Ejector pin device

Abstract

The invention discloses an ejector pin device, and relates to the technical field of semiconductor process equipment. The thimble device comprises a thimble mechanism and a lifting mechanism; the ejector pin mechanism comprises an ejector pin base and an ejector pin fixed on the ejector pin base; in the lifting mechanism, a lifting shaft is fixedly connected to an ejector pin base, a movement base is fixed to the output end of a lifting driver, the lifting shaft is movably connected to the movement base and can ascend and descend along with the movement base, a damping piece is arranged between the lifting shaft and the movement base, and the damping piece can provide resistance for the lifting shaft so as to resist external deflection force borne by the lifting shaft. According to the ejector pin device, deflection of the ejector pin base and the lifting shaft has synchronism, the moving base is arranged at the output end of the lifting driver, and the damping piece is arranged between the moving base and the lifting shaft to resist deflection force borne by the lifting shaft, so that deflection of the lifting shaft can be reduced or avoided; deflection of the ejector pin base fixed to the lifting shaft can be compensated synchronously, and therefore the operation precision of the ejector pin is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor process equipment, and in particular to a ejector pin device. Background Art

[0002] In the semiconductor process route, wafers need to undergo etching, deposition, epitaxy and other process steps in different chambers to complete production. After the wafers enter different chambers through the transmission equipment, a set of motion mechanisms is required to achieve the steps of wafer acceptance, placement, and removal. Such a mechanism is usually called a ejector device. The ejector device is widely used in the entire process of semiconductor processing, including wafer testing, sorting, and transmission.

[0003] An existing ejector device includes an ejector, an ejector base and a lifting mechanism. The ejector is fixed on the ejector base, and the lifting mechanism drives the ejector base to move up and down. However, due to structural limitations or the existence of external forces such as vacuum force acting on the output end of the lifting mechanism, the ejector base is prone to deflection, causing the ejector to deviate from the set horizontality, thereby affecting the operating accuracy of the ejector.

[0004] Therefore, how to improve the running accuracy of the ejector pin is a technical problem that those skilled in the art currently need to solve. Summary of the invention

[0005] The application discloses an ejector pin device, which is used to improve the running accuracy of the ejector pin.

[0006] The present application provides an ejector device, comprising an ejector mechanism and a lifting mechanism; the ejector mechanism comprises an ejector base and an ejector fixed on the ejector base; the lifting mechanism comprises a lifting shaft, a lifting driver and a damping member, the lifting shaft is fixedly connected to the ejector base, a motion base is fixed to the output end of the lifting driver, the lifting shaft is movably connected to the motion base and can move up and down with the motion base, the damping member is arranged between the lifting shaft and the motion base, and the damping member can provide resistance to the lifting shaft to resist the external deflection force exerted on the lifting shaft.

[0007] In this ejector device, the lifting shaft, the ejector base and the ejector are fixedly connected, the deflection of the ejector base and the lifting shaft is synchronized, a motion base is arranged at the output end of the lifting drive, and a damping member is arranged between the motion base and the lifting shaft to resist the deflection force exerted on the lifting shaft, thereby reducing or avoiding the deflection of the lifting shaft. Synchronously, the deflection of the ejector base fixed to the lifting shaft can be compensated, thereby improving the operating accuracy of the ejector and improving the problem of the sliding plate caused by the horizontal fluctuation of the ejector.

[0008] In a possible implementation manner, the damping element is an elastic element.

[0009] At this time, the resistance of the damping member is the elastic force of the elastic member. As the external force applied to the lifting shaft increases, the deformation degree of the elastic member also increases, and it can adaptively provide an elastic force of corresponding magnitude to balance the external force applied to the lifting shaft, so as to ensure that, under the condition of external force fluctuation, a resistance that can adaptively fluctuate can always be provided to reduce the deflection degree of the lifting shaft. In addition, since the elastic member is a flexible member, it can avoid causing hard damage to the moving base and the lifting shaft.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner, the lifting mechanism further includes an adjusting member fixedly connected to the lifting shaft, and the elastic member is disposed between the adjusting member and the moving base; the connection position of the adjusting member on the lifting shaft is adjustable to adjust the deformation amount of the elastic member.

[0011] At this time, due to the adjustable deformation amount of the elastic member by the adjusting member, the elastic force range provided by the elastic member can be correspondingly adjusted. When it is predicted that the range of the external deflection force applied to the lifting shaft changes, the deformation degree of the elastic member can be adjusted by the adjusting member to ensure that the elastic force that the elastic member can provide is not less than the predicted external deflection force that the lifting shaft will receive.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, it further includes a housing, and the thimble mechanism is built in the housing; the lifting mechanism further includes a connecting plate, a linear bearing is fixedly arranged on the connecting plate, the top end of the lifting shaft extends into the housing, and sequentially passes through the mounting hole at the bottom of the housing and the linear bearing downward and then connects the moving base; a sealing member is arranged on the connecting plate to seal the gap between the mounting hole and the lifting shaft.

[0013] At this time, the guiding effect of the linear bearing on the lifting shaft can be utilized to improve the smoothness of the lifting movement of the lifting shaft, which is beneficial to ensuring that the thimble is maintained at the set level.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, the sealing member includes a first sealing ring disposed between the top surface of the connecting plate and the bottom surface of the housing and a corrugated pipe sleeved outside the lifting shaft; the outer ring of the linear bearing is hermetically connected to the connecting plate, the corrugated pipe can movably pass through the mounting hole, and the top end is hermetically connected to the lifting shaft and the bottom end is hermetically connected to the outer ring of the linear bearing.

[0015] At this time, the sealing of the lifting shaft at the mounting hole is realized by means of the first sealing ring and the corrugated pipe respectively. Compared with the direct sealing fit of the lifting shaft with the hole wall of the mounting hole, the constraint of the mounting hole on the lifting shaft can be reduced, and the over-positioning of the lifting shaft formed by the cooperation with the linear bearing can be avoided, while ensuring the sealing effect, the smoothness of the lifting movement of the lifting shaft is improved.

[0016] In a possible implementation, a connection module is provided on the moving base, the top surface of the connection module is a positioning spherical surface, and the bottom end of the lifting shaft abuts against the positioning spherical surface.

[0017] At this time, the bottom end of the lifting shaft cooperates with the positioning spherical surface, releasing the rotational degrees of freedom of the bottom end of the lifting shaft in some directions. When the lifting mechanism performs the lifting action, the lifting shaft will not cause abnormal wear due to over-positioning with the linear bearing, effectively improving the service life of the equipment.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the moving base includes a support plate, and the connection module includes a first spherical gasket fixed above the support plate, and the top surface of the first spherical gasket is the positioning spherical surface.

[0019] At this time, the positioning spherical surface can be conveniently set through the first spherical gasket.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the moving base includes a support plate; the lifting mechanism further includes a locking member. The locking member can pass upward through the connection hole of the support plate and then be fixedly connected to the bottom end of the lifting shaft, and there is a gap between the locking member and the connection hole.

[0021] At this time, the locking member can improve the smoothness of the movement of the lifting shaft. At the same time, due to the existence of the gap between the locking member and the connection hole, the connection hole can restrict the movement range of the locking member within a certain range and can also move freely within a certain range, thus avoiding over-positioning of the lifting shaft fixed to the locking member.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the locking member is a positioning bolt.

[0023] At this time, using a positioning bolt as the locking member is convenient for maintenance, disassembly and assembly, and is beneficial to cost saving.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the damping member is a spring sleeved outside the locking member, and both ends of the spring respectively abut between the support plate and the limit protrusion on the locking member.

[0025] At this time, after installing the locking member, the installation of the elastic member can be completed synchronously, and the installation and disassembly are convenient.

[0026] In a possible implementation, a second spherical gasket is further provided below the support plate, the bottom surface of the second spherical gasket is a spherical surface, and the spring abuts between the second spherical gasket and the limit protrusion.

[0027] At this time, the bottom surface of the second spherical gasket is spherical, and the top of the spring abuts against the second spherical gasket. Compared with the elastic member directly abutting against the bottom surface of the support plate, the rotational freedom of the elastic member and the locking member in some directions can be released, further avoiding abnormal wear of the lifting shaft and the linear bearing due to over-positioning.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, a guide sleeve is further fixedly arranged above the support plate. The locking member passes upward through the guide sleeve and then connects to the lifting shaft, and there is a gap between the guide sleeve and the locking member.

[0029] At this time, the guide sleeve can guide the locking member and can cover the positioning bolt, having a shielding effect.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the moving base includes a support plate and a vertical plate fixed to one side of the support plate. The lifting shaft is connected to the support plate, and the vertical plate is fixedly connected to the side surface of the output end of the lifting driver.

[0031] At this time, by respectively arranging the support plate and the vertical plate to separately serve as the connection structure with the lifting shaft and the connection structure with the output end of the lifting driver, the assembly difficulty can be reduced, the quick disassembly between the moving base and the lifting driver can be realized, and the maintenance difficulty of the lifting mechanism and the ejector pin device can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0033] Figure 1 It is a vertical sectional view of the ejector pin device according to the embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 It is an axonometric view of the lifting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 3 It is a vertical sectional view of the lifting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0036] Description of the reference numerals:

[0037] 1 - housing;

[0038] 11 - mounting hole;

[0039] 2 - lifting mechanism;

[0040] 21 - Lifting shaft, 22 - Moving base, 23 - Elastic member, 24 - Lifting drive, 25 - Connection module, 26 - Linear bearing, 27 - Connection plate, 28 - Bellows;

[0041] 221 - Support plate, 2211 - Connection hole, 222 - Vertical plate;

[0042] 251 - Positioning bolt, 252 - First spherical gasket, 253 - Guide sleeve, 254 - Second spherical gasket;

[0043] 261 - Mounting plate;

[0044] 271 - First sealing ring;

[0045] 3 - Thimble mechanism;

[0046] 31 - Thimble, 32 - Thimble base. Specific implementation mode

[0047] The thimble device provided by this application is applied to the technical field of semiconductor process equipment. Its architecture exists in scenarios with the need for wafer lifting movement. The main products involved include, but are not limited to, wafer cleaning equipment, wafer measuring equipment, wafer transfer equipment, and process equipment such as etching and deposition.

[0048] Embodiment 1

[0049] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 , the thimble device includes a thimble mechanism 3, a lifting mechanism 2 and a housing 1.

[0050] The thimble mechanism 3 includes a thimble base 32 and a thimble 31 fixed on the thimble base 32. Usually, multiple thimbles 31 are fixedly connected on the thimble base 32. The thimble mechanism 3 is built into the housing 1.

[0051] The lifting mechanism 2 includes a lifting shaft 21 and a lifting drive 24. The lifting shaft 21 is fixedly connected to the thimble base 32 to drive the thimble mechanism 3 to move up and down. The output end of the lifting drive 24 is fixed with a moving base 22. In this embodiment, the output end of the lifting drive 24 is additionally fixedly connected to the moving base 22. In other embodiments, the moving base 22 can also directly select a part of the structure on the output end of the lifting drive 24. The lifting shaft 21 is movably connected to the moving base 22 and can move up and down with the moving base 22.

[0052] Among them, the lifting drive 24 can achieve stepless adjustment of the lifting height of the thimble 31. The lifting drive 24 drives the moving base 22 to move up and down. At the same time, the moving base 22 drives the lifting shaft 21 to move up and down. The lifting drive 24 can specifically include components with lifting drive functions such as linear drives, linear guides, single-axis drives, and sliders.

[0053] When installed on the housing 1, an installation hole 11 is formed at the bottom of the housing 1. The lifting shaft 21 is connected to the installation hole 11 in a liftable manner. The top end of the lifting shaft 21 is fixedly connected to the ejector pin base 32. The rest of the lifting shaft 21, as well as structures such as the lifting driver 24 and the damping member in the lifting mechanism 2, are all externally disposed outside the housing 1 to reduce the occupation of the internal space of the housing 1.

[0054] The lifting mechanism 2 further includes a damping member. The damping member is disposed between the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22. The damping member can provide a resistance to the lifting shaft 21 to resist the external deflection force received by the lifting shaft 21.

[0055] In such an ejector pin device, the lifting shaft 21, the ejector pin base 32, and the ejector pin 31 are fixedly connected. The deflection of the ejector pin base 32 and the lifting shaft 21 is synchronous. A moving base 22 is provided at the output end of the lifting driver 24, and a damping member is provided between the moving base 22 and the lifting shaft 21 to resist the deflection force received by the lifting shaft 21, which can reduce or avoid the deflection of the lifting shaft 21. Synchronously, the deflection of the ejector pin base 32 fixed to the lifting shaft 21 can be compensated, thereby improving the running accuracy of the ejector pin 31 and improving the problem of the slide caused by the fluctuation of the levelness of the ejector pin 31.

[0056] Furthermore, the damping member adopts an elastic member 23. In this embodiment, a spring is specifically selected, and more specifically a compression spring. In other embodiments, according to the needs of the installation position, the magnitude and direction of the elastic force, the elastic member 23 can also be a tension spring, or a torsion spring, a snap spring, or an elastic rubber block.

[0057] It should be noted that to ensure that the elastic member 23 can provide resistance, when the elastic member 23 is assembled between the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22, the elastic member 23 is always in a deformed state. For the compression spring in this embodiment, it is installed on the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22 in a pre-compressed state.

[0058] At this time, the resistance of the damping member is the elastic force of the elastic member 23. As the external force received by the lifting shaft 21 increases, the deformation degree of the elastic member 23 will also increase, and it can adaptively provide a corresponding elastic force to balance the external force received by the lifting shaft 21, so as to ensure that under the condition of external force fluctuation, it can always provide an adaptively fluctuating resistance to reduce the deflection degree of the lifting shaft 21. In addition, since the elastic member 23 is a flexible member, it can avoid causing hard damage to the moving base 22 and the lifting shaft 21.

[0059] In addition, to ensure that the elastic member 23 can balance the external deflection force exerted on the lifting shaft 21 from different directions, the elastic member 23 can be arranged to provide resistance at different positions on the outer periphery of the lifting shaft 21. For example, one elastic member 23 is provided and sleeved outside the lifting shaft 21 to provide elastic force from any direction on the outer periphery of the lifting shaft 21. Alternatively, at least two elastic members 23 are provided, and multiple different positions are selected on the outer periphery of the lifting shaft 21 to respectively connect different elastic members 23.

[0060] Of course, the damping member is not limited to the elastic member 23. In another embodiment, the damping member adopts a magnetic assembly, including two magnetic members respectively connected to the moving base 22 and the lifting shaft 21, and the two magnetic members provide resistance by using the principle of repulsion between like magnetic poles. Or, in other embodiments, the damping member can also be replaced with other dampers, such as a friction damper that provides resistance by means of friction. In this case, the magnitude of the resistance may be a fixed value, or it can also be a gas damper.

[0061] To improve the applicability of the elastic member 23, the lifting mechanism 2 further includes an adjusting member fixedly connected to the lifting shaft 21, and the elastic member 23 is arranged between the adjusting member and the moving base 22. The connection position of the adjusting member on the lifting shaft 21 is adjustable to adjust the deformation amount of the elastic member 23.

[0062] At this time, due to the adjustability of the deformation amount of the elastic member 23 by the adjusting member, the elastic force range provided by the elastic member 23 can be adjusted accordingly. When it is predicted that the range of the external deflection force exerted on the lifting shaft 21 changes, the deformation degree of the elastic member 23 can be adjusted by the adjusting member to ensure that the elastic force that the elastic member 23 can provide is not less than the predicted external deflection force that the lifting shaft 21 will receive.

[0063] It should be noted that the adjustment of the elastic member 23 by the adjusting member is usually applied during the assembly process, manually or with the help of other external forces to adjust the adjusting member to change the initial deformation degree of the elastic member 23. After entering the use state, the elastic member 23 adaptively changes the deformation amount when the force condition of the lifting shaft 21 changes, and the adjusting member is no longer adjusted.

[0064] Optionally, the adjustability of the deformation amount of the elastic member 23 by the adjusting member can be applied during the assembly process of the elastic member 23. Taking an external deflection force of the lifting shaft 21 caused by structural limitations as an example, such as Figure 1As shown in the figure, the lifting shaft 21 is eccentrically connected to the thimble mechanism 3. That is, in the horizontal direction, the lifting shaft 21 is located on one side of the vertical line where the center of gravity of the thimble mechanism 3 is located. At this time, the thimble mechanism 3 forms a cantilever structure relative to the lifting shaft 21, constituting an eccentric load on the lifting shaft 21. In the atmospheric environment, after the lifting shaft 21 drives the thimble mechanism 3 to move to the suspended state, the thimble mechanism 3 is only subject to atmospheric pressure, gravity, and the supporting force of the lifting shaft 21. The gravity of the thimble mechanism 3 will form a torque relative to the lifting shaft 21, and the gravity of the thimble mechanism 3 constitutes an external deflection force on the lifting shaft 21. In the traditional technology without damping components, the thimble mechanism 3 and the lifting shaft 21 will deflect as a whole. In this embodiment, an elastic member 23 is added as a damping component. During the assembly process, by means of an adjusting member, the deformation amount of the elastic member 23 is adjusted, so that the elastic force provided by the elastic member 23 and the gravity of the thimble mechanism 3 respectively form torques with equal magnitudes and opposite directions with the lifting shaft 21. Then, in the atmospheric environment, after the lifting shaft 21 drives the thimble mechanism 3 to move to the suspended state, the thimble mechanism 3 can always maintain the set levelness, completely overcoming the problem that the thimble mechanism 3 deviates from the set levelness due to the eccentric connection between the lifting shaft 21 and the thimble mechanism 3.

[0065] Among them, to ensure that the elastic member 23 forms a torque relative to the lifting shaft 21, when the elastic member 23 is sleeved on the lifting shaft 21, the elastic member 23 can provide elastic force around the lifting shaft 21. At this time, different elastic forces can be provided at different positions by different deformation degrees of different positions of the elastic member 23; alternatively, the elastic member 23 can also be connected to one side of the lifting shaft 21 in the horizontal direction. For example, the center of gravity of the thimble mechanism 3 and the elastic member 23 are arranged on the same side of the lifting shaft 21, and the elastic member 23 provides an upward elastic force.

[0066] Alternatively, during the assembly process, the elastic member 23 may not pre-overcome the eccentric gravity of the lifting mechanism 3. Instead, in the atmospheric environment, after the lifting shaft 21 drives the thimble mechanism 3 to move to the suspended state, when the lifting shaft 21 deflects due to the eccentric load of the thimble mechanism 3, the elastic member 23 adaptively increases the deformation degree to provide resistance. Compared with the traditional technology without damping components, the deflection degree of the thimble 31 can also be reduced, and the movement accuracy of the thimble 31 can be improved.

[0067] On the lifting mechanism 2, to achieve the connection with the housing 1, the lifting mechanism 2 further includes a connecting plate 27. The top end of the lifting shaft 21 extends into the housing 1 and passes downward through the mounting hole 11 at the bottom of the housing 1 and then connects to the moving base 22. The lifting shaft 21 can move up and down relative to the mounting hole 11. A sealing member is arranged on the connecting plate 27 to seal the gap between the mounting hole 11 and the lifting shaft 21. Among them, the thimble 31 and the thimble base 32, the thimble base 32 and the lifting shaft 21, and the housing 1 and the connecting plate 27 are all rigidly connected.

[0068] Since the interior of the housing 1 may be in an atmospheric environment for debugging operations or in a vacuum environment for performing corresponding work on the wafers, by providing a seal on the connecting plate 27, while ensuring the sealing performance of the housing 1 to guarantee the vacuum degree of the vacuum environment, it is convenient for assembly and can reduce the obstruction of the seal to the lifting movement of the lifting shaft 21.

[0069] To facilitate the assembly of the lifting mechanism 2 and the housing 1, the top end of the lifting driver 24 is connected to the bottom end of the connecting plate 27. At this time, the lifting mechanism 2 forms an integral module and can be integrally installed in the housing 1.

[0070] To improve the stability of the lifting movement of the lifting shaft 21, a linear bearing 26 is fixedly provided on the connecting plate 27. The top end of the lifting shaft 21 extends into the housing 1 and sequentially passes downward through the mounting hole 11 at the bottom of the housing 1 and the linear bearing 26 and then is connected to the moving base 22. The linear bearing 26 has a guiding function, which can improve the smoothness of the lifting movement of the lifting shaft 21 and is beneficial to ensuring that the ejector pin 31 is maintained at the set levelness.

[0071] Among the seals, it includes a first sealing ring 271 provided between the top surface of the connecting plate 27 and the bottom surface of the housing 1 and a bellows 28 sleeved outside the lifting shaft 21.

[0072] Specifically, the bellows 28 can movably pass through the mounting hole 11, and its top end is hermetically connected to the lifting shaft 21, and the bottom end is hermetically connected to the linear bearing 26. The outer ring of the linear bearing 26 is hermetically connected to the connecting plate 27. At this time, the upper part of the bellows 28 is located inside the housing 1, and the lower part extends out of the housing 1. The first sealing ring 271 is sleeved outside the bellows 28. In addition, there is a gap between the mounting hole 11 and the lifting shaft 21, and the mounting hole 11 does not have a constraining effect on the lifting shaft 21, which can avoid over-positioning the lifting shaft 21 in cooperation with the linear bearing 26.

[0073] Among them, the bellows 28 is connected to the outer ring of the linear bearing 26, and the lifting shaft 21 is connected to the inner ring of the linear bearing 26. When the lifting shaft 21 moves up and down, the bottom end position of the bellows 28 remains unchanged, and the top end rises and falls synchronously with the lifting shaft 21, and the bellows 28 undergoes stretching deformation. When the lifting shaft 21 descends, the bellows 28 retracts adaptively.

[0074] Among them, to conveniently achieve the hermetic connection of the outer ring of the linear bearing 26 to the connecting plate 27, an installation plate 261 is also fixed to the top end of the outer ring of the linear bearing 26. The installation plate 261 is fixedly connected to the connecting plate 27. A second sealing ring can be provided between the top surface of the installation plate 261 and the bottom surface of the connecting plate 27 to achieve a sealed connection. Or, the installation plate 261 and the connecting plate 27 can be hermetically connected by being inserted into each other through a concave-convex structure and having an interference fit.

[0075] It should be noted that based on this lifting mechanism 2, in addition to the external deflection force caused by the eccentric gravity of the thimble mechanism 3 mentioned above, another external deflection force will be caused by the change of the vacuum and atmospheric environment in the housing 1.

[0076] As Figure 1 shown, in the space inside the mounting hole 11 and outside the bellows 28, it is a space communicating with the inside of the housing 1, and is isolated from the outside atmosphere through the sealing of the linear bearing 26, the bellows 28, the connecting plate 27 and the first sealing ring 217. When the environment inside the housing 1 changes from the atmosphere to a vacuum, the lower side of the connecting plate 27 is subjected to atmospheric pressure, while the upper side is subjected to the gas pressure inside the housing 1. As the gas gradually decreases, the downward gas pressure also gradually decreases. At this time, the gas pressure difference inside and outside the housing 1 causes an upward pressure on the connecting plate 27, which is called the vacuum force. Due to the existence of the vacuum force, the connecting plate 27 may be subjected to unbalanced forces. Refer to Figure 2 , the vacuum force acts on the D side of the connecting plate 27, causing the D side of the connecting plate 27 to flip upward relative to its S side, which will correspondingly drive the linear bearing 26 on the D side of the connecting plate 27 to flip. Then, the linear bearing 26 generates another external deflection force on the lifting shaft 21. As the vacuum is continuously pumped, the vacuum force gradually increases, and this external deflection force also becomes larger. At this time, the elastic member 23 can provide a corresponding resistance, and this resistance also becomes larger and larger, so as to reduce the influence of this external deflection force on the lifting shaft and reduce the influence on the levelness of the thimble 31.

[0077] Furthermore, in the lifting mechanism 2, in order to realize the connection between the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22, a connection module 25 is also provided on the moving base 22.

[0078] The connection module 25 is a separate structure that is additionally connected to the connection module 25. The connection module 25 includes a locking member, and a first spherical gasket 252, a guide sleeve 253, and a second spherical gasket 254 that are arranged in sequence from top to bottom. In addition, the moving base 22 includes a support plate 221. The first spherical gasket 252 and the guide sleeve 253 are arranged above the support plate 221, and the second spherical gasket 254 is located below the support plate 221. The locking member sequentially passes through the second spherical gasket 254, the connection hole 2211 on the support plate 221, the guide sleeve 253, and the first spherical gasket 252 from bottom to top, and is fixed to the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21.

[0079] Since a linear bearing 26 is provided in the lifting mechanism 2 to guide the lifting shaft 21, and the defined linear movement direction is the Z-axis, and the Z-axis, X-axis, and Y-axis are perpendicular to each other pairwise, within the set accuracy range of the linear bearing 26, the degrees of freedom of the lifting shaft 21 moving along the X-axis and Y-axis and the rotational degrees of freedom around the X-axis and Y-axis, a total of four degrees of freedom, are restricted. To avoid over-positioning of the connecting module 25 and the linear bearing 26 on the lifting shaft 21, which may cause abnormal wear between the lifting shaft 21 and the linear bearing 26 during the lifting movement of the lifting shaft 21, a positioning spherical surface matching the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 and a movable setting of the locking member within a certain range can be provided.

[0080] Specifically, the first spherical gasket 252 forms the top surface of the connecting module 25, which is a positioning spherical surface, and the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 abuts against the positioning spherical surface. Since the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 abuts against the positioning spherical surface, the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 is in spherical surface fit with the first spherical gasket 252, releasing the rotational degrees of freedom of the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 around the X-axis and Y-axis. When the lifting mechanism 2 performs the lifting action, the lifting shaft 21 will not cause abnormal wear with the linear bearing 26 due to over-positioning, which can effectively improve the service life of the equipment. Of course, in other embodiments, the positioning spherical surface can also be integrally formed on the support plate 221, and the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 directly abuts against the positioning spherical surface.

[0081] Specifically, there are clearances between the locking member and the second spherical gasket 254, the connecting hole 2211 on the support plate 221, the guide sleeve 253, and the first spherical gasket 252 respectively, and specifically, clearance fits can be formed respectively. At this time, the connecting module can restrict the movement range of the locking member within a certain range and can also move freely within a certain range, thereby avoiding over-positioning of the lifting shaft 21 fixed to the locking member.

[0082] In addition, the locking member can also be used to connect or limit the elastic member 23. Specifically, the damping member is a spring sleeved outside the locking member, and the two ends of the spring respectively abut between the support plate 221 and the limiting protrusion on the locking member. At this time, after installing the locking member, the installation of the elastic member 23 can be completed synchronously, and the installation and disassembly are convenient.

[0083] Specifically, the locking member is a positioning bolt 251, which is threadedly fixed to the threaded hole at the bottom of the lifting shaft 21, facilitating maintenance, disassembly, and assembly, conducive to cost savings, and only through one positioning bolt 251, the installation and disassembly of the lifting shaft 21 and the elastic member 23 relative to the moving base 22 can be realized. Compared with the traditional lifting mechanism, the structure is simpler, and it is more convenient for both the overall installation of the device and the maintenance of the linear bearing 26 or the bellows 28.

[0084] In addition, the locking member can directly serve as an adjusting member for the positioning bolt 251. Specifically, the locking member is the positioning bolt 251, the limiting protrusion on the locking member is the head end of the positioning bolt 251, and the elastic member 23 is arranged between the head end of the positioning bolt 251 and the support plate 221. By rotating the positioning bolt 251 relative to the lifting shaft 21, the deformation of the elastic member 23 can be adjusted, which is convenient to operate.

[0085] During the assembly process, to ensure that the elastic member 23 can compensate for different forces in vacuum and atmospheric conditions and improve the levelness consistency of the ejector pin 31 in different environments, according to the requirements of the vacuum degree in different semiconductor devices, as well as factors such as the vacuum area, or according to the eccentric load of the ejector pin mechanism 3 on the lifting shaft 21, the range of the vacuum force on the lifting mechanism 2 can be determined. The positioning bolt 251 can be turned to select a spring with a suitable elastic coefficient, or the positioning bolt 251 can be turned to adjust the pre-tightening force of the spring to match different resistance requirements.

[0086] When the spring provides resistance to prevent the lifting shaft 21 from deflecting relative to its set lifting direction, in the traditional technology, according to the magnitude of the deflecting force, the lifting shaft 21 may deflect in the linear bearing 26 or directly drive the linear bearing 26 to deflect. In this embodiment, the top end of the spring abuts against the moving base 22, and the bottom end abuts against the positioning bolt 251 fixedly connected to and moving synchronously with the lifting shaft 21. When the lifting shaft 21 has a deflecting tendency or deflects due to external deflecting forces in different directions, the positioning bolt 251 will have the same deflecting tendency or deflect in the same way. The deformation degree of the head end of the positioning bolt 251 and the support plate 221 in the corresponding direction becomes larger, generating a reaction force to overcome the deflection of the positioning bolt 251, so as to reduce or avoid the deflection of the lifting shaft 21 and ensure that the ejector pin 31 has good levelness.

[0087] Since a second spherical gasket 254 is provided below the support plate 221 and the bottom surface of the second spherical gasket 254 is spherical, and the top of the spring abuts against the second spherical gasket 254, compared with the elastic member 23 directly abutting against the bottom surface of the support plate 221, the restrictions on the rotational degrees of freedom of the elastic member 23 and the locking member around the X-axis and Y-axis can be released, further avoiding abnormal wear of the lifting shaft 21 due to over-positioning with the linear bearing 26.

[0088] The guide sleeve 253 can be fixed to the support plate 221 by screws, which is convenient for installation. In addition, the guide sleeve 253 can guide the positioning bolt 251 and can cover the positioning bolt 251, having a shielding effect.

[0089] Of course, in addition to selecting the positioning bolt 251 as the locking member, in other embodiments, a locking column that is snap-fitted, interference-fitted, or friction-fixed to the lifting shaft 21 can also be selected; alternatively, the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 can also be not provided with a locking member, and the bottom end of the lifting shaft 21 can be directly abutted against the first spherical gasket 252 or the top surface of the support plate 221.

[0090] Obviously, in other embodiments, the connection module 25 can also directly select a partial structure integrally provided on the moving base 22; alternatively, the connection module 25 can also be not provided, and the damping member can be directly connected between the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22. For example, the damping member is selected as a gas damper or a tension spring. At this time, both ends of the damping member are respectively connected to the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22, and the movable connection between the lifting shaft 21 and the moving base 22 can also be realized, and the moving base 22 can drive the lifting shaft 21 to move up and down through the damping member.

[0091] In the moving base 22, it includes a support plate 221 and a vertical plate 222 fixed to one side of the support plate 221. The lifting shaft 21 is connected to the support plate 221, and the vertical plate 222 is fixedly connected to the side surface of the output end of the lifting driver 24. Among them, the vertical plate 222 and the support plate 221 can be specifically arranged vertically to form a right-angle seat for easy processing.

[0092] At this time, by respectively arranging the support plate 221 and the vertical plate 222 to separately serve as the connection structure with the lifting shaft 21 and the connection structure with the output end of the lifting driver 24, the assembly difficulty can be reduced, the quick disassembly between the moving base 22 and the lifting driver 24 can be realized, and the maintenance difficulty of the lifting mechanism 2 and the thimble device can be reduced.

[0093] Specifically, when connecting the output end of the lifting driver 24 and the vertical plate 222, a fastening bolt can be specifically selected. The vertical plate 222 is fixed to the side surface of the output end of the lifting driver 24 through the fastening bolt. In addition, on this side surface, the fastening bolt and the lifting shaft 21 are completely staggered in the vertical projection on the side surface of the output end of the lifting driver 24 to avoid the lifting shaft 21 blocking the installation and disassembly of the fastening bolt, and further improve the convenience of installation and disassembly between the moving base 22 and the lifting driver 24.

[0094] Of course, in addition to the moving base 22 in this embodiment, in other embodiments, the moving base 22 can also be set to other shapes, such as a block structure, as long as the connection between the lifting driver 24 and the lifting shaft 21 can be realized.

[0095] Based on the thimble mechanism 3 provided in this embodiment, the transfer and transportation of the wafer can be realized, and at the same time, the requirements for quick disassembly and maintenance can be met, avoiding problems such as over-positioning of the lifting mechanism 2 and poor levelness of the thimble 31. The disassembly is more convenient and more convenient for regular maintenance of the linear driver.

[0096] The preferred embodiment is described above, and the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application are further described in detail. It should be understood that the above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

[0097] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as "fixed" to another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may also be a central element. When an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be a central element at the same time. In addition, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meanings of "multiple", "multiple roots", and "multiple groups" are two or more.

[0098] The orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present application. In addition, the terms "first", "second", and "third" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features.

[0099] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field 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.

[0100] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts among the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0101] The above has introduced the thimble device provided by the present application in detail. Specific examples are used in this article to elaborate on the principle and implementation manner of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of the present application. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present application, several improvements and modifications can still be made to the present application, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A ejector device, characterized in that: It comprises a pin ejector mechanism (3) and a lifting mechanism (2); The ejector mechanism (3) comprises an ejector base (32) and an ejector (31) fixed on the ejector base (32); The lifting mechanism (2) comprises a lifting shaft (21), a lifting driver (24) and a damping member, wherein the lifting shaft (21) is fixedly connected to the ejector base (32), a motion base (22) is fixedly connected to the output end of the lifting driver (24), the lifting shaft (21) is movably connected to the motion base (22) and can move up and down with the motion base (22), and the damping member is arranged between the lifting shaft (21) and the motion base (22), and the damping member can provide resistance to the lifting shaft (21) to resist the external deflection force exerted on the lifting shaft (21).

2. The ejector device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The damping member is an elastic member (23).

3. The ejector device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism (2) further comprises an adjusting member fixedly connected to the lifting shaft (21); the elastic member (23) is arranged between the adjusting member and the motion base (22); the connection position of the adjusting member on the lifting shaft (21) is adjustable so as to adjust the deformation amount of the elastic member (23).

4. The ejector device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The invention also comprises a housing (1), wherein the ejector mechanism (3) is built in the housing (1); the lifting mechanism (2) further comprises a connecting plate (27), wherein a linear bearing (26) is fixedly arranged on the connecting plate (27); the top end of the lifting shaft (21) extends into the housing (1), and passes downward through a mounting hole (11) at the bottom of the housing (1), the linear bearing (26) and then is connected to the motion base (22); a sealing member is arranged on the connecting plate (27) to seal a gap between the mounting hole (11) and the lifting shaft (21).

5. The ejector device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The sealing member comprises a first sealing ring (271) arranged between the top surface of the connecting plate (27) and the bottom surface of the housing (1), and a bellows (28) sleeved on the outside of the lifting shaft (21); the outer ring of the linear bearing (26) is sealingly connected to the connecting plate (27), and the bellows (28) can movably pass through the mounting hole (11), and the top end is sealingly connected to the lifting shaft (21), and the bottom end is sealingly connected to the outer ring of the linear bearing (26).

6. The ejector device according to claim 4, characterized in that: A connection module (25) is provided on the motion base (22); the top surface of the connection module (25) is a positioning spherical surface, and the bottom end of the lifting shaft (21) abuts against the positioning spherical surface.

7. The ejector device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The motion base (22) comprises a support plate (221), and the connection module (25) comprises a first spherical gasket (252) fixed above the support plate (221), and the top surface of the first spherical gasket (252) is the positioning spherical surface.

8. The ejector device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The motion base (22) comprises a support plate (221); the lifting mechanism (2) further comprises a locking member, which can pass upward through a connection hole (2211) of the support plate (221) and be fixedly connected to the bottom end of the lifting shaft (21), with a gap being provided between the locking member and the connection hole (2211).

9. The ejector device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The locking piece is a positioning bolt.

10. The ejector device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The damping member is a spring sleeved outside the locking member, and two ends of the spring are respectively pressed between the support plate (221) and the limiting protrusion on the locking member.

11. The ejector device according to claim 10, characterized in that: A second spherical gasket (254) is also provided below the support plate (221); the bottom surface of the second spherical gasket (254) is a spherical surface, and the spring is disposed between the second spherical gasket (254) and the limiting protrusion.

12. The ejector device according to claim 8, characterized in that: A guide sleeve (253) is also fixedly disposed above the support plate (221); the locking member passes through the guide sleeve (253) upwards and is connected to the lifting shaft (21); and a gap is provided between the guide sleeve (253) and the locking member.

13. The ejector device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The motion base (22) comprises a support plate (221) and a vertical plate (222) fixed to one side of the support plate (221); the lifting shaft (21) is connected to the support plate (221); and the vertical plate (222) is fixedly connected to a side of an output end of the lifting drive (24).

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