Wafer conveying box sorting device

Abstract

The invention relates to a wafer conveying box arrangement device which comprises a turnover table assembly, a lifting table assembly, a storage area and a wafer fork hand assembly. The overturning table assembly comprises an overturning table and an overturning driving mechanism for driving the overturning table to overturn between a first limit position and a second limit position; the overturning table is provided with at least one storage position for fixing a wafer conveying box, and when the overturning table is located at a first limit position, wafers in the wafer conveying box at the storage position are approximately horizontally placed; when the overturning table is located at a second limit position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box at the storage position are approximately vertically placed; the lifting table assembly comprises a lifting table arranged below the overturning table, a carrier roller horizontally arranged on the lifting table, a rotation driving mechanism for driving the carrier roller to rotate and a lifting driving mechanism. And the lifting driving mechanism is in transmission connection with the lifting table and is used for driving the lifting table to lift, so that the carrier rollers on the lifting table can just vertically abut against the wafer on the overturning table at the second position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing process, and in particular to a wafer conveying box sorting device. Background Art

[0002] The edges of wafers include round edges and flat edges. The flat edges (also called positioning edges) are cut by diamond saws on silicon ingots before the silicon wafers are cut into single pieces. After cutting, the single wafers are in the shape of a major arc, and the bowstring part is the flat edge. The existence of the flat edge has the following important functions:

[0003] Positioning and alignment: Flat edges can help equipment accurately position and align silicon wafers during the manufacturing process, thereby ensuring the accuracy and consistency of subsequent processing steps. This is because precise control is crucial in the chip manufacturing process, and the presence of flat edges provides a physical reference and positioning point for this process.

[0004] Crystal orientation identification: The position and number of flat edges are closely related to the crystal orientation of the silicon wafer. By observing the configuration of the flat edges, the crystal orientation type of the silicon wafer can be quickly determined, such as <111> , <110> or <100> Etc. This is very important for ensuring the performance and reliability of the chip, because different crystal orientations affect the physical and chemical properties of the material.

[0005] At present, the wafer flat edge alignment is achieved by a roller abutting against the wafer circumference of the wafer transport box. A crank is connected to the end of the roller. When adjusting the wafer position, the staff often turns the crank to make the wafer abutting against the roller start to rotate until the flat edges of each wafer abut against the outer wall of the roller to achieve the flat edge alignment of each wafer. After that, the wafer is sent to the loading equipment of the vertical chemical deposition furnace for loading. Conventional loading equipment mainly includes two parts: a wafer transport box handling robot and a wafer handling robot.

[0006] Due to the manual roller turning, the wafer position needs to be checked manually after adjustment to avoid the wafer position not being adjusted properly. In addition, manual adjustment makes the efficiency of wafer adjustment depend on the proficiency of the staff, which makes it impossible to connect manual operations and subsequent robot operations, and the loading efficiency of the vertical chemical deposition furnace is not stable enough.

[0007] It is necessary to improve and optimize the existing wafer flat edge alignment device so that it can better meet user needs. Summary of the invention

[0008] The purpose of the embodiment of the present invention is to address the shortcomings of the existing technical structure and propose a wafer conveyor box sorting device. By designing a storage area and a flat edge aligning device, it can not only realize automatic flat edge aligning, but also realize automatic assembly line operation of aligning and loading, thereby improving production efficiency. The equipment is fully automated for production, improves efficiency, reduces labor costs, and is safer to operate.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose of the invention, a wafer conveyor box sorting device first proposed in an embodiment of the present invention is implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0010] A wafer conveyor box sorting device, relating to a wafer conveyor box for loading superior arc-shaped wafers, the wafer conveyor box having a cavity that runs through from top to bottom and is used to insert the wafer, and the lower opening of the cavity is smaller than the upper opening and can prevent the wafer from falling off; characterized in that the sorting device comprises:

[0011] The turning table assembly comprises a turning table and a turning driving mechanism for driving the turning table to turn between a first extreme position and a second extreme position; the turning table is provided with at least one storage position for selectively fixing a wafer conveying box, when the turning table is in the first extreme position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the storage position are placed roughly horizontally; when the turning table is in the second extreme position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the storage position are placed roughly vertically;

[0012] The lifting platform assembly comprises a lifting platform arranged below the turning platform, rollers arranged horizontally on the lifting platform, a rotation driving mechanism for driving the rollers to rotate, and a lifting driving mechanism; the lifting driving mechanism is in transmission connection with the lifting platform and is used to drive the lifting platform to rise so that the rollers on the lifting platform can vertically abut against and lift the outer edge of the wafer on the turning platform in the second position;

[0013] The storage area is equipped with multiple wafer transport box storage locations;

[0014] The wafer conveying box robot assembly can move between the turning table and each wafer conveying box storage position in the storage area to correspondingly grab or place the wafer conveying box.

[0015] Further preferably, a grooved roller is arranged on the lifting platform parallel to the supporting roller, and the grooved roller and the supporting roller are driven by the rotation driving mechanism to rotate synchronously, and grooves are evenly arranged on the circumferential surface of the grooved roller; when the lifting driving mechanism drives the lifting platform to rise: the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the flip table in the second position are just embedded in the groove of the grooved roller, and can be supported by the bottom of the groove and the supporting roller at the same time.

[0016] Further preferably, the lifting platform is also provided with a wafer counting device, and the wafer counting device includes a 2*n close-range through-beam sensor array: in two columns, each column is arranged in a manner that the transmitting end and the receiving end are staggered and evenly spaced, and the transmitting end and the receiving end in each column are paired to form a group of through-beam sensors; in n rows, the first row is provided with a transmitting end, the last row is provided with a receiving end, and the remaining rows are provided with a transmitting end and a receiving end; in addition, when the lifting drive mechanism drives the lifting platform to rise, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the flip table in the second position just enter between the rows of the close-range through-beam sensor array.

[0017] Further preferably, the wafer counting device also includes a circuit board and a row of wedge blocks fixed on the circuit board, the transmitting end and the receiving end are both connected to the circuit board, and the wedge blocks and the close-range opposing-radiation sensor array form a 3*n array: a transmitting end and a wedge block are arranged in the first row, a receiving end and a wedge block are arranged in the last row, and the wedge blocks in the remaining rows are arranged between the transmitting end and the receiving end; the wedge blocks are arranged higher than the top ends of the transmitting end and the receiving end.

[0018] Further preferably, the flip table is provided with a clamping mechanism for clamping the wafer transport box.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects: by designing the storage area and the flat edge alignment device, not only can the automatic flat edge alignment be realized, but also the automatic assembly line operation of the alignment loading can be realized, thereby improving the production efficiency. The equipment is fully automated for production, improves efficiency, reduces labor costs, and is safer to operate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention will become more clear and easily understood through the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0021] Figure 1 Schematic diagram I of the structure of a wafer transport box arrangement device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 This is a structural schematic diagram II of a wafer transport box arrangement device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 Schematic diagram I of the structure of the turning table assembly and the lifting table assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 Schematic diagram II of the structure of the turning platform assembly and the lifting platform assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5 This is a schematic structural diagram of a lifting platform assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a wafer counting device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 7 A top view of a wafer counting device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 8 It is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer transport box robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following is a description of the implementation of the present invention by specific embodiments. People familiar with the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] The terms such as "front", "rear", "left", "right", "inside", "outside" etc. used in this specification are only for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. Changes or adjustments to their relative relationships shall be regarded as within the scope of implementation of the present invention without substantially changing the technical content.

[0031] In the description of the following embodiments, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "connection" and the like should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "connection" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise clearly defined. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0032] See also Figure 1-4 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention relates to a specific wafer conveying box 1, on which grooves are evenly arranged on two opposite side walls, and a cavity is formed between the two side walls for inserting wafers, and the lower opening of the cavity is smaller than the upper opening and can prevent the wafer from falling off.

[0033] See also Figure 1-8 As shown, the wafer conveyor box sorting device in this embodiment includes:

[0034] Flip table assembly 3

[0035] See also Figure 1 , 2 As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the turning table assembly 3 includes a turning table 31 , a turning drive mechanism 32 and a clamping mechanism 33 .

[0036] Two storage positions for fixing wafer conveyor boxes are arranged on the turning table 31. The storage positions and the lower opening of the wafer conveyor boxes are adapted in shape, so that the wafer conveyor boxes can be placed thereon in a manner that the lower opening is exposed. The clamping mechanism 33 is arranged next to the storage positions for clamping the wafer conveyor boxes. In this embodiment, the clamping mechanism 33 is a clamping block driven by a cylinder, which can clamp the wafer conveyor boxes in cooperation with the baffle plate on the other side of the storage position.

[0037] The flipping drive mechanism 32 is connected to the flipping table 31 by transmission, and drives the flipping table 31 to flip between the first extreme position and the second extreme position. When the flipping table 31 is in the first extreme position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box 1 on its storage position are placed roughly horizontally; when the flipping table 31 is in the second extreme position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box 1 on its storage position are placed roughly vertically. It should be pointed out here that the wafers do not need to be absolutely vertical or horizontal in the first extreme position and the second extreme position. For example, in the first extreme position, the wafer conveying box can have a slight tilt to prevent the wafer from slipping from the opening, but it must be satisfied that the robot can pick up the wafer horizontally in the first extreme position, and the wafer can be lifted by the rollers and groove rollers in the second extreme position.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment, the turning platform 31 is pivotally connected to the frame 34 , and the turning drive mechanism 32 is a cylinder, whose seat part is pivotally connected to the frame 34 and the piston part is pivotally connected to the turning platform 31 , thereby realizing the turning of the turning platform 31 .

[0039] Lifting platform assembly 4

[0040] See also Figure 1-5 As shown, the lifting platform assembly 4 includes a lifting platform 41 and a lifting drive mechanism 42 .

[0041] The lifting platform 41 is arranged directly below the turning platform, and the lifting platform 41 is provided with rollers 42, grooved rollers 43, a rotation drive mechanism 44 and a wafer counting device 5. The rollers 42 and grooved rollers 43 are both rotatably arranged horizontally and parallel to each other. The rollers 42 and grooved rollers 43 are driven by the rotation drive mechanism 44 to rotate synchronously. Specifically, a pulley 421 is fixedly installed at one end of the roller 42, and a pulley 431 is fixedly installed at one end of the grooved roller 43. The rotation drive mechanism 44 includes a stepping motor 441, and a pulley 442 is installed on the output shaft of the stepping motor 441. The pulleys 421 and 431 have the same diameter. The belt 443 is wound on the pulleys 442, 421 and 431, so that the rollers 42 and grooved rollers 43 are driven to rotate synchronously by the stepping motor 441.

[0042] The grooved roller 43 has a wafer sorting sleeve, that is, the circumferential surface thereof is evenly provided with grooves, and the grooves are in gap with the wafers in the wafer transport box. In a preferred embodiment, the wafer sorting sleeve of the grooved roller 43 is made of Teflon. The roller 42 has a silicone sleeve to increase the friction when in contact with the wafer.

[0043] The lifting drive mechanism 42 is a cylinder. When the lifting drive mechanism 42 drives the lifting platform 41 to rise, the rollers 42 and the groove rollers 43 rise. The wafers in the wafer conveying box on the flip table 41 in the second position are embedded in the grooves of the groove rollers 43 one by one, and are interference fit with the groove side plates. At this time, the wafer abuts against the bottom of the groove of the groove roller 43 and the rollers 42, and is slightly lifted and supported by the bottom of the groove of the groove roller 43 and the rollers 42 at the same time. When the rollers 42 and the groove rollers 43 rotate synchronously, they can drive the wafer to rotate until it rotates to the flat edge. When the wafer rotates to the flat edge facing down, the rollers 42 and the groove rollers 43 no longer contact the edge of the wafer at the same time, and the wafer falls and is supported by the wafer conveying box. Therefore, it can be seen that the spacing between the rollers 42 and the groove rollers 43 needs to match the width of the flat edge of the wafer.

[0044] When each wafer is facing down with its flat side, all wafers in the wafer transport box are aligned. Since the maximum rotation angle of the wafer will not exceed 360°, the wafer alignment can be completed by setting the roller 42 and the groove roller 43 to rotate one circle each time.

[0045] Wafer counting device 5

[0046] See also Figure 6 , 7 As shown, the wafer counting device 5 includes a circuit board 51 , a close-range through-beam sensor array and a row of wedge blocks 52 .

[0047] The close-range through-beam sensor array is a 2*n rectangular array:

[0048] In each of the two columns, the transmitting ends 53 and the receiving ends 54 are arranged in a staggered and evenly spaced manner, and the transmitting ends 53 and the receiving ends 54 in each column are paired to form a group of opposing beam sensors.

[0049] Among the n rows, the first row is provided with a transmitter 53, the last row is provided with a receiver 54, and the remaining rows are provided with a transmitter 53 and a receiver 54. The first row and the last row are in the same column, so one column has n transmitters plus a receiver, and the other column has n-2 transmitters plus a receiver.

[0050] The transmitting end 53 and the receiving end 54 are both established on the circuit board 51 through supporting pillars and are electrically connected to the circuit board 51 .

[0051] When the lifting drive mechanism 42 drives the lifting platform 41 to rise, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the flip table 31 in the second position just enter between the rows of the close-range beam sensor array, and the pairs of transmitting ends 53 and receiving ends 54 detect whether there are wafers between them, thereby batch detecting the distribution of wafers in the wafer conveying box.

[0052] The wedge blocks 52 are also fixed on the circuit board 51, and the number of the wedge blocks 52 is n. The wedge blocks 52 and the close-range through-beam sensor array form a 3*n array: the first row is provided with a transmitter 53 and a wedge block 52, the last row is provided with a receiver 54 and a wedge block 52, and the wedge blocks 52 in the remaining rows are provided between the transmitter 53 and the receiver 54. The wedge blocks 54 are provided above the top of the transmitter and the receiver, and are used to guide the wafer into between the rows of the close-range through-beam sensor array.

[0053] Warehouse Area 6

[0054] See also Figure 1 , 2 As shown, the storage area 6 has a plurality of stacked box racks, and a plurality of storage positions for wafer transport boxes with corresponding numbers are formed in the box racks.

[0055] Wafer conveyor box robot assembly 2

[0056] See also Figure 1 , 2 As shown in , 8, the wafer conveying box robot assembly 2 is an existing wafer conveying box robot, which has a Y-axis linear drive module 21, and a wafer conveying box robot 22 is arranged on the Y-axis linear drive module 21. The wafer conveying box robot 22 is a two-stage robot, including a servo motor (not shown), a first arm 221 and a second arm 222. One end of the first arm 221 is fixed to the servo motor drive shaft through a hinge structure, and the other end is connected to the second arm 222 through a hinge structure. The other end of the second arm 222 is installed with a clamp 223 for clamping the wafer conveying box. Since the above structure is a common technical means for those skilled in the art, its structure and operation principle will not be described in detail.

[0057] The wafer conveyor box robot assembly 2 can move between the flip table 31 and the storage area 6 to correspondingly grab or place the wafer conveyor box. Obviously, since the range of motion of the wafer conveyor box robot assembly 2 is determined by the range of motion of the Y-axis linear drive module 21 and the wafer conveyor box robot 22, the position and arrangement of the flip table 31 and the storage area 6 should be coordinated with the wafer conveyor box robot assembly 2, and on this basis, its arrangement can be freely designed according to the specific production line requirements.

[0058] Combined with the device structure of the above-mentioned wafer conveyor box sorting device, the operation process of the wafer conveyor box sorting device is as follows:

[0059] A wafer transport box is fixedly placed on the storage position of the turning table at the first extreme position;

[0060] Then the turning table turns over to the second extreme position;

[0061] Then the lifting platform is raised until the rollers abut against the wafers in the wafer transport box on the storage position of the turning platform;

[0062] The roller then rotates one circle, and the rotation drives the wafer to rotate;

[0063] Then the lift descends;

[0064] Then the turning table turns back to the first extreme position;

[0065] Afterwards, the wafer transport box robot assembly moves the wafer transport box on the flip table to the storage area; and records the storage and retrieval storage location numbers in the storage area.

[0066] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: by designing the storage area and the flat edge alignment device, not only can the automatic flat edge alignment be realized, but also the automatic assembly line operation of the alignment loading can be realized, thereby improving the production efficiency. In addition, by designing the independent forks and fork hand groups driven separately, the function of the independent forks extending separately during small batch trial production is realized, and the independent forks and fork hand groups are synchronously extended and retracted as a whole during large batch production, without reducing the production efficiency. The equipment is fully automated for production, improves efficiency, reduces labor costs, and is safer to operate.

[0067] The above embodiments describe the inventive intent and implementation methods of the present invention in detail, but a person skilled in the art in the art will understand that the above embodiments of the present invention are only preferred embodiments of the present invention. Due to space limitations, not all implementation methods can be listed here one by one. Any implementation that can embody the technical solution of the claims of the present invention is within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0068] It should be noted that the above content is a further detailed description of the present invention in combination with specific implementation methods, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation methods of the present invention are limited to these. Under the guidance of the above embodiments, technical personnel in this field can make various improvements and modifications on the basis of the above embodiments, and these improvements or modifications fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer conveyor box sorting device, relating to a wafer conveyor box for loading major arc-shaped wafers, the wafer conveyor box having a cavity that runs through from top to bottom and is used to insert the wafers, and the lower opening of the cavity is smaller than the upper opening and can prevent the wafers from falling off; characterized in that, The arranging device comprises: The turning table assembly comprises a turning table and a turning driving mechanism for driving the turning table to turn between a first extreme position and a second extreme position; the turning table is provided with at least one storage position for selectively fixing a wafer conveying box, when the turning table is in the first extreme position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the storage position are placed roughly horizontally; when the turning table is in the second extreme position, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the storage position are placed roughly vertically; The lifting platform assembly comprises a lifting platform arranged below the turning platform, rollers arranged horizontally on the lifting platform, a rotation driving mechanism for driving the rollers to rotate, and a lifting driving mechanism; the lifting driving mechanism is in transmission connection with the lifting platform and is used to drive the lifting platform to rise so that the rollers on the lifting platform can vertically abut against and lift the outer edge of the wafer on the turning platform in the second position; The storage area is equipped with multiple wafer transport box storage locations; The wafer conveying box robot assembly can move between the turning table and each wafer conveying box storage position in the storage area to correspondingly grab or place the wafer conveying box.

2. The wafer conveyor box arrangement device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting platform is also provided with a grooved roller parallel to the supporting roller. The grooved roller and the supporting roller are driven by the rotating drive mechanism to rotate synchronously, and grooves are evenly arranged on the circumferential surface of the grooved roller. When the lifting drive mechanism drives the lifting platform to rise, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the flip table in the second position are just embedded in the groove of the grooved roller, and can be supported by the bottom of the groove and the supporting roller at the same time.

3. The wafer conveyor box arranging device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting platform is also provided with a wafer counting device, which includes a 2*n close-range through-beam sensor array: in two columns, each column is arranged in a manner that the transmitting end and the receiving end are staggered and evenly spaced, and the transmitting end and the receiving end in each column are paired to form a group of through-beam sensors; in n rows, the first row is provided with a transmitting end, the last row is provided with a receiving end, and the remaining rows are provided with a transmitting end and a receiving end; in addition, when the lifting drive mechanism drives the lifting platform to rise, the wafers in the wafer conveying box on the flip table in the second position just enter between the rows of the close-range through-beam sensor array.

4. The wafer conveyor box arranging device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The wafer counting device also includes a circuit board and a row of wedge blocks fixed on the circuit board. The transmitting end and the receiving end are both connected to the circuit board. The wedge blocks and the close-range opposing-radiation sensor array form a 3*n array: a transmitting end and a wedge block are arranged in the first row, a receiving end and a wedge block are arranged in the last row, and the wedge blocks in the remaining rows are arranged between the transmitting end and the receiving end; the wedge blocks are arranged higher than the top ends of the transmitting end and the receiving end.

5. The wafer conveyor box arrangement device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The turning table is provided with a clamping mechanism for clamping the wafer conveying box.

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