Wafer transfer robot

Abstract

The invention relates to a wafer carrying robot. An arm material taking structural part is arranged on a main rotating part and is used for rotating under the driving of the main rotating part; the first rotating assembly is arranged on the main rotating part, the second rotating assembly is rotationally arranged on the first rotating assembly, and the material taking assembly is arranged on the second rotating assembly; the driving motor is arranged in the main rotating piece, connected with the first rotating assembly and used for driving the first rotating assembly to rotate, driving the second rotating assembly to rotate and driving the material taking assembly to linearly move in the state that the first rotating assembly and the second rotating assembly rotate. Only one driving motor is adopted to drive the first rotating assembly, the second rotating assembly and the material taking assembly to realize linkage, and the material taking assembly can be driven to linearly move without cooperation of multiple motors so as to realize material taking and carrying, so that wafer carrying can be quickly, accurately and efficiently performed, and the wafer carrying device is suitable for carrying wafers of various specifications and has the advantages of wide applicability, high efficiency and the like. The device has the advantages of small size, simple structure, low power consumption, simple control, high efficiency and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of chip manufacturing, and in particular to a wafer handling robot. Background Art

[0002] Traditional wafer handling robots have complex internal structures, extremely high hardware costs, and are particularly difficult to develop for secondary use. They are usually tailored to handle a certain type or model of wafer material, resulting in high prices and difficulties in development.

[0003] Moreover, when a wafer handling robot is handling wafers, it usually requires multiple motors to operate in coordination, resulting in a complex structure, large size, and high power consumption. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a wafer handling robot.

[0005] One embodiment of the present application is a wafer handling robot, which includes a main rotating member and an arm material picking structure;

[0006] The arm material taking structure is arranged on the main rotating member, and is used for rotating under the driving of the main rotating member;

[0007] The arm material picking structure comprises a driving motor, a first rotating assembly, a second rotating assembly and a material picking assembly;

[0008] The first rotating assembly is arranged on the main rotating member, the second rotating assembly is rotatably arranged on the first rotating assembly, and the material taking assembly is arranged on the second rotating assembly;

[0009] The driving motor is arranged in the main rotating member and connected to the first rotating component, and is used to drive the first rotating component to rotate, drive the second rotating component to rotate, and drive the material picking component to move linearly when the first rotating component and the second rotating component are rotating.

[0010] The above-mentioned wafer handling robot, through the cooperation of the main rotating parts and the arm material picking structure, only uses one driving motor to drive the first rotating component, the second rotating component and the material picking component to achieve linkage. It can drive the material picking component to move in a straight line without the coordination of multiple motors to achieve material picking and handling. Therefore, it can quickly, accurately and efficiently carry out wafer handling, and can be suitable for handling wafers of various specifications. Therefore, it has the advantages of wide applicability, small size, simple structure, low power consumption, simple control and high efficiency.

[0011] For example, in some embodiments, the rotation axes of the second rotating assembly and the first rotating assembly are located on a preset rotating plane, and the moving direction of the material taking assembly is perpendicular to the preset rotating plane; when the first rotating assembly and the second rotating assembly are rotating, the first angle of the first rotating assembly relative to the preset rotating plane is the same as the second angle of the second rotating assembly relative to the preset rotating plane. That is, the first rotating assembly and the second rotating assembly have the same angle relative to the preset rotating plane.

[0012] In some embodiments, the rotation axis of the main rotating member, the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly, and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly are parallel; or,

[0013] The moving direction of the material taking component is perpendicular to the rotating shaft of the first rotating component and the rotating shaft of the second rotating component.

[0014] In some of these embodiments, the arm material taking structure also includes a cross roller bearing;

[0015] The first rotating assembly includes a first articulated arm and a first driving gear, a first toothed belt, and a first driven gear located in the first articulated arm;

[0016] The driving motor is connected to the first joint arm and is used to drive the first joint arm to rotate. The first joint arm is connected to the first driven gear and the cross roller bearing;

[0017] The first driving gear is fixed on the main rotating member and is transmission-connected to the first driven gear through the first toothed belt;

[0018] The second rotating assembly includes a second articulated arm and a second synchronous gear, a second toothed belt, and a second driven gear located in the second articulated arm;

[0019] The second articulated arm is fixed on the first driven gear, and the second driven gear is fixed under the material taking assembly;

[0020] The second synchronous gear is fixed on the first articulated arm and is transmission-connected to the second driven gear via the second toothed belt to drive the material taking assembly to move.

[0021] In some embodiments, the first driving gear and the first driven gear have a first gear ratio, the second driven gear and the second synchronous gear have a second gear ratio, and the first gear ratio is the same as the second gear ratio.

[0022] In some embodiments, the gear ratio of the first driving gear to the first driven gear is 2:1, and the gear ratio of the second synchronous gear to the second driven gear is 1:2; or,

[0023] The driving motor drives the first articulated arm and the second articulated arm to rotate synchronously. When the first articulated arm and the second articulated arm are rotating, the first articulated arm and the second articulated arm have the same angle relative to a preset rotation plane, and the moving direction of the material picking assembly is perpendicular to the preset rotation plane.

[0024] In some embodiments, the number of the arm material taking structure is two;

[0025] The material taking components of the two arm material taking structures have overlapping or parallel moving directions;

[0026] Furthermore, the moving paths of the two arm material taking structures do not interfere with each other.

[0027] In some embodiments, the material picking components of the two arm material picking structures have the same material picking position; or,

[0028] The material picking components of the two arm material picking structures have stepped material picking positions.

[0029] In some embodiments, the material picking assembly has a pneumatic gripper ceramic arm or a ceramic suction cup; and / or,

[0030] The material picking assembly includes a negative pressure adsorption arm and a steering connector, wherein the negative pressure adsorption arm is arranged on the second rotating assembly through the steering connector, and the steering connector is used to limit the connection direction between the negative pressure adsorption arm and the second rotating assembly, so that the moving direction of the material picking assembly is perpendicular to the preset rotating plane;

[0031] The wafer handling robot also includes a negative pressure tube connected to the negative pressure adsorption arm, and the negative pressure tube sequentially passes through the second rotating assembly, the first rotating assembly and the main rotating member, and is used to connect to a negative pressure generating device.

[0032] Exemplarily, in some embodiments, the negative pressure tube passes through the second driven gear into the second joint arm, passes through the second synchronous gear and the first driven gear into the first joint arm, passes through the first driving gear into the main rotating member, passes through the main rotating member to be exposed, and is used to connect to a negative pressure generating device.

[0033] Exemplarily, in some embodiments, the first driving gear and the second driven gear are respectively provided with a first through-tube hole for the negative pressure tube to pass through at a position deviating from the central axis, and the second synchronous gear and the first driven gear are respectively provided with a second through-tube hole for the negative pressure tube to pass through at the central axis, and the negative pressure tube in the second joint arm passes through the two second through-tube holes and is exposed outside the first joint arm, and then passes through the through hole of the first joint arm to enter the first joint arm, and the arm material picking structure also includes a protective shell, which is arranged under the first joint arm to cover the negative pressure tube exposed outside the first joint arm.

[0034] In some of the embodiments, the wafer handling robot further includes a wafer detection sensor disposed on the material picking component for detecting the state of the wafer in the device to be picked up.

[0035] Exemplarily, in some of the embodiments, the film detection sensor is arranged on the negative pressure adsorption arm of the material picking component, or is arranged on the steering connecting piece of the material picking component.

[0036] In some embodiments, the wafer handling robot further includes a lifting assembly, and the main rotating member is disposed on the lifting assembly and is used for lifting and lowering driven by the lifting assembly;

[0037] The lifting direction of the lifting assembly, the rotating shaft of the main rotating member, the rotating shaft of the first rotating assembly, and the rotating shaft of the second rotating assembly are parallel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the conventional technology, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the conventional technology descriptions are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0039] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the wafer handling robot described in this application.

[0040] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Another schematic diagram of the embodiment shown.

[0041] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A partial structural schematic diagram of the illustrated embodiment.

[0042] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Another schematic diagram of the embodiment shown.

[0043] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Another schematic diagram of the embodiment shown.

[0044] Figure 6 for Figure 5 Another schematic diagram of the embodiment shown.

[0045] Figure 7 for Figure 6 A schematic diagram of application states of the illustrated embodiment.

[0046] Figure 8 for Figure 3 A partial structural schematic diagram of the illustrated embodiment.

[0047] Fig. 9 for Figure 8 Another schematic diagram of the embodiment shown.

[0048] Fig.10 for Fig. 9 Another identification schematic diagram of the illustrated embodiment.

[0049] Fig.11 for Fig. 9 Another state diagram of the embodiment shown.

[0050] Fig.12 for Fig.11 Another identification schematic diagram of the illustrated embodiment.

[0051] Fig.13 for Fig.12 A schematic cross-sectional view along the AA direction of the illustrated embodiment.

[0052] Reference numerals: wafer handling robot 100 , lifting assembly 200 , main rotating member 300 , driving motor 400 , first rotating assembly 500 , second rotating assembly 600 , material picking assembly 700 , cross roller bearing 800 , wafer sensor 900 , wafer 999 ;

[0053] The first arm material picking structure 101, the second arm material picking structure 102, the top cover 310, the first drive motor 410, the second drive motor 420, the first angle 501, the protective shell 502, the first through-hole 503, the second through-hole 504, the first joint arm 510, the first drive gear 520, the first toothed belt 530, the first driven gear 540, the second angle 601, the second joint arm 610, the second synchronous gear 620, the second toothed belt 630, the second driven gear 640, the moving direction 701, the preset rotating surface 702, the negative pressure adsorption arm 710, and the steering connector 720. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without violating the connotation of the present application, so the present application is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0055] It should be noted that when a component is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another component, it may be directly on the other component or there may also be a central component. When a component is considered to be "connected to" another component, it may be directly connected to the other component or there may be a central component at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and similar expressions used in the specification of this application are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only implementation method.

[0056] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0057] In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being “above” or “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly in contact with the second feature, or the first feature and the second feature are in contact indirectly through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being “above”, “above”, or “above” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being “below”, “below”, or “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0058] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the specification of this application have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used in the specification of this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application. The term "and or" used in the specification of this application includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0059] The present application discloses a wafer handling robot, which includes some or all of the technical features of the following embodiments; that is, the wafer handling robot includes some or all of the following structures. In one embodiment of the present application, a wafer handling robot includes a main rotating member and an arm material picking structure; the arm material picking structure is arranged on the main rotating member, and is used to rotate under the drive of the main rotating member; the arm material picking structure includes a driving motor, a first rotating component, a second rotating component and a material picking component; the first rotating component is arranged on the main rotating member, the second rotating component is rotatably arranged on the first rotating component, and the material picking component is arranged on the second rotating component; the driving motor is arranged in the main rotating member and is connected to the first rotating component, and is used to drive the first rotating component to rotate, drive the second rotating component to rotate, and drive the material picking component to move linearly when the first rotating component and the second rotating component are rotating. The wafer handling robot, through the cooperation of the main rotating part and the arm material picking structure, only uses one drive motor to drive the first rotating component, the second rotating component and the material picking component to realize linkage, and can drive the material picking component to move linearly without the need for multiple motors to coordinate, so as to realize material picking and handling. Therefore, it can quickly, accurately and efficiently carry out wafer handling, and can be used to carry wafers of various specifications. Therefore, it has the advantages of wide applicability, small size, simple structure, low power consumption, simple control and high efficiency. Figures 1 to 13 , the wafer handling robot is described in detail.

[0060] In some embodiments, a wafer handling robot 100 is Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, it includes a main rotating member 300 and an arm material taking structure; the arm material taking structure is arranged on the main rotating member 300, and is used to rotate under the drive of the main rotating member 300; Figure 3The arm material picking structure includes a driving motor 400, a first rotating component 500, a second rotating component 600 and a material picking component 700; the first rotating component 500 is arranged on the main rotating component 300, the second rotating component 600 is rotatably arranged on the first rotating component 500, and the material picking component 700 is arranged on the second rotating component 600; the driving motor 400 is arranged in the main rotating component 300 and is connected to the first rotating component 500, and is used to drive the first rotating component 500 to rotate, drive the second rotating component 600 to rotate, and when the first rotating component 500 and the second rotating component 600 are rotating, drive the material picking component 700 to move in a straight line, that is, the moving direction 701 of the material picking component 700 is a straight line. Such a design, through the cooperation of the main rotating part 300 and the arm material picking structure, only uses one drive motor 400 to drive the first rotating component 500, the second rotating component 600 and the material picking component 700 to achieve linkage. It can drive the material picking component 700 to move in a straight line without the coordination of multiple motors to achieve material picking and transportation. Therefore, wafer transportation can be carried out quickly, accurately and efficiently, and it can be suitable for transporting wafers of various specifications. Therefore, it has the advantages of wide applicability, small size, simple structure, low power consumption, simple control and high efficiency.

[0061] In some of these embodiments, Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wafer handling robot 100 shown in the figure further includes a lifting assembly 200, and the main rotating member 300 is disposed on the lifting assembly 200 and is used for lifting and lowering under the drive of the lifting assembly 200; Figure 3 and Figure 4 , the lifting direction of the lifting assembly 200, the rotation axis of the main rotating member 300, the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly 500, and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly 600 are parallel. Such a design is conducive to flexibly adjusting the position of the main rotating member 300, such as the relative height, to adjust the position of the material picking assembly 700, so as to enable the material picking assembly 700 to pick up the material sheet, i.e., the wafer 999, on its linear moving path. Figure 6 and Figure 7 shown.

[0062] In each embodiment, the arm material picking structure is arranged on the main rotating member 300, and is used to rotate under the drive of the main rotating member 300; the arm material picking structure includes a driving motor 400, a first rotating assembly 500, a second rotating assembly 600 and a material picking assembly 700. The number of the arm material picking structure can be one, two or more, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2In the illustrated embodiment, the number of the arm material picking structure is two, including a first arm material picking structure 101 and a second arm material picking structure 102. The first arm material picking structure 101 and the second arm material picking structure 102 are respectively arranged on the main rotating part 300; in some embodiments, the number of the arm material picking structure is two; the material picking components 700 of the two arm material picking structures have overlapping or parallel moving directions 701; and the moving paths of the two arm material picking structures do not interfere with each other. Exemplarily, when the number of the arm material picking structure is at least two, such as Figure 4 As shown, the moving directions 701 of the material picking components 700 of each of the arm material picking structures are set in the same way, that is, the material picking directions of each of the material picking components 700 are set in the same way, which can also be understood as the material picking components 700 of each of the arm material picking structures have overlapping or parallel moving directions 701. In some embodiments, the material picking components 700 of two of the arm material picking structures have the same material picking position. In some embodiments, such as Figure 4 As shown, the material picking components 700 of the two arm material picking structures have stepped material picking positions.

[0063] It can be understood that each of the arm material picking structures includes and only includes one drive motor 400, and the number of drive motors 400 corresponds to the number of arm material picking structures. Figure 3 and Figure 5 As shown, the number of the arm material picking structure is two, and the number of the drive motors 400 is also two, including a first drive motor 410 and a second drive motor 420, which respectively drive different first rotating components 500. Such a structural design is conducive to improving the working efficiency of the wafer handling robot 100.

[0064] In each embodiment, the first rotating assembly 500 is disposed on the main rotating member 300, the second rotating assembly 600 is rotatably disposed on the first rotating assembly 500, and the material taking assembly 700 is disposed on the second rotating assembly 600; illustratively, in some embodiments, the rotation axes of the second rotating assembly 600 and the first rotating assembly 500 are located on a preset rotating plane 702, and the moving direction 701 of the material taking assembly 700 is perpendicular to the preset rotating plane 702; when the first rotating assembly 500 and the second rotating assembly 600 are rotating, the first angle 501 of the first rotating assembly 500 relative to the preset rotating plane 702 is the same as the second angle 601 of the second rotating assembly 600 relative to the preset rotating plane 702. That is, the first rotating assembly 500 and the second rotating assembly 600 have the same angle relative to the preset rotating plane 702. Such a design realizes effective control over the linear movement of the material picking component 700, so that the driving motor 400, the first rotating component 500, the second rotating component 600 and the material picking component 700 are accurately linked, and the rotation of the driving motor 400 is converted into the linear movement of the material picking component 700 through the rotation adjustment of the first rotating component 500 and the second rotating component 600. Therefore, only one driving motor 400 is used to drive the first rotating component 500, the second rotating component 600 and the material picking component 700, so that multi-structure linkage can be realized, so that the linear movement of the material picking component 700 can be driven without the coordination of multiple motors to realize material picking and transportation. Moreover, since the material picking component 700 moves in a linear manner, the wafer transportation can be carried out quickly, accurately and efficiently. Moreover, since it is a simple linear movement, it can be used to transport wafers of various specifications with the appropriate design of the material picking component 700. It has the advantages of wide applicability, small size, simple structure, low power consumption, simple control and high efficiency.

[0065] In each embodiment, the driving motor 400 is disposed in the main rotating member 300 and connected to the first rotating assembly 500, and is used to drive the first rotating assembly 500 to rotate, drive the second rotating assembly 600 to rotate, and drive the material taking assembly 700 to move linearly when the first rotating assembly 500 and the second rotating assembly 600 rotate. As an example, Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, the pick-up assembly 700 moves linearly to pick up the wafer 999. In this embodiment, the wafer handling robot 100 further includes a wafer detection sensor 900 disposed on the pick-up assembly 700, which is used to detect the state of the wafer in the device to be picked up, that is, to detect the state of the wafer 999 in the device to be picked up. Figure 8The wafer sensor 900 is disposed on the negative pressure adsorption arm 710 of the material picking assembly 700, or on the steering connector 720 of the material picking assembly 700. With such a design, the wafer sensor 900 can be used to obtain the state of the wafer 999, and then the material picking operation can be performed accurately.

[0066] In some embodiments, the rotation axis of the main rotating member 300, the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly 500, and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly 600 are parallel; in some embodiments, the moving direction 701 of the material picking assembly 700 is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly 500 and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly 600. In some embodiments, the rotation axis of the main rotating member 300, the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly 500, and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly 600 are parallel, and the moving direction 701 of the material picking assembly 700 is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly 500 and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly 600. Such a design is conducive to accurately controlling the linear movement and the position of the linear movement of the material picking assembly 700. The driving motor 400 drives the first rotating assembly 500 to rotate, drives the second rotating assembly 600 to rotate, and drives the material picking assembly 700 to move linearly. Only one driving motor 400 is used to complete the position control of the material picking assembly 700, without the need for multi-motor coordination, so a miniaturized solution design can be achieved.

[0067] In some embodiments, such as Fig.13 As shown, the arm material taking structure also includes a cross roller bearing 800; combined Figure 8 and Fig. 9The first rotating assembly 500 includes a first articulated arm 510 and a first driving gear 520, a first toothed belt 530, and a first driven gear 540 located in the first articulated arm 510; the driving motor 400 is connected to the first articulated arm 510 to drive the first articulated arm 510 to rotate, and the first articulated arm 510 is connected to the first driven gear 540 and the cross roller bearing 800; the first driving gear 520 is fixed to the main rotating member 300, and is connected to the first driven gear 540 through the first toothed belt 530. 0 transmission connection; the second rotating assembly 600 includes a second articulated arm 610 and a second synchronous gear 620, a second toothed belt 630, and a second driven gear 640 located in the second articulated arm 610; the second articulated arm 610 is fixed to the first driven gear 540, and the second driven gear 640 is fixed under the material picking assembly 700; the second synchronous gear 620 is fixed to the first articulated arm 510, and is transmission-connected to the second driven gear 640 through the second toothed belt 630 to drive the material picking assembly 700 to move. Such a design is an example but not a limitation of using only one drive motor 400 to drive the material picking assembly 700 to move linearly. Only one drive motor 400 is used to drive the first rotating assembly 500, the second rotating assembly 600 and the material picking assembly 700 to achieve linkage. There is no need for the coordination of multiple motors to drive the material picking assembly 700 to move linearly to achieve material picking and transportation. Therefore, wafer transportation can be carried out quickly, accurately and efficiently, and it can be suitable for transporting wafers of various specifications. Therefore, it has the advantages of wide applicability, small size, simple structure, low power consumption, simple control and high efficiency.

[0068] In some embodiments, the first driving gear 520 and the first driven gear 540 have a first gear ratio, the second driven gear 640 and the second synchronous gear 620 have a second gear ratio, and the first gear ratio is the same as the second gear ratio. In some embodiments, the gear ratio of the first driving gear 520 and the first driven gear 540 is 2:1, and the gear ratio of the second synchronous gear 620 and the second driven gear 640 is 1:2; that is, the first gear ratio and the second gear ratio are both 2. Such a design is conducive to maintaining the relative position of the first rotating assembly 500 and the second rotating assembly 600, that is, maintaining the relative position of the first joint arm 510 and the second joint arm 610, and is conducive to cooperating with the embodiment with the cross roller bearing 800 to improve the rotation stability of the first joint arm 510 and the second joint arm 610.

[0069] In some embodiments, the driving motor 400 drives the first joint arm 510 and the second joint arm 610 to rotate synchronously, and when the first joint arm 510 and the second joint arm 610 rotate, the first joint arm 510 and the second joint arm 610 have the same angle relative to the preset rotation plane 702, and the moving direction 701 of the material taking component 700 is perpendicular to the preset rotation plane 702. As an example, Fig.10 and Fig.11 As shown, the driving motor 400 drives the first articulated arm 510 and the second articulated arm 610 to rotate synchronously. No matter where the first articulated arm 510 and the second articulated arm 610 rotate to, when the first rotating component 500 and the second rotating component 600 are rotating, the first angle 501 of the first rotating component 500 relative to the preset rotating surface 702 is the same as the second angle 601 of the second rotating component 600 relative to the preset rotating surface 702; that is, when the first articulated arm 510 and the second articulated arm 610 are rotating, the first angle 501 of the first articulated arm 510 relative to the preset rotating surface 702 is the same as the second angle 601 of the second articulated arm 610 relative to the preset rotating surface 702. Such a design realizes effective control over the linear movement of the material picking assembly 700, and converts the rotation of the drive motor 400 into the linear movement of the material picking assembly 700 through the rotation adjustment of the first rotating assembly 500 and the second rotating assembly 600. Therefore, only one drive motor 400 is used to drive the first rotating assembly 500, the second rotating assembly 600 and the material picking assembly 700, so that multi-structure linkage can be realized, thereby driving the material picking assembly 700 to move linearly without the need for multiple motors to coordinate, thereby realizing material picking and transportation. Moreover, since the material picking assembly 700 moves linearly, the wafer transportation can be carried out quickly, accurately and efficiently.

[0070] In some embodiments, the material removal assembly 700 has a pneumatic gripper ceramic arm or a ceramic suction cup. In some embodiments, combined with Fig. 9 and Fig.12The material picking assembly 700 includes a negative pressure adsorption arm 710 and a steering connector 720. The negative pressure adsorption arm 710 is arranged on the second rotating assembly 600 through the steering connector 720. The steering connector 720 is used to limit the connection direction between the negative pressure adsorption arm 710 and the second rotating assembly 600, so that the moving direction 701 of the material picking assembly 700 is perpendicular to the preset rotating surface 702; the wafer handling robot 100 also includes a negative pressure tube connected to the negative pressure adsorption arm 710, and the negative pressure tube sequentially passes through the second rotating assembly 600, the first rotating assembly 500 and the main rotating member 300, and is used to connect a negative pressure generating device. Exemplarily, in some embodiments, the negative pressure tube passes through the second driven gear 640 to enter the second articulated arm 610, passes through the second synchronous gear 620 and the first driven gear 540 to enter the first articulated arm 510, passes through the first driving gear 520 to enter the main rotating member 300, passes through the main rotating member 300 to be exposed, and is used to connect a negative pressure generating device. Exemplarily, in some embodiments, the first driving gear 520 and the second driven gear 640 are respectively provided with a first through-tube hole 503 for the negative pressure tube to pass through at a position deviating from the central axis, and the second synchronous gear 620 and the first driven gear 540 are respectively provided with a second through-tube hole 504 for the negative pressure tube to pass through at the central axis, and the negative pressure tube in the second joint arm 610 passes through the two second through-tube holes 504 and then is exposed outside the first joint arm 510, and then passes through the through hole of the first joint arm 510 to enter the first joint arm 510, and the arm material picking structure also includes a protective shell 502, and the protective shell 502 is arranged under the first joint arm 510 to cover the negative pressure tube exposed outside the first joint arm 510. Such a design enables the negative pressure tube, that is, the negative pressure transmission pipeline, to be completely inside the wafer handling robot 100. Even the portion exposed outside the arm material picking structure, that is, the portion exposed outside the first joint arm 510 after passing through the two second pipe holes 504, is also protected by the protective shell 502. In this way, the wafer handling robot 100 as a whole presents a no exposed air pipe, thereby avoiding the risk problems caused by exposed pipelines, greatly improving the safety of the product, and is especially suitable for a large number of rotations and movements of the arm material picking structure, thereby improving the safe service life of the product.

[0071] Next, continue to combine Figures 1 to 13, the wafer handling robot 100 is illustrated by way of example. In some embodiments, the wafer handling robot 100 includes a lifting assembly 200 for Z-axis movement, a main rotating member 300 for R-axis rotation, a first arm material picking structure 101 and a second arm material picking structure 102, a vacuum ceramic arm or a pneumatic gripper arm, and a film detection device, i.e., a film detection sensor 900. The material picking assembly 700 can support the picking and placing of various specifications of wafers, such as picking and placing wafers of 4 inches to 8 inches.

[0072] The lifting assembly 200 includes high-precision guide rails, lead screws and servo motors, etc. Through belt transmission, the Z-axis accuracy can reach 0.01mm, which reduces costs, noise, and maintenance costs while meeting the accuracy requirements.

[0073] The main rotating part 300 includes a precision hollow rotating platform and a servo motor. The precision hollow rotating platform has high plane accuracy and good rigidity, which reduces a lot of machining costs. When matched with the servo motor, it has fast response speed and is smooth and stable.

[0074] Each arm material picking structure includes a precision harmonic reducer and a servo motor as the power. The precision harmonic reducer has extremely high precision and good rigidity, which is conducive to realizing the accurate rotation of the two rotating components, especially the articulated arm, that is, the arm. At the same time, through the cross roller bearing 800 and the specific proportional transmission of the two toothed belts, an arm material picking structure can convert the rotation into the translational movement of the end material picking component 700 with only one power, and keep the relative angle of the end material picking component 700 unchanged; the material picking component 700 can adopt a vacuum ceramic arm, which is made of dense ceramic and has been anti-statically treated to protect the wafer 999; the probe sensor 900 can detect and judge the material in the material box when cooperating with the lifting component 200, and judge whether the material is stored, whether the material is square, etc., so as to improve the efficiency and stability of the subsequent transportation.

[0075] Double-arm material-retrieving structure, each arm material-retrieving structure has two articulated arms, each arm material-retrieving structure has a harmonic reducer and a motor, and each arm material-retrieving structure uses only one power for the three rotating shafts. Through the design of the gear transmission ratio or the synchronous wheel and synchronous belt transmission ratio, the material-retrieving assembly 700 at the end is kept to move in a straight line. The part where the two articulated arms are connected has a cross roller bearing 800, which has good rigidity and flatness, and the middle can be passed by the line and the negative pressure tube. The line of the first articulated arm 510 passes from the bottom, comes up from the reverse side, and then passes through the second articulated arm 610. The first driving gear 520 inside the first articulated arm 510 is provided with a first pipe-through hole 503, and the first driven gear 540 inside the first articulated arm 510 and the second synchronous gear 620 of the second articulated arm 610 are both provided with a second pipe-through hole 504, through which the line is passed. The first driving gear 520 in the first articulated arm 510 of the arm material picking structure is fixed to the top cover 310 at the upper end of the main rotating member 300 ; the first driven gear 540 in the first articulated arm 510 is fixed to the second articulated arm 610 .

[0076] As an example, the cross roller bearing 800 is fixed on the first joint arm 510, and the first driven gear 540 is fixed on the inner ring of the cross roller bearing 800 to provide support for rotation. The inner ring of the cross roller bearing 800 is used for threading and pipe passing.

[0077] In this way, the structure of the wafer handling robot 100 is optimized and designed, and the main rotating part 300 and other structures use harmonic reducers, servo motors, and high-precision cross roller bearings 800 and other structural components, so that the wafer handling robot 100 has a simple structure. The traditional design is to use precision machining mounting parts in conjunction with angular contact ball bearings, which has extremely high processing requirements and correspondingly high processing costs. The cross roller bearings 800 used in this embodiment are not only high in precision, but also have good rigidity and can adapt to more wafer handling applications. The Z-axis lifting is achieved through the lifting assembly 200, which can be composed of precision guide rails and lead screws. The servo system is driven by a synchronous belt, which has a good mute effect and low cost. In addition, the arm material picking structure is equipped with a laser detection sensor as a film detection sensor 900, which can detect and judge the presence or absence of the material in the material box and whether the material is placed correctly in conjunction with the Z axis, thereby enhancing the stability of the operation of the wafer handling robot 100; and the wafer handling robot 100 has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, wider adaptability, and relatively larger load-bearing capacity.

[0078] It should be noted that other embodiments of the present application also include a wafer handling robot that can be implemented by combining the technical features in the above embodiments.

[0079] The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0080] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the scope of patent protection of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A wafer handling robot (100), characterized in that: It includes a main rotating part (300) and an arm material taking structure; The arm material taking structure is arranged on the main rotating member (300) and is used for rotating under the drive of the main rotating member (300); The arm material picking structure comprises a driving motor (400), a first rotating assembly (500), a second rotating assembly (600) and a material picking assembly (700); The first rotating assembly (500) is arranged on the main rotating member (300), the second rotating assembly (600) is rotatably arranged on the first rotating assembly (500), and the material taking assembly (700) is arranged on the second rotating assembly (600); The driving motor (400) is arranged in the main rotating member (300) and connected to the first rotating assembly (500), and is used for driving the first rotating assembly (500) to rotate, driving the second rotating assembly (600) to rotate, and driving the material taking assembly (700) to move linearly when the first rotating assembly (500) and the second rotating assembly (600) are rotating.

2. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotation axis of the main rotating member (300), the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly (500), and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly (600) are parallel; or, The moving direction (701) of the material taking component (700) is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the first rotating component (500) and the rotation axis of the second rotating component (600).

3. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The arm material taking structure also includes a cross roller bearing (800); The first rotating assembly (500) comprises a first joint arm (510) and a first driving gear (520), a first toothed belt (530), and a first driven gear (540) located in the first joint arm (510); The driving motor (400) is connected to the first joint arm (510) and is used to drive the first joint arm (510) to rotate; the first joint arm (510) is connected to the first driven gear (540) and the cross roller bearing (800); The first driving gear (520) is fixed on the main rotating member (300) and is transmission-connected to the first driven gear (540) via the first toothed belt (530); The second rotating assembly (600) comprises a second joint arm (610), and a second synchronous gear (620), a second toothed belt (630), and a second driven gear (640) located in the second joint arm (610); The second joint arm (610) is fixed on the first driven gear (540), and the second driven gear (640) is fixed under the material taking assembly (700); The second synchronous gear (620) is fixed on the first joint arm (510) and is transmission-connected to the second driven gear (640) via the second toothed belt (630) to drive the material taking assembly (700) to move.

4. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first driving gear (520) and the first driven gear (540) have a first gear ratio, the second driven gear (640) and the second synchronous gear (620) have a second gear ratio, and the first gear ratio is the same as the second gear ratio.

5. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that: The gear ratio between the first driving gear (520) and the first driven gear (540) is 2:1, and the gear ratio between the second synchronous gear (620) and the second driven gear (640) is 1:2; or, The driving motor (400) drives the first articulated arm (510) and the second articulated arm (610) to rotate synchronously; when the first articulated arm (510) and the second articulated arm (610) are rotating, the first articulated arm (510) and the second articulated arm (610) have the same angle relative to a preset rotation plane (702), and the moving direction (701) of the material picking assembly (700) is perpendicular to the preset rotation plane (702).

6. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the arm material taking structural parts is two; The material picking components (700) of the two arm material picking structures have overlapping or parallel moving directions (701); Furthermore, the moving paths of the two arm material taking structures do not interfere with each other.

7. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 6, characterized in that: The material picking components (700) of the two arm material picking structures have the same material picking position; or, The material picking components (700) of the two arm material picking structures have stepped material picking positions.

8. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material taking component (700) has a pneumatic gripper ceramic arm or a ceramic suction cup; and / or, The material picking assembly (700) comprises a negative pressure adsorption arm (710) and a steering connection member (720); the negative pressure adsorption arm (710) is arranged on the second rotating assembly (600) via the steering connection member (720); the steering connection member (720) is used to limit the connection direction between the negative pressure adsorption arm (710) and the second rotating assembly (600), so that the moving direction (701) of the material picking assembly (700) is perpendicular to a preset rotating surface (702); The wafer handling robot (100) further comprises a negative pressure tube connected to the negative pressure adsorption arm (710), wherein the negative pressure tube sequentially passes through the second rotating assembly (600), the first rotating assembly (500) and the main rotating member (300) and is used for connecting to a negative pressure generating device.

9. The wafer handling robot (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wafer handling robot (100) further comprises a wafer detection sensor (900) arranged on the material picking component (700) and used for detecting the state of the wafer in the device to be picked up.

10. The wafer handling robot (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The wafer handling robot (100) further comprises a lifting component (200), wherein the main rotating member (300) is arranged on the lifting component (200) and is used for lifting and lowering under the drive of the lifting component (200); The lifting direction of the lifting assembly (200), the rotation axis of the main rotating member (300), the rotation axis of the first rotating assembly (500), and the rotation axis of the second rotating assembly (600) are parallel.

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