Substrate transfer robot

Abstract

This substrate transport robot comprises: a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm for horizontal movement of the upper hand; and a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm for horizontal movement of the lower hand. The upper arm includes an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane. The lower arm includes a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane. Furthermore, the substrate transport robot includes an arm support and a lifting mechanism, which moves the upper and lower hands vertically by lifting the arm support.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a substrate transport robot. Prior Technology

[0002] Previously, substrate transport robots were known. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-33737 discloses a robot for transporting substrates. This robot has a first hand and a second hand for carrying wafers as substrates. The first hand is connected to the front end of a first arm. The second hand is connected to the front end of a second arm. The base ends of the first and second hands are rotatably connected to an arm support. Furthermore, the arm support is held in a vertically movable manner by a column. Additionally, each of the first and second arms is constructed using a linkage member.

[0003] However, as described in the robot in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-33737, when an arm consisting of a single linkage is connected to an arm support that moves vertically, the size of the linkage must be increased to increase the range of motion of the hand. Therefore, to increase the range of motion of the hand, the space occupied by the substrate transport robot becomes larger. Furthermore, when using an arm consisting of a single linkage to transport a substrate held by the hand, the range of motion of the hand in and out of the area is limited. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the increase in the space occupied by the substrate transport robot and increase the range of motion of the hand. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention was made to solve the aforementioned problems. One object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transport robot that can suppress the enlargement of the space occupied by the substrate transport robot and increase the range of motion of the hand.

[0005] The substrate transport robot disclosed in the first aspect of this invention comprises: an upper arm and a lower arm, each holding a substrate; a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm, including an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and enabling the upper arm to move in a horizontal direction; a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm, separately configured from the upper arm, including a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and enabling the lower arm to move in a horizontal direction; an arm support, with the upper arm connected above and the lower arm connected below; and a lifting unit, which enables the upper and lower arms to move up and down by moving the arm support unit.

[0006] The substrate transport robot of the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, comprises: a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm, including an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and allowing the upper hand to move horizontally; and a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm, separately arranged from the upper arm, including a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and allowing the lower hand to move horizontally. Thus, the upper arm is constructed by two link members, the upper base link and the upper front link, and the lower arm is constructed by two link members, the lower base link and the lower front link. Therefore, by folding the two link members together, the enlargement of the space occupied by the upper and lower arms can be suppressed, and the range of motion of each arm can be increased. As a result, the enlargement of the space occupied by the substrate transport robot can be suppressed, and the range of motion of the hand can be increased.

[0007] The substrate transport robot constructed according to the second aspect of the present invention comprises: a hand for holding the substrate; a horizontal multi-jointed arm including a base end link and a front end link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and for moving the hand in a horizontal direction; an arm support for connecting the arm at the bottom; and a lifting part for moving the hand up and down by moving the arm support.

[0008] The substrate transport robot disclosed in the second aspect of this invention, as described above, comprises a horizontally multi-jointed arm including a base link and a front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, allowing the hand to move horizontally. Here, the arm system is constructed from two link members, the base link and the front link, so by folding the two link members together, the enlargement of the space occupied by the arm can be suppressed, and the range of motion of each hand can be increased. Furthermore, the arm system is connected below the arm support, allowing the hand to enter and exit positions lower than the arm support. As a result, the enlargement of the space occupied by the substrate transport robot can be suppressed, and the range of motion of the hand can be increased.

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the area occupied by the substrate conveying robot and to increase the range of motion of the hand. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0010] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a substrate processing system of a substrate conveying robot according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the controllability of the substrate conveying robot. Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the hand of the substrate transport robot. Figure 4 is a side view used to illustrate the composition of the upper arm and lower arm. Figure 5 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of the upper arm, lower arm, and hand. Figure 6 is a top view used to illustrate the structure of the connecting rod. Figure 7 is a top view illustrating the configuration of the hand rotating part during lifting and lowering movements and hand rotation movements. Figure 8 shows a side view of the lifting movement caused by the lifting unit. Figure 9 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the liquid receiving part. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a substrate handling system of a substrate conveying robot according to the first reference example disclosed in this invention. Figure 11 is a block diagram showing the controllability configuration of the substrate conveying robot of the first reference example. Figure 12 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the hand of the substrate transport robot in the first reference example. Figure 13 is a side view showing the lifting movement of the lifting unit in the first reference example. Figure 14 is a front view showing the configuration of the arm of the first reference example. Figure 15 is a top view illustrating the hand configuration during the lifting and rotating movements of the first reference example. Figure 16 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a substrate handling system incorporating the substrate conveying robot of the second reference example disclosed in this invention. Figure 17 is a block diagram showing the controllability configuration of the substrate conveying robot of the second reference example. Figure 18 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the hand of the substrate transport robot in the second reference example. Figure 19 is a side view showing the lifting movement of the lifting unit in the second reference example. Figure 20 is a front view illustrating the structure of the support portion in the second reference example. Figure 21 is a top view illustrating the configuration of the liquid receiving part and the shielding plate in the second reference example. Implementation

[0011] The following describes one embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] The substrate transport robot 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 9.

[0013] (Substrate processing system) As shown in Figure 1, a substrate transfer robot 100 is disposed in a substrate processing system 102. The substrate processing system 102 includes the substrate transfer robot 100 and a processing unit 103. The substrate transfer robot 100 performs transfer operations including moving substrates 101 into and out of the substrate mounting section 104 of the processing unit 103. The processing unit 103 includes a plurality of substrate mounting sections 104. The substrate transfer robot 100 includes hands 11 and 12 arranged separately in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z-direction) and each holding a substrate 101. The substrate 101 is, for example, a wafer used to produce semiconductors. The substrate 101 has a circular plate shape. The substrate 101 includes, for example, silicon wafers, gallium nitride wafers, sapphire wafers, etc. The processing unit 103 is, for example, a polishing apparatus for grinding the substrate 101. Alternatively, the processing unit 103 may be an apparatus for etching or firing the substrate 101. Furthermore, hand 11 is an example of an upper hand. Hand 12 is an example of a lower hand and a hand.

[0014] The substrate transport robot 100 includes: a hand rotation unit 21 and a hand rotation unit 22, an upper arm 30 and a lower arm 40, an arm support unit 50, a lifting unit 60, and a control unit 70. Furthermore, the hand rotation unit 21 and the hand rotation unit 22 are each examples of an upper hand rotation unit and a lower hand rotation unit. The lower arm 40 is an example of a lower arm and an arm.

[0015] As shown in Figure 2, the hand 11 has a holding mechanism portion 11a. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the hand 11 has a double-forked shape with two front ends. The holding mechanism portion 11a abuts against the periphery of the substrate 101 held by the hand 11 by moving along the direction from the base end of the hand 11 toward the front end. The hand 11 has claw portions 11b disposed on each of the two front ends. By moving the holding mechanism portion 11a from the base end of the hand 11 toward the front end, the periphery of the substrate 101 is held by the holding mechanism portion 11a and the two claw portions 11b. That is, the hand 11 is an active type substrate holding hand that uses an edge grip to fix and hold the substrate 101. Although only the hand 11 is shown in Figure 3, the structure of the hand 12 is the same as that of the hand 11. That is, as shown in Figure 2, similarly to the hand 11, the hand 12 has a holding mechanism portion 12a that moves along the direction from the base end of the hand 12 toward the front end. The holding mechanism 11a and the holding mechanism 12a have, for example, cylinders as drive sources. Furthermore, the hands 11 and 12 each hold a substrate 101 individually.

[0016] Hand rotating parts 21 and 22 each rotate hands 11 and 12 about a rotation axis extending horizontally. Hand rotating parts 21 and 22 are connected to a flip axis that rotates in a way that tilts the held substrate 101, thus rotating hands 11 and 12 respectively. Hand rotating parts 21 and 22 rotate hands 11 and 12 relative to a horizontal plane with the horizontal direction as the rotation axis. Specifically, hand rotating part 21 is connected to the base of hand 11 and rotates hand 11 with the direction from the base of hand 11 toward the front end as the rotation axis. Hand rotating part 22 is connected to the base of hand 12 and rotates hand 12 with the direction from the base of hand 12 toward the front end as the rotation axis. More specifically, hand rotating parts 21 and 22 rotate hands 11 and 12 with the direction passing through the center of substrate 101 and from the base of hand 11 and 12 toward the front end as the rotation axis. Hand rotation units 21 and 22 each rotate hands 11 and 12, thereby tilting and interchangeably changing the back surface and surface of the substrate 101 held by hands 11 and 12. For example, as shown in FIG3, hand rotation unit 21 rotates hand 11 180 degrees about rotation axis A10. Furthermore, as shown in FIG4, hand rotation unit 22 rotates hand 12 180 degrees about rotation axis A20. Rotation axes A10 and A20 each extend in the horizontal direction. That is, rotation axes A10 and A20 extend along the XY plane. It should be noted here that the concept of rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction is broad, including not only rotation axes extending in the horizontal direction, but also rotation axes that are slightly tilted from the horizontal direction. For example, "tilt originating from the horizontal direction" includes tilt caused by the weight of the substrate, the weight of the hand itself, the tilt of the substrate transport robot itself, or the tilt of the device on which the substrate transport robot is mounted. Furthermore, "horizontal direction" is described as a broad concept, including a direction parallel to the mounting surface on which the substrate transport robot is mounted, a direction parallel to the mounting surface of the substrate mounting section on which the substrate is mounted, or a direction parallel to a horizontal plane orthogonal to the direction of gravity (i.e., the vertical direction).

[0017] As shown in Figure 2, the hand rotation unit 21 has a rotation mechanism 21a for rotating the hand 11. Similarly, the hand rotation unit 22 has a rotation mechanism 22a for rotating the hand 12. Both the rotation mechanism 21a and the rotation mechanism 22a have a drive source for the rotation of the hand 11 and the hand 12. For example, the rotation mechanism 21a and the rotation mechanism 22a have a servo motor as the drive source. Furthermore, the rotation mechanism 21a and the rotation mechanism 22a have an encoder and a speed reducer.

[0018] Furthermore, as shown in FIG3, the hand-rotating part 21 includes a sealing member 21b that closes the rotating mechanism part 21a relative to the outside. The sealing member 21b has an annular shape and closes the gap between the rotating mechanism part 21a and the outside. The sealing member 21b is, for example, an elastic member such as flexible rubber. As an example, the sealing member 21b includes an O-ring. Although only the hand-rotating part 21 is shown in FIG3, similarly to the hand-rotating part 21, the hand-rotating part 22 also includes a sealing member that closes the rotating mechanism part 22a relative to the outside.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, the upper arm 30 is a horizontally multi-jointed robotic arm that moves the hand 11 horizontally. The lower arm 40 is a horizontally multi-jointed robotic arm separately configured with the upper arm 30 and that moves the hand 12 horizontally. The upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 move independently of each other. A hand rotating part 21 is connected to the front end of the upper arm 30. Furthermore, a hand rotating part 22 is connected to the front end of the lower arm 40. The upper arm 30 is connected above the arm support part 50 (i.e., on the Z1 side). The lower arm 40 is connected below the arm support part 50 (i.e., on the Z2 side). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 each have a drive part 30a and a drive part 40a that rotate each of the plurality of joints. Each of the drive parts 30a and 40a includes, for example, a servo motor. Furthermore, each of the drive parts 30a and 40a has a transmission mechanism such as a timing belt or gear for transmitting the driving force of the motor. Furthermore, each of the drive unit 30a and drive unit 40a includes an encoder and a reducer. The drive unit 30a is disposed, for example, inside the housing of the upper arm 30 and inside the arm support 50 at least one. In addition, the drive unit 40a is disposed, for example, inside the housing of the lower arm 40 and inside the arm support 50 at least one.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, the lifting unit 60 causes the hands 11 and 12 to move up and down along the Z direction (i.e., the vertical direction) by moving the arm support 50 up and down. Specifically, the lifting unit 60 connects the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 via the arm support 50. The lifting unit 60 causes the upper arm 30 connected to the hand 11 and the lower arm 40 connected to the hand 12 to move up and down in a linked manner by moving the arm support 50 up and down. The lifting unit 60 has a columnar portion 61 extending along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). The lifting unit 60 causes the arm support 50 to move up and down along the columnar portion 61. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the lifting unit 60 includes a drive unit 60a. The drive unit 60a includes, for example, a servo motor as a drive source. Furthermore, the drive unit 60a has, for example, a ball screw mechanism and a linear guide. The lifting part 60 is connected to the arm support part 50 on the side of the Y1 side, and the arm support part 50 is moved up and down along the Z direction by the driving force of the driving part 60a.

[0021] The control unit 70 is a robot controller that controls the actions of each part of the board transport robot 100. The control unit 70 includes, for example, a computing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Furthermore, the control unit 70 includes memory devices such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), as well as hard disks. The control unit 70 executes control processing based on the computing device according to the programs and parameters stored in the memory devices. Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the actions of the holding mechanisms 11a and 12a of each of the hands 11 and 12. In addition, the control unit 70 controls the actions of the rotation mechanisms 21a and 22a of the hand rotation units 21 and 22, the drive units 30a of the upper arm 30 and 40a of the lower arm 40, and the drive unit 60a of the lifting unit 60. For example, the control unit 70 has a main CPU for overall control of the substrate transport robot 100, and a servo CPU for controlling the power supplied to the servo motors of each of the rotating mechanism units 21a and 22a, drive units 30a, 40a, and 60a. As shown in FIG1, the control unit 70 is individually configured with, for example, hands 11 and 12, hand rotating units 21 and 22, upper arm 30, lower arm 40, and lifting unit 60, and is connected to the columnar portion 61 of the lifting unit 60 via a cable member. The control unit 70 outputs signals for controlling the operation of each part via the cable member connected to the lifting unit 60.

[0022] (Detailed information about the upper and lower arms) As shown in Figure 4, the upper arm 30 includes a link portion 31 and a link portion 32 that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane). Similarly, the lower arm 40 includes a link portion 41 and a link portion 42 that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane). The link portions 31 and 32 of the upper arm 30 and the link portions 41 and 42 of the lower arm 40 are arm components of a robotic arm arranged in a horizontally extending manner. In the upper arm 30, the link portion 31 is disposed on the base end side, and the link portion 32 is disposed on the front end side. The link portions 31 and 32 are connected to each other by means of rotation via joints. In the lower arm 40, the link portion 41 is disposed on the base end side, and the link portion 42 is disposed on the front end side. The link portions 41 and 42 are connected to each other by means of rotation via joints. Linkage portion 31 and link portion 41 have the same shape as each other, and link portion 32 and link portion 42 also have the same shape as each other. Furthermore, link portion 31 and link portion 32 are each an example of an upper base-end link portion and an upper front-end link portion. Furthermore, link portion 41 is an example of a lower base-end link portion and a base-end link portion. Furthermore, link portion 42 is an example of a lower front-end link portion and a front-end link portion.

[0023] The upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 rotate individually relative to the arm support 50 along the XY plane (i.e., the horizontal plane). The upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 rotate relative to the arm support 50 around a common rotation axis A1 shown in Figure 4. The rotation axis A1 is arranged to extend along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). Specifically, in the upper arm 30, the connecting rod 31 is connected to the upper side (i.e., the Z1 direction side) of the arm support 50 via a first joint on the lower side of the base end (i.e., the Z2 direction side), and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A1. The connecting rod 32 is connected to the upper side (i.e., the Z1 direction side) of the front end of the connecting rod 31 via a second joint on the lower side of the base end (i.e., the Z2 direction side), and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A12. Furthermore, the hand-rotating part 21 is connected to the upper side (i.e., the Z1 direction side) of the front end of the connecting rod part 32 via a third joint, and rotates around the rotation axis A13. Similarly, in the lower arm 40, the connecting rod part 41 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the arm support part 50 via a first joint, and rotates around the rotation axis A1. The connecting rod part 42 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the front end of the connecting rod part 41 via a second joint, and rotates around the rotation axis A22. Furthermore, the hand-rotating part 22 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the front end of the connecting rod part 42 via a third joint, and rotates around the rotation axis A23.

[0024] That is, in the substrate transport robot 100, above the arm support 50, the link portions 31 and 32 of the upper arm 30 and the hand rotation portion 21 are arranged upwards (i.e., in the Z1 direction) in this order. Furthermore, below the arm support 50, the link portions 41 and 42 of the lower arm 40 and the hand rotation portion 22 are arranged downwards (i.e., in the Z2 direction) in this order. Moreover, in the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40, a plurality of joints are arranged so that the rotation axes A1, A12, A13, A22, and A23 are parallel to each other and arranged in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane (i.e., the Z direction). The drive unit 30a is arranged according to the joints of each of the rotation axes A1, A12, and A13 of the upper arm 30. Similarly, the drive unit 40a is arranged according to the joints of each of the rotation axes A1, A22, and A23 of the lower arm 40.

[0025] As shown in Figure 5, in this embodiment, the hand rotation unit 21 supports the hand 11 at a position where it separates from the upper arm 30 only by a distance smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101 held by the hand 11 in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). The hand rotation unit 22 supports the hand 12 at a position where it separates from the lower arm 40 only by a distance smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101 held by the hand 12 in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). Here, the position of the supporting hand 11 in the vertical direction is, for example, the position of the rotation axis A10 of the hand rotation unit 21. Similarly, the position of the supporting hand 12 in the vertical direction is, for example, the position of the rotation axis A20 of the hand rotation unit 22. Alternatively, the upper or lower surfaces of the hands 11 and 12 can be used as the positions of the hands 11 and 12.

[0026] When the distance from the upper surface of the link 31 of the upper arm 30 to the rotation axis A10 is defined as L11, and the distance from the upper surface of the link 32 of the upper arm 30 to the rotation axis A10 is defined as L12, the size of L12 is smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101, and the size of L11 is also smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101. That is, when the hand 11, which holds the substrate 101, is rotated by the hand rotation part 21, the lower end of the substrate 101 is positioned further down than the upper surface of the link 31, with the main surface of the substrate 101 arranged in the vertical direction. Furthermore, in FIG5, the state in which the main surface of the substrate 101 is arranged in the vertical direction is indicated by dashed lines. Therefore, the hand rotation part 21 holds the hand 11 at a position where it is separated from the link 31 only by a distance (i.e., L11) smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101 in the vertical direction. Similarly, when the distance from the lower surface of the connecting rod portion 41 of the lower arm 40 to the rotation axis A20 is set as L21, and the distance from the lower surface of the connecting rod portion 42 of the lower arm 40 to the rotation axis A20 is set as L22, the size of L22 is smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101, and the size of L21 is also smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the radii R1 and R2 of the substrate 101 held by the hands 11 and 12 are equal. The radii R1 and R2 of the substrate 101 are, for example, 150 mm. Similarly, for the hand 12, when the hand 12 holding the substrate 101 is rotated by the hand rotation portion 22, with the main surface of the substrate 101 arranged in the vertical direction, the upper end of the substrate 101 is positioned higher than the lower surface of the connecting rod portion 41. Therefore, the hand rotation part 22 holds the hand 12 at a position where it is separated from the connecting rod part 41 in the vertical direction by a distance (i.e., L21) smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101.

[0027] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6, in this embodiment, when viewed from above, the arm support 50 is arranged extending in a direction perpendicular to the X1 side of the columnar portion 61 of the lifting portion 60 (i.e., the X direction). The upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 are each connected to the arm support 50 at a position separated from the columnar portion 61 of the lifting portion 60 along the horizontal direction (i.e., the X direction) by a predetermined distance L50. Here, the position where the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 are connected to the arm support 50 is set as the position of the rotation axis A1. In the arm support 50, the rotation axis A1 is arranged at a position separated from the lifting portion 60 along the X direction by only a predetermined distance L50. Furthermore, in Figure 6, the view from the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction) is shown as a top-down view.

[0028] In this embodiment, the link portion 31 of the upper arm 30 is connected above the arm support portion 50 (i.e., on the Z1 side), and the length L31 from the position where the link portion 31 is connected to the arm support portion 50 to its front end is smaller than a predetermined distance L50. Here, the length L31 of the link portion 31 is defined as the length from the position where the link portion 31 is connected to the arm support portion 50, taking the position of the rotation axis A1 as the location, along the direction in which the link portion 31 extends, from the position of the rotation axis A1 to the front end of the link portion 31. Therefore, when the link portion 31 is rotated around the rotation axis A1, since the length L31 is smaller than the predetermined distance L50, the link portion 31 will not contact the columnar portion 61 of the lifting portion 60. Similarly, in this embodiment, the link portion 41 of the lower arm 40 is connected to the lower part of the arm support portion 50 (i.e., the Z2 side), and the length L41 from the position where the link portion 41 is connected to the arm support portion 50 to its front end is smaller than the predetermined distance L50. The length L41 of the link portion 41 is: taking the position where the link portion 41 is connected to the arm support portion 50 as the rotation axis A1, the length along the direction in which the link portion 41 extends from the position of the rotation axis A1 to the front end of the link portion 41. Even when the link portion 41 is rotated about the rotation axis A1, the link portion 41 will not contact the columnar portion 61 of the lifting portion 60.

[0029] (Actions performed by the control department) The control unit 70 executes the transfer operation of the substrate 101 according to the control variables set in advance. For example, the control unit 70 performs a transfer operation from the supply position to the substrate placement unit 104 by holding the substrate 101 already supplied to the substrate processing system 102 with the hand 11 or hand 12. Furthermore, the control unit 70 performs a transfer operation by holding the substrate 101 placed in the substrate placement unit 104 of the processing device 103 with the hand 11 or hand 12 to transfer the substrate 101 from the substrate placement unit 104 to a transfer position for removal. In addition, the supply position and the transfer position may be equal to each other or different from each other. Furthermore, the control unit 70 causes the hand 11 or the hand 12 to hold the substrate 101 placed in one of the plurality of substrate placement units 104 of the processing device 103, and performs a transfer operation to transfer the held substrate 101 to the same substrate placement unit 104 or another substrate placement unit 104 different from the one substrate placement unit 104.

[0030] As shown in Figure 7, when viewed from above, the control unit 70 has the hand rotation units 21 and 22 positioned overlapping with the arm support unit 50. As shown in Figure 8, the lifting unit 60 moves the hands 11 and 12 up and down. Furthermore, although Figure 7 shows the hand rotation unit 21, hand 11, and upper arm 30, the hand rotation unit 22, hand 12, and lower arm 40 are also arranged in the same manner. That is, the control unit 70 performs the lifting action via the lifting unit 60 when the hand rotation unit 21 (connected to the base of hand 11) and the hand rotation unit 22 (connected to the base of hand 12) are moved to the side of the lifting unit 60 (i.e., the X2 side) via the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40. When the control unit 70 performs the lifting action, it positions the connecting rods 32 and 42 closer to the lifting unit 60 when viewed from above than the connecting rods 31 and 41. Furthermore, when performing the lifting action, the control unit 70 rotates the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 around the rotation axis A1, positioning them along the X-direction from the base of each hand 11 and hand 12 towards the front. At this time, the control unit 70 overlaps the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40. When performing the lifting action, the control unit 70 moves the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 so that the hands 11 and 12 overlap when viewed from above. This allows for miniaturization of the space available for arranging the hands 11 and upper arm 30 with the hands 12 and lower arm 40 when performing the lifting action along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z-direction).

[0031] Furthermore, the control unit 70 reverses the surface and back of the substrate 101 held by the hands 11 and 12 by controlling the operation of the hand rotation units 21 and 22. In this case, similar to the lifting operation, the control unit 70 also moves the hand rotation units 21 and 22 to the side of the lifting unit 60. That is, in this embodiment, when viewed from above, the control unit 70 rotates the hand 11 about a horizontally extending axis of rotation A10 with the hand rotation unit 21 positioned overlapping with the arm support 50. Furthermore, when viewed from above, the control unit 70 rotates the hand 12 about a horizontally extending axis of rotation A20 with the hand rotation unit 22 positioned overlapping with the arm support 50. In this embodiment, when viewed from above, the control unit 70, with the linkage 32 positioned closer to the lifting unit 60 than the linkage 31, rotates the hand 11 around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A10 using the hand rotation unit 21. Furthermore, when viewed from above, the control unit 70, with the linkage 42 positioned closer to the lifting unit 60 than the linkage 41, rotates the hand 12 around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A20 using the hand rotation unit 22. Similar to the lifting action, when the control unit 70 rotates the base plate 101 around the axis of rotation A10 or A20, it also moves the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40, causing them to overlap and be arranged in an overlapping configuration, so that the hand 11 and hand 12 overlap when viewed from above. Therefore, even when the substrate 101 is rotated around the rotation axis A10 or rotation axis A20, the area for arranging the hand 11 and upper arm 30 and the hand 12 and lower arm 40 can be miniaturized. Furthermore, by arranging the hand rotation unit 21 and hand rotation unit 22 on the side of the lifting unit 60, the control unit 70 performs lifting and lowering operations by the lifting unit 60, rotation of the hand 11 around the rotation axis A10, or rotation of the hand 12 around the rotation axis A20, with the peripheral portions of the substrate 101 held by the hand 11 and the hand 12 overlapping the arm support unit 50.

[0032] Furthermore, the control unit 70 performs the actions of rotating the hands 11 and 12 by the hand rotation unit 21 and the hand rotation unit 22, and moving the hands 11 and 12 by the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40, in a mutually individual timing. In this way, when the hands 11 and 12 are moved to a relatively wide space by the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40, the hands 11 and 12 can be rotated by the hand rotation unit 21 and the hand rotation unit 22. Therefore, when the hands 11 and 12 are rotated about a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction, it is possible to suppress physical interference between the hands 11 and 12 themselves, or the base plate 101 held by the hands 11 and 12, and the surrounding components. Furthermore, when both hands 11 and 12 are rotated and moved simultaneously, vibrations may occur in both hands 11 and 12. Therefore, by performing the rotation and movement of hands 11 and 12 separately, it is possible to suppress abnormal movements of hands 11 and 12 caused by vibrations. Similarly, the control unit 70 performs the rotation of hands 11 and 12 by hand rotation units 21 and 22, and the lifting and lowering movement of hands 11 and 12 by lifting unit 60, separately.

[0033] For example, the control unit 70 holds the substrate 101 placed on a substrate mounting section 104 of the processing device 103 by means of the Z1 direction side surface of the hand 11. The control unit 70 actuates the holding mechanism 11a of the hand 11 to hold the substrate 101 in a state fixed to the Z1 direction side surface of the hand 11. The control unit 70 moves the hand 11 holding the substrate 101 to the lifting section 60 side by means of the upper arm 30. Furthermore, the control unit 70 rotates the hand 11 180 degrees by means of the hand rotation section 21 in a state where the hand rotation section 21 is arranged in a position overlapping the arm support section 50. The control unit 70 holds the substrate 101 on the Z2 direction side of the reversed hand 11 and places the substrate 101, in a state where the surface and back are reversed, onto another substrate mounting section 104 of the processing device 103 that is different from the substrate mounting section 104 on which the substrate 101 was previously placed, or onto the same substrate mounting section 104. That is, the control unit 70 rotates the hand rotation unit 21 while the base end of the hand 11 is moved to the lifting unit 60 by the upper arm 30, and then moves the hand 11 to the position of the substrate mounting unit 104 by the upper arm 30. Furthermore, the control unit 70 can also tilt the substrate 101 by only 90 degrees by operating the hand rotation unit 21, so that the substrate 101 is placed in the substrate mounting unit 104 with its main surface tilted at 90 degrees and perpendicular to the horizontal plane. In addition, in Figure 8, an example of the substrate 101 held by the hand 11 and hand 12 in a 90-degree tilted state is shown by a two-point chain line.

[0034] The control unit 70 controls both the actions of moving the substrate 101 by hand 11 and the actions of moving the substrate 101 by hand 12. The actions of holding and moving the substrate 101 by hand 11 and the actions of moving the substrate 101 by hand 12 can be performed independently and in a separate sequence, or the moving action of one hand 11 and the moving action of the other hand 12 can be performed simultaneously. For example, after each of the actions of holding the substrate 101 by hand 11 and hand 12, the control unit 70 sequentially performs the actions of placing the substrate 101 held by hand 11 onto the substrate mounting section 104 and placing the substrate 101 held by hand 12 onto the substrate mounting section 104. For example, in a processing apparatus 103 that is a polishing device, the control unit 70 holds the substrate 101 before processing by hand 11 and holds the substrate 101 after processing by hand 12. The processing performed by the processing apparatus 103 referred to herein can be either polishing the substrate 101 or cleaning the polished substrate 101. Furthermore, the process can be performed by holding the substrate 101 before processing with hand 12 and holding the substrate 101 after processing with hand 11. In the polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate 101, liquids such as polishing agents for the substrate 101 or cleaning solutions for cleaning the substrate 101 are applied to the substrate 101. By using hand 11 and hand 12 respectively for before and after processing, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the substrate 101 before polishing or to the substrate 101 after cleaning.

[0035] (Liquid receiving section) As shown in Figure 1, the substrate transport robot 100 of this embodiment includes a liquid receiving section 80 and a liquid receiving section 90. The liquid receiving section 80 is a plate-shaped member arranged horizontally below the hand 11 (i.e., on the Z2 side). Similarly, the liquid receiving section 90 is a plate-shaped member arranged horizontally below the hand 12 (i.e., on the Z2 side). In the processing apparatus 103 of the substrate processing system 102, as described above, liquid may adhere to the substrate 101 held by the hand 11 and hand 12. The liquid receiving section 80 and liquid receiving section 90 each receive liquid from the substrate 101 held by the hand 11 and hand 12, respectively. Furthermore, the term "liquid" received by the liquid receiving section 80 and liquid receiving section 90 is used in a broad sense, encompassing not only liquids such as suspensions containing solid particles, but also mixtures of liquids and solids. Furthermore, liquid receiving part 80 and liquid receiving part 90 are examples of upper liquid receiving part and lower liquid receiving part, respectively.

[0036] As shown in Figure 9, the liquid receiving portion 80 is connected to the upper part (i.e., the Z1 side) of the arm support portion 50. Furthermore, the liquid receiving portion 80 includes an inclined surface 81 that slopes downwards towards the lifting portion 60 along the horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane). Specifically, the liquid receiving portion 80 is fixed to the Z1 side surface of the arm support portion 50. The inclined surface 81 of the liquid receiving portion 80 is a rectangular plate-shaped inclination along the XY plane, and slopes downwards towards the lifting portion 60 (i.e., the X2 side). Furthermore, the liquid receiving portion 80 has a sidewall portion 82 surrounding the rectangular inclined surface 81. The sidewall portion 82 has an opening 82a at its central portion on the lifting portion 60 side (i.e., the X2 side). Additionally, the X2 sidewall portion 82 is inclined towards the X2 side from both ends in the Y direction toward the opening 82a at the central portion. Furthermore, a shielding plate 83 is disposed above the end of the lifting part 60 side (i.e., the X2 side) of the inclined surface 81. The shielding plate 83 is a plate-shaped member disposed above the opening 82a of the side wall part 82 along the side surface of the columnar part 61 of the lifting part 60 on the X1 side. The shielding plate 83 is a rectangular plate-shaped member along the YZ plane. For example, the shielding plate 83 is disposed from the upper end of the side wall part 82 to the height of the surface above the hand rotation part 21.

[0037] Furthermore, the liquid receiving part 90 is connected to the lower part (i.e., the Z2 side) of the arm support part 50. The liquid receiving part 90 is fixed to the Z2 side of the arm support part 50 via the connecting member 51. The connecting member 51 is composed of a rectangular plate-shaped member arranged along the side of the columnar part 61 of the lifting part 60 along the YZ plane, and a pair of plate-shaped members arranged along the XZ plane on both sides of the rectangular member along the YZ plane in the Y direction. These three plate-shaped members are combined to form an H-shape when viewed from the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). Furthermore, each of the pair of plate-shaped members along the XZ plane has a notch 51a on the X1 side of the central portion in the Z direction. The position of the vertical notch 51a corresponds to the position of the base plate 101 held by the hand 12. By arranging the notch 51a, contact between the connecting member 51 and the base plate 101 held by the hand 12 can be suppressed, and the range of motion of the hand 12 can be increased. Furthermore, similar to the liquid receiving portion 80, the liquid receiving portion 90 includes a rectangular plate-shaped inclined surface 91 that slopes downwards toward the lifting portion 60 along the horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane) and a side wall portion 92 surrounding the inclined surface 91. Similar to the side wall portion 82 of the liquid receiving portion 80, the side wall portion 92 has an opening 92a at the central portion on the side of the lifting portion 60 (i.e., the X2 side).

[0038] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the lifting unit 60 includes a liquid guiding unit 62 disposed along the columnar portion 61 and guiding liquid from the liquid receiving portions 80 and 90 downwards. The liquid guiding unit 62 is a groove-shaped member disposed on the X1 side of the columnar portion 61, extending in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). Liquid received by the liquid receiving portion 80 flows into the liquid guiding unit 62 through the opening 82a. Furthermore, liquid received by the liquid receiving portion 90 flows into the liquid guiding unit 62 through the opening 92a. The liquid flowing into the liquid guiding unit 62 flows downwards (i.e., the Z2 side) along the side of the columnar portion 61 of the lifting unit 60.

[0039] [Effects of this implementation] As described above, the substrate transport robot 100 includes: a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm 30, comprising a link 31 serving as an upper base link and a link 32 serving as an upper front link, which rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and enabling the hand 11, which serves as the upper hand, to move horizontally; and a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm 40, separately configured from the upper arm 30, comprising a link 41 serving as a lower base link and a link 42 serving as a lower front link, which rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and enabling the hand 12, which serves as the lower hand, to move horizontally. Thus, the upper arm 30 is constructed by two link members, link 31 and link 32, and the lower arm 40 is constructed by two link members, link 41 and link 42. Therefore, by folding the two link members together, the enlargement of the space occupied by the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 can be suppressed, and the range of motion of the hand 11 and the hand 12 can be increased. As a result, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the area occupied by the substrate conveying robot 100 and to increase the range of motion of the hands 11 and 12.

[0040] Furthermore, as described above, the substrate transport robot 100 includes a lower arm 40, which is a horizontally multi-jointed arm. This lower arm comprises a link 41, which is a base link, and a link 42, which is a front link, both rotating horizontally. The hand 12 moves horizontally. Since the lower arm 40 is composed of two link members, link 41 and link 42, folding these two link members together helps to prevent the lower arm 40 from becoming too large and increases the range of motion of the hand 12. Furthermore, the lower arm 40 is connected below the arm support 50, allowing the hand 12 to move to a position lower than the arm support 50. As a result, the size of the space occupied by the substrate transport robot 100 is prevented, and the range of motion of the hand 12 is increased.

[0041] The substrate transport robot 100 includes: a hand rotation unit 21, which is an upper rotating unit connected to the base end of the upper hand 11, and rotates the upper hand 11 about a rotation axis A10 extending in the horizontal direction; and a hand rotation unit 22, which is a lower rotating unit connected to the base end of the lower hand 12, and rotates the lower hand 12 about a rotation axis A20 extending in the horizontal direction. This configuration allows the substrate 101 held by the hands 11 and 12 to be rotated by the hand rotation units 21 and 22, thereby allowing the surface and back surfaces of the substrate 101 to be interchanged. Furthermore, since the hand 11 moves horizontally via an upper arm 30 comprising a link 31 as an upper base link and a link 32 as an upper front link, compared to the case where the hand 11 is moved by an arm consisting of a single link member, by folding the two link members (i.e., link 31 and link 32), space can be ensured for the hand 11 to rotate around the rotation axis A10. Similarly, since the lower arm 40 for moving the hand 12 comprises two link members (i.e., link 41 as a lower base link and link 42 as a lower front link), space can be ensured for the hand 12 to rotate around the rotation axis A20. Therefore, when the hand 11 and hand 12 rotate around the horizontally extending rotation axes A10 and A20, the enlargement of the space occupied by the substrate transport robot 100 can be effectively suppressed. Furthermore, by folding the connecting rods 31 and 32, space can be ensured for the hand 11 to rotate around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A10. Similarly, by folding the connecting rods 41 and 42, space can be ensured for the hand 12 to rotate around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A20. Therefore, the hands 11 and 12 can be positioned close to each other. Thus, compared to a case where the separation distance between the hands 11 and 12 is relatively large, the range of positions where only one hand 11 or 12 can enter or exit can be reduced, thereby increasing the range of positions where both hands 11 and 12 can enter or exit.

[0042] The upper hand rotating part 21 is connected to the upper arm 30 and supports the hand 11 at a position where it separates from the upper arm 30 in the vertical direction by a distance smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101 held by the upper hand 11. The lower hand rotating part 22 is connected to the lower arm 40 and supports the hand 12 at a position where it separates from the lower arm 40 in the vertical direction by a distance smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101 held by the lower hand 12. In this way, the separation distance between the hand 11 and the upper arm 30 is smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101, and the separation distance between the hand 12 and the lower arm 40 is smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101, thus further reducing the vertical distance between the hands 11 and 12. Therefore, the range of positions where both the hands 11 and 12 can enter and exit can be further increased.

[0043] The upper hand rotating part 21 supports the hand 11 in a vertical direction, separating it from the link 31, which is the upper base link of the upper arm 30, by a distance smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101 held by the upper hand 11. The lower hand rotating part 22 supports the hand 12 in a vertical direction, separating it from the link 41, which is the lower base link of the lower arm 40, by a distance smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101 held by the lower hand 12. In this way, the separation distance between the link 31 on the base side of the upper arm 30 and the hand 11 is smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101, and the separation distance between the link 42 on the base side of the lower arm 40 and the hand 12 is smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101, thus further reducing the vertical distance between the hand 11 and the hand 12. Therefore, the range of positions where the hand 11 and the hand 12 can move in and out together can be further increased.

[0044] The lifting section 60 includes a columnar section 61 extending in the vertical direction, and the arm support section 50 is moved vertically along the columnar section 61. The arm support section 50 is arranged extending perpendicularly to the side of the columnar section 61 of the lifting section 60 when viewed from above. The upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 are each connected to the arm support section 50 at a position where they are separated from the columnar section 61 of the lifting section 60 in the horizontal direction by a predetermined distance L50. Therefore, by connecting the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 to the arm support section 50 at a predetermined distance L50 from the columnar section 61 of the lifting section 60, the base ends of the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 can be arranged separated from the columnar section 61 of the lifting section 60 by a predetermined distance L50. Therefore, in the area where the substrate transport robot 100 is located, when the base ends of the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 are positioned in the center, the columnar portion 61 of the lifting unit 60 can be positioned close to the end of the area, thus preventing the columnar portion 61 of the lifting unit 60 from obstructing the movement of the hands 11 and 12. Furthermore, by positioning the columnar portion 61 close to the end of the area, the hands 11 and 12 can be moved to the central portion of the area where the substrate transport robot 100 is located. Therefore, the space occupied by the substrate transport robot 100 can be reduced to a smaller size.

[0045] Link 31, serving as the upper base link, is connected above the arm support 50, and its length L31 from the point where it connects to the arm support 50 to its front end is less than a predetermined distance L50. Link 41, serving as the lower base link, is connected below the arm support 50, and its length L41 from the point where it connects to the arm support 50 to its front end is also less than a predetermined distance L50. This allows link 31 and link 41 to rotate relative to the arm support 50 to a position where they overlap when viewed from above. Therefore, the range of motion of link 31 and link 41 can be increased, thus increasing the range of movement of hands 11 and 12.

[0046] The substrate transport robot 100 includes a control unit 70 that controls the movements of the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40. When viewed from above, the control unit 70 has a hand rotation unit 21, which acts as the upper hand rotation unit, positioned overlapping with the arm support unit 50. The hand rotation unit 21 rotates the upper hand 11 around a horizontally extending rotation axis A10. Furthermore, when viewed from above, the control unit 70 has a hand rotation unit 22, which acts as the lower hand rotation unit, positioned overlapping with the arm support unit 50. The hand rotation unit 22 rotates the lower hand 12 around a horizontally extending rotation axis A20. Thus, by rotating the hands 11 and 12 while the hand rotation units 21 and 22 overlap with the arm support unit 50 when viewed from above, the area required for rotating the hands 11 and 12 when viewed from above can be miniaturized. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the configuration area of ​​the substrate transport robot 100 when viewed from above, and it is possible to easily rotate the hands 11 and 12 around the rotation axes A10 and A20 extending in the horizontal direction.

[0047] When viewed from above, the control unit 70, with its link 32 serving as the upper front link, is positioned closer to the lifting unit 60 than the link 31 serving as the upper base link. The hand rotation unit 21, serving as the upper hand rotation unit, rotates the upper hand 11 around a horizontally extending rotation axis A10. Furthermore, when viewed from above, the control unit 70, with its link 42 serving as the lower front link, is positioned closer to the lifting unit 60 than the link 41 serving as the lower base link. The hand rotation unit 22, serving as the lower hand rotation unit, rotates the lower hand 12 around a horizontally extending rotation axis A20. This allows the hands 11 and 12 to rotate around horizontally extending rotation axes A10 and A20 while being closer to the lifting unit 60, thus miniaturizing the area required for rotating the hands 11 and 12 when viewed from above. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the configuration area of ​​the substrate transport robot 100 when viewed from above, and it is easier to make the hands 11 and 12 rotate around the rotation axes A10 and A20 extending in the horizontal direction.

[0048] The substrate transport robot 100 includes: a plate-shaped liquid receiving section 80, which serves as an upper liquid receiving section, disposed horizontally below the upper hand 11; and a plate-shaped liquid receiving section 90, which serves as a lower liquid receiving section, disposed horizontally below the lower hand 12. This allows the plate-shaped liquid receiving sections 80 and 90 to receive liquid adhering to the substrate 101, thus preventing the liquid adhering to the substrate 101 from scattering. Therefore, abnormalities in the handling of the substrate 101 or the operation of the substrate transport robot 100 caused by liquid scattering can be prevented. Furthermore, since the liquid receiving section 80 is disposed below the hand 11 and the liquid receiving section 90 is disposed below the hand 12, liquid adhering to the substrate 101 can be effectively received even when the hands 11 and 12 are operated individually.

[0049] The liquid receiving portion 80, serving as the upper liquid receiving portion, is connected to the upper part of the arm support portion 50. The liquid receiving portion 90, serving as the lower liquid receiving portion, is connected to the lower part of the arm support portion 50. Therefore, since the liquid receiving portions 80 and 90 are connected to the arm support portion 50, even when the upper arm 30 and lower arm 40 move, the liquid receiving portions 80 and 90 can be relatively fixed and positioned on the arm support portion 50. Thus, movement of the liquid receiving portions 80 and 90 in the horizontal plane can be suppressed, and liquid adhering to the substrate 101 can be effectively received.

[0050] Each of the liquid receiving portion 80, which serves as the upper liquid receiving portion, and the liquid receiving portion 90, which serves as the lower liquid receiving portion, has an inclined surface 81 and 91 that slopes downward toward the lifting portion 60 along the horizontal plane. This allows liquid from the substrate 101 to be guided toward the lifting portion 60 via the liquid receiving portions 80 and 90. Therefore, liquid from the substrate 101 can be easily collected.

[0051] The lifting unit 60 includes a columnar portion 61 extending in the vertical direction. The substrate transport robot 100 includes a liquid guiding portion 62 disposed along the columnar portion 61, which guides liquid from the liquid receiving portion 80 (upper liquid receiving portion) and the liquid receiving portion 90 (lower liquid receiving portion) downwards. This allows the liquid received from the substrate 101 by the liquid guiding portion 62 to be easily guided downwards. Therefore, it is easier to collect liquid from the substrate 101.

[0052] The upper hand 11 and the lower hand 12 each hold the substrate 101 in the polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate 101. This reduces the need for the substrate transport robot 100 to occupy a large area in the polishing apparatus and increases the range of motion of the hands 11 and 12. Furthermore, in the polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate 101, liquids such as polishing agents or cleaning solutions are applied to the substrate 101. Therefore, as shown in this embodiment, by configuring a liquid receiving portion 80 as an upper liquid receiving portion and a liquid receiving portion 90 as a lower liquid receiving portion, the scattering of liquid used in the polishing apparatus can be effectively suppressed.

[0053] The upper arm 30 moves the hand 11, which holds one of the substrates 101 as the upper hand. The lower arm 40 moves the hand 12, which holds one of the substrates 101 as the lower hand, in addition to the hand 11. In this way, compared with the case where multiple substrates 101 are transported by the upper arm 30 and the lower arm 40 respectively, the complexity of the structure of the hand 11 and the hand 12 can be suppressed.

[0054] [Variation Example] Furthermore, it should be understood that all the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and not intended to be limiting. The scope of this invention is indicated by the claims rather than by the description of the embodiments above, and includes all modifications (variations) within the same meaning and scope as the claims.

[0055] For example, the above embodiment illustrates an example of a hand-rotating part 21 that rotates the upper hand 11 and a hand-rotating part 22 that rotates the lower hand 12; however, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also be devoid of at least one of the upper hand-rotating part that rotates the upper hand and the lower hand-rotating part that rotates the lower hand.

[0056] Furthermore, the above embodiments illustrate examples where the upper hand 11 and the lower hand 12 include holding mechanism portions 11a and 12a with cylinders; however, the present invention is not limited to this. The holding mechanism portions in the upper and lower hands may also be actuators such as electromagnetic coils or motors other than cylinders. Furthermore, the upper and lower hands may be active types of hands other than edge clamps such as vacuum clamps. Furthermore, the upper and lower hands may be passive types of hands without a structure for fixing the substrate.

[0057] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example is shown where the distance between the upper hand 11 (upper hand) and the connecting rod 31 (upper base connecting rod) in the vertical direction is smaller than the radius R1 of the substrate 101, and the distance between the lower hand 12 (lower hand) and the connecting rod 41 (lower base connecting rod) in the vertical direction is smaller than the radius R2 of the substrate 101. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also have a distance between the upper base connecting rod and the upper hand in the vertical direction that is larger than the radius of the substrate. In this case, the distance between the upper front connecting rod and the upper hand in the vertical direction may be smaller than or larger than the radius of the substrate. Similarly, the distance between the lower base connecting rod and the lower hand in the vertical direction may be larger than the radius of the substrate. In this case, the distance between the lower front connecting rod and the lower hand in the vertical direction may be smaller than or larger than the radius of the substrate. Furthermore, the distance from the arm support portion in the vertical direction to the upper and lower hands may each be smaller than the radius of the substrate.

[0058] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example is shown where the length L31 from the position of the rotation axis A1 to the front end of the connecting rod 31 (which is the upper base end connecting rod) and the length L41 from the position of the rotation axis A1 to the front end of the connecting rod 41 (which is the lower base end connecting rod) are smaller than a predetermined distance L50. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also allow at least one of the lengths of the upper base end connecting rod and the lower base end connecting rod to be greater than the length from the position connecting the upper and lower base end connecting rods to the lifting part.

[0059] Furthermore, the above embodiment illustrates an example where the liquid receiving portion 80, serving as the upper liquid receiving portion, is connected above the arm support portion 50, and the liquid receiving portion 90, serving as the lower liquid receiving portion, is connected below the arm support portion 50. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also have the upper liquid receiving portion connected to the upper arm. Furthermore, the lower liquid receiving portion may also be connected to the lower arm.

[0060] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, an example is shown where the liquid receiving portion 80, serving as the upper liquid receiving portion, and the liquid receiving portion 90, serving as the lower liquid receiving portion, each have inclined surfaces 81 and 91 that decrease in elevation along the horizontal plane toward the lifting portion 60. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also involve arranging inclined surfaces in each of the upper and lower liquid receiving portions, such that they decrease in elevation toward a direction different from the direction in which the lifting portion is arranged. Furthermore, the upper and lower liquid receiving portions may also be shaped like a mortar with a lower central portion.

[0061] Furthermore, the above embodiment illustrates an example in which liquid is guided from the liquid receiving portion 80 (upper liquid receiving portion) and the liquid receiving portion 90 (lower liquid receiving portion) to the lower liquid guiding portion 62, which is arranged along the columnar portion 61 of the lifting portion 60. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also involve arranging a tubular liquid guiding portion inside the columnar portion.

[0062] Furthermore, the above embodiment illustrates an example where each of the upper hand 11 and the lower hand 12 holds a substrate 101; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention may also involve holding a plurality of substrates with at least one of the upper and lower hands.

[0063] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, an example is shown in which the connecting rod portion 31, which is the upper base end connecting rod portion, and the connecting rod portion 41, which is the lower base end connecting rod portion, have the same shape, and the connecting rod portion 32, which is the upper front end connecting rod portion, and the connecting rod portion 42, which is the lower front end connecting rod portion, have the same shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also have the upper arm and the lower arm having different shapes.

[0064] Furthermore, the above embodiment illustrates an example where, when viewed from above, the hand-rotating part 21, acting as the upper hand rotating part, is positioned overlapping with the arm support part 50, and the upper hand 11 rotates around a horizontally extending rotation axis A10. Similarly, when viewed from above, the hand-rotating part 22, acting as the lower hand rotating part, is positioned overlapping with the arm support part 50, and the lower hand 12 rotates around a horizontally extending rotation axis A20. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also involve rotating the upper hand without the upper hand rotating part overlapping with the arm support part, or rotating the lower hand without the lower hand rotating part overlapping with the arm support part. For example, the upper hand can be rotated when the upper arm has rotated 90 degrees along the horizontal plane from the state shown in Figure 7. That is, the upper and lower hands rotate when they overlap at the position where the bases of the upper and lower arms are connected.

[0065] Furthermore, the above embodiment illustrates an example where the arm support 50 moves up and down along the side of the columnar portion 61 of the lifting portion 60; however, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also involve moving the arm support up and down by driving the columnar member supporting the arm support from below to do so.

[0066] Furthermore, the above embodiment illustrates an example where the control unit 70 has a main CPU for overall control of the substrate transport robot 100 and a servo CPU for controlling the power supplied to the servo motors; however, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may also have a control unit comprising a CPU or other computing device. Furthermore, the actions of the upper and lower hand holding mechanisms, the upper and lower hand rotating mechanisms, the upper and lower arm drive units, and the lifting unit drive units may be executed by control units configured as separate hardware, or any of them may be controlled by a common control unit.

[0067] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an upper arm 30, comprising a link portion 31 as an upper base link and a link portion 32 as an upper front link, is connected above the arm support portion 50, and a lower arm 40, comprising a link portion 41 as a lower base link and a link portion 42 as a lower front link, is connected below the arm support portion 50. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be used to construct a substrate transport robot with a horizontally multi-jointed arm connected at least below the arm support portion, comprising a base link and a front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and allowing the hand holding the substrate to move in a horizontal direction.

[0068] The functions of the components disclosed in this specification can be performed using a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, an integrated circuit, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), conventional circuits, and / or combinations of the above elements, configured or programmed to perform the disclosed functions. A processor includes transistors and other circuitry and is therefore considered a processing circuit or circuit. In this invention, a circuit, unit, or means is hardware that performs the listed functions, or hardware programmed to perform the listed functions. The hardware may be the hardware disclosed in this specification, or other known hardware programmed or configured to perform the listed functions. When the hardware is a processor considered as a circuit, the circuit, means, or unit is a combination of hardware and software, with the software used in the configuration of the hardware and / or processor.

[0069] [Style] Those skilled in the art can understand that the above-described implementation mode is a specific example of the following.

[0070] (Style 1) A substrate conveying robot, comprising: The upper and lower hands each hold the substrate; The horizontally multi-jointed upper arm includes an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and allows the aforementioned upper hand to move in the horizontal direction; The horizontally multi-jointed lower arm is separately configured from the aforementioned upper arm and includes a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along the horizontal plane, thereby enabling the aforementioned lower arm to move in the horizontal direction; An arm support portion is connected above the aforementioned upper arm and below the aforementioned lower arm; and The lifting unit moves the aforementioned upper hand and lower hand by raising and lowering the aforementioned arm support unit.

[0071] (Style 2) The substrate transport robot described in Sample 1 further features: The upper rotating part is connected to the base of the aforementioned upper hand, and causes the aforementioned upper hand to rotate about a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction; and The lower rotating part is connected to the base end of the aforementioned lower hand, and causes the aforementioned lower hand to rotate around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction.

[0072] (Pattern 3) As described in Example 2, in the substrate transport robot, the aforementioned upper rotating part is connected to the upper arm above it, and supports the upper hand at a position where it separates from the upper arm in the vertical direction only by a distance smaller than the radius of the substrate held by the upper hand; The aforementioned lower rotating part is connected to the lower arm below, and supports the lower arm at a position where it separates from the lower arm in the vertical direction by a distance smaller than the radius of the substrate held by the lower arm.

[0073] (Pattern 4) As described in Sample 3, the substrate transport robot is wherein the aforementioned upper hand rotating part is positioned to support the upper hand in a vertical direction at a point where it separates from the aforementioned upper base end link of the aforementioned upper arm by a distance smaller than the radius of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned upper hand; The aforementioned lower hand rotating part is supported by the aforementioned lower hand in a vertical direction at a position where it separates from the aforementioned lower base end connecting rod of the aforementioned lower arm by a distance smaller than the radius of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned lower hand.

[0074] (Pattern 5) The substrate transport robot described in any of the examples 1 to 4, wherein the aforementioned lifting part includes a columnar part extending in the vertical direction, and the aforementioned arm support part is moved up and down along the aforementioned columnar part; The aforementioned arm support is configured to extend along a direction perpendicular to the side of the previously described columnar portion of the aforementioned lifting section when viewed from above; The aforementioned upper arm and the aforementioned lower arm are connected to the aforementioned arm support at a position where they are separated from the aforementioned columnar portion of the aforementioned lifting portion by a predetermined distance along the horizontal direction.

[0075] (Pattern 6) As described in Example 5, in the substrate transport robot, the aforementioned upper base end connecting rod is connected above the aforementioned arm support, and the length from the position where the aforementioned upper base end connecting rod is connected to the aforementioned arm support to the front end is smaller than the aforementioned predetermined distance. The aforementioned lower base connecting rod is connected to the lower part of the aforementioned arm support, and the length from the position where the aforementioned lower base connecting rod is connected to the aforementioned arm support to the front end is smaller than the aforementioned predetermined distance.

[0076] (Pattern 7) The substrate transport robot as described in Example 2 further includes: a control unit that controls the movements of the aforementioned upper arm and the aforementioned lower arm; The aforementioned control unit, when viewed from above, is positioned with the aforementioned upper hand rotating part overlapping the aforementioned arm support part. The upper hand rotating part causes the upper hand to rotate around a horizontally extending axis of rotation. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the aforementioned lower hand rotating part overlapping the aforementioned arm support part, and the aforementioned lower hand rotating part causes the aforementioned lower hand to rotate around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction.

[0077] (Pattern 8) As described in Example 7, the substrate transport robot, wherein, When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned closer to the lifting unit than the aforementioned upper base link unit. The upper hand is rotated around a horizontally extending axis of rotation via the aforementioned upper hand rotation unit. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned closer to the aforementioned lifting unit than the aforementioned lower base link unit. The aforementioned lower hand is rotated around a horizontally extending axis of rotation by the aforementioned lower hand rotation unit.

[0078] (Pattern 9) The substrate transport robot described in any of the examples 1 to 8 further comprises: A plate-shaped liquid receiving portion is disposed below the aforementioned upper hand along a horizontal plane; and The plate-shaped liquid receiving part is arranged along the horizontal plane below the aforementioned lower hand.

[0079] (Pattern 10) As described in Example 9, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned liquid receiving part is connected above the aforementioned arm support part; The aforementioned liquid receiving part is connected to the lower part of the aforementioned arm support part.

[0080] (Style 11) The substrate transport robot as described in Example 9 or 10, wherein each of the aforementioned upper liquid receiving part and the aforementioned lower liquid receiving part has an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the aforementioned lifting part along the horizontal plane.

[0081] (Pattern 12) As described in Example 11, the substrate transport robot includes a columnar portion extending in the vertical direction; The substrate transport robot further includes a liquid guiding section, which is arranged along the aforementioned columnar section and guides the liquid from the aforementioned upper liquid receiving section and the aforementioned lower liquid receiving section to the lower part.

[0082] (Pattern 13) The substrate transport robot described in any of the examples 1 to 12, wherein the aforementioned upper hand and the aforementioned lower hand each hold the aforementioned substrate in a grinding device that grinds the aforementioned substrate.

[0083] (Pattern 14) The substrate transport robot as described in any of the examples 1 to 13, wherein the aforementioned upper arm moves the aforementioned upper hand that holds one of the aforementioned substrates; The aforementioned lower arm enables the movement of one of the aforementioned lower arms, which is separate from the aforementioned upper arm, on the aforementioned substrate.

[0084] (Pattern 15) A substrate conveying robot, comprising: Hand, holding the substrate; The horizontally multi-jointed arm includes a base link and a front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and enables the aforementioned hand to move in the horizontal direction; The arm support is connected below to the aforementioned arm; and The lifting unit moves the aforementioned hand up and down by moving the aforementioned arm support unit up and down.

[0085] [First Reference Example] Next, the substrate transport robot 200 of the first reference example will be described with reference to Figures 10 to 15.

[0086] (Substrate processing system) As shown in Figure 10, a substrate transfer robot 200 is disposed in a substrate processing system 202. The substrate processing system 202 includes the substrate transfer robot 200 and a processing unit 203. The substrate transfer robot 200 performs transfer operations involving both loading and unloading substrates 101 into and out of the substrate mounting section 204 of the processing unit 203. The processing unit 203 includes a plurality of substrate mounting sections 204. The substrate transfer robot 200 includes hands 211 and 212 arranged separately in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z-direction) and each holding a substrate 101. The substrate 101 is, for example, a wafer used to produce semiconductors. The substrate 101 has a circular plate shape. The substrate 101 includes, for example, silicon wafers, gallium nitride wafers, sapphire wafers, etc. The processing unit 203 is, for example, a polishing apparatus for grinding the substrate 101. Alternatively, the processing unit 203 may be an apparatus for etching or sintering the substrate 101.

[0087] The substrate transport robot 200 includes: a hand rotation unit 221 and a hand rotation unit 222, an arm 230 and an arm 240, an arm suspension unit 250, a lifting unit 260, a control unit 70, and a moving frame unit 280.

[0088] As shown in Figure 11, the hand 211 has a holding mechanism portion 211a. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 12, the hand 211 has a double-forked shape with two front ends. The holding mechanism portion 211a abuts against the periphery of the substrate 101 held by the hand 211 by moving along a direction from the base end of the hand 211 toward the front end. The hand 211 has claw portions 211b disposed on each of the two front ends. By moving the holding mechanism portion 211a from the base end of the hand 211 toward the front end, the periphery of the substrate 101 is held by the holding mechanism portion 211a and the two claw portions 211b. That is, the hand 211 is an active type substrate holding hand that uses an edge grip to fix and hold the substrate 101. Although only the hand 211 is shown in Figure 12, the structure of the hand 212 is the same as that of the hand 211. That is, as shown in FIG11, similar to hand 211, hand 212 has a holding mechanism 212a that moves in a direction from the base end of hand 212 toward the front end. Holding mechanism 211a and holding mechanism 212a have, for example, cylinders as driving sources. Furthermore, hand 211 and hand 212 each hold a substrate 101.

[0089] Hand rotating parts 221 and 222 each rotate hands 211 and 212 about a rotation axis extending horizontally. Hand rotating parts 221 and 222 are connected to a flip axis that rotates in a manner that tilts the held substrate 101, thereby rotating hands 211 and 212. Hand rotating parts 221 and 222 rotate hands 211 and 212 relative to a horizontal plane with the horizontal direction as the rotation axis. Specifically, hand rotating part 221 is connected to the base of hand 211 and rotates hand 211 with the direction from the base of hand 211 toward the front end as the rotation axis. Hand rotating part 222 is connected to the base of hand 212 and rotates hand 212 with the direction from the base of hand 212 toward the front end as the rotation axis. In detail, hand rotation units 221 and 222 rotate hands 211 and 212 with a rotation axis passing through the center of substrate 101 and extending from the base of hands 211 and 212 toward the front end. Each of hand rotation units 221 and 222 rotates hands 211 and 212, thereby alternating the tilt of the back surface and surface of substrate 101 held by hands 211 and 212. For example, as shown in FIG12, hand rotation unit 221 rotates hand 211 180 degrees about rotation axis A210. Furthermore, as shown in FIG13, hand rotation unit 222 rotates hand 212 180 degrees about rotation axis A220. Rotation axes A210 and A220 each extend in a horizontal direction. That is, rotation axes A210 and A220 extend along the XY plane. Furthermore, Figure 13 illustrates examples of substrate 101 rotated 90 degrees around rotation axis A210 and rotation axis A220 using two-point chain lines. It should be noted that the term "rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction" is a broad concept, encompassing not only rotation axes extending in the horizontal direction but also rotation axes slightly tilted from the horizontal. For example, "tilt from the horizontal direction" includes tilts caused by the weight of the substrate, the weight of the hand itself, the tilt of the substrate transport robot itself, or the tilt of the device on which the substrate transport robot is mounted. Furthermore, "horizontal direction" is a broad concept, encompassing directions parallel to the mounting surface of the substrate transport robot, directions parallel to the mounting surface of the substrate mounting portion, or directions parallel to a horizontal plane orthogonal to the direction of gravity (i.e., the vertical direction).

[0090] As shown in Figure 11, the hand rotation unit 221 has a rotation mechanism 221a for rotating the hand 211. Similarly, the hand rotation unit 222 has a rotation mechanism 222a for rotating the hand 212. Both the rotation mechanism 221a and the rotation mechanism 222a have a drive source for the rotation of the hands 211 and 212. For example, the rotation mechanism 221a and the rotation mechanism 222a have a servo motor as the drive source. Furthermore, the rotation mechanism 221a and the rotation mechanism 222a have an encoder and a speed reducer.

[0091] Furthermore, as shown in FIG12, the hand-rotating part 221 includes a sealing member 221b that closes the rotating mechanism part 221a relative to the outside. The sealing member 221b has an annular shape and closes the gap between the rotating mechanism part 221a and the outside. The sealing member 221b is, for example, an elastic member such as flexible rubber. As an example, the sealing member 221b includes an O-ring. Although only the hand-rotating part 221 is shown in FIG12, similarly to the hand-rotating part 221, the hand-rotating part 222 also includes a sealing member that closes the rotating mechanism part 222a relative to the outside.

[0092] As shown in Figure 10, arm 230 is a horizontally multi-jointed robotic arm that moves hand 211 horizontally. Arm 240 is a horizontally multi-jointed robotic arm separately configured with arm 230 and that moves hand 212 horizontally. Arms 230 and 240 move independently of each other. A hand rotating part 221 is connected to the front end of arm 230. Furthermore, a hand rotating part 222 is connected to the front end of arm 240 via a support part 243 shown in Figure 14. Arms 230 and 240 are supported by suspending themselves below arm suspension part 250 (i.e., on the Z2 side). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 11, each of arm 230 and arm 240 has a drive part 230a and a drive part 240a that rotate each of the plurality of joints. Each of the drive parts 230a and 240a includes, for example, a servo motor. Furthermore, each of the drive units 230a and 240a has a transmission mechanism such as a timing belt or gear for transmitting the driving force of the motor. Furthermore, each of the drive units 230a and 240a includes an encoder and a speed reducer. The drive unit 230a is disposed, for example, inside the housing of the arm 230 and inside at least one of the arm suspension unit 250. Similarly, the drive unit 240a is disposed, for example, inside the housing of the arm 240 and inside at least one of the arm suspension unit 250.

[0093] Furthermore, the arm suspension 250 rotates in the horizontal plane relative to the movable frame 280. Specifically, as shown in FIG13, the arm suspension 250 rotates about a rotation axis A250 along the vertical direction. As shown in FIG11, the arm suspension 250 has a drive unit 250a. The drive unit 250a includes, for example, a servo motor, a transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the motor, an encoder, and a reducer. The drive unit 250a is disposed, for example, inside the arm suspension 250 and at least one of the movable frame 280.

[0094] As shown in Figure 10, the lifting unit 260 causes the hands 211 and 212 to move up and down along the Z direction (i.e., the vertical direction) by moving the arm suspension unit 250 up and down. Specifically, the lifting unit 260 connects the arms 230 and 240 via the arm suspension unit 250 and the movable frame unit 280. The lifting unit 260 is connected to the movable frame unit 280. In the first reference example, the movable frame unit 280 moves up and down via the lifting unit 260. The arm suspension unit 250 is connected to the lower part (i.e., the Z2 side) of the movable frame unit 280. The lifting unit 260 causes the arm 230 connected to the hand 211 and the arm 240 connected to the hand 212 to move up and down in a linked manner by moving the movable frame unit 280 up and down. The lifting unit 260 has a columnar portion 261 extending along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). The lifting unit 260 causes the movable frame unit 280 to move up and down along the columnar portion 261. Furthermore, as shown in FIG11, the lifting unit 260 includes a drive unit 260a. The drive unit 260a includes, for example, a servo motor as a drive source. Furthermore, the drive unit 260a has, for example, a ball screw mechanism and a linear guide. The lifting unit 260 causes the movable frame unit 280 to move up and down along the Z direction by the driving force of the drive unit 260a.

[0095] The control unit 270 is a robot controller that controls the actions of each part of the board transport robot 200. The control unit 270 includes, for example, a computing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Furthermore, the control unit 270 includes memory devices such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), as well as hard disks. The control unit 270 executes control processing based on the computing device according to the programs and parameters stored in the memory devices. Specifically, the control unit 270 controls the actions of the holding mechanisms 211a and 212a of each of the hands 211 and 212. Furthermore, the control unit 270 controls the movements of the rotation mechanisms 221a and 222a of the hand rotation unit 221 and the hand rotation unit 222, the movements of the drive units 230a and 240a of the arm 230 and the arm 240, the movements of the drive unit 250a of the arm suspension unit 250, and the movements of the drive unit 260a of the lifting unit 260. For example, the control unit 270 has a main CPU for overall control of the substrate transport robot 200, and a servo CPU for controlling the power supplied to the servo motors of the rotation mechanisms 221a and 222a, the drive units 230a, 240a, 250a, and 260a. As shown in Figure 10, the control unit 270 is individually configured with, for example, hands 211 and 212, hand rotation units 221 and 222, arms 230 and 240, arm suspension unit 250, and lifting unit 260, and is connected to the columnar portion 261 of the lifting unit 260 via a cable member. The control unit 270 outputs signals for controlling the operation of each part via the cable member connected to the lifting unit 260.

[0096] (Details about the arm) As shown in Figure 14, arm 230 includes link portions 231 and 232 that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane). Similarly, arm 240 includes link portions 241 and 242 that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane). The link portions 231 and 232 of arm 230 and the link portions 241 and 242 of arm 240 are arm components of a robotic arm arranged to extend horizontally. Arms 230 and 240 each include link portions 231 and 241 as base-end link portions and link portions 232 and 242 as front-end link portions. That is, in arm 230, link portion 231 is disposed on the base-end side, and link portion 232 is disposed on the front-end side. Link portions 231 and 232 are connected to each other by means of rotation via joints. In arm 240, link 241 is disposed at the base end side, and link 242 is disposed at the front end side. Link 241 and link 242 are connected to each other by means of rotation via joints. Link 231 and link 241 have the same shape as each other, and link 232 and link 242 have the same shape as each other.

[0097] Arms 230 and 240 rotate individually relative to arm suspension 250 along the XY plane (i.e., the horizontal plane). Arms 230 and 240 each rotate relative to arm suspension 250 around rotation axes A211 and A212, as shown in FIG. 14. Rotation axes A211 and A212 are arranged extending in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). Rotation axes A211 and A212 are arranged in the horizontal direction (i.e., the Y direction). That is, as shown in FIG. 14, in the first reference example, arm 230 is positioned below arm suspension 250 on one side of the horizontal plane in the horizontal direction (i.e., the Y1 side). Arm 240 is positioned below arm suspension 250 and aligned with arm 230 on the other side of the horizontal plane in the horizontal direction (i.e., the Y2 side). Furthermore, the arm suspension 250 rotates in the horizontal plane relative to the lifting part 260 and the movable frame part 280, so the left and right directions referred to here are directions with the arm suspension 250 as a reference. Specifically, in the arm 230, the connecting rod 231 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the arm suspension 250 via a first joint on the upper side of the base end (i.e., the Z1 direction side), and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A211. The connecting rod 232 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the front end side of the connecting rod 231 via a second joint on the upper side of the base end (i.e., the Z1 direction side), and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A212. Furthermore, the hand rotation part 221 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the front end side of the connecting rod 232 via a third joint, and rotates around the rotation axis A213. Similarly, in arm 240, link 241 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of arm suspension 250 via a first joint from the upper side of the base end (i.e., the Z1 direction side), and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A221. Link 242 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the front end of link 241 via a second joint from the upper side of the base end (i.e., the Z1 direction side), and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A222. Furthermore, support 243 is connected to the lower side (i.e., the Z2 direction side) of the front end of link 242 via a third joint and is connected to rotate around the rotation axis A223.

[0098] That is, in the substrate transport robot 200, below the arm suspension section 250, the link section 231, link section 232, and hand rotation section 221 of the arm 230 are arranged downwards (i.e., in the Z2 direction) in this order. Furthermore, below the arm suspension section 250, the link section 241, link section 242, support section 243, and hand rotation section 222 of the arm 240 are arranged downwards (i.e., in the Z2 direction) in this order. Link sections 231 and 232 are positioned equidistantly in the vertical direction. Furthermore, link sections 232 and 242 are positioned equidistantly in the vertical direction. Furthermore, a plurality of joints are provided in arms 230 and 240 so that the rotation axes A211, A212, A213, A221, A222, and A223 are parallel to each other and arranged along a vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction) perpendicular to the horizontal plane. The drive unit 230a is arranged according to the joints of each of the rotation axes A211, A212, and A213 of arm 230. Similarly, the drive unit 240a is arranged according to the joints of each of the rotation axes A221, A222, and A223 of arm 240.

[0099] As shown in Figure 14, a support portion 243 is disposed at the front end of the arm 240. The support portion 243 supports the hand 212 below the hand 211. In the first reference example, the hand 211 and the hand 212 are arranged along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). By supporting the hand 212 below the hand 211 with the support portion 243, the hand 211 and the hand 212 are arranged in a manner that allows them to move to an overlapping position when viewed from the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). In detail, the support portion 243 has a horizontal portion 243a, a vertical portion 243b, and a horizontal portion 243c. The support portion 243 has a U-shape formed by the horizontal portion 243a, the vertical portion 243b, and the horizontal portion 243c. The support portion 243 is a U-shape that opens on one side in the left-right direction (i.e., the Y1 side). The horizontal portion 243a extends from the front end of the arm 240 along the other side in the left-right direction (i.e., the Y2 direction). The upper and lower portions 243b extend downward (i.e., in the Z2 direction) from the end of the horizontal portion 243a on the Y2 side. Furthermore, the horizontal portion 243c extends from the end of the upper and lower portions 243b on the Z2 side along one of the left and right directions (i.e., in the Y1 direction). When viewed from above, the horizontal portion 243c is arranged to overlap the horizontal portion 243a.

[0100] Furthermore, the horizontal portion 243a extends to the other side (i.e., the Y2 side) in the left-right direction relative to the arm 240 by an amount greater than the position where the substrate 101 is held by the hand 211. For example, when the hands 211 and 212 are arranged overlapping each other when viewed from above, the distance L243 from the hand 211 to the upper and lower portions 243b of the support portion 243 along the other side (i.e., the Y2 direction) is greater than the radius R201 of the substrate 101. Therefore, the upper and lower portions 243b extend downward from the horizontal portion 243a in a position where they are separated from the substrate 101 held by the hand 211 in the other side (i.e., the Y2 side). For example, as shown in FIG14, with the hands 211 and 212 arranged, the control unit 270 moves the hand 211 along the X direction by moving the arm 230. Furthermore, as shown in FIG14, the control unit 270 moves the hand 212 along the X direction by moving the arm 240 from the state where the hands 211 and 212 are arranged. The control unit 270 moves the arms 230 and 240 to rotate the arm suspension 250 in the horizontal plane and move the hands 211 and 212 in a straight line from their respective bases toward their front ends. In this case, even if either the hand 211 or the hand 212 moves in a straight line along the X direction, the contact between the support 243 and the substrate 101 held by the hand 211 is suppressed by extending the support 243 in the Y2 direction by a distance larger than the radius R201 of the substrate 101. Furthermore, in Figure 14, a two-point chain line represents an example of the range traversed by the substrate 101 held by hands 211 and 212 when it rotates around the horizontal rotation axes A210 and A220. The radius R201 of the substrate 101 is, for example, 150 mm.

[0101] As shown in Figure 13, the movable frame section 280 has upper and lower frame members 281 and a base member 282. The upper and lower frame members 281 are connected to the side of the columnar portion 261 of the lifting section 260 and are arranged along the columnar portion 261. The base member 282 extends from the upper part of the upper and lower frame members 281 in a direction separate from the columnar portion 261 (i.e., the X1 direction). Specifically, the upper and lower frame members 281 have a rectangular plate-shaped portion extending along the side of the columnar portion 261 on the X1 side, and a pair of sidewall portions disposed at both ends of the rectangular plate-shaped portion in the Y direction and along the XZ plane. The pair of sidewall portions have a triangular plate-shaped portion extending on the upper part of the Z1 side to support the base member 282. The base member 282 has a cuboid housing extending in the X1 direction to separate from the columnar portion 261. Furthermore, the arm suspension section 250 is connected to the lower part of the base member 282 (i.e., the Z2 direction side). In the movable frame section 280, the base member 282 is configured to fix the upper and lower frame members 281.

[0102] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 14, the front end of arm 230 is positioned offset to the left or right relative to hand 211 (i.e., the Y1 direction side). Furthermore, the front end of arm 240 is positioned offset to the left or right relative to hand 212 (i.e., the Y2 direction side). Hand 211 rotates along the horizontal plane around a rotation axis A213 located at the front end of arm 230. Viewed from the base of hand 211 towards the front end (i.e., the X direction), the rotation axis A213 of hand 211 in the horizontal plane is offset from the center of hand 211 in the Y direction. Similarly, hand 212 rotates along the horizontal plane around a rotation axis A223 located at the front end of arm 240. Hand 212 is connected to the front end of arm 240 via support 243. Hand 212 is fixed to support 243, and by rotating support 243 relative to arm 240 along the horizontal plane, hand 212 rotates relative to arm 240 along the horizontal plane. Furthermore, viewed from the base of hand 212 toward the front end (i.e., the X direction), the axis of rotation A223 of hand 212 in the horizontal plane is offset from the position of the center of hand 212 in the Y direction. In the first reference example, hands 211 and 212 are arranged such that their orientation from the base to the front end is mutually common. Furthermore, viewed from the base of each hand 211 and 212 toward the front end (i.e., the X direction), the positions of hands 211 and 212 in the left-right direction (i.e., the Y direction) are equal.

[0103] (Actions performed by the control department) The control unit 270 executes the transfer operation of the substrate 101 according to the control variables set in advance. For example, the control unit 270 performs a transfer operation from the supply position to the substrate placement unit 204 by holding the substrate 101 already supplied to the substrate processing system 202 with the hand 211 or hand 212. Furthermore, the control unit 270 performs a transfer operation by holding the substrate 101 placed on the substrate placement unit 204 of the processing device 203 with the hand 211 or hand 212 to transfer the substrate 101 from the substrate placement unit 204 to a transfer position for removal. In addition, the supply position and the transfer position may be the same position or different positions. Furthermore, the control unit 270 causes the hand 211 or the hand 212 to hold the substrate 101 placed in one of the plurality of substrate placement units 204 of the processing device 203, and performs a transfer operation to transfer the held substrate 101 to the same substrate placement unit 204 or another substrate placement unit 204 different from the one substrate placement unit 204.

[0104] As shown in Figure 15, when viewed from above, the control unit 270 positions the hands 211 and 212 in a position overlapping with the arm suspension unit 250, as shown in Figure 13. The lifting unit 260 then moves the hands 211 and 212 up and down. The control unit 270 performs the lifting action via the lifting unit 260 by moving the hand rotation unit 221 (connected to the base of hand 211) and the hand rotation unit 222 (connected to the base of hand 212) to the side of the lifting unit 260 (i.e., the X2 side) via the arms 230 and 240. During the lifting action, the control unit 270 positions the connecting rods 232 and 242 closer to the lifting unit 260 when viewed from above than the connecting rods 231 and 241. Furthermore, when the control unit 270 performs the lifting action, it rotates the arm suspension unit 250 around the rotation axis A250, arranging the hands 211 and 212 along the X-direction from their bases toward their front ends. During the lifting action, the control unit 270 moves the arms 230 and 240 so that the hands 211 and 212 overlap when viewed from above. This allows for miniaturization of the space used to assemble the hands 211 and arm 230, and the hands 212 and arm 240, when performing the lifting action along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z-direction).

[0105] Furthermore, the control unit 270 reverses the surface and back of the substrate 101 held by the hands 211 and 212 by controlling the operation of the hand rotation units 221 and 222. In this case, similar to the lifting operation, the control unit 270 also moves the hand rotation units 221 and 222 to the side of the lifting unit 260. That is, in the first reference example, when viewed from above, the control unit 270 rotates the hand 211 about the rotation axis A210 extending in the horizontal direction by using the hand rotation unit 221, with the hand 211 positioned overlapping with the arm suspension unit 250. Furthermore, when viewed from above, the control unit 270 rotates the hand 212 about the rotation axis A220 extending in the horizontal direction by using the hand rotation unit 222, with the hand 212 positioned overlapping with the arm suspension unit 250. When viewed from above, the control unit 270, with the linkage 232 positioned closer to the lifting unit 260 than the linkage 231, rotates the hand 211 around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A210 via the hand rotation unit 221. Furthermore, when viewed from above, with the linkage 242 positioned closer to the lifting unit 260 than the linkage 241, the control unit 270 rotates the hand 212 around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A220 via the hand rotation unit 222. Similar to the lifting action, when the control unit 270 rotates the base plate 101 around the axis of rotation A210 or A220, it also moves the arms 230 and 240 so that the hands 211 and 212 overlap when viewed from above. Furthermore, when viewed from above, the control unit 270 rotates each of the hands 211 and 212 around the horizontally extending rotation axes A210 and A220, respectively, with the hands 211 and 212 positioned in an overlapping position. This allows for miniaturization of the space occupied by the hands 211 and arm 230 and the hands 212 and arm 240, even when the substrate 101 is rotated around the rotation axes A210 or A220. Furthermore, by positioning the hand rotation units 221 and 222 on the lifting unit 260 side, the control unit 270 performs lifting operations via the lifting unit 260, and rotations of the hands 211 around the rotation axis A210 or rotations of the hands 212 around the rotation axis A220, with the peripheral portions of the substrate 101 held by the hands 211 and 212 overlapping the arm suspension unit 250. Furthermore, when rotating the hand 211 around the rotation axis A210 and rotating the hand 212 around the rotation axis A220, the hand rotating part 221 and the hand rotating part 222 are arranged on the X1 side of the lifting part 260 and overlap with the base member 282 of the movable frame part 280.

[0106] Furthermore, the control unit 270 performs the actions of rotating hands 211 and 212 by hand rotation units 221 and 222, and moving hands 211 and 212 by arms 230 and 240, in a mutually individual timing. This allows hands 211 and 212 to be rotated by hand rotation units 221 and 222 while being moved to a wider space by arms 230 and 240. Therefore, when hands 211 and 212 are rotated about a horizontally extending axis of rotation, it is possible to suppress physical interference between hands 211 and 212 themselves, the substrate 101 held by hands 211 and 212, and surrounding components. Furthermore, when both hands 211 and 212 rotate and move simultaneously, vibrations may occur in both hands. Therefore, by rotating and moving hands 211 and 212 separately, abnormal movements of hands 211 and 212 caused by vibration can be suppressed. Similarly, the control unit 270 performs the rotation of hands 211 and 212 by hand rotation units 221 and 222, and the lifting and lowering movement of hands 211 and 212 by lifting unit 260, separately.

[0107] For example, the control unit 270 holds the substrate 101 placed on the substrate mounting section 204 of the processing device 203 by means of the Z1 direction side surface of the hand 211. The control unit 270 actuates the holding mechanism 211a of the hand 211 to hold the substrate 101 in a state fixed to the Z1 direction side surface of the hand 211. The control unit 270 moves the hand 211, which holds the substrate 101, to the lifting section 260 side by means of the arm 230. Furthermore, with the hand 211 positioned in a position overlapping the arm suspension section 250, the control unit 270 rotates the hand 211 180 degrees by means of the hand rotation section 221. The control unit 270, while holding the substrate 101 in the Z2 direction side of the reversed hand 211, places the substrate 101, in a state where the surface and back sides are reversed, onto a substrate placement section 204 in the processing apparatus 203 that is either different from or the same as the substrate placement section 204 on which the substrate 101 was previously placed. That is, the control unit 270 rotates the hand rotation unit 221 while the base end of the hand 211 is moved to the lifting section 260 side by the arm 230, and then moves the hand 211 to the position of the substrate placement section 204 by the arm 230, arm suspension unit 250, and lifting section 260. Furthermore, the control unit 270 may also tilt the substrate 101 by only 90 degrees by operating the hand rotation unit 221, thereby placing the substrate 101 onto the substrate placement section 204 in a state where the main surface is tilted 90 degrees and orthogonal to the horizontal plane.

[0108] The control unit 270 controls both the action of moving the substrate 101 by hand 211 and the action of moving the substrate 101 by hand 212. The actions of holding and moving the substrate 101 by hand 211 and moving the substrate 101 by hand 212 can be performed independently and in a separate sequence, or the other action can be performed simultaneously with the moving action of hand 211 and hand 212. For example, after each of the actions of holding the substrate 101 by hand 211 and hand 212, the control unit 270 sequentially performs the actions of placing the substrate 101 held by hand 211 onto the substrate mounting section 204 and placing the substrate 101 held by hand 212 onto the substrate mounting section 204. For example, in a processing apparatus 203 that is a polishing device, the control unit 270 holds the substrate 101 before processing by hand 211 and holds the substrate 101 after processing by hand 212. The processing performed by the processing apparatus 203 referred to herein can be either polishing the substrate 101 or cleaning the polished substrate 101. Furthermore, the process can be performed by holding the substrate 101 before processing with hand 212 and holding the substrate 101 after processing with hand 211. In the polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate 101, liquids such as polishing agents for the substrate 101 or cleaning solutions for cleaning the substrate 101 are applied to the substrate 101. By using hand 211 and hand 212 respectively for before and after processing, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the substrate 101 before polishing or to the substrate 101 after cleaning.

[0109] Furthermore, since the upper and lower frame members 281 of the movable frame section 280 are rectangular flat plates, by arranging them to cover the base ends of the hands 211 and 212, it is possible to prevent liquid from splashing from the base plate 101 held by the hands 211 and 212 onto the lifting section 260. Alternatively, a plate-shaped member for receiving liquid can be arranged below each of the hands 211 and 212.

[0110] [Effect of the first reference example] As described above, the substrate transport robot 200 includes an arm suspension section 250 that supports an arm 230 (as a first arm) and an arm 240 (as a second arm) suspended below. Because both the arm 230 (which moves the first hand 211) and the arm 240 (which moves the second hand 212) are supported below the arm suspension section 250, compared to the case where the arm support section is positioned vertically between the arms 230 and 240, the hands 211 and 212 can move to and from a lower position together. Furthermore, because both the arms 230 and 240 are supported below the arm suspension section 250, compared to the case where the arm support section is positioned vertically between the arms 230 and 240, the hands 211 (moved by the arm 230) and 212 (moved by the arm 240) can be positioned closer together in the vertical direction. As a result, the area that can be accessed and exited in both the vertical direction can be enlarged by using both hands 211 and 212. Furthermore, since arms 230 and 240 are suspended below arm suspension part 250, both arms 230 and 240 can enter and exit lower positions.

[0111] Arm 230, serving as the first arm, is positioned below the arm suspension section 250 in the horizontal direction. Arm 240, serving as the second arm, is positioned below the arm suspension section 250 and aligned with arm 230 in the horizontal direction on the other side. Because arms 230 and 240 are arranged in the horizontal direction, compared to when they are arranged vertically, the area where arms 230 and 240 are arranged vertically can be miniaturized. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the area for the substrate transport robot 200 from becoming excessively large in the vertical direction.

[0112] The substrate transport robot 200 includes a support 243, which is disposed at the front end of the arm 240, which serves as the second arm, and supports the hand 212, which serves as the second arm, below the hand 211, which serves as the first arm. The hands 211 and 212 are arranged separately in the vertical direction. Therefore, by means of the support 243, the hands 211 and 212 are arranged separately in the vertical direction, so that the lifting unit 260 can easily move the hands 211 and 212 into and out of a common position simply by moving the lifting unit 260 vertically.

[0113] The support portion 243 includes: a horizontal portion 243a, which is a first horizontal portion, extending from the front end of the arm 240, which is a second arm, along the left-right direction; a vertical portion 243b, which extends downward from the end of the horizontal portion 243a along the left-right direction; and a horizontal portion 243c, which is a second horizontal portion, arranged to overlap with the horizontal portion 243a when viewed from above, and extends from the vertical portion 243b along the left-right direction. The support portion 243 has a U-shape formed by the horizontal portion 243a, the vertical portion 243b, and the horizontal portion 243c. Because the support portion 243 has a U-shape, it can prevent the hand 211 positioned above from contacting the support portion 243 used to support the hand 212 positioned below. Therefore, because the support portion 243 has a U-shape, even when the hand 211 and hand 212 are positioned along the vertical direction, the range of motion of the hand 211 can be increased.

[0114] The horizontal portion 243a, which is the first horizontal part, extends to the left and right by an amount greater than the position of the substrate 101 held by the hand 211, which is the first hand. The vertical portion 243b extends downward from the support portion 243 at a position where it separates from the substrate 101 held by the hand 211 in the left and right direction. In this way, it is possible to prevent the substrate 101 held by the hand 211 from contacting the support portion 243 used to support the hand 212, so that the range of motion of the hand 211 can be increased.

[0115] The substrate transport robot 200 includes: a hand rotation unit 221, which is a first hand rotation unit connected to the base of a hand 211, and rotates the hand 211 about a rotation axis A210 extending in the horizontal direction; and a hand rotation unit 222, which is a second hand rotation unit connected to the base of a hand 212, and rotates the hand 212 about a rotation axis A220 extending in the horizontal direction. By means of the hand rotation units 221 and 222, the substrate 101 held by the hands 211 and 212 is rotated, thereby interchangeably arranging the surface and back sides of the substrate 101.

[0116] The substrate transport robot 200 includes a control unit 270 that controls the movements of an arm 230 (serving as a first arm) and an arm 240 (serving as a second arm). When viewed from above, the control unit 270 rotates the hand 211 (serving as the first arm) around a horizontally extending axis of rotation A210 using a hand rotation unit 221, with the hand 211 positioned overlapping the arm suspension 250. Similarly, when viewed from above, the control unit 270 rotates the hand 212 (serving as the second arm) around the horizontally extending axis of rotation A220 using a hand rotation unit 222, with the hand 212 positioned overlapping the arm suspension 250. This allows for the miniaturization of the area required for rotating the hands 211 and 212 when viewed from above, as the hands 211 and 212 are rotated while overlapping the arm suspension 250. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the configuration area of ​​the substrate transport robot 200 when viewed from above, and it is possible to easily rotate the hands 211 and 212 around the rotation axis A210 and rotation axis A220 extending in the horizontal direction.

[0117] When viewed from above, the control unit 270, with the first hand 211 and the second hand 212 positioned in an overlapping manner, rotates each hand 211 and 212 around rotation axes A210 and A220 extending horizontally. This, compared to a situation where the hands 211 and 212 are offset when viewed from above, and rotate around rotation axes A210 and A220, better suppresses the enlargement of the substrate transport robot 200's configuration area when viewed from above. Therefore, it is possible to better suppress the enlargement of the substrate transport robot 200's configuration area when viewed from above, and to easily rotate the hands 211 and 212 around rotation axes A210 and A220 extending horizontally.

[0118] The substrate transport robot 200 includes a movable frame 280, which is connected to and moves up and down via a lifting unit 260. An arm suspension 250 is connected to the movable frame 280. This allows the arm suspension 250, which suspends the first arm 230 and the second arm 240, to move up and down easily by moving the movable frame 280.

[0119] The arm suspension 250 rotates in the horizontal plane relative to the movable frame 280. Thus, the arm suspension 250, which suspends the arm 230 (the first arm) and the arm 240 (the second arm), rotates in the horizontal plane relative to the movable frame 280, thereby increasing the range of motion of the hand 211 (the first hand) moved by the arm 230 and the hand 212 (the second hand) moved by the arm 240.

[0120] The lifting section 260 includes a columnar section 261 extending in the vertical direction. The movable frame section 280 includes upper and lower frame members 281 connected to the side of the columnar section 261 and arranged along the columnar section 261, and a base member 282 extending from the upper part of the upper and lower frame members 281 in a direction separate from the columnar section 261. The arm suspension section 250 is connected to the lower part of the base member 282. Therefore, since the arm suspension section 250 is arranged below the base member 282 in a direction separate from the columnar section 261, the arm 230 as the first arm and the arm 240 as the second arm can be suspended at a position separated from the columnar section 261. Therefore, in the area where the substrate transport robot 200 is located, when the base ends of the arms 230 and 240 are positioned in the center, the columnar portion 261 of the lifting unit 260 can be positioned close to the end of the area, thus preventing the columnar portion 261 of the lifting unit 260 from becoming an obstacle to the movement of the hands 211 and 212. Furthermore, by positioning the columnar portion 261 close to the end of the area, the hands 211 and 212 can be moved to the central portion of the area where the substrate transport robot 200 is located. Therefore, the space occupied by the substrate transport robot 200 can be reduced to a smaller size.

[0121] Arm 230, serving as the first arm, includes a link portion 231, which rotates along a horizontal plane, serving as a first base link and a link portion 232, which serves as a first front link. Arm 240, serving as the second arm, includes a link portion 241, which rotates along a horizontal plane, serving as a second base link and a link portion 242, which serves as a second front link. Link portions 231 and 241 are positioned equidistantly from each other in the vertical direction, as are link portions 232 and 242. Thus, since arm 230 is constructed from two link members (link portions 231 and 232) and arm 240 is constructed from two link members (link portions 241 and 242), folding these two link members can prevent the arm 230 and arm 240 from becoming too large, and can increase the range of motion of hands 211 and 212. As a result, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the area occupied by the substrate conveying robot 200 and to increase the range of motion of the hands 211 and 212.

[0122] Hand 211, the first hand, rotates along a horizontal plane centered on a rotation axis A213, which serves as the first front-end rotation axis and is located at the front end of arm 230, the first arm. Hand 212, the second hand, rotates along a horizontal plane centered on a rotation axis A223, which serves as the second front-end rotation axis and is located at the front end of arm 240, the second arm. The front end of arm 230 is positioned offset to the left or right relative to hand 211. The front end of arm 240 is positioned offset to the left or right relative to hand 212. Thus, with the rotation axis A213 of the front end of arm 230 offset from hand 211, and the rotation axis A223 of the front end of arm 240 offset from hand 212, when arms 230 and arm 240 are arranged left and right, the movements of arms 230 and arm 240 do not physically interfere with each other, allowing for easy vertical arrangement of hands 211 and hand 212. Therefore, it is easier to enter and exit the common position by means of hands 211 and 212.

[0123] Both the first hand 211 and the second hand 212 hold the substrate 101 in a polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate 101. This allows for a larger area that can move freely in both the vertical direction within the polishing apparatus. Furthermore, in the polishing apparatus, liquids such as polishing agents or cleaning solutions are applied to the substrate 101. Therefore, as shown in the first reference example, by using two hands, 211 and 212, the substrate 101 before and after processing can be held by the different hands. This prevents abnormalities in the processing of the substrate 101 caused by the polishing agents or cleaning solutions.

[0124] Arm 230, acting as the first arm, moves hand 211, which holds one of the substrates 101 as the first hand. Arm 240, acting as the second arm, moves hand 212, which holds one of the substrates 101 individually as the second hand. In this way, compared with the case where each of arms 230 and arm 240 transports a plurality of substrates 101, the complexity of the configuration of hands 211 and hand 212 can be suppressed.

[0125] [A variation of the first reference example] Furthermore, it should be understood that all the contents of the first reference example disclosed herein are illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

[0126] For example, the first reference example described above shows an example that includes a hand rotating part 221 that rotates the first hand 11 and a hand rotating part 222 that rotates the second hand 212. However, it is also possible that at least one of the first hand rotating part that rotates the first hand and the second hand rotating part that rotates the second hand is not provided.

[0127] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, the first hand 211 and the second hand 212 are shown to include holding mechanism portions 211a and 212a with cylinders. However, the holding mechanism portions in the first and second hands may also be actuators such as electromagnetic coils or motors other than cylinders. Furthermore, the first and second hands may also be active types of hands other than edge clamps such as vacuum clamps. Additionally, the first and second hands may be passive types of hands that do not have a structure for fixing the substrate.

[0128] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, an arm 230 as the first arm and an arm 240 as the second arm are arranged below the arm suspension portion 250. However, the first arm and the second arm may also be arranged to overlap in the vertical direction. For example, the axis of rotation of the first joint relative to the arm suspension portion may be made to be common to both the first arm and the second arm.

[0129] Furthermore, the first reference example described above illustrates an arrangement where the first hand 211 and the second hand 212 are separated vertically by a U-shaped support 243. However, the first and second hands can also be arranged horizontally, not vertically. For example, the support 243 can be omitted, and the second hand can be positioned at the front end of the second arm, arranging the first and second hands horizontally in the horizontal plane. Moreover, by arranging the support 243, even when the vertical positions of the first and second hands differ, the positions viewed from above can be different, thus preventing the first and second hands from being arranged vertically. The support 243 can also be L-shaped or a straight rod.

[0130] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, the horizontal portion 243a, which is the first horizontal portion, extends to the other side in the left-right direction by an amount greater than the position held by the hand 211, which is the first hand, on the substrate 101. However, it is also possible for the first horizontal portion to extend to the other side in the left-right direction by an amount the size of the first hand.

[0131] Furthermore, the first reference example described above illustrates an example in which each of the first hand 211 and the second hand 212 holds a substrate 101. However, it is also possible for at least one of the first hand and the second hand to hold a plurality of substrates.

[0132] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, it is shown that in the arm 230 which is the first arm and the arm 240 which is the second arm, the connecting rod portion 231 which is the first base end connecting rod portion and the connecting rod portion 241 which is the second base end connecting rod portion have the same shape, and the connecting rod portion 232 which is the first front end connecting rod portion and the connecting rod portion 242 which is the second front end connecting rod portion have the same shape. However, it is also possible for the first arm and the second arm to have different shapes.

[0133] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, when viewed from above, the first hand 211 is positioned overlapping with the arm suspension 250, and the hand 211 is rotated around a horizontally extending axis of rotation A210 by the hand rotation unit 221, which is the first hand rotation unit. Similarly, when viewed from above, the second hand 212 is positioned overlapping with the arm suspension 250, and the hand 212 is rotated around a horizontally extending axis of rotation A220 by the hand rotation unit 222, which is the second hand rotation unit. However, it is also possible to rotate the first hand without it overlapping with the arm suspension, or to rotate the second hand without it overlapping with the arm suspension. Furthermore, it is also possible to rotate both the first and second hands without either the first or second hand rotation unit overlapping with the movable frame.

[0134] Furthermore, the first reference example described above illustrates a situation where, when viewed from above, hand 211 (the first hand) and hand 212 (the second hand) overlap, hand 211 rotates around rotation axis A210, and hand 212 rotates around rotation axis A220. However, it is also possible for the first and second hands to not overlap when viewed from above, rotating around a rotation axis along the horizontal plane. Furthermore, it is also possible for the first and second hands to partially overlap when viewed from above, rotating around a rotation axis along the horizontal plane.

[0135] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, the arm suspension 250 is connected from below to the movable frame 280 connected to the columnar portion 261 of the lifting portion 260, allowing it to rotate along the horizontal plane. However, it is also possible to omit the movable frame portion. That is, the arm suspension may be directly connected to the lifting portion. In this case, the arm suspension may not rotate relative to the lifting portion. Furthermore, when a movable frame portion connected to the lifting portion is provided, an arm support portion may be provided above or to the side of the movable frame portion. In this case, a base member extending separately from the lifting portion may not be provided on the movable frame portion.

[0136] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, the connecting rod portion 231, which serves as the first base connecting rod portion, and the connecting rod portion 241, which serves as the second base connecting rod portion, are arranged at equal positions in the vertical direction, and the connecting rod portion 232, which serves as the first front connecting rod portion, and the connecting rod portion 242, which serves as the second front connecting rod portion, are arranged at equal positions in the vertical direction. However, it is also possible for the first base connecting rod portion and the second base connecting rod portion to be offset from each other in the vertical direction, or for the first front connecting rod portion and the second front connecting rod portion to be offset from each other in the vertical direction. Furthermore, the first arm may be constructed by a single connecting rod member, or it may include three or more connecting rod members. Similarly, the second arm may be constructed by a single connecting rod member, or it may include three or more connecting rod members.

[0137] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, the front end of the arm 230, which is the first arm, is positioned at a position offset to the left or right relative to the hand 211, which is the first hand, and the front end of the arm 240, which is the second arm, is positioned at a position offset to the left or right relative to the hand 212, which is the second hand. However, it is also possible that the front end of the first arm is positioned at the center in the left or right direction relative to the first hand, or that the front end of the second arm is positioned at the center in the left or right direction relative to the second hand.

[0138] Furthermore, in the first reference example described above, the control unit 270 is shown to have a main CPU for overall control of the substrate transport robot 200 and a servo CPU for controlling the power supplied to the servo motors. However, the control unit may also have a single computing device such as a CPU. Furthermore, the actions of the holding mechanisms of the first and second hands, the rotation mechanisms of the first and second hand rotating parts, the drive units of the first and second arms, the drive units of the arm support unit, and the drive units of the lifting unit may be executed by control units configured as separate hardware, or any of them may be controlled by a common control unit.

[0139] [Second Reference Example] Next, the substrate transport robot 300 of the second reference example will be described with reference to Figures 16 to 21.

[0140] (Substrate processing system) As shown in Figure 16, a substrate transfer robot 300 is disposed in a substrate processing system 302. The substrate processing system 302 includes the substrate transfer robot 300 and a processing unit 303. The substrate transfer robot 300 performs transfer operations involving both loading and unloading substrates 101 into and out of the substrate mounting section 304 of the processing unit 303. The processing unit 303 includes a plurality of substrate mounting sections 304. The substrate transfer robot 300 includes hands 311 and 312 arranged separately in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z-direction) and each holding a substrate 101. The substrate 101 is, for example, a wafer used to produce semiconductors. The substrate 101 has a circular plate shape. The substrate 101 includes, for example, silicon wafers, gallium nitride wafers, sapphire wafers, etc. The processing unit 303 is, for example, a polishing apparatus for grinding the substrate 101. Alternatively, the processing unit 303 may be an apparatus for etching or sintering the substrate 101.

[0141] The substrate transport robot 300 includes: a hand rotation unit 321 and a hand rotation unit 322, a support unit 331 and a support unit 332, a sliding movement unit 341 and a sliding movement unit 342, a horizontal rotation mechanism unit 350, a lifting unit 360, and a control unit 370.

[0142] As shown in Figure 17, the hand 311 has a holding mechanism 311a. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 18, the hand 311 has a double-forked shape with two front ends. The holding mechanism 311a abuts against the periphery of the substrate 101 held by the hand 311 by moving along a direction from the base end of the hand 311 toward the front end. The hand 311 has claws 311b disposed on each of the two front ends. By moving the holding mechanism 311a from the base end of the hand 311 toward the front end, the periphery of the substrate 101 is held by the holding mechanism 311a and the two claws 311b. That is, the hand 311 is an active type substrate holding hand that uses an edge grip to fix and hold the substrate 101. Although only the hand 311 is shown in Figure 18, the structure of the hand 312 is the same as that of the hand 311. That is, as shown in FIG17, similar to hand 311, hand 312 has a holding mechanism 312a that moves in a direction from the base end of hand 312 toward the front end. Holding mechanism 311a and holding mechanism 312a have, for example, cylinders as driving sources. Furthermore, hand 311 and hand 312 each hold a substrate 101.

[0143] Hand rotating parts 321 and 322 each rotate hands 311 and 312 about a rotation axis extending horizontally. Hand rotating parts 321 and 322 are connected to a flip axis that rotates in a manner that tilts the held substrate 101, thereby rotating hands 311 and 312. Hand rotating parts 321 and 322 rotate hands 311 and 312 relative to a horizontal plane with the horizontal direction as the rotation axis. Specifically, hand rotating part 321 is connected to the base of hand 311 and rotates hand 311 with the direction from the base of hand 311 toward the front end as the rotation axis. Hand rotating part 322 is connected to the base of hand 312 and rotates hand 312 with the direction from the base of hand 312 toward the front end as the rotation axis. In detail, hand rotation units 321 and 322 rotate hands 311 and 312 with a rotation axis passing through the center of substrate 101 and extending from the base of hands 311 and 312 toward the front end. Each of hand rotation units 321 and 322, by rotating hands 311 and 312, interchanges the back surface and surface of substrate 101 held by hands 311 and 312. For example, as shown in FIG18, hand rotation unit 321 rotates hand 311 180 degrees about rotation axis A310. Furthermore, as shown in FIG19, hand rotation unit 322 rotates hand 212 180 degrees about rotation axis A320. Rotation axes A310 and A320 each extend in a horizontal direction. That is, rotation axes A310 and A320 extend along the XY plane. Furthermore, Figure 19 illustrates examples of substrate 101 rotated 90 degrees around rotation axis A310 and rotation axis A320 using two-point chain lines. It should be noted that the rotation axis extending horizontally is a broad concept, encompassing not only horizontally extending axes but also axes slightly tilted from the horizontal. For example, "tilt from the horizontal" includes tilts caused by the weight of the substrate, the weight of the hand itself, the tilt of the substrate transport robot, or the tilt of the device on which the substrate transport robot is mounted. Furthermore, "horizontal direction" is a broad concept, including directions parallel to the mounting surface of the substrate transport robot, directions parallel to the mounting surface of the substrate mounting section, or directions parallel to a horizontal plane orthogonal to the direction of gravity (i.e., the vertical direction).

[0144] As shown in Figure 17, the hand rotation unit 321 has a rotation mechanism 321a for rotating the hand 311. Similarly, the hand rotation unit 322 has a rotation mechanism 322a for rotating the hand 312. Both the rotation mechanism 321a and the rotation mechanism 322a have a drive source for the rotation of the hand 311 and the hand 312. For example, the rotation mechanism 321a and the rotation mechanism 322a may have a servo motor as the drive source.

[0145] Furthermore, as shown in FIG18, the hand rotation part 321 includes a sealing member 321b that closes the rotation mechanism part 321a relative to the outside. The sealing member 321b has an annular shape and closes the gap between the rotation mechanism part 321a and the outside. The sealing member 321b is, for example, an elastic member such as flexible rubber. As an example, the sealing member 321b includes an O-ring. Although only the hand rotation part 321 is shown in FIG18, similarly to the hand rotation part 321, the hand rotation part 322 also includes a sealing member that closes the rotation mechanism part 322a relative to the outside.

[0146] As shown in Figure 19, support portions 331 and 332 each support hands 311 and 312 at positions separated from sliding portions 341 and 342 in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z-direction). Specifically, support portion 331 is connected to sliding portion 341 and supports hand 311 at a position separated from sliding portion 341 in the vertical direction (i.e., the Z1 direction). Support portion 331 supports hand 311 via support hand rotation portion 321. Support portion 332 is connected to sliding portion 342 and supports hand 312 at a position separated from sliding portion 342 in the horizontal direction (i.e., the Z2 direction). Support portion 332 supports hand 312 via support hand rotation portion 322. As shown in Figure 20, each of the support portions 331 and 332 has an L-shape, which includes a portion extending in the vertical direction and a portion extending in the horizontal plane in a direction orthogonal to the movement directions of the hands 311 and 312. The support portion 331 supports the hand 311 at a position where it is separated from the sliding moving portion 341 only by a distance greater than the amount of rotation of the substrate 101 caused by the hand rotating portion 321. The support portion 332 supports the hand 312 at a position where it is separated from the sliding moving portion 342 only by a distance greater than the amount of rotation of the substrate 101 caused by the hand rotating portion 322. Furthermore, in Figure 20, a two-point chain line indicates the area traversed by the substrate 101 held by each of the hands 311 and 312 during rotation. The radius of the substrate 101 is, for example, 150 mm.

[0147] As shown in Figure 17, the sliding movement part 341 and the sliding movement part 342 each include a linear movement mechanism 341a and a linear movement mechanism 342a that cause the hands 311 and 312 to slide linearly along the horizontal direction. In the second reference example, the sliding movement part 341 causes the hand 311 to slide by sliding the hand rotation part 321. The sliding movement part 342 causes the hand 312 to slide by sliding the hand rotation part 322. Each of the linear movement mechanisms 341a and 342a includes, for example, a servo motor as a drive source. Furthermore, each of the linear movement mechanisms 341a and 342a has, for example, a timing belt that transmits the driving force of the motor and a linear guide rail as a guide for linear movement. Furthermore, the term "sliding movement" as used herein does not refer to the linear movement of hands 311 and 312 caused by the movement of mutually rotating linkage members, but rather to linear movement in a manner in which the support portions 331 and 332 supporting hands 311 and 312 slide along the housing of sliding movement portions 341 and 342. In other words, sliding movement means linear movement along the housing of sliding movement portions 341 and 342.

[0148] As shown in Figure 19, the sliding moving part 341 moves the hand 311 horizontally by moving the support part 331 of the supporting hand 311. The sliding moving part 342 moves the hand 312 horizontally by moving the support part 332 of the supporting hand 312. The sliding moving parts 341 and 342 are individually configured and operate individually. The sliding moving parts 341 and 342 each move the hand 311 and the hand 312 by moving the support parts 331 and 332 in a direction from the base of the hand 312 towards the front end. The sliding moving part 341 has an opening 341b for connecting to the support part 331. The opening 341b is attached to the side of the sliding moving part 341 and is arranged in a manner extending along the moving direction of the hand 311. The sliding moving part 342 has an opening 342b for connecting to the support part 332. The opening 342b is disposed on the side of the sliding part 342, extending along the movement direction of the hand 312. Furthermore, the side with the opening 341b and the side with the opening 342b are opposite to each other along the movement directions of the hands 311 and 312. That is, in the sliding part 341, an opening 341b for connection to the support part 331 is disposed on one side in the left-right direction. Furthermore, in the sliding part 342, an opening 342b for connection to the support part 332 is disposed on the other side in the left-right direction. Here, the left-right direction refers to the direction orthogonal to the up-down direction when viewed from the movement directions of the hands 311 and 312 in both the sliding parts 341 and 342. The sliding parts 341 and 342 have identical shapes and are disposed in a state where their top and bottom are reversed.

[0149] The horizontal rotation mechanism 350 is connected to both the sliding moving parts 341 and 342. The sliding moving part 341 is connected above the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 (i.e., in the Z1 direction), and the sliding moving part 342 is connected below the horizontal rotation mechanism 350. That is, in the substrate transport robot 300, above the horizontal rotation mechanism 350, the sliding moving part 341, the support part 331, and the hand rotation part 321 are arranged in this order facing upwards (i.e., in the Z1 direction). Furthermore, below the horizontal rotation mechanism 350, the sliding moving part 342, the support part 332, and the hand rotation part 322 are arranged in this order facing downwards (i.e., in the Z2 direction). The sliding moving parts 341 and 342 rotate individually relative to the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 along the XY plane (i.e., the horizontal plane). As shown in FIG17, the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 includes a drive part 350a. The drive unit 350a includes, for example, a servo motor. The horizontal rotation mechanism 350, driven by the drive unit 350a, causes each of the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 to rotate individually. The horizontal rotation mechanism 350 causes the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 to rotate about a common rotation axis A301 shown in FIG. 19. The rotation axis A301 is arranged to extend along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction).

[0150] As shown in Figure 16, the lifting unit 360 causes the hands 311 and 312 to move up and down along the Z direction (i.e., the vertical direction) by moving the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 up and down. Specifically, the lifting unit 360 is connected to the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 via the horizontal rotation mechanism 350. The lifting unit 360 causes the hands 311 and 312 to move up and down in a linked manner by moving the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 up and down. The lifting unit 360 has a cylindrical housing extending along the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). As shown in Figure 17, the lifting unit 360 includes a drive unit 360a. The drive unit 360a includes, for example, a servo motor as a drive source. Furthermore, the drive unit 360a has, for example, a ball screw mechanism and a linear guide rail. The lifting unit 360 is connected to a horizontal rotation mechanism 350 on its Y1 direction side surface. The horizontal rotation mechanism 350 is moved up and down along the Z direction by the driving force of the drive unit 360a. The lifting unit 360 has an opening 360b for connecting to the horizontal rotation mechanism 350. The opening 360b is arranged on the side of the columnar housing of the lifting unit 360 in a manner that extends along the moving direction (i.e., the vertical direction) of the horizontal rotation mechanism 350.

[0151] The control unit 370 is a robot controller that controls the actions of various parts of the board transport robot 300. The control unit 370 includes, for example, a computing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Furthermore, the control unit 370 includes memory devices such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), as well as hard disks. The control unit 370 executes control processing based on the computing device according to the programs and parameters stored in the memory devices. Specifically, the control unit 370 controls the actions of the holding mechanisms 311a and 312a of each of the hands 311 and 312. Furthermore, the control unit 370 controls the operation of the rotation mechanisms 321a and 322a of the hand rotation unit 321 and the hand rotation unit 322, the operation of the linear motion mechanisms 341a and 342a of the sliding movement unit 341 and the sliding movement unit 342, the operation of the drive unit 350a of the horizontal rotation mechanism unit 350, and the operation of the drive unit 360a of the lifting unit 360. For example, the control unit 370 has a main CPU for overall control of the substrate transport robot 300 and a servo CPU for controlling the power supplied to the servo motors of the rotation mechanisms 321a and 322a, the linear motion mechanisms 341a and 342a, the drive unit 350a, and the drive unit 360a. The control unit 370 is individually configured with, for example, hands 311 and 312, hand rotation units 321 and 322, sliding movement units 341 and 342, horizontal rotation mechanism unit 350, and lifting unit 60, and is connected to the columnar housing of the lifting unit 360 via a cable member. The control unit 370 outputs signals for controlling the operation of each unit via the cable member connected to the lifting unit 360.

[0152] The control unit 370 executes the transfer operation of the substrate 101 according to the control variables set in advance. For example, the control unit 370 performs a transfer operation from the supply position to the substrate placement unit 304 by holding the substrate 101 already supplied to the substrate processing system 302 with the hand 311 or hand 312. Furthermore, the control unit 370 performs a transfer operation by holding the substrate 101 placed on the substrate placement unit 304 of the processing device 303 with the hand 311 or hand 312 to transfer the substrate 101 from the substrate placement unit 304 to a transfer position for removal. In addition, the supply position and the transfer position may be equal to each other or different from each other. Furthermore, the control unit 370 causes the hand 311 or the hand 312 to hold the substrate 101 placed in one of the plurality of substrate placement units 304 of the processing device 303, and performs a transfer operation to transfer the held substrate 101 to the same substrate placement unit 304 or another substrate placement unit 304 different from the one substrate placement unit 304.

[0153] As shown in Figure 19, when the control unit 370 moves the hands 311 and 312, which are holding the substrate 101, to a position where they overlap with the sliding parts 341 and 342 when viewed from the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction), the lifting part 360 moves the hands 311 and 312 up and down. That is, when the control unit 370 moves the hands 311 and 312 to the lifting part 360 side via the sliding parts 341 and 342, it performs the lifting action performed by the lifting part 360. In the example shown in Figure 19, the sliding parts 341 and 342 are configured such that the hands 311 and 312 move parallel to each other along the X direction. In this case, the control unit 370 moves the hands 311 and 312 to the X2 direction side by means of the sliding moving part 341 and the sliding moving part 342, and then moves the hands 311 and 312 up and down along the Z direction by means of the lifting part 360.

[0154] Furthermore, the control unit 370 reverses the surface and back of the substrate 101 held by the hands 311 and 312 by controlling the operation of the hand rotation units 321 and 322. In this case, the control unit 370 rotates the hands 311 and 312 by means of the sliding moving units 341 and 342, respectively, to a position where they overlap with the sliding moving units 341 and 342 when viewed from the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). That is, in Reference Example 2, the control unit 370 rotates the hands 311 about a rotation axis A310 extending in the horizontal direction by means of the hand rotation unit 321, with the hands 311 positioned overlapping with the sliding moving units 341 when viewed from above. When viewed from above, the control unit 370, with the hand 312 positioned overlapping the sliding movement unit 342, rotates the hand 312 about a horizontally extending axis of rotation using the hand rotation unit 322. Furthermore, the control unit 370 performs the rotation of the hand 311 and hand 312 using the hand rotation units 321 and 322, and the movement of the hand 311 and hand 312 using the sliding movement units 341 and 342, in a sequential manner. Therefore, when the hands 311 and 312 are moved to a relatively wide space by the sliding moving parts 341 and 342, the hands 311 and 312 can be rotated by the hand rotating parts 321 and 322. Thus, when the hands 311 and 312 rotate about a rotation axis extending horizontally, it is possible to suppress physical interference between the hands 311 and 312 themselves, the substrate 101 held by the hands 311 and 312, and surrounding components. Furthermore, when the hands 311 and 312 are rotated and moved simultaneously, vibration may occur in the hands 311 and 312. Therefore, by performing the rotation and movement of the hands 311 and 312 in a separate sequence, it is possible to suppress abnormal movements of the hands 311 and 312 caused by vibration. Similarly, the control unit 370 performs the actions of rotating the hands 311 and 312 by the hand rotation unit 321 and the hand rotation unit 322, and moving the hands 311 and 312 up and down by the lifting unit 360, in a separate sequence.

[0155] For example, the control unit 370 holds the substrate 101 placed on the substrate mounting section 304 of the processing device 303 by means of the Z1 direction side surface of the hand 311. The control unit 370 actuates the holding mechanism 311a of the hand 311 to hold the substrate 101 in a state fixed to the Z1 direction side surface of the hand 311. The control unit 370 moves the hand 311 holding the substrate 101 to the lifting section 360 side by means of the sliding movement section 341. Furthermore, the control unit 370 rotates the hand 311 180 degrees by means of the hand rotation section 321 while the hand 311 is positioned in a position that overlaps with the sliding movement section 341 when viewed from the vertical direction (i.e., the Z direction). The control unit 370, while holding the substrate 101 in the Z2 direction side of the reversed hand 311, places the substrate 101, in a state where the surface and back sides are reversed, onto a substrate placement section 304 in the processing apparatus 303 that is either different from or the same as the substrate placement section 304 on which the substrate 101 was previously placed. That is, the control unit 370 moves the hand 311 to the substrate placement section 304 by rotating it with the hand rotation unit 321 after the hand 311 has moved to the lifting section 360 side via the sliding movement unit 341. Furthermore, the control unit 370 may also tilt the substrate 101 by only 90 degrees by operating the hand rotation unit 321, thereby placing the substrate 101 onto the substrate placement section 304 in a state where its main surface is tilted 90 degrees and orthogonal to the horizontal plane. Furthermore, in Figure 19, an example of a substrate 101 held by hands 311 and 312 in a 90-degree tilted state is represented by a two-point chain line.

[0156] The control unit 370 controls both the action of moving the substrate 101 by hand 311 and the action of moving the substrate 101 by hand 312. The actions of holding and moving the substrate 101 by hand 311 and moving the substrate 101 by hand 312 can be performed independently and in a separate sequence, or the other action can be performed simultaneously with the moving action of hand 311 and hand 312. For example, after each of the actions of holding the substrate 101 by hand 311 and hand 312, the control unit 370 sequentially performs the actions of placing the substrate 101 held by hand 311 onto the substrate mounting section 304 and placing the substrate 101 held by hand 312 onto the substrate mounting section 304. For example, in a processing apparatus 303 that is a polishing device, the control unit 370 uses hand 311 to hold the substrate 101 before processing and hand 312 to hold the substrate 101 after processing. The processing performed by the processing apparatus 303 referred to herein can be either a polishing process for the substrate 101 or a cleaning process for the polished substrate 101. Furthermore, the process can be performed by holding the substrate 101 before processing with hand 312 and holding the substrate 101 after processing with hand 311. In the polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate 101, liquids such as polishing agents for the substrate 101 or cleaning solutions for cleaning the substrate 101 are applied to the substrate 101. By using hand 311 and hand 312 respectively for before and after processing, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the substrate 101 before polishing or to the substrate 101 after cleaning.

[0157] (Liquid receiving section) As shown in Figure 21, the substrate transport robot 300 of the second reference example includes a liquid receiving section 381 and a liquid receiving section 391. The liquid receiving section 381 is a plate-shaped member arranged horizontally below the hand 311 (i.e., on the Z2 side). Furthermore, the liquid receiving section 391 is a plate-shaped member arranged horizontally below the hand 312 (i.e., on the Z2 side). In the processing apparatus 303 of the substrate processing system 302, as described above, liquid may adhere to the substrate 101 held by the hand 311 and hand 312. The liquid receiving section 381 and liquid receiving section 391 each receive liquid from the substrate 101 held by the hand 311 and hand 312 respectively. Furthermore, the term "liquid" received by the liquid receiving section 381 and liquid receiving section 391 is used in a broad sense, including not only liquids such as suspensions containing solid particles, but also mixtures of liquids and solids.

[0158] The liquid receiving portion 381 moves integrally with the sliding moving portion 341, which rotates relative to the horizontal rotating mechanism portion 350. The liquid receiving portion 381 is disposed below the hand 311 on the upper surface of the sliding moving portion 341 on the Z1 side. Specifically, the liquid receiving portion 381 is a rectangular plate-shaped part that runs along the horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane) and is recessed in the center. The liquid receiving portion 381 is inclined towards the center portion from each side of the rectangle, decreasing in height as it moves towards the center portion. Furthermore, an orifice 381a for discharging the received liquid is disposed in the center portion of the liquid receiving portion 381. The orifice 381a is connected to a tube-shaped hose, for example, that is disposed from the sliding moving portion 341 via the lifting portion 360. This hose is disposed inside the sliding moving portion 341 and the lifting portion 360, for example, along with signal lines for control signals and power lines for supplying electricity. Furthermore, a plate-shaped shielding plate 382 is disposed along the vertical direction on one side of the rectangular liquid receiving portion 381. The shielding plate 382 is configured to overlap the hand 311 from the direction of movement of the hand 311 when the hand 311 slides via the sliding moving portion 341. The shielding plate 382 shields the base end of the hand 311. Specifically, the shielding plate 382 is disposed on the end of the hand 311 on the base end side, extending upward from the upper surface of the sliding moving portion 341. For example, the shielding plate 382 is disposed from the upper surface of the sliding moving portion 341 up to a position higher than the hand 311.

[0159] Furthermore, the liquid receiving portion 391 moves integrally with the sliding moving portion 342, which rotates relative to the horizontal rotation mechanism portion 350. The liquid receiving portion 391 is fixed to the Z2 side of the sliding moving portion 342 below the hand 312 via a shielding plate 392 and a side wall portion 393. Similar to the shielding plate 382, ​​the shielding plate 392 is configured to overlap the hand 312 in the direction of movement of the hand 312 as the hand 312 slides via the sliding moving portion 342. That is, the shielding plate 392 is disposed on the lower surface of the sliding moving portion 342 at the end of the hand 312 that moves from the base end toward the front end. The shielding plate 392 extends from the lower surface of the sliding moving portion 342 to the position of the liquid receiving portion 391. The side wall portion 393 is also a plate-shaped member that extends from the lower surface of the sliding moving portion 342 to the liquid receiving portion 391. The upper ends of the shielding plate 392 and the side wall portion 393 are fixed to the sliding moving portion 342. The side wall portion 393 is a rectangular plate extending along the moving direction of the hand 312. The side wall portion 393 is located on the opposite side of the sliding moving portion 342 that is connected to the support portion 332 in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the hand 312. The liquid receiving portion 391 is supported by the shielding plate 392 and the side wall portion 393, and thus fixed to the sliding moving portion 342. Similar to the liquid receiving portion 381, the liquid receiving portion 391 is a rectangular plate extending along the horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane) and recessed in the center. The liquid receiving portion 391 is inclined towards the center from each side of the rectangle, decreasing in height towards the center. Furthermore, similar to the liquid receiving portion 381, a hole 391a for discharging the received liquid is provided in the center of the liquid receiving portion 391. Similar to orifice 381a, a hose for liquid discharge is connected to orifice 391a.

[0160] [Effect of the second reference example] As described above, the substrate transport robot 300 includes: a sliding movement unit 341, which is a first sliding movement unit that allows the first hand 311 to slide horizontally; and a sliding movement unit 342, which is separately configured from the sliding movement unit 341 and allows the second hand 312 to slide horizontally. This allows the hands 311 and 312 to move linearly using the sliding movement units 341 and 342 respectively without requiring rotational movement. Therefore, compared to using a robotic arm that rotates horizontally to move the hands, the positional accuracy during linear movement can be improved. Consequently, when transporting the substrate 101 by moving both hands 311 and 312 horizontally, the positional accuracy during the transport operation can be improved. Furthermore, compared to the case where the hands 311 and 312 move horizontally via a robotic arm that connects link components, the hands 311 and 312 can be moved by sliding motion, thereby reducing the number of components required to move the hands 311 and 312. Moreover, unlike the case of combined rotational movements, the hands 311 and 312 can move linearly via a simple sliding motion, thus shortening the movement time required for linear movement.

[0161] The first hand 311 and the second hand 312 are configured to be separated from each other in the vertical direction. In this way, by configuring the hands 311 and 312 to be separated in the vertical direction, the hands 311 and 312 can easily enter and exit the common position simply by moving the lifting part 360 up and down in the vertical direction.

[0162] The substrate transport robot 300 includes a horizontal rotation mechanism 350 for connecting a sliding moving part 341 (as a first sliding moving part) and a sliding moving part 342 (as a second sliding moving part). The horizontal rotation mechanism 350 rotates the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 individually along a horizontal plane. This reduces the need for large-scale device construction compared to situations where the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 are connected to different components. Furthermore, the direction of sliding movement of the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 can be easily changed by rotating them via the horizontal rotation mechanism 350, thus easily expanding the area accessible to the hands 311 and 312.

[0163] The sliding moving part 341, serving as the first sliding moving part, is connected above the horizontal rotation mechanism part 350. The sliding moving part 342, serving as the second sliding moving part, is connected below the horizontal rotation mechanism part 350. Therefore, by positioning the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 above and below the horizontal rotation mechanism part 350, the area where the substrate transport robot 300 is positioned when viewed from above can be miniaturized. Furthermore, unlike the case where both the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 are positioned in the same vertical direction relative to the horizontal rotation mechanism part 350, it is easier to suppress interference between the movements of the sliding moving parts 341 and 342.

[0164] The horizontal rotation mechanism 350 is connected to the lifting unit 360. By moving the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 up and down, the lifting unit 360 causes the first hand 311 and the second hand 312 to move up and down in a linked manner. In this way, by moving the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 up and down by the lifting unit 360, the hands 311 and 312 move up and down in a linked manner, so compared with the case where the hands 311 and 312 move up and down individually, the large size of the device can be prevented.

[0165] The substrate transport robot 300 includes: a hand rotation unit 321, serving as a first hand rotation unit, connected to the base of a hand 311 serving as the first hand, and rotating the hand 311 around a rotation axis A310 extending in the horizontal direction; and a hand rotation unit 322, serving as a second hand rotation unit, connected to the base of a hand 312 serving as the second hand, and rotating the hand 312 around a rotation axis A320 extending in the horizontal direction. A sliding movement unit 341, serving as a first sliding movement unit, slides the hand 311 by sliding the hand rotation unit 321. A sliding movement unit 342, serving as a second sliding movement unit, slides the hand 312 by sliding the hand rotation unit 322. This configuration allows the substrate 101 held by the hands 311 and 312 to be rotated by the hand rotation units 321 and 322, thereby interchangering the surface and back surfaces of the substrate 101.

[0166] The substrate transport robot 300 includes a control unit 370, which controls the movement of a sliding motion unit 341 (a first sliding motion unit) and a sliding motion unit 342 (a second sliding motion unit). When viewed from above, the control unit 370 rotates the first hand 311 (as a first hand) around a horizontally extending axis of rotation A310 using a hand rotation unit 321, which is positioned overlapping the sliding motion unit 341. Similarly, when viewed from above, the second hand 312 (as a second hand) is positioned overlapping the sliding motion unit 342, and the second hand rotation unit 322 rotates the second hand 312 around a horizontally extending axis of rotation A320. Thus, since both hands 311 and 312 rotate when each is overlapping the sliding motion units 341 and 342 respectively when viewed from above, the area required for rotating hands 311 and 312 when viewed from above can be miniaturized. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the configuration area of ​​the substrate transport robot 300 when viewed from above, and it is possible to easily rotate the hands 311 and 312 around the rotation axes A310 and A320 extending in the horizontal direction.

[0167] The substrate transport robot 300 includes a plate-shaped liquid receiving portion 381, serving as a first liquid receiving portion, disposed horizontally below a first hand 311, and a plate-shaped liquid receiving portion 391, serving as a second liquid receiving portion, disposed horizontally below a second hand 312. This allows the plate-shaped liquid receiving portions 381 and 391 to receive liquid adhering to the substrate 101, thus preventing the liquid adhering to the substrate 101 from scattering. Therefore, abnormalities in the handling of the substrate 101 or the operation of the substrate transport robot 300 caused by liquid scattering can be prevented. Furthermore, with the liquid receiving portion 381 disposed below the hand 311 and the liquid receiving portion 391 disposed below the hand 312, liquid adhering to the substrate 101 can be effectively received even when the hands 311 and 312 operate individually.

[0168] The liquid receiving portion 381, serving as the first liquid receiving portion, moves integrally with the sliding moving portion 341, serving as the first sliding moving portion. The liquid receiving portion 391, serving as the second liquid receiving portion, moves integrally with the sliding moving portion 342, serving as the second sliding moving portion. Therefore, since the liquid receiving portions 381 and 391 each move integrally with the sliding moving portions 341 and 342, even when the sliding moving portions 341 and 342 rotate in the horizontal direction, the liquid receiving portions 381 and 391 can be prevented from obstructing the movement of the sliding moving portions 341 and 342. Thus, even when the sliding moving portions 341 and 342 are moved, the liquid already attached to the substrate 101 can be effectively received by each of the liquid receiving portions 381 and 391.

[0169] The first hand 311 is positioned above the sliding moving part 341, which is the first sliding moving part. The first liquid receiving part 381 is positioned below the hand 311 on the upper surface of the sliding moving part 341. The second hand 312 is positioned below the sliding moving part 342, which is the second sliding moving part. The second liquid receiving part 391 is fixed to the sliding moving part 342 below the hand 312 via a shielding plate 392 and a side wall portion 393, which serve as support members. Thus, the liquid receiving part 381 can receive liquid from the substrate 101 held by the hand 311 positioned above the sliding moving part 341, and the liquid receiving part 391 can receive liquid from the substrate 101 held by the hand 312 positioned below the sliding moving part 342. Therefore, by positioning the hand 311 above the sliding moving part 341 and the hand 312 below the sliding moving part 342, the area where the substrate transport robot 300 is positioned when viewed from above can be miniaturized, and liquid from the substrate 101 held by the hand 311 and the hand 312 can be effectively received.

[0170] The liquid receiving portion 381, which serves as the first liquid receiving portion, and the liquid receiving portion 391, which serves as the second liquid receiving portion, are both rectangular plates with a recessed central portion. In this way, liquid from the substrate 101 received by the liquid receiving portion 381 and the liquid receiving portion 391 can be easily collected.

[0171] The substrate transport robot 300 includes a shielding plate 382 serving as a first shielding plate. The shielding plate 382 is configured to overlap with the hand 311 (which serves as a first hand) and shield its base when the hand 311 slides via a sliding moving part 341 (which serves as a first sliding moving part). Furthermore, the substrate transport robot 300 includes a second shielding plate. The second shielding plate is configured to overlap with the hand 312 (which serves as a second hand) and shield its base when the hand 312 slides via a sliding moving part 342 (which serves as a second sliding moving part). Therefore, shielding plates 382 and 392 are respectively disposed on the base end side of each of the hands 311 and 312. So when the hands 311 and 312 move towards the base end side, the shielding plates 382 and 392 can receive liquid from the substrate 101 held by the hands 311 and 312. Therefore, the liquid from the substrate 101 can be prevented from splashing around, and abnormalities in the handling of the substrate 101 or the operation of the substrate transport robot 100 caused by liquid splashing can be prevented.

[0172] Both the first hand 311 and the second hand 312 hold the substrate 101 in the polishing apparatus that polishes the substrate 101. This improves the positional accuracy during the transport of the substrate 101 by the hands 311 and 312 in the polishing apparatus. Furthermore, in the polishing apparatus, liquids such as polishing agents or cleaning solutions adhere to the substrate 101. Therefore, as shown in the second reference example, by using two hands, 311 and 312, the substrate 101 before and after processing can be held by the different hands. This prevents abnormalities in the processing of the substrate 101 caused by the polishing agents or cleaning solutions.

[0173] The sliding moving part 341, serving as the first sliding moving part, moves the hand 311, which holds one of the substrates 101 as a first hand. The sliding moving part 342, serving as the second sliding moving part, moves the hand 312, which holds one of the substrates 101 individually as a second hand, along with the hand 311. In this way, compared with the case where each of the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 transports a plurality of substrates 101, the complexity of the configuration of the hands 311 and 312 can be suppressed.

[0174] [A variation of the second reference example] Furthermore, it should be understood that all the contents of the second reference example disclosed herein are illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

[0175] For example, in the second reference example described above, the first hand 311 and the second hand 312 are arranged in a state where they are separated in the vertical direction. However, the first hand and the second hand can also be arranged in a way where they are separated in the horizontal plane. Furthermore, the first hand and the second hand can also be arranged in a state where they are separated in the vertical direction and offset in the horizontal direction.

[0176] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, a sliding moving part 341, serving as a first sliding moving part, is connected above the horizontal rotation mechanism 350, and a sliding moving part 342, serving as a second sliding moving part, is connected below the horizontal rotation mechanism 350. The horizontal rotation mechanism 350 then rotates both the sliding moving parts 341 and 342 individually. However, it is also possible for both the first and second sliding moving parts to be positioned above or below the horizontal rotation mechanism. Furthermore, the first and second sliding moving parts may be arranged in a single configuration. Furthermore, the configuration for rotating the first and second sliding moving parts may be arranged separately from each other. Additionally, the horizontal rotation mechanism may rotate both the first and second sliding moving parts in a common manner.

[0177] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, an example was shown in which the horizontal rotation mechanism 350 was moved up and down by the lifting part 360, thereby causing the first hand 311 and the second hand 312 to move up and down in a linked manner. However, it is also possible for the first hand and the second hand to move up and down separately. In this case, the first sliding part that moves the first hand and the second sliding part that moves the second hand may also move up and down separately.

[0178] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, an example is shown that has a hand rotating part 321 that rotates the first hand 311 and a hand rotating part 322 that rotates the second hand 312. However, it is also possible that at least one of the first hand rotating part that rotates the first hand and the second hand rotating part that rotates the second hand is not provided.

[0179] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, the first hand 311 and the second hand 312 include a holding mechanism 311a and a holding mechanism 312a with cylinders. However, the holding mechanism in the first and second hands may also be an actuator such as an electromagnetic coil or a motor other than a cylinder. Furthermore, the first and second hands may also be active types of hands other than edge clamps such as vacuum clamps. Furthermore, the first and second hands may also be passive types of hands that do not have a structure for fixing the substrate.

[0180] Furthermore, the second reference example described above illustrates an example in which each of the first hand 311 and the second hand 312 holds a substrate 101. However, it is also possible for at least one of the first hand and the second hand to hold a plurality of substrates.

[0181] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, an example is shown in which the sliding moving part 341, which is the first sliding moving part, and the sliding moving part 342, which is the second sliding moving part, have the same shape. However, it is also possible that the first sliding moving part and the second sliding moving part have different shapes.

[0182] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, it is shown that when viewed from above, the hand 311, which is the first hand, is positioned in a position overlapping with the sliding moving part 341, which is the first sliding moving part. The hand 311 is rotated about a rotation axis A310 extending in the horizontal direction by the hand rotation part 321, which is the first hand rotation part. And when viewed from above, the hand 312, which is the second hand, is positioned in a position overlapping with the sliding moving part 342, which is the second sliding moving part. The hand 312 is rotated about a rotation axis A320 extending in the horizontal direction by the hand rotation part 322, which is the second hand rotation part. However, it is also possible to rotate the first hand when the first hand and the first sliding moving part are not overlapping, or to rotate the second hand when the second hand and the second sliding moving part are not overlapping.

[0183] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, a liquid receiving portion 381, serving as a first liquid receiving portion, is disposed on the upper surface of a sliding moving portion 341, serving as a first sliding moving portion. A liquid receiving portion 391, serving as a second liquid receiving portion, is connected to the sliding moving portion 342, serving as a second sliding moving portion, via a shielding plate 392 and a side wall portion 393, which serve as support members. However, the first liquid receiving portion may also be mounted on a horizontal rotating mechanism, or the second liquid receiving portion may also be mounted on a horizontal rotating mechanism. Furthermore, the first liquid receiving portion may be disposed on a first hand or a first hand rotating portion, or the first liquid receiving portion may be disposed on a second hand or a second hand rotating portion. That is, the first liquid receiving portion may remain stationary when the first sliding moving portion moves, or the second liquid receiving portion may remain stationary when the second sliding moving portion moves.

[0184] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, the liquid receiving portion 381, which serves as the first liquid receiving portion, and the liquid receiving portion 391, which serves as the second liquid receiving portion, are both rectangular plates with a recessed central portion. However, the first liquid receiving portion and the second liquid receiving portion could also be plate-shaped members with an inclined surface tilted towards one side, or they could be lower towards the periphery. Furthermore, the first liquid receiving portion and the second liquid receiving portion could also have a groove-shaped guide portion for guiding the received liquid.

[0185] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, a first shielding plate 382, ​​which shields the base of the first hand 311, is disposed in a sliding moving part 341, which is a first sliding moving part, and a second shielding plate 392, which shields the base of the second hand 312, is disposed in a sliding moving part 342, which is a second sliding moving part. However, the first and second shielding plates may also be disposed in a horizontal rotation mechanism or a lifting part. Furthermore, the first shielding plate may be disposed in a first hand rotation part, which is disposed on the base side of the first hand. The second shielding plate may also be disposed in a second hand rotation part, which is disposed on the base side of the second hand.

[0186] Furthermore, in the second reference example described above, the control unit 370 is shown to have a main CPU for overall control of the substrate transport robot 300 and a servo CPU for controlling the power supplied to the servo motors. However, the control unit may also have a single computing device such as a CPU. Furthermore, the operation of the holding mechanism of the first and second hands, the rotation mechanism of the first and second hand rotating parts, the drive unit of the first and second sliding parts, the drive unit of the horizontal rotation mechanism, and the drive unit of the lifting part may be executed by control units configured as separate hardware, or any of them may be controlled by a common control unit.

[0187] [Example] Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will understand that the first and second reference examples described above are specific examples of the following patterns.

[0188] (Example 1) A substrate conveying robot, comprising: The first and second hands each retain their own substrate; The first arm, with its multiple joints, moves the aforementioned first hand horizontally. The horizontally multi-jointed second arm is configured separately from the aforementioned first arm, and enables the aforementioned second hand to move in the horizontal direction; The arm suspension section supports the aforementioned first arm and second arm by suspending them below; and The lifting unit moves the aforementioned first hand and the aforementioned second hand by raising and lowering the aforementioned arm suspension unit.

[0189] (Example 2) As described in Example 1, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned first arm is positioned below the aforementioned arm suspension part in the horizontal plane, on one side in the left-right direction. The aforementioned second arm is located below the aforementioned arm suspension part and is arranged with the aforementioned first arm in the horizontal plane on the other side in the left-right direction.

[0190] (Example 3) The substrate transport robot described in Example 2 further includes: a support portion disposed at the front end of the aforementioned second arm, and supporting the aforementioned second arm at a position lower than the aforementioned first arm. The aforementioned first and second hands are configured in a state where they are separated from each other in the vertical direction.

[0191] (Example 4) As in Example 3, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned support includes: The first horizontal portion extends from the front end of the aforementioned second arm along the other side in the left-right direction; The upper and lower portions extend downward from the other end of the aforementioned first horizontal portion in the left-right direction; and The second horizontal section is configured to overlap with the aforementioned first horizontal section when viewed from above, and extends from the aforementioned vertical section along one side in the left-right direction; The support portion has a U-shape formed by the aforementioned first horizontal portion, the aforementioned upper and lower portions, and the aforementioned second horizontal portion.

[0192] (Example 5) As described in Example 4, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned first horizontal portion extends along the other side in the left-right direction by an amount greater than the position of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned first hand; The aforementioned upper and lower portions extend downward from the aforementioned first horizontal portion at a position where they separate from the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned first hand in the left-right direction.

[0193] (Example 6) The substrate transport robot described in any of the examples 1 to 5 further comprises: The first rotating part is connected to the base of the aforementioned first hand, and causes the aforementioned first hand to rotate about a rotation axis extending horizontally; and The second rotating part is connected to the base of the aforementioned second hand, and causes the aforementioned second hand to rotate around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction.

[0194] (Example 7) The substrate transport robot described in Example 6 further includes: a control unit that controls the movements of the aforementioned first arm and the aforementioned second arm. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the first hand overlapping the aforementioned arm suspension unit. The first hand rotation unit rotates the first hand around a horizontally extending axis of rotation. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the aforementioned second hand overlapping the aforementioned arm suspension unit. The aforementioned second hand rotation unit rotates the aforementioned second hand around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction.

[0195] (Example 8) As described in Example 7, the substrate transport robot, wherein, When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit rotates the first hand and the second hand in an overlapping position around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction.

[0196] (Example 9) The substrate transport robot described in any one of Examples 1 to 8 further includes: a movable frame unit, which is connected to the aforementioned lifting unit and moves up and down via the aforementioned lifting unit; The aforementioned arm suspension unit is connected to the aforementioned movable frame unit.

[0197] (Example 10) As described in Example 9, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned arm suspension unit rotates in the horizontal plane relative to the aforementioned movable frame unit.

[0198] (Example 11) The substrate transport robot described in Example 9 or Example 10, wherein, The aforementioned lifting section includes a columnar portion extending in the vertical direction; The aforementioned movable frame portion includes upper and lower frame members connected to the side of the aforementioned columnar portion and arranged along the aforementioned columnar portion, and a base member extending from the upper part of the aforementioned upper and lower frame members in a direction separate from the aforementioned columnar portion; The aforementioned arm suspension is connected to the lower part of the aforementioned base component.

[0199] (Pattern 12) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 3 to 5, wherein, The aforementioned first arm includes a first base link portion and a first front link portion that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane; The aforementioned second arm includes a second base end connecting rod and a second front end connecting rod that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane; The aforementioned first base end connecting rod portion and the aforementioned second base end connecting rod portion are connected to each other and arranged in equal positions in the vertical direction with the aforementioned first front end connecting rod portion and the aforementioned second front end connecting rod portion.

[0200] (Pattern 13) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 3 to 5, wherein, The aforementioned first hand rotates along a horizontal plane with the first front-end rotation axis located at the front end of the aforementioned first arm as its center; The aforementioned second hand rotates along a horizontal plane with the second front rotation axis located at the front end of the aforementioned second arm as its center; The front end of the aforementioned first arm is positioned offset to the left or right relative to the aforementioned first hand; The front end of the aforementioned second arm is positioned offset to the left or right of the aforementioned second hand.

[0201] (Pattern 14) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 1 to 13, wherein, The aforementioned first and second processes each involve holding the aforementioned substrate in a polishing apparatus that polishes the aforementioned substrate.

[0202] (Example 15) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 1 to 14, wherein, The aforementioned first arm causes the aforementioned first hand holding the aforementioned substrate to move; The aforementioned second arm causes the aforementioned second hand, which holds the aforementioned substrate separately from the aforementioned first arm, to move.

[0203] (Example 16) A substrate conveying robot, comprising: The first and second hands each retain their own substrate; The first sliding movement part causes the aforementioned first hand to slide horizontally. The second sliding movement part is separately arranged from the aforementioned first sliding movement part, and causes the aforementioned second hand to slide and move in the horizontal direction; The lifting unit moves the first hand and the second hand up and down by moving the first sliding moving part and the second sliding moving part up and down.

[0204] (Example 17) As described in Example 16, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned first and second hands are configured in a state where they are separated from each other in the vertical direction.

[0205] (Example 18) The substrate transport robot described in Example 16 or Example 17 further includes a horizontal rotation mechanism for connecting the aforementioned first sliding movement part and the aforementioned second sliding movement part; The aforementioned horizontal rotation mechanism causes the aforementioned first sliding moving part and the aforementioned second sliding moving part to rotate individually along the horizontal plane.

[0206] (Example 19) As described in Example 18, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned first sliding moving part is connected above the aforementioned horizontal rotating mechanism part. The aforementioned second sliding moving part is connected to the lower part of the aforementioned horizontal rotating mechanism.

[0207] (Example 20) The substrate transport robot described in Example 18 or Example 19, wherein, The aforementioned horizontal rotation mechanism is connected to the aforementioned lifting mechanism; The aforementioned lifting unit causes the aforementioned first hand and the aforementioned second hand to move up and down in a linked manner by moving the aforementioned horizontal rotation mechanism unit up and down.

[0208] (Example 21) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 16 to 20 further comprises: The first rotating part is connected to the base of the aforementioned first hand, and causes the aforementioned first hand to rotate about a rotation axis extending horizontally; and The second rotating part is connected to the base of the aforementioned second hand, and causes the aforementioned second hand to rotate about a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction. The aforementioned first sliding moving part causes the aforementioned first hand to slide by causing the aforementioned first hand rotating part to slide. The aforementioned second sliding moving part causes the aforementioned second hand to slide by causing the aforementioned second hand rotating part to slide.

[0209] (Example 22) The substrate transport robot described in Example 21 further includes: a control unit that controls the movements of the aforementioned first sliding movement unit and the aforementioned second sliding movement unit. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the first hand overlapping the aforementioned first sliding part. The first hand is rotated about a horizontally extending axis of rotation via the aforementioned first hand rotation unit. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the aforementioned second hand overlapping the aforementioned second sliding part, and the aforementioned second hand rotation part rotates the aforementioned second hand around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction.

[0210] (Pattern 23) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 16 to 22 further comprises: A plate-shaped first liquid receiving portion is disposed below the aforementioned first hand along a horizontal plane; and The plate-shaped second liquid receiving part is disposed below the aforementioned second hand along the horizontal plane.

[0211] (Pattern 24) As described in Example 23, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned first liquid receiving part and the aforementioned first sliding moving part move integrally. The aforementioned second liquid receiving part moves integrally with the aforementioned second sliding moving part.

[0212] (Pattern 25) As described in Example 24, the substrate transport robot, wherein, The aforementioned first hand is positioned above the aforementioned first sliding moving part; The aforementioned first liquid receiving part is disposed below the aforementioned first hand on the upper surface of the aforementioned first sliding moving part; The aforementioned second hand is positioned below the aforementioned second sliding part; The aforementioned second liquid receiving part is fixed to the aforementioned second sliding moving part below the aforementioned second hand via a support member.

[0213] (Pattern 26) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 23 to 25, wherein, The aforementioned first liquid receiving part and the aforementioned second liquid receiving part are both rectangular plates with a central recess.

[0214] (Pattern 27) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 16 to 26 further comprises: The first shielding plate is configured to overlap with the first hand in view of the direction of movement of the first hand, thus shielding the base of the first hand, in response to the sliding movement of the first hand via the first sliding part; and The second shielding plate is configured to overlap with the second hand in view of the direction of movement of the second hand, and to shield the base of the second hand, in response to the sliding movement of the second hand via the second sliding part.

[0215] (Pattern 28) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 16 to 27, wherein, The aforementioned first and second processes each involve holding the aforementioned substrate in a polishing apparatus that polishes the aforementioned substrate.

[0216] (Pattern 29) The substrate transport robot described in any of Examples 16 to 28, wherein, The aforementioned first sliding movement portion causes the aforementioned first hand to move while holding one of the aforementioned substrates; The aforementioned second sliding movement portion causes the aforementioned second hand to move, which is separate from the aforementioned first hand, holding one of the aforementioned substrates.

[0217] 11,12,211,212,311,312:hand 11a,12a,211a,212a,311a,312a: Maintaining mechanism 11b, 211b, 311b: Claws 21,22,221,222,321,322: Hand rotation section 21a,22a,221a,222a,321a,322a: Rotating mechanism section 21b, 221b, 321b: Sealing components 30: Upper arm 31,32,41,42,231,232,241,242: Connecting rod section 30a, 40a, 60a, 230a, 240a, 250a, 260a, 350a, 360a: Drive unit 40: Lower arm 50: Arm support section 51: Connecting components 51a: Notch 60, 260, 360: Lifting unit 61: Columnar part 62: Liquid guide section 70, 270, 370: Control Unit 80, 90, 381, 391: Liquid receiving section 81, 91: Inclined surfaces 82, 92, 393: Side wall portion 82a, 92a, 341b, 342b, 360b: Opening 83,382,392: Shielding panel 100, 200, 300: Substrate transport robot 101:Substrate 102, 202, 302: Substrate processing system 103, 203, 303: Processing devices 104,204,304:Substrate mounting part 230, 240: Arm 243, 331, 332: Support section 243a, 243c: Horizontal section 243b: Upper and lower parts 250: Arm suspension section 280: Mobile Frame Department 281: Upper and lower frame components 282: Base components 341, 342: Sliding moving parts 341a, 342a: Linear moving mechanism 350: Horizontal Rotation Mechanism 381a, 391a: Hole section A10, A20, A210, A213, A220, A223, A310, A320: Rotation axes

Claims

1. A substrate handling robot, comprising: an upper arm and a lower arm, each holding a substrate; a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm, including an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and causing the upper arm to move in a horizontal direction; a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm, separately disposed from the upper arm, including a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and causing the lower arm to move in a horizontal direction; an arm support, connected above the upper arm and below the lower arm; a lifting unit, which causes the upper arm and the lower arm to move up and down by lifting the arm support; an upper arm rotation unit connected to the base of the upper arm, and causing the upper arm to rotate about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction; and a lower arm rotation unit connected to the base of the lower arm, and causing the lower arm to rotate about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction. The aforementioned upper hand rotating part is connected to the aforementioned upper arm and supports the aforementioned upper hand at a position where it is separated from the aforementioned upper arm in the vertical direction by a distance smaller than the radius of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned upper hand, so that even if the aforementioned upper hand rotating part causes the aforementioned upper hand holding the aforementioned substrate to rotate, the aforementioned substrate will not interfere with the aforementioned upper arm; The aforementioned lower hand rotating part is connected to the aforementioned lower arm and supports the aforementioned lower hand at a position where it is separated from the aforementioned lower arm in the vertical direction by a distance smaller than the radius of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned lower hand, so that even if the aforementioned lower hand rotating part causes the aforementioned lower hand holding the aforementioned substrate to rotate, the aforementioned substrate will not interfere with the aforementioned lower arm.

2. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned upper hand rotating part supports the aforementioned upper hand at a position where it is separated from the aforementioned upper base end connecting rod of the aforementioned upper arm by a distance smaller than the radius of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned upper hand in the vertical direction; the aforementioned lower hand rotating part supports the aforementioned lower hand at a position where it is separated from the aforementioned lower base end connecting rod of the aforementioned lower arm by a distance smaller than the radius of the aforementioned substrate held by the aforementioned lower hand in the vertical direction.

3. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned lifting unit includes a columnar portion extending in the vertical direction, and the aforementioned arm support unit moves up and down along the aforementioned columnar portion; the aforementioned arm support unit is arranged to extend in a direction perpendicular to the side of the aforementioned columnar portion of the aforementioned lifting unit when viewed from above; the aforementioned upper arm and the aforementioned lower arm are connected to the aforementioned arm support unit at a position where they are separated from the aforementioned columnar portion of the aforementioned lifting unit in the horizontal direction by a predetermined distance.

4. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 3, wherein, The aforementioned upper base end connecting rod is connected above the aforementioned arm support, and the length from the position where the aforementioned upper base end connecting rod is connected to the aforementioned arm support to the front end is smaller than the aforementioned predetermined distance; the aforementioned lower base end connecting rod is connected below the aforementioned arm support, and the length from the position where the aforementioned lower base end connecting rod is connected to the aforementioned arm support to the front end is smaller than the aforementioned predetermined distance.

5. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 1 further comprises: a control unit that controls the movements of the aforementioned upper arm and the aforementioned lower arm; wherein, when viewed from above, the aforementioned upper hand rotation unit is positioned overlapping with the aforementioned arm support unit, the aforementioned control unit rotates the aforementioned upper hand around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction by means of the aforementioned upper hand rotation unit; and wherein, when viewed from above, the aforementioned lower hand rotation unit is positioned overlapping with the aforementioned arm support unit, the aforementioned control unit rotates the aforementioned lower hand around a rotation axis extending in the horizontal direction by means of the aforementioned lower hand rotation unit.

6. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 5, wherein, When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned so that the upper front connecting rod is closer to the lifting unit than the upper base connecting rod. The upper hand is rotated around a horizontally extending axis of rotation by the upper hand rotating part. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned so that the lower front connecting rod is closer to the lifting unit than the lower base connecting rod. The lower hand is rotated around a horizontally extending axis of rotation by the lower hand rotating part.

7. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 1 further comprises: a plate-shaped upper liquid receiving part disposed below the aforementioned upper hand along a horizontal plane; and a plate-shaped lower liquid receiving part disposed below the aforementioned lower hand along a horizontal plane.

8. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 7, wherein, The aforementioned upper liquid receiving part is connected above the aforementioned arm support part; the aforementioned lower liquid receiving part is connected below the aforementioned arm support part.

9. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 7, wherein, Each of the aforementioned upper liquid receiving section and the aforementioned lower liquid receiving section has an inclined surface that slopes downwards towards the aforementioned lifting section along the horizontal plane.

10. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 9, wherein, The aforementioned lifting unit includes a columnar portion extending in the vertical direction; the substrate transport robot further includes a liquid guiding unit, which is arranged along the aforementioned columnar portion and guides the liquid from the aforementioned upper liquid receiving unit and the aforementioned lower liquid receiving unit to the lower position.

11. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned "upper hand" and "lower hand" refer to holding the aforementioned substrate in the grinding apparatus that grinds the aforementioned substrate.

12. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned upper arm enables the movement of one of the aforementioned substrates by the aforementioned upper hand; the aforementioned lower arm enables the movement of one of the aforementioned substrates by the aforementioned lower hand, which is separate from the aforementioned upper hand.

13. A substrate transport robot comprising: a hand for holding a substrate; a horizontally multi-jointed arm including a base link and a front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and for moving the hand in a horizontal direction; an arm support connected to the arm from above or below; a lifting unit for moving the hand up and down by moving the arm support; and a hand rotation unit connected to the base of the hand, and for rotating the hand about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction; the hand rotation unit is connected to the arm and supports the hand at a position where it is separated from the arm in a vertical direction by a distance smaller than the radius of the substrate held by the hand, so that even if the hand holding the substrate is rotated by the hand rotation unit, the substrate will not interfere with the arm.

14. A substrate handling robot comprising: a first hand and a second hand for holding a substrate; a horizontally multi-jointed first arm comprising a first base end link and a first front end link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and for moving the first hand in a horizontal direction; a horizontally multi-jointed second arm comprising a second base end link and a second front end link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and for moving the second hand in a horizontal direction; an arm suspension portion connected below to the first arm and the second arm; a lifting portion for lifting the first hand and the second hand by lifting the arm suspension portion; a first hand rotation portion connected to the base end of the first hand, and for rotating the first hand about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction; and a second hand rotation portion connected to the base end of the second hand, and for rotating the second hand about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction; the first hand rotation portion is connected to the first arm and supports the first hand at a position detached from the arm suspension portion in a vertical direction. The aforementioned second hand rotating part is connected to the aforementioned second arm via a horizontally opening U-shaped support part, and supports the aforementioned second hand, so that when viewed from above, the aforementioned first hand and the aforementioned second hand are arranged in a way that allows them to move to an overlapping position.

15. The substrate transport robot as described in claim 14, wherein, The horizontal distance of the U-shaped support portion is set as follows: when viewed from above, the first hand and the second hand are arranged to overlap each other, the distance from the first hand to the support portion along the horizontal direction is larger than the radius of the substrate to be held by the first hand.

16. A substrate handling robot comprising: an upper arm and a lower arm, each holding a substrate; a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm, including an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and causing the upper arm to move in a horizontal direction; a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm, separately disposed from the upper arm, including a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and causing the lower arm to move in a horizontal direction; an arm support, connected above the upper arm and below the lower arm; a lifting unit, which causes the upper arm and the lower arm to move up and down by lifting the arm support; an upper arm rotation unit, connected to the base of the upper arm, and causing the upper arm to rotate about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction; a lower arm rotation unit, connected to the base of the lower arm, and causing the lower arm to rotate about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction; and a control unit, which controls the movement of the upper arm and the lower arm. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the upper hand rotating part overlapping the aforementioned arm support part. The upper hand rotates around a rotation axis extending horizontally. When viewed from above, the aforementioned control unit is positioned with the lower hand rotating part overlapping the aforementioned arm support part. The lower hand rotates around a rotation axis extending horizontally.

17. A substrate transport robot comprising: an upper hand and a lower hand, each holding a substrate; a horizontally multi-jointed upper arm, including an upper base link and an upper front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and for moving the upper hand in a horizontal direction; a horizontally multi-jointed lower arm, separately disposed from the upper arm, including a lower base link and a lower front link that rotate relative to each other along a horizontal plane, and for moving the lower hand in a horizontal direction; an arm support, connected above the upper arm and below the lower arm; a lifting unit, for moving the upper hand and the lower hand in a lifting manner by moving the arm support unit in a lifting manner; a plate-shaped liquid receiving portion disposed below the upper hand along a horizontal plane; and a plate-shaped liquid receiving portion disposed below the lower hand along a horizontal plane; each of the liquid receiving portion and the liquid receiving portion having an inclined surface that slopes downwards towards the lifting unit along a horizontal plane.

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