints up and down along a lifting rail, it is possible to efficiently transfer reticles to various levels in a narrow space. Further, the transport devices 8 and 10 are arranged to face each other with the pod shutter 12 as the center in the vacant space on the front surface side by vertically overlapping the rotating frames 4 and 6, whereby the transport in the stocker can be efficiently performed. Further, by providing the wafer cassette holders 14 and 15 in the empty spaces above and below the wafer cassette shutter 12, the wafer cassette can be used as a temporary storage for storing and retrieving the wafer cassettes.

The following effects can be obtained by the examples.

(1) By supplying the cleaning gas from the cleaning gas supply unit 16 to the wafer cassette spin stand 6 via the reticle spin stand 4, the atmosphere in the reticle spin stand 4 can be maintained particularly clean.

(2) Since the number of wafer cassettes smaller than the number of wafers stored in the wafer cassette rotating rack 6 is required, a plurality of wafers can be efficiently and compactly stored in the wafer cassette rotating rack 4.

(3) When the rotating racks 4 and 6 are used, the transport devices 8 and 10 do not need to load and unload articles or containers to and from all the racks 4 and 6, and the space used by the transport devices 8 and 10 can be made compact.

(4) By providing the transfer devices 8 and 10 on one side of the vertically stacked rotating frames 4 and 6 with the pod shutter 12 interposed therebetween, the pod can be transferred in a compact space in a range from the loading port to the rotating frame for the pod, and the reticle can be transferred between the pod shutter and the rotating frame for the reticle.

Claims (5)

1. A clean material storage machine, which stores articles in a container and carries out warehousing and warehousing from a warehousing and warehousing port, and can blow clean gas downwards in the clean material storage machine,

an opening/closing device for taking out and loading an article into/from a container is provided,

the storage rack for the articles taken out from the container is arranged at the upper side, the storage rack for the container is arranged at the lower side, and the upper side and the lower side are arranged to be overlapped in a plan view,

also provided with: a container transfer device for transferring the container between the opening/closing device and the storage/retrieval opening and a storage rack for the container; and

and an article transport device for transporting the article between the opening/closing device and the article storage rack.

2. The clean storage machine as claimed in claim 1,

the article storage rack and the container storage rack are rotary racks that are independently rotatable horizontally.

3. The clean storage machine of claim 2,

the article transport device and the container transport device are disposed opposite to each other with the opening/closing device interposed therebetween on one side of the article storage rack and the container storage rack.

4. The clean storage machine of claim 2,

a holder for accommodating a container is provided at a position where the container transport device can transport the container, the holder being independent of the container holder.

5. A method for keeping articles, which comprises storing the articles in a container, delivering the articles from an inlet/outlet, and keeping the articles clean by blowing clean gas downward,

the opening and closing device is used for taking out and loading articles from and into the container which is put in and out from the input and output port,

the storage rack of the container is arranged at the lower side, the storage rack of the articles is arranged at the upper side and the upper side is overlapped in the plan view, and clean gas is supplied from the storage rack side of the articles to the storage rack side of the container in sequence,

a container conveying device for conveying a container and an article conveying device for conveying an article are provided, the container is conveyed by the container conveying device between the opening/closing device and the entrance/exit port and the container storage rack, and the article is conveyed by the article conveying device between the storage rack and the opening/closing device.