JP2018139281A - Positioning device and positioning method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positioning device and a positioning method capable of preventing scratches from being caused on a positioning target by movement during positioning.SOLUTION: A positioning device 10 includes: holding means 20 for holding a positioning target object WF; and position locating means 30 which abuts on the positioning target object WF held by the holding means 20 and positions the positioning target object WF at a predetermined position. The holding means 20 moves integrally with the positioning target WF moved by the position locating means 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning device and a positioning method.

  Conventionally, a pre-alignment apparatus comprising: a holding unit that holds a positioning object; and a positioning unit that causes a positioning member to contact the positioning object held by the holding unit and positions the positioning object at a predetermined position. Positioning devices) are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-120841

  In the conventional positioning device as described in Patent Document 1, since the wafer (positioning object) slides and moves on the wafer table (holding surface), there is a disadvantage that the positioning object is damaged. is there.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a positioning device and a positioning method capable of preventing a positioning target from being damaged by movement during positioning.

  The present invention employs a configuration described in each claim.

According to the present invention, since the holding means also moves integrally with the positioning object, it is possible to prevent the positioning object from being damaged by the movement during positioning.
Further, if the holding means fixing means is provided, it is possible to prevent the positioning object from being displaced from the position where it is positioned.
Moreover, if a direction positioning means is provided, the direction of the positioning object can be positioned.

(A)-(C) are the side view and operation | movement explanatory drawing of the positioning device which concern on one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis are orthogonal to each other, the X axis and the Y axis are axes in a predetermined plane, and the Z axis is an axis that is orthogonal to the predetermined plane. To do. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when viewed from the front side in FIG. 1 parallel to the Y axis, when indicating the direction, “up” is the arrow direction of the Z axis and “down” is the opposite direction, “ The “left” is the arrow direction of the X axis, “right” is the opposite direction, “front” is the front direction in FIG. 1 parallel to the Y axis, and “rear” is the opposite direction.

  In FIG. 1, a positioning device 10 abuts a holding unit 20 that holds a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter also simply referred to as a “wafer”) WF as a positioning target, and a wafer WF held by the holding unit 20. The location positioning means 30 for positioning the WF at a predetermined position, the support means 40 having a support surface 41A for movably supporting the holding means 20, and the support means 40 are rotated to position the wafer WF in a predetermined direction. Direction positioning means 50, moving means 60 for returning the holding means 20 to a predetermined initial position, imaging means such as a camera or a projector for detecting azimuth marks (not shown) such as notches and orientation flats provided on the wafer WF, And detecting means 70 such as various sensors such as an optical sensor and an ultrasonic sensor.

  The holding means 20 includes a holding member 21 in which a suction hole 21C communicating from the holding surface 21A holding the wafer WF to the side surface 21B is formed, a decompression pump, a vacuum ejector, and the like communicated with the suction hole 21C via a pipe 22A. First decompression means 22.

  The location positioning means 30 includes an abutting member 32 supported by an output shaft 31A of a linear motion motor 31 as a drive device. A plurality of linear motion motors 31 and contact members 32 are arranged in parallel on the outer periphery of the holding member 21 as a set.

The support unit 40 includes a support member 41 in which a communication hole 41D that communicates with the bottom surface 41C from an annular groove 41B formed on the support surface 41A that supports the holding unit 20 is formed, and a holding member that moves integrally with the wafer WF. And holding means fixing means 42 for fixing the means 20 on the support surface 41A.
The holding means fixing means 42 includes a second pressure reducing means 42B such as a pressure reducing pump or a vacuum ejector that communicates with the communication hole 41D through the pipe 42A.

  The direction positioning means 50 includes a rotation motor 51 as a drive device that supports the support member 41 with an output shaft 51A.

  The moving means 60 has the same configuration as that of the location positioning means 30 and can be described by substituting 6 at the beginning of the reference numerals of the respective components of the location positioning means 30, so that description thereof is omitted. .

A procedure for positioning the wafer WF in the positioning apparatus 10 will be described.
First, with respect to the positioning device 10 in the state shown in FIG. 1A in which each member is arranged at the initial position, a user of the positioning device 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as “user”), an articulated robot, or a belt When the wafer WF is placed on the holding surface 21A by a conveying means (not shown) such as a conveyor, the holding means 20 drives the first pressure reducing means 22 to suck and hold the wafer WF.

  Next, after the moving means 60 drives the linear motor 61 to separate the contact member 62 from the holding member 21 as shown in FIG. 1B, the location positioning means 30 causes the linear motor 31 to move. Driven, the contact member 32 is brought into contact with the outer edge of the wafer WF, and the wafer WF is moved to a predetermined position. Thereby, the center WC of the wafer WF coincides with the rotation center axis MC of the rotation motor 51. At this time, since the wafer WF is sucked and held by the holding member 21, the holding member 21 moves integrally with the wafer WF moved by the location positioning means 30.

  Next, after the support means 40 drives the second pressure reducing means 42B and sucks and holds the holding member 21, the location positioning means 30 drives the linear motion motor 31 to return the contact member 32 to the initial position. Thereafter, after the direction positioning means 50 drives the rotation motor 51 and rotates the support member 41, the detection means 70 drives the image pickup means and the like, detects an orientation mark (not shown) provided on the wafer WF, and The bearing mark is stopped in a predetermined direction, and the wafer WF is brought into a predetermined posture. Next, when the transfer means (not shown) supports the wafer WF from the upper surface, the holding means 20 stops driving the first decompression means 22, and the transfer means (not shown) transfers the wafer WF to the next process. Then, after the support means 40 stops driving the second pressure reducing means 42B, the moving means 60 drives the linear motion motor 61, and the holding member 21 is initialized by the contact member 62 as shown in FIG. After returning to the position, the same operation as above is repeated. The initial position of the holding member 21 is a position where the center HC of the holding member 21 matches the position of the rotation center axis MC of the rotation motor 51.

  According to the embodiment as described above, since the holding means 20 also moves integrally with the wafer WF, it is possible to prevent the wafer WF from being damaged due to the movement during positioning.

  As described above, the best configuration, method and the like for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the invention has been illustrated and described with particular reference to certain specific embodiments, but without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in terms of material, quantity, and other detailed configurations. In addition, the description of the shape, material, and the like disclosed above is exemplary for ease of understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The description by the name of the member which remove | excluded the limitation of some or all of such restrictions is included in this invention.

  For example, the holding unit 20 may be provided with a suction pad capable of sucking and holding the wafer WF in the suction hole 21C opened in the holding surface 21A, or may be provided with one or a plurality of suction holes 21C in the holding surface 21A. The wafer WF may be held by gripping means such as a mechanical chuck or a chuck cylinder, Coulomb force, adhesive, adhesive, magnetic force, Bernoulli adsorption, driving equipment, etc. A rolling member may be arranged, or a sheet, a film, a tape, a resin, a metal, or the like that reduces friction with a holding member support unit (not shown) that supports the support surface 41A or the holding member 21 may be arranged.

  The location positioning means 30 may comprise the contact member 32 with a pin-like or plate-like member, or the contact member 32 may be eliminated and the wafer WF is positioned by the output shaft 31A of the linear motor 31. Alternatively, a configuration in which the wafer WF is supported (held) by a gripping means such as a mechanical chuck or a chuck cylinder, a Coulomb force, an adhesive, an adhesive, a magnetic force, Bernoulli suction, or a driving device may be employed. .

The support means 40 may constitute the holding means fixing means 42 by gripping means such as a mechanical chuck or a chuck cylinder, coulomb force, adhesive, adhesive, magnetic force, Bernoulli adsorption, driving equipment, etc. It does not have to be provided.
The support member 41 may have a size different from that of the holding member 21.

  The direction positioning means 50 rotates the imaging means and the like while stopping or rotating the support member 41, detects an unillustrated orientation mark provided on the wafer WF, stops the orientation mark in a predetermined direction, and stops the wafer. The WF may be in a predetermined posture or may not be provided in the positioning device 10.

The moving means 60 may comprise the abutting member 62 with a pin-like or plate-like member, or the abutting member 62 may be eliminated and the holding member 21 may be moved by the output shaft 61A of the linear motor 61. The positioning device 10 may not be provided.
The contact member 62 may contact only the holding member 21.

  The detection means 70 may detect a manufacturing number, a circuit pattern, a kerf, a street, or the like imprinted on the wafer WF instead of the bearing mark, or may be positioned with a predetermined law even in cases other than the wafer WF. There is no limitation as long as it detects a mark that can identify the position of an object, and the positioning device 10 may not be provided.

  Further, the material, type, shape and the like of the positioning object in the present invention are not particularly limited. Examples of positioning objects include foods, resin containers, semiconductor wafers such as silicon semiconductor wafers and compound semiconductor wafers, circuit board, information recording boards such as optical disks, glass plates, steel plates, ceramics, wood plates, resin plates, etc. Form members and articles can also be targeted.

The means and steps in the present invention are not limited in any way as long as they can perform the operations, functions, or steps described with respect to those means and steps. The process is not limited at all. For example, if the location positioning means is in contact with the positioning object held by the holding means and can position the positioning object at a predetermined position, the technical scope is compared with the technical common sense at the beginning of the application. If it is an inside thing, it will not be limited at all (the explanation about other means and processes is omitted).
The drive device in the embodiment includes an electric device such as a rotation motor, a linear motion motor, a linear motor, a single axis robot, an articulated robot, an actuator such as an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, a rodless cylinder, and a rotary cylinder. In addition to these, a combination of them directly or indirectly may be employed (some of them overlap with those exemplified in the embodiment).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Positioning device 20 Holding means 30 Location positioning means 40 Support means 41A Support surface 42 Holding means fixing means 50 Directional positioning means WF Wafer (positioning object)

Claims (4)

Holding means for holding the positioning object;
A location positioning means for contacting the positioning object held by the holding means and positioning the positioning object at a predetermined position;
The positioning device is characterized in that the holding means moves integrally with the positioning object moved by the location positioning means.   The support means includes a support surface that movably supports the holding means, and the support means includes a holding means fixing means that fixes the holding means moved together with the positioning object on the support surface. The positioning device according to claim 1, further comprising:   The positioning device according to claim 2, further comprising a direction positioning unit that rotates the support unit to position the positioning target object in a predetermined direction. A holding step of holding the positioning object by the holding means;
A location positioning step of contacting the positioning target object held in the holding step and positioning the positioning target object at a predetermined position;
In the location positioning step, the positioning object is positioned by moving the holding means integrally with the positioning object.

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