DC silicon wafer conveying system and process flow

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of silicon wafer conveying technology, and specifically to a direct current silicon wafer conveying system and process flow. The two sides of the processing host respectively include a number of inlets and a number of outlets, and the wafer taking and feeding mechanism and the wafer taking and discharging mechanism are respectively arranged on one side of the inlet and the outlet; the wafer taking and feeding mechanism and the wafer taking and discharging mechanism both include a flower basket taking and lifting mechanism, a flower basket buffer mechanism, and a silicon wafer conveying runway arranged in sequence; a straight runway, a transverse runway, and an auxiliary runway are arranged in sequence on the other side of the wafer taking and feeding mechanism; a manipulator is arranged on the other side of the wafer taking and feeding mechanism. The direct conveying method of the straight runway can effectively reduce the conveying time. At the same time, the number of components only needs to be half of the inlet and outlet of the processing host, which can effectively save costs and reduce the floor space of the equipment. In addition, the manipulator only needs to grab the silicon wafers and put them into the subsequent processing station without processing the flower basket, which can effectively improve the efficiency of the overall processing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of silicon wafer conveying, and in particular to a direct current silicon wafer conveying system and a process flow. Background Art

[0002] Silicon wafers are the main material for producing photovoltaic products. They are also an important material for making integrated circuits. Various semiconductor devices can be made through photolithography, ion implantation and other methods. They are widely used in aerospace, industry, agriculture, and national defense.

[0003] Existing technologies for conveying silicon wafers are typically designed based on the model of the processing unit. These typically utilize curved runways, which increases the conveyor system's footprint and reduces efficiency. Each processing unit's entrance typically includes a conveyor chain, resulting in a large number of components, increasing floor space and costs.

[0004] The above problems are issues that need to be urgently solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a DC silicon wafer conveying system and process flow, thereby improving the overall efficiency and reducing the floor space occupied.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a solution comprising a straight runway, a transverse runway, an auxiliary runway, a sheet feeding mechanism, a sheet discharging mechanism, and a processing host;

[0007] The processing host comprises a plurality of inlets and a plurality of outlets on both sides, and the sheet feeding mechanism and the sheet discharging mechanism are respectively arranged on one side of the inlet and the outlet;

[0008] The wafer feeding mechanism and the wafer discharging mechanism both include a wafer basket lifting mechanism, a wafer basket buffer mechanism, and a wafer conveying runway that are sequentially arranged;

[0009] The straight runway, the transverse runway and the auxiliary runway are sequentially arranged on the other side of the film taking and conveying mechanism; a manipulator is arranged on the other side of the film taking and conveying mechanism.

[0010] As a further improvement of the present invention, the silicon wafer conveying runway includes a main runway and a secondary runway, the secondary runway is arranged at the tail end of the main runway, the total number of the main runways and the secondary runways is the same as the number of the imports and the number of the export, and are arranged accordingly; the number of the auxiliary runways, the number of the flower basket wafer lifting mechanisms, and the number of the flower basket caching mechanisms are the same as the number of the main runways, and are arranged accordingly.

[0011] As a further improvement of the present invention, each of the main runways and each of the secondary runways form a group, and a film taking mechanism is provided at each of the groups.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present invention, a hidden crack detection device is provided on the main runway.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, the flower basket wafer removal lifting mechanism includes a flower basket lifting device and a silicon wafer extraction device.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, the processing host is provided with an operating area on one side of the sheet taking and feeding mechanism.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present invention, a conveying runway is provided on the other side of the sheet taking and discharging mechanism, a flower basket storage rack is connected to the conveying runway, and an AGV trolley is provided on one side of the flower basket storage rack.

[0016] The DC silicon wafer conveying system includes the following process flows:

[0017] S1: placing a flower basket containing silicon wafers on the linear runway for transportation, transporting the flower basket to the transverse runway, and transporting the flower basket to each of the auxiliary runways through the transverse runway;

[0018] S2: The auxiliary runway transports the flower baskets to the flower basket wafer removal lifting mechanism. The flower basket lifting mechanism lifts and lowers the flower baskets, cooperates with the silicon wafer extraction device to extract silicon wafers from the flower baskets, and transports them to the flower basket buffer mechanism, and then transports the silicon wafers to the silicon wafer conveying runway.

[0019] S3: The wafer taking mechanism moves the silicon wafers on the main runway to the secondary runway, and the frequency of the wafer transfer by the basket buffer mechanism is set according to the frequency of the wafer taking mechanism;

[0020] S4: The main runway and the auxiliary runway transport the silicon wafers from the inlet to the processing host for processing;

[0021] S5: The processed silicon wafers enter the main runway and the secondary runway from the outlet, and then enter the basket buffer mechanism for storage. After that, the silicon wafers are transferred to the basket in the basket retrieval and lifting mechanism, and the basket is transported to the conveying runway;

[0022] S6: Finally, the robot grabs the silicon wafers in the flower basket and takes them to a subsequent processing station, and moves the empty flower basket to the flower basket storage rack, and the flower baskets in the flower basket storage rack are transported by the AGV.

[0023] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0024] The present invention boasts a rational and simple structure. Compared to traditional curved conveying methods, the straight runway direct conveying method effectively reduces conveying time. Furthermore, the number of auxiliary runways, wafer feeding mechanisms, and wafer discharging mechanisms only needs to be half the number of the main processing unit's inlet and outlet ports. Compared to traditional arrangements, this significantly reduces costs and the equipment's footprint, enabling its use in smaller factories. Furthermore, the robot only needs to grab the wafers and move them to subsequent processing stations, eliminating the need to handle the baskets, effectively improving overall processing efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the sheet taking and feeding mechanism of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the sheet taking and discharging mechanism of the present invention.

[0028] Figure numerals: 1. Straight runway; 2. Transverse runway; 3. Auxiliary runway; 4. Wafer retrieval and feeding mechanism; 5. Wafer retrieval and discharging mechanism; 6. Processing host; 7. Import; 8. Export; 9. Robot; 10. Flower basket retrieval and lifting mechanism; 11. Flower basket caching mechanism; 12. Silicon wafer conveying runway; 13. Main runway; 14. Auxiliary runway; 15. Wafer retrieval mechanism; 16. Conveying runway; 17. Flower basket storage rack; 18. AGV cart. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments so that those skilled in the art can better understand the present invention and implement it. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0030] Reference Figure 1The figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, comprising a linear runway 1, a transverse runway 2, an auxiliary runway 3, a wafer feed mechanism 4, a wafer discharge mechanism 5, and a processing host 6. The processing host 6 includes a plurality of inlets 7 and a plurality of outlets 8 on either side, with the wafer feed mechanism 4 and the wafer discharge mechanism 5 located on either side of the inlets 7 and outlets 8, respectively. Both the wafer feed mechanism 4 and the wafer discharge mechanism 5 include a sequentially arranged flower basket lift mechanism 10, a flower basket buffer mechanism 11, and a wafer conveying runway 12. The linear runway 1, transverse runway 2, and auxiliary runway 3 are sequentially arranged on the other side of the wafer feed mechanism 4. A robotic arm 9 is located on the other side of the wafer feed mechanism 4. The wafer conveying runway 12 comprises a main runway 13 and a secondary runway 14. The secondary runway 14 is located at the rear end of the main runway 13, allowing the secondary runway 14 to share the supporting components of the main runway 13. The total number of main runways 13 and secondary runways 14 is the same as the number of entrances 7 and the number of exits 8, and are arranged accordingly; the number of auxiliary runways 3, the number of flower basket lifting mechanisms 10, and the number of flower basket buffering mechanisms 11 are the same as the number of main runways 13, and are arranged accordingly.

[0031] In the actual workshop layout, Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 The processing host 6 has 12 inlets 7 and 12 outlets 8, the number of straight runways 1 is 4, the number of transverse runways 2 is 2, and the number of auxiliary runways 3 is 6. Therefore, the number of flower basket lifting mechanisms 10, the number of flower basket buffer mechanisms 11, the number of main runways 13, and the number of auxiliary runways 14 in the film feeding mechanism 4 are all set to 6. The number of each component in the film discharging mechanism 5 is the same as the number of each component in the film feeding mechanism 4. This allows it to be divided into two groups, each group consisting of 1 straight runway 1, 1 transverse runway 2, 3 flower basket lifting mechanisms 10, 3 flower basket buffer mechanisms 11, 3 main runways 13, and 3 auxiliary runways 14.

[0032] During operation, the flower basket filled with silicon wafers is placed on the straight runway 1 for transportation. After being transported to the transverse runway 2, each flower basket is moved to the auxiliary runway 3. Then the auxiliary runway 3 transports the flower basket to the flower basket wafer lifting mechanism 10, and the silicon wafers in the flower basket are moved to the flower basket cache mechanism 11 for cache. Then the silicon wafers are transported to the main runway 13. When the main runway 13 is transported to the tail end, the silicon wafers are moved to the auxiliary runway 14 at a certain frequency, so that the main runway 13 and the auxiliary runway 14 can continuously transport silicon wafers to the processing host 6. The processed silicon wafers are output from the outlet 8 and output along the wafer discharging mechanism 5. The working mode of the wafer discharging mechanism 5 is the same as that of the wafer feeding mechanism 4. Finally, the silicon wafers are grabbed by the manipulator 9 and taken to the subsequent workstation for processing.

[0033] like Figure 2As shown, each main runway 13 and each secondary runway 14 form a group, and each group is provided with a wafer picking mechanism 15. One wafer picking mechanism 15 serves one main runway 13 and one secondary runway 14 at the same time, and can grab the silicon wafers on the main runway 13 and put them on the secondary runway 14, so that the secondary runway 14 can transport the silicon wafers to the processing host 6. And the frequency of the flower basket buffer mechanism 11 taking out the silicon wafers is set according to the frequency of the wafer picking mechanism 15 grabbing the silicon wafers. For example, when the silicon wafer switches from the main runway 13 to the secondary runway 14, there is about 2 seconds, at which time the flower basket buffer mechanism 11 caches a silicon wafer. When the flower basket of the flower basket wafer picking lifting mechanism 10 is replaced, the cache takes out the wafer, ensuring that the subsequent host can continuously feed the wafer.

[0034] In this embodiment, a hidden crack detection device is provided on the main runway 13, which can detect hidden cracks on the silicon wafers transported on the main runway 13 and remove damaged silicon wafers from the main runway 13, so that there is no hidden danger of hidden cracks on the silicon wafers entering the processing host 6.

[0035] In this embodiment, the flower basket wafer removal lifting mechanism 10 includes a flower basket lifting device and a silicon wafer extraction device. The flower basket lifting device can lift the flower basket so that the silicon wafers of each layer in the flower basket are lifted and lowered, and the silicon wafer extraction device can take out the silicon wafers in the flower basket.

[0036] like Figure 1 As shown, the processing host 6 is provided with an operation area on one side of the film taking and feeding mechanism 4. The operation area can be set in the middle part of the feeding mechanism 4 to facilitate manual operation and maintenance.

[0037] like Figure 1 As shown, a conveyor runway 16 is located on the other side of the wafer discharging mechanism 5. This runway 16 is connected to a flower basket storage rack 17, and an AGV trolley 18 is located on one side of the flower basket storage rack 17. The conveyor runway 16 transports flower baskets to a location near the robot 9, which grabs the silicon wafers in the baskets and takes them to the next processing station. Empty flower baskets are transported to the flower basket storage rack 17, where they are then transported by the AGV trolley 18.

[0038] Including the following process:

[0039] S1: Place a flower basket containing silicon wafers on the straight runway 1 for transportation. The flower basket is then transported to the transverse runway 2. The transverse runway 2 then transports the flower basket to each auxiliary runway 3.

[0040] S2: The auxiliary runway 3 transports the flower baskets to the flower basket wafer removal lifting mechanism 10. The flower basket lifting mechanism lifts and lowers the flower baskets, and cooperates with the silicon wafer extraction device to extract the silicon wafers from the flower baskets and transport them to the flower basket buffer mechanism 11. Then, the silicon wafers are transported to the silicon wafer conveying runway 12.

[0041] S3: The wafer taking mechanism 15 moves the silicon wafers on the main runway 13 to the secondary runway 14, and the frequency of the wafer transfer by the basket buffer mechanism 11 is set according to the frequency of the wafer grabbing by the wafer taking mechanism 15;

[0042] S4: The main runway 13 and the secondary runway 14 transport the silicon wafers from the inlet 7 to the processing host 6 for processing;

[0043] S5: The processed silicon wafers enter the main runway 13 and the secondary runway 14 from the exit 8, and then enter the basket buffer mechanism 11 for storage. The silicon wafers are then transferred to the basket in the basket retrieval and lifting mechanism 10, and the basket is transported to the conveying runway 16.

[0044] S6: Finally, the robot arm 9 grabs the silicon wafers in the flower basket and takes them to the subsequent processing station, and moves the empty flower basket to the flower basket storage rack 17 , and the flower basket in the flower basket storage rack 17 is transported by the AGV trolley 18 .

[0045] It should be understood that when the terms “include” and / or “comprising” are used in this specification, they specify the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and / or their combinations.

[0046] If the terms "center", "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc. appear, the orientation or position relationship indicated is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the system or component referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0047] The terms "first", "second" and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0048] Unless otherwise specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to fixed, removable, or integral connections; mechanical or electrical connections; direct or indirect connections through an intermediary; and internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of these terms in the present invention.

[0049] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural transformation made by using the contents of the present invention description and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. DC silicon wafer conveying system, characterized in that: It includes a straight runway (1), a transverse runway (2), an auxiliary runway (3), a sheet feeding mechanism (4), a sheet discharging mechanism (5), and a processing host (6); The processing host (6) comprises a plurality of inlets (7) and a plurality of outlets (8) on both sides, and the sheet taking and feeding mechanism (4) and the sheet taking and discharging mechanism (5) are respectively arranged on one side of the inlet (7) and the outlet (8); The wafer feeding mechanism (4) and the wafer discharging mechanism (5) both comprise a wafer basket lifting mechanism (10), a wafer basket buffer mechanism (11), and a wafer conveying runway (12) which are sequentially arranged. The straight runway (1), the transverse runway (2) and the auxiliary runway (3) are sequentially arranged on the other side of the sheet-taking and conveying mechanism (4); a manipulator (9) is arranged on the other side of the sheet-taking and conveying mechanism (4); The silicon wafer conveying runway (12) includes a main runway (13) and a secondary runway (14), wherein the secondary runway (14) is arranged at the tail end of the main runway (13), and the total number of the main runway (13) and the secondary runway (14) is the same as the number of the inlets (7) and the number of the outlets (8), and are arranged accordingly; the number of the auxiliary runways (3), the number of the flower basket wafer lifting mechanisms (10), and the number of the flower basket buffer mechanisms (11) are the same as the number of the main runway (13), and are arranged accordingly.

2. The direct current silicon wafer conveying system according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the main runways (13) and each of the secondary runways (14) form a group, and a film taking mechanism (15) is provided at each of the groups.

3. The direct current silicon wafer conveying system according to claim 1, wherein: A hidden crack detection device is provided on the main runway (13).

4. The direct current silicon wafer conveying system according to claim 1, wherein: The flower basket wafer extraction lifting mechanism (10) comprises a flower basket lifting device and a silicon wafer extraction device.

5. The direct current silicon wafer conveying system according to claim 1, wherein: The processing host (6) is provided with an operating area on one side of the sheet taking and feeding mechanism (4).

6. The direct current silicon wafer conveying system according to claim 1, wherein: A conveying runway (16) is provided on the other side of the sheet taking and discharging mechanism (5), a flower basket storage rack (17) is connected to the conveying runway (16), and an AGV trolley (18) is provided on one side of the flower basket storage rack (17).

7. A DC silicon wafer conveying process flow, applied to the DC silicon wafer conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: Including the following process: S1: placing a flower basket containing silicon wafers on a straight runway (1) for transportation, transporting the flower basket to a transverse runway (2), and transporting the flower basket to each auxiliary runway (3) through the transverse runway (2); S2: The auxiliary runway (3) transports the flower baskets to the flower basket wafer removal lifting mechanism (10). The flower basket lifting device lifts and lowers the flower baskets, cooperates with the silicon wafer extraction device to extract the silicon wafers from the flower baskets, and transports them to the flower basket buffer mechanism (11). Then, the silicon wafers are transported to the silicon wafer transport runway (12); S3: The wafer taking mechanism (15) moves the silicon wafer on the main runway (13) to the secondary runway (14), and the frequency of the wafer transmission by the basket buffer mechanism (11) is set according to the frequency of the wafer taking mechanism (15); S4: The main runway (13) and the secondary runway (14) transport the silicon wafers from the inlet (7) to the processing host (6) for processing; S5: The processed silicon wafers enter the main runway (13) and the secondary runway (14) from the outlet (8), and then enter the flower basket buffer mechanism (11) for storage. After that, the silicon wafers are transferred to the flower basket in the flower basket retrieval and lifting mechanism (10), and the flower basket is transported to the transport runway (16); S6: Finally, the robot (9) grabs the silicon wafers in the flower basket and takes them to the subsequent processing station, and moves the empty flower basket to the flower basket storage rack (17), and the flower basket in the flower basket storage rack (17) is transported by the AGV trolley (18).

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