Transmission device and transmission method

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of transmission equipment and transmission method, transmission equipment is used to transport carrier plate disc, carrier plate ring and substrate, comprising: hopper, for placing carrier plate disc and carrier plate ring;Material box, for placing substrate;Combination split device, for the combination split of carrier plate disc, carrier plate ring and substrate;Substrate calibrator, for adjusting the position and posture of substrate;Carrying manipulator, for transporting carrier plate disc and carrier plate ring between hopper and combination split device, for transporting substrate between material box and substrate calibrator, for transporting substrate between substrate calibrator and combination split device;Hopper, material box, combination split device, substrate calibrator are arranged around carrying manipulator.The transmission equipment of the present application can realize the high-precision accurate automatic combination split and transmission of carrier plate disc, carrier plate ring and substrate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of semiconductor fabrication technology, and more specifically to a transmission device and transmission method. Background Technology

[0002] Silicon carbide epitaxial growth is the process of generating epitaxial material of a certain thickness and concentration on a crystalline substrate under specific process conditions. This process typically uses a graphite disk as a carrier and heat-conducting platform. Commonly, a carrier ring and carrier disk support the substrate, which is then placed in the epitaxial reaction chamber for epitaxial growth. During this process, assembly errors in the carrier ring, carrier disk, and substrate can affect the quality of epitaxial growth, resulting in defective products.

[0003] The existing methods for transporting carrier rings, carrier trays, and substrates during assembly and disassembly mainly involve manual assembly and transportation or automated assembly and disassembly transportation. Manual assembly can cause substrate contamination and is also prone to contact damage during handling; while existing automated assembly and disassembly suffer from low assembly accuracy and low efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application proposes a transmission device and transmission method to solve the problem of low efficiency in the automation of assembly and transmission of carrier rings, carrier disks and substrates in the prior art.

[0005] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application proposes a transfer device for transferring a carrier tray, a carrier ring, and a substrate, comprising: a hopper for holding the carrier tray and the carrier ring; a cassette for holding the substrate; a combination and separation device for combining and separating the carrier tray, the carrier ring, and the substrate; a substrate calibrator for adjusting the position and orientation of the substrate; and a handling robot for transferring the carrier tray and the carrier ring between the hopper and the combination and separation device, transferring the substrate between the cassette and the substrate calibrator, and transferring the substrate between the substrate calibrator and the combination and separation device; the hopper, the cassette, the combination and separation device, and the substrate calibrator are arranged around the handling robot.

[0006] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device includes a carrier ring stage and a lifting stage. The carrier ring stage has a through hole, and the lifting stage can move vertically through the through hole. The size of the through hole is larger than the size of the carrier plate, smaller than the outer ring size of the carrier ring, and smaller than the size of the substrate. The size of the substrate is larger than the inner ring size of the carrier ring.

[0007] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device further includes a position identifier, which is arranged vertically relative to the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage, for identifying the center position of the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage, and also for identifying the center position of the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage's loading plate, carrier ring, or substrate.

[0008] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device further includes a height sensor, which is arranged vertically relative to the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage, for identifying the height of the upper surface of the carrier ring and the height of the upper surface of the substrate.

[0009] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device further includes a reaction chamber for reacting the assembled carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate; a transport robot is used to transfer the assembled carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate between the assembly and disassembly device and the reaction chamber.

[0010] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application proposes a transfer method for transferring a carrier tray, a carrier ring, and a substrate via a transfer device. The transfer device includes: a hopper for holding the carrier tray and carrier ring; a cassette for holding the substrate; a combination / disassembly device for combining and disassembling the carrier tray, carrier ring, and substrate; a substrate calibrator for adjusting the position and orientation of the substrate; and a handling robot for transferring the carrier tray and carrier ring between the hopper and the combination / disassembly device, transferring the substrate between the cassette and the substrate calibrator, and transferring the substrate between the substrate calibrator and the combination / disassembly device. The hopper and cassette are also mentioned. The assembly and disassembly device and the substrate calibrator are arranged around the transport robot. The transport method includes: the transport robot takes the assembly of the carrier tray and carrier ring from the hopper and places it in the assembly and disassembly device; the assembly and disassembly device separates the carrier tray and carrier ring, and the transport robot transports the carrier tray to the hopper; the transport robot takes the substrate from the hopper and places it in the substrate calibrator; the substrate calibrator adjusts the position and orientation of the substrate, and the transport robot transports the substrate to the assembly and disassembly device; the transport robot takes the carrier tray from the hopper and places it in the assembly and disassembly device; the assembly and disassembly device assembles the carrier tray, carrier ring, and substrate together from bottom to top.

[0011] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device includes a carrier ring platform and a lifting platform. The carrier ring platform has a through hole, and the lifting platform can move vertically through the through hole. The size of the through hole is larger than the size of the carrier plate, smaller than the outer ring size of the carrier ring, and smaller than the size of the substrate. The size of the substrate is larger than the inner ring size of the carrier ring. The transfer method includes: a handling robot taking out the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring from the hopper and placing it in front of the assembly and disassembly device; controlling the lifting platform to rise through the through hole above the carrier ring platform, so that the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring is placed on the lifting platform. The control lift descends through the through hole to the carrier ring stage, with the carrier ring remaining on the carrier ring stage. The carrier tray follows the lift down to separate the carrier tray and carrier ring. After the transport robot transfers the carrier tray to the hopper, the control lift rises through the through hole to the carrier ring stage. After the transport robot transfers the substrate to the lift of the assembly and disassembly device, the control lift descends through the through hole to the carrier ring stage, with the substrate remaining on the carrier ring. The transport robot places the carrier tray on the lift, and the control lift rises through the through hole to the carrier ring stage to assemble the carrier tray, carrier ring, and substrate.

[0012] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device further includes a position identifier, which is arranged vertically relative to the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage. The assembly and disassembly method further includes: identifying the center coordinates of the through hole using the position identifier before placing the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring on the lifting stage; identifying the assembly center coordinates of the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring using the position identifier after placing the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring on the lifting stage; and adjusting the position of the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring to control the deviation between the center coordinates of the through hole and the assembly center coordinates to be within an allowable range.

[0013] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device further includes a height sensor, which is vertically positioned relative to the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage. The transmission method further includes: after controlling the lifting stage to descend through the through hole to the carrier ring stage, with the substrate remaining on the carrier ring, identifying the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate using a position identifier; identifying the upper surface height of the carrier ring and the upper surface height of the substrate using the height sensor; if the deviation between the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate is within the allowable range, and the height difference between the upper surfaces of the carrier ring and the substrate is within the allowable range; then placing the carrier plate on the lifting stage, controlling the lifting stage to rise through the through hole to the carrier ring stage, thereby assembling the carrier plate, the carrier ring, and the substrate; if the deviation between the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate is not within the allowable range, or the height difference between the upper surfaces of the carrier ring and the substrate is not within the allowable range; then using a transport robot to return the substrate to the substrate calibrator for recalibration of its position and orientation.

[0014] In one embodiment, the assembly and disassembly device further includes a reaction chamber for reacting the assembled carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate; the transfer method further includes: a handling robot placing the assembly of the carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate into the reaction chamber.

[0015] The transfer equipment of this application includes a hopper for placing a carrier tray and a carrier ring, a hopper for placing substrates, a combination and separation device for combining and separating the carrier tray, carrier ring, and substrates, a reference calibrator for adjusting the position and orientation of the substrates, and a handling robot for transferring the carrier tray and carrier ring between the hopper and the combination and separation device, transferring the substrates between the hopper and the substrate calibrator, and transferring the substrates between the substrate calibrator and the combination and separation device. The handling robot is used to perform all the transport actions, and therefore the handling robot is positioned in the middle, with the other components—the hopper, hopper, combination and separation device, and substrate calibrator—all arranged around the handling robot to improve transport efficiency, and the accuracy of the combination is achieved through the substrate calibrator and the combination and separation device. Attached Figure Description

[0016] The above and other objects, features, and advantages of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become readily apparent upon reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, several embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example and not limitation, and like or corresponding reference numerals denote like or corresponding parts, wherein:

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the transmission device of this application;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the combination and splitting device in one embodiment of the transmission equipment of this application;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the combined structure of the carrier disk, carrier ring and substrate in this application;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the first working state structure of an embodiment of the combination and splitting device of this application;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the second working state structure of an embodiment of the combination and splitting device of this application;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the third working state structure of an embodiment of the combination and disassembly device of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this disclosure without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0024] The specific embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] The transmission device of this application is used for transporting the carrier plate 23, the carrier plate ring 22, and the substrate 21 in combination and disassembly, such as Figure 3The three components are detachable independent structures. After assembly, the carrier plate 23 is embedded on the lower side of the carrier plate ring 22, and the substrate 21 is embedded on the upper side of the carrier plate ring 22. In the epitaxial reaction process, the substrate 21 is the workpiece to be reacted and is made of crystalline silicon. The carrier plate 23 and the carrier plate ring 22 are used to support the substrate 21. The carrier plate 23 is made of graphite and can be used for heat conduction. The carrier plate ring 22 is made of quartz and improves the load-bearing stability. In this embodiment, all three are circular. The carrier plate ring 22 has steps inside for embedding the substrate 21 and the carrier plate 23. The size of the substrate 21 is larger than the inner ring size of the carrier plate ring 22, and the outer ring diameter of the substrate 21 is larger than the inner ring diameter of the carrier plate ring 22.

[0026] like Figure 1 The transfer device 100 includes a hopper 44 for placing a carrier tray 23 and a carrier ring 22, a hopper 42 for placing a substrate 21, a combination and separation device 49 for combining and separating the carrier tray 23, the carrier ring 22, and the substrate 21, a reference calibrator 41 for adjusting the position and orientation of the substrate 21, and a handling robot 30 for transferring the carrier tray 23 and the carrier ring 22 between the hopper 44 and the combination and separation device 47, transferring the substrate 21 between the hopper 42 and the substrate calibrator 41, and transferring the substrate 21 between the substrate calibrator 41 and the combination and separation device 49. The handling robot 30 is used to perform all the transport actions. Therefore, the handling robot 30 is positioned in the middle, and the other components, the hopper 44, the hopper 42, the combination and separation device 49, and the substrate calibrator 41, are all arranged around the handling robot 30 to improve transport efficiency, and the accuracy of the combination is achieved through the substrate calibrator 41 and the combination and separation device 47.

[0027] Specifically, the handling robot 30 can be a 4-axis, single-arm, single-finger, horizontally multi-jointed SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) type robot, possessing one linear joint in the Z-axis for lifting and lowering, and three rotary joints with rotation axes perpendicular to the horizontal plane, giving it four degrees of freedom of motion. Alternatively, it can be a 5-axis, single-arm, two-finger, horizontally multi-jointed SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) type robot, possessing one linear joint in the Z-axis for lifting and lowering, four rotary joints with rotation axes perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and two freely rotating end effector grippers, each with four degrees of freedom of motion.

[0028] The substrate calibrator 41 is used to adjust the position and orientation of the substrate 21 so that the substrate 21 can be accurately assembled onto the carrier ring 22. The substrate calibrator 41 functions to calibrate the center position and angle of the substrate 21. It has an identification module that can accurately calculate and identify the center position (x, y) and angle θ of the substrate 21; a substrate fixing component and a rotating mechanism that can fix the substrate 21 and rotate it, and can work with the identification module to calculate and identify the center position (x, y) and angle θ of the substrate, and can also adjust the angle θ of the substrate to a specified angle; and a substrate center position positioning module that can drive the substrate to move and adjust the center position (x, y) of the substrate to a specified position. The substrate center position positioning module can be replaced by a handling robot 30, which adjusts the center position (x, y) of the substrate 21 to the specified value based on the identification result of the center position (x, y) of the substrate 21.

[0029] Combination and disassembly device 49 Figure 2 The system includes a carrier ring stage 133 and a lifting stage 140. The carrier ring stage 133 has a through hole, and the lifting stage 140 can move vertically through the through hole. The size of the through hole is larger than the size of the carrier plate disk 23, smaller than the outer ring size of the carrier plate ring 22, and smaller than the size of the substrate 21. Corresponding to the circular carrier plate disk 23, carrier plate ring 22, and substrate 21, the through hole is also designed to be circular. The diameter of the through hole is larger than the outer ring diameter of the carrier plate disk 23, smaller than the outer ring diameter of the carrier plate ring 22, and smaller than the outer ring diameter of the substrate 21.

[0030] This embodiment utilizes the relative mobility between the carrier ring stage 133 and the lifting stage 140. After the carrier ring 22 is placed on the carrier ring stage 133, the lifting stage 140 can be raised and lowered to the upper and lower sides of the carrier ring stage 133 to assemble the substrate 21 and carrier plate 23 on the upper and lower sides of the carrier ring 22. Under this assembly structure, the carrier plate 23, carrier ring 22 and substrate 21 can be adjusted individually based on the carrier ring stage 133 and the lifting stage 140 to improve the precision and accuracy of the assembly.

[0031] Specifically, the assembly / disassembly device 49 also includes a position identifier 48, which is vertically positioned relative to the carrier ring stage 133 and the lifting stage 140. This position identifier identifies the center positions of the carrier ring stage 133 and the lifting stage 140, and also identifies the center positions of the carrier plate 23, carrier ring 22, and substrate 21 on the carrier ring stage 133 and the lifting stage 140. By determining the center positions using the position identifier 48, the position and orientation of the carrier plate 23, carrier ring 22, and substrate 21 can be controlled and adjusted. In this embodiment, the position identifier 48 is an industrial camera that acquires position coordinates through imaging.

[0032] The assembly and disassembly device 49 also includes a height sensor 131, which is also vertically positioned relative to the carrier ring platform 133 and the lifting platform 140. The height sensor 131 is used to identify the height of the upper surface of the carrier ring 22 and the upper surface of the substrate 21. When the substrate 21 is installed by embedding it on the upper side of the carrier ring 22, it can determine whether the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22 are installed accurately. The substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22 can be provided with installation positioning parts, such as installation notches or installation protrusions. Since it is an automatic installation, the positioning parts are prone to inaccurate positioning. At this time, the accuracy of positioning can be determined by detecting the height of the two upper surfaces. If the height difference between the two upper surfaces is large, it means that the positioning is not accurate. If the height difference is small and within the preset range, it means that the positioning is accurate.

[0033] The assembly and disassembly device 49 is mainly used to assemble and disassemble the carrier plate 23, carrier ring 22, and substrate 21. In addition to the above structure, the assembly and disassembly device 49 also includes a ring light source 132, which can provide lighting during industrial camera shooting and positioning to improve the accuracy of shooting and positioning; a linear module 134, a linear module fixing plate 135, and a linear module drive motor 137, which are used to drive the lifting platform 140 to move in the vertical direction; it also includes a disassembly and assembly mechanism base plate 136 and an exhaust fan 10 installed on the base plate for exhaust heat dissipation to ensure environmental stability.

[0034] The transfer device 100 also includes a reaction chamber 46, which is used to react the combined carrier plate 23, carrier ring 22 and substrate 21. It also includes a dust adsorption device 45 and a monitoring camera 47, all of which are arranged around the handling robot 30.

[0035] Based on the above structure, the transmission method in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0036] T1: The handling robot takes the combination of the carrier plate and carrier ring from the hopper and places it in the assembly and disassembly device.

[0037] According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes out the carrier plate ring 22 and carrier plate tray 23 assembly that has been manually assembled and placed into the hopper 44 from the hopper 44, and places it on the assembly and disassembly device 49.

[0038] T2: The combined splitting device separates the carrier plate and carrier ring, and the handling robot transfers the carrier plate to the hopper.

[0039] The combination and splitting device 49 separates the carrier plate ring 22 and the carrier plate disk 23. According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes away the carrier plate disk 22 and puts it into the hopper 44.

[0040] T3: The handling robot takes the substrate out of the material box and places it in the substrate calibrator.

[0041] According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes the substrate 21, which has been manually placed into the substrate box 42, from the substrate box 42 and puts it into the substrate calibrator 41.

[0042] T4: The substrate calibrator adjusts the position and orientation of the substrate, and the handling robot transfers the substrate to the assembly and disassembly device.

[0043] The substrate calibrator 41 adjusts the center position and angle of the substrate 21 to the preset values. According to the pre-taught points, the transport robot 30 takes the substrate 21 from the substrate calibrator 41 and places it on the assembly and disassembly device 49.

[0044] T5: The handling robot takes the carrier plate from the hopper and places it in the assembly and disassembly device.

[0045] According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes the carrier plate 23 from the hopper 44 and puts it into the combination and disassembly device 49.

[0046] T6: The assembly and disassembly device assembles the carrier plate, carrier plate ring, and substrate together from bottom to top.

[0047] The assembly and disassembly device 49 assembles the substrate 21, carrier ring 22 assembly and carrier disk 23 together from top to bottom to form an assembly of the three.

[0048] After the assembly is completed, the robot arm 30 can take the assembly of substrate 21, carrier ring 22 and carrier plate 23 from the assembly and disassembly mechanism 49 according to the pre-taught points and put it into the reaction chamber 46.

[0049] Based on the structure of the above-mentioned transmission device, the above-mentioned transmission method can realize the high-precision combination of carrier plate disk 23, carrier plate ring 22 and substrate 21. The combination and disassembly method includes the following steps.

[0050] S1: Calibrate the relative position and attitude angle relationship between the handling robot 30 and the substrate calibrator 41, and calibrate the relative position and attitude angle relationship between the handling robot 30 and the position identifier 48.

[0051] S2: The relative position and attitude angle relationship between the calibration substrate calibrator 41 and the position identifier 48.

[0052] Steps S1 and S2 confirm the position of each component, which enables accurate handling.

[0053] S3: Identify the center coordinates of the through hole using a position identifier.

[0054] In this step, the carrier ring stage 133 is photographed using an industrial camera to identify the center coordinates (x1, y1) of the through hole.

[0055] S4: Control the lifting platform to rise above the carrier ring platform through the through hole.

[0056] Typically, the lifting platform 140 will be raised to a height that is a certain distance above the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133, such as... Figure 4 .

[0057] S5: Place the assembly of the carrier plate and carrier ring onto the lifting platform.

[0058] Specifically, according to the pre-marked teaching points, the handling robot 30 takes out the carrier plate ring 22 and carrier plate tray 23 assembly that has been manually assembled and placed into the silo 44 from the silo 44, and places it on the lifting platform 140 of the assembly and disassembly device 49.

[0059] S6: Identify the combined center coordinates of the carrier plate disk and carrier plate ring assembly using a position identifier.

[0060] Specifically, the industrial camera 48 takes pictures of the assembly of the carrier ring 22 and the carrier plate 23 on the lifting platform 140, identifies the coordinates (x2, y2) of the center of the central hole of the carrier ring 22 in the camera coordinate system, and the attitude angle θ2 of the carrier ring 22.

[0061] S7: Adjust the position of the assembly of the carrier plate and carrier ring to control the deviation between the center coordinates of the through hole and the center coordinates of the assembly within the allowable range.

[0062] The deviations between coordinates (x1, y1) and coordinates (x2, y2) are calculated as dx1 = x1 - x2 and dy1 = y1 - y2. Based on the pre-taught positions and the deviation calculation results (dx1, dy1), the handling robot 30 picks up the assembly of the carrier ring 22 and the carrier plate 23 from the lifting platform 140. After adjusting the placement position of the assembly according to the deviation calculation results (dx1, dy1), the handling robot 30 puts the assembly of the carrier ring 22 and the carrier plate 23 back into the lifting platform 140, so that the deviation (dx1, dy1) between the center coordinates (x2, y2) of the center hole of the carrier ring 22 and the center coordinates (x1, y1) of the center hole of the carrier ring platform 133 is within the allowable error range.

[0063] S8: Control the lifting platform to descend through the through hole to the carrier ring platform, the carrier ring remains on the carrier ring platform, and the carrier plate follows the lifting platform downward.

[0064] The lifting platform 140 descends until its height is below the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133 by a certain distance, such as... Figure 5 Since the outer diameter of the carrier plate ring 22 is larger than the diameter of the central hole of the carrier plate stage 133, and the outer diameter of the carrier plate disk 22 is smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the carrier plate stage 133, the carrier plate disk 22 descends with the lifting platform 140, while the carrier plate ring 22 remains on the carrier plate stage 133.

[0065] S9: Remove the carrier plate and control the lifting platform to rise through the through hole to the carrier ring platform.

[0066] Following the pre-programmed locations, the handling robot 30 removes the carrier plate 22 from the lifting platform 140 and places it into the hopper 44. The lifting platform 140 rises until its height is a certain distance above the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133, such as... Figure 6 .

[0067] S10: Place the substrate into the substrate calibrator to calibrate its position and orientation.

[0068] According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes the substrate 21, which has been manually placed in the substrate bin 42, from the substrate bin 42 and places it into the substrate calibrator 41. According to the pre-set center position and attitude angle θ3 of the substrate 42, the substrate calibrator 41 identifies and adjusts the center position and attitude angle θ3 of the substrate 42 to the set values ​​to ensure that when the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22 form an assembly in subsequent steps, the deviation between the center coordinates (x3, y3) of the substrate 21 and the center coordinates (x2, y2) of the center hole of the carrier ring 22 are within the allowable range, and the deviation between the attitude angle θ3 of the substrate 21 and the attitude angle θ2 of the carrier ring 22 is within the allowable range.

[0069] S11: Place the substrate on the lifting platform, control the lifting platform to descend through the through hole to the carrier ring platform, and leave the substrate on the carrier ring.

[0070] Following the pre-taught positions, the handling robot 30 removes the substrate 21 from the substrate calibrator 41 and places it on the lifting platform 140. The lifting platform 140 descends until its height is below the top surface of the carrier ring 133 by a certain distance. Since the outer diameter of the substrate 21 is larger than the diameter of the central hole of the carrier ring 22, the substrate 21 falls onto the carrier ring 22, thus completing the assembly of the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22.

[0071] S12: The center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate are identified by the position identifier, and the upper surface height of the carrier ring and the upper surface height of the substrate are identified by the height sensor.

[0072] If the deviation between the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate is within the allowable range, and the height difference between the upper surfaces of the carrier ring and the substrate is within the allowable range, then the carrier plate is placed on the lifting platform, and the lifting platform is controlled to rise through the through hole to the carrier ring platform to assemble the carrier plate, carrier ring and substrate.

[0073] If the deviation between the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate is not within the allowable range, or the height difference between the upper surfaces of the carrier ring and the substrate is not within the allowable range, the substrate will be placed back into the substrate calibrator by a handling robot to recalibrate its position and orientation.

[0074] If multiple calibrations fail, the clearing action is performed. According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 removes the carrier plate 22 from the lifting platform 140, puts it into the hopper 44, and alarms are triggered.

[0075] Specifically, the industrial camera 48 takes pictures of the assembly of the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22 on the carrier ring stage 133, identifies the center coordinates (x3, y3) and attitude angle θ3 of the substrate 21, identifies the center coordinates (x2, y2) and attitude angle θ2 of the center hole of the carrier ring 22, and determines whether the deviation between the center coordinates (x3, y3) of the substrate 21 and the center coordinates (x2, y2) of the center hole of the carrier ring 22 is within the allowable range, and whether the deviation between the attitude angle θ3 of the substrate 21 and the attitude angle θ2 of the carrier ring 22 is within the allowable range. At the same time, a laser height gauge is used to detect whether the deviation between the plane height h3 of the upper surface of the substrate 21 and the plane height h2 of the upper surface of the carrier ring 22 is within the allowable range.

[0076] S13: Place the carrier plate on the lifting platform, and control the lifting platform to rise through the through hole to the carrier ring platform to assemble the carrier plate, carrier ring and substrate.

[0077] Following the pre-programmed locations, the handling robot 30 removes the carrier plate 23 from the hopper 44 and places it on the lifting platform 140. The lifting platform 140 of the assembly / disassembly device 49 rises until its height is above the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133. Since the outer diameter of the carrier plate 22 is smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the carrier ring platform 133, the carrier plate 22, as the lifting platform 140 rises, lifts the assembly of the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22, thereby completing the assembly of the substrate 21, the carrier ring 22, and the carrier plate 23.

[0078] The combined carrier plate 23, carrier ring 22 and substrate 21 are transported by the transport robot 30 to the reaction chamber 46 for reaction. After the reaction is completed, they are transported to the assembly and disassembly device 49 for disassembly. The specific disassembly steps are as follows.

[0079] S14: The lifting platform 140 of the assembly and disassembly device 49 is raised until the height of the lifting platform is a certain distance above the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133. According to the pre-taught points, the transport robot 30 takes the assembly of the substrate 21, carrier ring 22 and carrier plate 23 from the reaction chamber 46 and places it on the lifting platform 140.

[0080] S15: The lifting platform 140 of the assembly and disassembly device 49 descends until the height of the lifting platform is a certain distance below the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133. Since the outer diameter of the carrier ring 22 is larger than the diameter of the central hole of the carrier ring platform 133, and the outer diameter of the carrier plate 22 is smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the carrier ring platform 133, the carrier plate 22 descends with the lifting platform 140, and the assembly of the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22 remains on the carrier ring platform 133, thereby completing the disassembly of the assembly of the carrier plate 22 and the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22.

[0081] S16: According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes the carrier plate 22 from the lifting platform 140 and puts it into the hopper 44.

[0082] S17: The lifting platform 140 of the combination splitting device 49 is raised until the height of the lifting platform is a certain distance above the top surface of the carrier ring platform 133. As the lifting platform 140 rises, the substrate 21 is pushed away from the carrier ring 22, thereby completing the splitting of the substrate 21 and the carrier ring 22.

[0083] S18: The industrial camera 48 observes the substrate 21 on the lifting platform 140 and identifies whether the substrate 21 has successfully detached from the carrier ring 22. If yes, proceed to step S19; otherwise, an alarm prompts for manual intervention.

[0084] S19: According to the pre-taught points, the handling robot 30 takes the substrate 21 from the lifting platform 140 and puts it into the substrate box 42.

[0085] This application includes several embodiments with simple and relatively complex structures. The above transmission method is based on the steps of the relatively complex structure. For the combination and splitting device with a simple structure, the process of its splitting method is similar and can be directly determined based on the above splitting method. It also falls within the protection scope of this application and will not be described in detail here.

[0086] This application uses vision to precisely locate the center position and angle of the carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate. Through vision and robot hand-eye calibration, the robot can perform position correction based on the visually recognized positions of the carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate, and complete the alignment of the carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate with high precision, thereby ensuring improved assembly accuracy of the assembly.

[0087] In the foregoing description of this specification, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "fixed," "installed," "connected," or "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, the term "linked" can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; or it can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Therefore, unless otherwise expressly limited in this specification, those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0088] Based on the above description in this specification, those skilled in the art will also understand that terms used, such as "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "length," "width," "thickness," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," "center," "longitudinal," "transverse," "clockwise," or "counterclockwise," are terms indicating orientation or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings of this specification. They are only for the purpose of facilitating the explanation of the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not imply that the devices or elements involved must have the specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the above-mentioned orientation or positional relationship terms should not be understood or interpreted as limitations on the present invention.

[0089] Furthermore, the terms "first" or "second," etc., used in this specification to refer to numbers or ordinal numbers are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating, explicitly or implicitly, relative importance or specifying the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of this specification, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three, or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0090] While various embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Many modifications, alterations, and alternatives will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and essence of the invention. It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in the practice of the invention. The appended claims are intended to define the scope of protection of the invention and therefore cover modular compositions, equivalents, or alternatives within the scope of these claims.

Claims

1. A transmission device, characterized in that, The transmission device is used to transmit the carrier plate disk, carrier plate ring, and substrate, including: The hopper is used to hold the carrier trays and carrier rings; Material box, used to hold substrates; A combination and splitting device is used for combining and splitting a carrier plate, a carrier ring, and a substrate. The device includes a carrier ring stage and a lifting stage. The combination and splitting device also includes a height measuring sensor, which is set in the vertical direction relative to the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage, for identifying the height of the upper surface of the carrier ring and the height of the upper surface of the substrate. A substrate calibrator is used to adjust the position and orientation of the substrate. A handling robot is used to transfer a carrier plate and a carrier plate ring between a hopper and a combination and splitting device, to transfer a substrate between a hopper and a substrate calibrator, and to transfer a substrate between the substrate calibrator and the combination and splitting device. The handling robot is used to perform all the transport actions and is located in the middle of the transport equipment. The hopper, hopper, assembly and disassembly device, and substrate calibrator are arranged around the handling robot. The assembly and disassembly device further includes a position identifier, which is arranged in the vertical direction relative to the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage, for identifying the center position of the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage, and also for identifying the center position of the loading plate disk, carrier ring or substrate on the carrier ring stage and the lifting stage.

2. The transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The carrier ring platform has a through hole, and the lifting platform can move vertically through the through hole; the size of the through hole is larger than the size of the carrier plate, smaller than the outer ring size of the carrier ring, and smaller than the size of the substrate; the size of the substrate is larger than the inner ring size of the carrier ring.

3. The transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The assembly and disassembly device further includes a reaction chamber for reacting the assembled carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate; the transport robot is used to transfer the assembled carrier plate, carrier ring, and substrate between the assembly and disassembly device and the reaction chamber.

4. A transmission method applied to any one of the transmission devices according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The transmission method is used to transmit a carrier plate disk, a carrier plate ring, and a substrate through a transmission device. The transmission method includes: The handling robot takes the assembly of the carrier plate and carrier plate ring from the hopper and places it in the assembly and disassembly device; The combined splitting device separates the carrier plate tray and the carrier plate ring, and the handling robot transfers the carrier plate tray to the hopper; The handling robot takes the substrate out of the material box and places it in the substrate calibrator; The substrate calibrator adjusts the position and orientation of the substrate, and the handling robot transfers the substrate to the assembly and disassembly device. The handling robot takes the carrier plate from the hopper and places it in the assembly and disassembly device; The assembly and disassembly device assembles the carrier plate, carrier plate ring, and substrate together from bottom to top.

5. The transmission method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The assembly and disassembly device includes a carrier ring platform and a lifting platform. The carrier ring platform has a through hole, and the lifting platform can move vertically through the through hole. The size of the through hole is larger than the size of the carrier plate, smaller than the outer ring size of the carrier ring, and smaller than the size of the substrate. The size of the substrate is larger than the inner ring size of the carrier ring; the transmission method includes: The handling robot takes the assembly of the carrier plate and carrier ring from the hopper and places it in front of the assembly and disassembly device. It controls the lifting platform to rise through the through hole above the carrier ring platform, so that the assembly of the carrier plate and carrier ring is placed on the lifting platform. The lifting platform is controlled to descend through the through hole to the carrier ring platform, the carrier ring remains on the carrier ring platform, and the carrier plate disk follows the lifting platform downward to separate the carrier plate disk and the carrier ring; After the handling robot transfers the carrier plate to the hopper, it controls the lifting platform to rise above the carrier ring platform through the through hole; After the handling robot transfers the substrate to the lifting platform of the assembly and disassembly device, it controls the lifting platform to descend through the through hole to the carrier ring platform, and the substrate remains on the carrier ring. The handling robot places the carrier plate tray on the lifting platform and controls the lifting platform to rise through the through hole to the carrier ring platform to assemble the carrier plate tray, carrier ring and substrate.

6. The transmission method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The assembly and disassembly device further includes a position identifier, which is disposed relative to the carrier ring platform and the lifting platform in the vertical direction. The assembly and disassembly method further includes: Before placing the assembly of the carrier plate and carrier ring onto the lifting platform, the center coordinates of the through hole are identified by a position identifier; After the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring is placed on the lifting platform, the center coordinates of the assembly of the carrier plate and the carrier ring are identified by the position identifier. Adjust the position of the assembly of the carrier plate disk and the carrier plate ring to control the deviation between the center coordinates of the through hole and the center coordinates of the assembly within the allowable range.

7. The transmission method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The assembly and disassembly device further includes a height measuring sensor, which is positioned relative to the carrier ring platform and the lifting platform in the vertical direction. The transmission method further includes: After the lifting platform is controlled to descend through the through hole to the carrier ring platform and the substrate remains on the carrier ring, the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate are identified by the position identifier; the upper surface height of the carrier ring and the upper surface height of the substrate are identified by the height sensor. If the deviation between the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate is within the allowable range, and the height difference between the upper surfaces of the carrier ring and the substrate is within the allowable range; The carrier plate is then placed on the lifting platform, and the lifting platform is controlled to rise through the through hole to the carrier ring platform to assemble the carrier plate, carrier ring and substrate; If the deviation between the center coordinates of the carrier ring and the center coordinates of the substrate is not within the allowable range, or the height difference between the upper surfaces of the carrier ring and the substrate is not within the allowable range; Then, the substrate is placed back into the substrate calibrator by a handling robot to recalibrate its position and orientation.

8. The transmission method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The assembly and disassembly device also includes a reaction chamber for reacting the assembled carrier plate disk, carrier plate ring and substrate. The transmission method further includes: The transport robot places the assembly of the carrier plate, carrier plate ring, and substrate into the reaction chamber.

Images