Automatic wafer inserting machine and wafer reversing method

Abstract

The invention provides an automatic wafer inserting machine and a wafer reversing method, the automatic wafer inserting machine comprises a material supply mechanism, a wafer reversing mechanism and a material conveying mechanism, the wafer reversing mechanism is arranged between the material conveying mechanism and the material supply mechanism to convey a first material box, the wafer reversing mechanism is used for guiding materials in the first material box into a second material box, and guiding materials in the second material box into the first material box; the feeding mechanism is used for feeding a plurality of second material boxes to the processing equipment and feeding the second material boxes output from the processing equipment to the rewinding mechanism; wherein the feeding mechanism comprises a feeding mechanism, a discharging mechanism and a feeding manipulator; the wafer reversing mechanism comprises a wafer inserting assembly moving in the horizontal plane. And the feeding mechanism comprises a feeding manipulator for exchanging the second material box between the processing equipment and the rewinding mechanism. According to the automatic sheet inserting machine, the number of sheet inserting and sheet taking at a time is increased, the high positioning precision requirement for sheet inserting and sheet taking of the mechanical arm is lowered, and the economical efficiency, durability and practicability of the sheet inserting machine are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of photovoltaic cell preparation, and particularly relates to an automatic wafer inserter and a wafer turning method. Background Art

[0002] In the field of silicon wafer processing, the core function of a wafer inserter is a device that grabs a silicon wafer and inserts it from a component carrying the silicon wafer into another component carrying the silicon wafer after grasping the silicon wafer. Commonly, a component for adsorbing the silicon wafer is directly installed at the front end of a robotic arm, and the robotic arm is used to achieve the insertion and extraction actions of the silicon wafer. However, the thickness of the silicon wafer is relatively thin, and the gap between adjacent silicon wafers is very small. High positioning accuracy is required during wafer insertion and extraction, and the calculation amount of the control system of the required robotic arm is relatively large. The complex control system is not only complex to repair, but also difficult to troubleshoot after a failure. In addition, the larger the number of wafers inserted and extracted at a time, the greater the weight that the robotic arm has to bear, the larger the volume of the required robotic arm, and the higher the corresponding cost, making the entire wafer inserter uneconomical. At the same time, the complex control system makes its durability not strong, thus affecting the practicability of the wafer inserter. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The embodiments of this application provide an automatic wafer inserter and a wafer turning method to simplify the mechanism and control logic of the wafer inserter and solve the problems in the foregoing prior art.

[0004] In a first aspect, this application provides an automatic wafer inserter, which includes a feeding mechanism, a wafer turning mechanism, and a feeding mechanism. The wafer turning mechanism is disposed between the feeding mechanism and the feeding mechanism. The feeding mechanism is used to transport a first cassette. The wafer turning mechanism is used to introduce the materials in the first cassette into a second cassette and introduce the materials in the second cassette into the first cassette. The feeding mechanism is used to send multiple second cassettes to a processing device and send the second cassette output from the processing device to the wafer turning mechanism;

[0005] The feeding mechanism includes a feeding mechanism, a discharging mechanism, and a feeding robot; the wafer turning mechanism includes an inserting component, and the inserting component is set to move along a first direction and insert and extract wafers in a second direction. The second direction is perpendicular to or has a preset inclination angle with the first direction. The first cassette and the second cassette are placed directly below the inserting component; the feeding mechanism includes a feeding robot configured to exchange the second cassette between the processing device and the wafer turning mechanism.

[0006] Optionally, the insert component includes a bracket, a first slide rail, a second slide rail, a first suction cup assembly, and a second suction cup assembly. The first slide rail and the second slide rail are disposed on opposite sides of the bracket along the first direction. The first suction cup assembly is slidably connected to the first slide rail, and the second suction cup assembly is slidably connected to the second slide rail. The first suction cup assembly and the second suction cup assembly independently pick and insert wafers in the first cassette and the second cassette along the second direction.

[0007] Optionally, the first suction cup assembly and the second suction cup assembly have the same structure, and both include: a suction cup A and a suction cup B. Both the suction cup A and the suction cup B include independent three-drive devices. The suction claws of the suction cup A and the suction claws of the suction cup B are arranged to cross and overlap along the first direction. The suction cup A and the suction cup B also include a micro-motion assembly, which is arranged to adjust the distance between the suction claws of the suction cup A or the suction claws of the suction cup B and the silicon wafer.

[0008] Optionally, the wafer-inverting mechanism further includes a first cassette receiving table, a first cassette inserting table, a first cassette transfer mechanism, which are sequentially arranged in the first direction, and a cassette gripper that moves above the first cassette receiving table, the first cassette inserting table, and the first cassette transfer mechanism along the first direction.

[0009] Optionally, the first cassette inserting table includes a top ruler that can be inserted into the first cassette along a direction parallel to the silicon wafers in the first cassette. The ruler groove of the top ruler is used to lift the silicon wafers in the first cassette above the first cassette for the insert component to pick up the wafers, and is also used to extend out of the first cassette to receive the silicon wafers inserted into the first cassette by the insert component.

[0010] Optionally, the first cassette transfer mechanism includes a second-direction drive, a cassette limiting plate, and a first-direction conveying mechanism. The second-direction drive controls the first cassette placed in the cassette limiting plate to descend to the bottom layer along the second direction. The first-direction conveying mechanism is used to receive the first cassette at the bottom layer and convey it to be docked with the feeding manipulator.

[0011] Optionally, the wafer-inverting mechanism further includes a second cassette bearing table, which is disposed on the side of the first cassette transfer mechanism. The second cassette bearing table includes a top pin that can move up and down along a direction perpendicular to the second cassette. The top pin is used to lift the silicon wafers in the second cassette above the second cassette and position them for the insert component to pick up the wafers, and is also used to extend out of the second cassette to receive the silicon wafers inserted into the second cassette by the insert component.

[0012] Optionally, the cassette gripper includes:

[0013] Mounting plate

[0014] A first clamping plate and a second clamping plate oppositely arranged at both ends of the mounting plate, a first cylinder and a second cylinder are arranged on the mounting plate, and the first cylinder and the second cylinder are respectively used to drive the first clamping plate and the second clamping plate.

[0015] Optionally, it further includes an NG cassette transfer mechanism, a loading table and a transfer fork. The NG cassette is sent out by the NG cassette transfer mechanism; the loading table is arranged between the feeding manipulator and the transfer fork. The transfer fork is used to carry the pallet filled with the second cassette between the processing equipment and the loading table, and the feeding manipulator is arranged to exchange the second cassette between the pallet and the wafer flipping mechanism.

[0016] Optionally, it further includes a feeding detection component and a discharging detection component. The feeding detection component is arranged within the moving range of the feeding manipulator and is used to detect the silicon wafers in the first cassette introduced by the feeding mechanism; the discharging detection component is arranged within the moving range of the feeding manipulator and is used to extract and detect the performance parameters of the silicon wafers in the first cassette.

[0017] Optionally, the first cassette wafer inserting table and the second cassette bearing table are both inclined at a preset angle α, and the range of the preset angle is: 3° ≤ α ≤ 10°.

[0018] Optionally, the first cassette wafer inserting table and the second cassette bearing table further include a rectifying component. The rectifying component includes a pair of rectifying plates moving along the first direction. The rectifying plate includes a limiting tooth and a limiting plate, and the limiting tooth and the limiting plate are arranged vertically.

[0019] In a second aspect, the present application provides a wafer flipping method. The method is applied to the automatic wafer inserter described in any one of the foregoing items, and includes the following two processes: Process 1, S1 - S5, Process 2, S10 - S30:

[0020] S1: The first cassette is introduced;

[0021] S2: Move the first cassette to the workbench for taking or inserting wafers of the first cassette, and the wafer inserting component takes wafers from the first cassette to above the workbench for taking or inserting wafers;

[0022] S3: The wafer inserting component inserts the silicon wafers in the first cassette into the second cassette on the workbench for taking or inserting wafers of the second cassette; takes out the silicon wafers in the second cassette and moves them to the workbench for taking or inserting wafers of the first cassette, inserts them into the first cassette and then sends out the first cassette;

[0023] S4: Transfer the second cassette on the wafer inserting / extracting workbench of the second cassette to the cassette holder;

[0024] S5: Send out the cassette holder full of the second cassettes;

[0025] S10: Receive the cassette holder full of the second cassettes;

[0026] S20: After the wafer inserting component takes out the silicon wafers in the second cassette, move them to the wafer inserting / extracting workbench of the first cassette and insert them into the first cassette;

[0027] S30: Send out the first cassette;

[0028] Wherein, the wafer inserting component is a non-rotating multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical wafer inserting mechanism, and the first process and the second process are carried out simultaneously.

[0029] The beneficial effects of the automatic wafer inserter provided in this application are as follows:

[0030] This automatic wafer inserter realizes: automatically transferring a conventional flower basket to the wafer inserting position, inserting the silicon wafers to be reacted in the conventional flower basket into the boat that can enter the reaction equipment, automatically sending out the boat full of silicon wafers to be reacted, automatically receiving the reacted boat, automatically taking out the reacted silicon wafers from the boat and inserting them into the conventional flower basket, and automatically sending out the conventional flower basket full of the reacted silicon wafers.

[0031] Wherein, different from the existing robotic arm wafer inserting method, in this application, a moving mechanism drives a suction cup to perform wafer inserting and extraction. The movable route of this moving mechanism includes up and down, left and right, and front and back in space, which can not only increase the number of wafers inserted and extracted at one time, but also reduce the high positioning accuracy requirements in robotic arm wafer inserting and extraction. At the same time, it improves the economy and durability of the wafer inserter, and then improves the practicality of the wafer inserter. Description of the Drawings

[0032] Figure 1 It shows a schematic top view of the internal mechanism of an automatic wafer inserter provided in this application;

[0033] Figure 2 It shows a three-dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the wafer inserting component in the automatic wafer inserter provided in this application;

[0034] Figure 3 It shows an axonometric schematic diagram of the first suction cup component in the wafer inserting component;

[0035] Figure 4 It shows a three-dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the side wafer tipping mechanism in the automatic wafer inserter provided in this application;

[0036] Figure 5 It shows a three-dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the wafer inserting table of the first cassette in this application;

[0037] Figure 6 Indicates Figure 5 An enlarged schematic view at position C in

[0038] Figure 7 Indicates the three - dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the first cartridge transfer mechanism in this application;

[0039] Figure 8 Indicates the three - dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the cartridge gripper moving mechanism in this application;

[0040] Figure 9 Indicates the three - dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the second cartridge carrier in this application;

[0041] Figure 10 Indicates the schematic diagram of the inclined installation mechanism in the first cartridge insert table of this application;

[0042] Figure 11 Indicates the three - dimensional axonometric schematic diagram of the cartridge gripper in this application;

[0043] Figure 12 Indicates the flow schematic diagram of the wafer - flipping method provided by this application.

[0044] Reference numerals:

[0045] 1: Feeding mechanism; 11: Feeding inlet mechanism; 12: Discharging mechanism; 13: NG cartridge transfer mechanism; 14: Feeding manipulator;

[0046] 2: Wafer - flipping mechanism; 21: Inserting component; 211: Bracket; 212: First slide rail; 213: Second slide rail; 214: First suction cup component; 215: Second suction cup component; 22: First cartridge receiving table; 23: First cartridge insert table; 231: Top ruler; 24: First cartridge transfer mechanism; 241: Second - direction drive; 242: Cartridge limit plate; 243: First - direction conveyor; 25: Cartridge gripper; 251: Mounting plate; 252: First clamping plate; 253: Second clamping plate; 254: First cylinder; 255: Second cylinder; 26: Second cartridge carrier; 261: Ejector pin; 27: Alignment plate; 271: Limit plate; 272: Limit teeth;

[0047] 3: Feeding mechanism; 31: Feeding manipulator; 32: Loading table; 33: Material - transporting fork;

[0048] 100: Suction cup A; 200: Suction cup B; 201: Micro - motion component. Detailed implementation mode

[0049] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the application embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the application embodiments. Additionally, the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" that appears throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner.

[0050] It should also be noted that, in this text, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities. Moreover, the terms "comprising", "including", or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that an article or terminal device comprising a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such an article. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising one..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the article comprising the element.

[0051] Referring Figures 1 to 12 as shown, the present invention provides an automatic inserter and a film-inverting method.

[0052] In a first aspect, as Figure 1 shown, the automatic inserter proposed in this application includes a feeding mechanism 1, a film-inverting mechanism 2, and a feeding mechanism 3. The film-inverting mechanism 2 is disposed between the feeding mechanism 3 and the feeding mechanism 1. The feeding mechanism 1 is used to transport the first cassette. The film-inverting mechanism 2 is used to introduce the materials in the first cassette into the second cassette, and introduce the materials in the second cassette into the first cassette. The feeding mechanism 3 is used to send multiple second cassettes to the processing equipment and send the second cassettes output from the processing equipment to the film-inverting mechanism 2.

[0053] Among them, the feeding mechanism 1 includes a feeding mechanism 11, a discharging mechanism 12, and a feeding manipulator 14; the film-inverting mechanism 2 includes an inserting component 21, and the inserting component 21 is arranged to move along a first direction and insert and pick up pieces in a second direction, and the second direction is perpendicular to or at a preset inclination angle with the first direction. The first cassette and the second cassette are placed directly below the inserting component 21; the feeding mechanism 3 includes a feeding manipulator 31 arranged to exchange the second cassettes between the processing equipment and the film-inverting mechanism 2.

[0054] To facilitate the feeding manipulator 31 to exchange the second cassettes between the film-inverting mechanism 2 and the processing equipment, a loading table 32 and a material transporting fork 33 can also be provided. The loading table 32 is arranged between the feeding manipulator 31 and the material transporting fork 33. The feeding manipulator 31 is arranged to sequentially grab multiple second cassettes and place them in the trays on the loading table 32. The material transporting fork 33 is used to transport the trays filled with second cassettes between the processing equipment and the loading table 32.

[0055] As described above, the feeding mechanism 11 conveys a conventional flower basket (i.e., the first cassette) filled with unprocessed silicon wafers into the machine and into the wafer inversion mechanism 2. The silicon wafers in the conventional flower basket are taken out by the wafer inserting assembly 21 and inserted into the susceptor (i.e., the second cassette). Then, the susceptor is moved to the entrance of the processing equipment by the feeding manipulator 31, or the susceptor is moved into the susceptor on the loading table 32 by the feeding manipulator 31. After the susceptor is filled with susceptors, the entire susceptor is transported to the equipment for processing silicon wafers by the material transporting fork 33. Additionally, when the equipment for processing silicon wafers is completed, the material transporting fork 33 moves the susceptor to the loading table 32. The susceptor is taken out of the susceptor by the feeding manipulator 31. The silicon wafers after the reaction in the susceptor are taken out by the wafer inserting assembly 21 and then inserted into the conventional flower basket, and the conventional flower basket is sent out by the discharging mechanism 12. To facilitate the manipulator 31 to place multiple susceptors on the loading table 32, the loading table 32 can be set to rotate so that each time the manipulator 31 places the susceptor, it is at the same angle and the same position, thereby simplifying the detection and positioning logic of the manipulator 31.

[0056] As described above, the automatic wafer inserter provided in this application realizes: automatically conveying the conventional flower basket to the wafer inserting position, inserting the silicon wafers to be reacted in the conventional flower basket into the susceptor that can enter the reaction equipment, automatically sending out the susceptor filled with the silicon wafers to be reacted, automatically receiving the susceptor after the reaction, automatically taking out the silicon wafers after the reaction from the susceptor and inserting them into the conventional flower basket, and automatically sending out the conventional flower basket filled with the silicon wafers after the reaction. Compared with the existing equipment for inserting wafers by a robotic arm, the wafer inserter in this application drives the suction cup to perform wafer insertion and wafer taking by a moving mechanism. The movable route of the moving mechanism includes up and down, left and right, and front and back in space, which can not only increase the number of wafers inserted and taken each time, but also reduce the high positioning accuracy requirements in wafer insertion and wafer taking by the robotic arm, while improving the economy and durability of the wafer inserter, and then enhancing the practicability of the wafer inserter.

[0057] It should be noted that the difference between the aforementioned first cassette (i.e., the conventional flower basket) and the second cassette (i.e., the susceptor) is as follows: the second cassette can withstand high temperatures and strong acid-base environments, with a relatively high manufacturing cost, and is suitable for carrying silicon wafers in the reaction equipment; while the first cassette can carry silicon wafers in the natural environment of normal temperature and pressure, with a relatively low manufacturing cost, and is suitable for storing silicon wafers in the natural environment.

[0058] Specifically, in the present embodiment, the aforementioned insert sheet assembly 21 includes a bracket 211, a first slide rail 212, a second slide rail 213, a first suction cup assembly 214 and a second suction cup assembly 215. The first slide rail 212 and the second slide rail 213 are arranged on opposite sides of the bracket 211 along a first direction. The first suction cup assembly 214 is slidably connected to the first slide rail 212, and the second suction cup assembly 215 is slidably connected to the second slide rail 213; the first suction cup assembly 214 and the second suction cup assembly 215 independently take out and insert sheets in the first material box and the second material box alternately along the second direction.

[0059] In the present application, two parallel sets of inserting plate assemblies 21 are used to independently rewind the plates to increase the efficiency of rewinding the plates. Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the two sets of inserting sheet assemblies 21 have the same structure, both of which include a slide rail arranged in the first direction (i.e., the horizontal direction) and a bracket 211 for installing the slide rail, and a suction cup assembly connected to the slide rail. The first suction cup assembly 214 and the second suction cup assembly 215 are both inserted and taken from top to bottom along the second direction. The suction cups in the suction cup assembly do not need to go deep into the first material box or the second material box when taking and inserting the sheet, but dock with the structure for receiving the silicon wafer extending from the first material box and the second material box. The second direction includes being perpendicular to the horizontal plane or at a preset inclination angle, and the preset inclination angle is related to the placement angle of the first material box and the second material box.

[0060] In some embodiments, the first suction cup assembly 214 and the second suction cup assembly 215 have the same structure, and both include: a suction cup A100 and a suction cup B200, each of which includes an independent driving device, and the suction claws of the suction cup A100 and the suction claws of the suction cup B200 are configured to be cross-overlapping along a first direction; the suction cup A100 and the suction cup B200 also include a micro-motion assembly 201, and the micro-motion assembly 201 is configured to adjust the distance between the suction claws of the suction cup A100 or the suction claws of the suction cup B200 and the silicon wafer.

[0061] As described above, in the present application, if the inserting assembly 21 is used to insert or remove the wafer in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the two groups of suction cups on the first suction cup assembly 214 and the second suction cup assembly 215, namely suction cup A100 and suction cup B200, both include horizontal and vertical drives, the horizontal direction being the first direction, and the vertical direction being the second direction. In addition, the positions of suction cup A100 and suction cup B200 in the third direction, namely the front-to-back direction, are as follows: the suction claws of suction cup A100 and suction claws of suction cup B200 are arranged side by side in the third direction and staggered in the first direction. The staggered setting in the first direction reduces the positioning action in this direction, and also facilitates the two suction claws to absorb the silicon wafer and then move toward each other to complete the wafer closing, or move back to back to separate the two silicon wafers from each other. Align suction cup A100 and suction cup B200 with the first material box directly below them, and after alignment, the suction cups move along the second direction to perform the action of inserting and removing the silicon wafer. AsFigure 3 As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, two sets of suction cups A100 and suction cups B200 are arranged in the first direction. This design is related to the specification size of the first cassette or the number of first cassettes corresponding to the silicon wafers picked up at one time. Specifically, it can be adjusted according to the actual wafer insertion efficiency requirements and the specification sizes of the first cassette or the second cassette. This embodiment does not make specific limitations on this.

[0062] In addition, because the distance between silicon wafers is small, in order to improve the wafer insertion accuracy, a fine motion assembly 201 for finely adjusting the position of the suction cup can also be provided. The distance between the suction claws of the suction cup and the surface of the silicon wafer is adjusted through the fine motion assembly 201 to ensure that the suction claws can approach the silicon wafer to completely adsorb the silicon wafer on the suction claws, and also ensure that the suction claws will not scratch the surface of the silicon wafer. The fine motion assembly 201 can use a high-precision lead screw motor or other drives.

[0063] In addition, the wafer inversion mechanism 2 in this application further includes a first cassette receiving table 22, a first cassette wafer insertion table 23, a first cassette transfer mechanism 24 arranged in sequence in the first direction, and a cassette gripper 25 that moves above the first cassette receiving table 22, the first cassette wafer insertion table 23, and the first cassette transfer mechanism 24 along the first direction.

[0064] As Figure 4 shown, taking the wafer inversion mechanism 2 on one side as an example, in the figure, from the upper left corner to the upper right corner are the first cassette receiving table 22 for positioning and temporarily storing the first cassette. The feeding manipulator 14 transfers the first cassette filled with unprocessed silicon wafers sent by the feeding mechanism 11 to the first cassette receiving table 22, and the positioning posts on the receiving table limit the position of the first cassette in the second direction and the third direction. After being positioned, the cassette gripper 25 above the receiving table grabs the first cassette and moves it along the first direction to the first cassette wafer insertion table 23, and then the cassette gripper 25 returns above the first cassette receiving table 22 to avoid the wafer insertion assembly 21. After the wafer insertion assembly 21 moves above the first cassette wafer insertion table 23, it descends along the second direction to the wafer picking or insertion position. Among them, after the silicon wafers on the first cassette wafer insertion table 23 are taken away, the first cassette at this position is empty, waiting for the wafer insertion assembly 21 to take out the reacted silicon wafers from the second cassette and insert them into the empty first cassette; the first cassette inserted with the reacted silicon wafers is transported by the cassette gripper 25 to the first cassette transfer mechanism 24, so that the first cassette descends along the second direction to a preset position, and then the first cassette filled with processed silicon wafers is conveyed to a preset position within the picking range of the feeding manipulator 14, and the feeding manipulator 14 transports the first cassette to the discharging mechanism 12 and finally sends it out from the wafer inserter.

[0065] Specifically, the aforementioned first cassette inserting table 23 includes a top ruler 231 that can be inserted into the first cassette along a direction parallel to the wafers in the first cassette. The ruler groove of the top ruler 231 is used to lift the wafers in the first cassette to a height higher than the first cassette for the inserting assembly 21 to pick up the wafers, and is used to extend out of the first cassette to receive the wafers inserted into the first cassette by the inserting assembly 21.

[0066] As Figure 5 shown in the figure, in the illustration, the inserting assembly is preparing to place wafers into the first cassette above the first cassette, and this position is exactly the position where the top ruler 231 penetrates out of the cassette to receive the wafers. When placing the wafers into the first cassette, the top ruler 231 penetrates out of the first cassette to a preset height. After the inserting assembly 21 lowers the wafers to the bottom of the ruler groove of the top ruler 231, the inserting assembly 21 releases the wafers, and the wafers falling into the ruler groove descend with the lowering of the top ruler 231 and finally fall into the limiting grooves of the wafers in the first cassette. At this time, the inserting operation of the first cassette is completed. When picking up the wafers, the top ruler 231 first lifts all the wafers to a preset height and waits for the suction cup of the inserting assembly 21 to descend to pick up the wafers. After the wafers are adsorbed on the suction cup A100 and the suction cup B200, the top ruler 231 descends back to its original position to wait for the next time to receive the wafers.

[0067] In order to accurately insert the wafers into the first cassette, a rectifying assembly is further included above the first cassette inserting table 23. The rectifying assembly includes paired rectifying plates 27 that move along the first direction. The rectifying plates 27 include limiting teeth 272 and limiting plates 271, and the limiting teeth 272 and the limiting plates 271 are arranged vertically. As Figure 6 shown in the figure, the upper limiting teeth 272 and the lower limiting plates 271 are aligned in the second direction, and the contact surface of the limiting plate 271 with the wafers and the contact surface of the ruler groove of the limiting teeth 272 of the top ruler 231 with the wafers are coplanar. Another effect of this design is that the adjacent wafers are separated by the upper limiting teeth 272, so that the spacing between adjacent wafers is equal. This facilitates the insertion of the suction cup of the inserting assembly 21 into the gap between the wafers, and can effectively avoid the situation where the suction cup may collide with the wafers and damage the wafers when the spacing between two adjacent wafers is not separated and the spacing is too small.

[0068] In some embodiments, the aforementioned first cassette transfer mechanism 24 includes a second-direction drive 241, a cassette limiting plate 242, and a first-direction conveying mechanism 243. The second-direction drive 241 controls the first cassette placed in the cassette limiting plate 242 to vertically descend to the bottom layer, and the first-direction conveying mechanism 243 is used to receive the first cassette at the bottom layer and convey it to be docked with the feeding manipulator 14.

[0069] As Figure 7 and Figure 8As shown in the figure, the cassette limiting plate 242 is used to hold the first cassette filled with reacted wafers. The second-direction drive 241 drives the cassette limiting plate 242 to descend and ascend. After the first cassette filled with reacted wafers is moved from the upper layer to the lower layer, the first-direction transfer mechanism 243 in the lower layer transfers the first cassette to a preset position. Among them, the upper layer is the transmission mechanism for the cassette gripper 25 to move along the first direction. The aforementioned second-direction drive 241 can be a cylinder or a lead screw motor, and the first-direction transfer mechanism 243 in the lower layer can be a slide rail or a rack and pinion structure. This embodiment does not make specific limitations on this.

[0070] In some other embodiments, the aforementioned wafer inversion mechanism 2 may further include a second cassette carrier 26. The second cassette carrier 26 is disposed on the side of the first cassette transfer mechanism 24. The second cassette carrier 26 includes a thimble 261 that can move up and down along a direction perpendicular to the second cassette. The thimble 261 is used to lift the wafers in the second cassette to a position higher than the second cassette and position them for the wafer inserting assembly 21 to pick up the wafers, and is also used to extend out of the second cassette to receive the wafers inserted into the second cassette by the wafer inserting assembly 21.

[0071] As Figure 9 shown in the figure, two sets of the second cassette carriers 26 are also symmetrically disposed on both sides of the bracket 211. The structure is similar to that of the first cassette wafer inserting table 23. It includes a thimble 261 that can rise and fall to hold the wafers, a support plate for placing the second cassette, and a centering assembly disposed above the placement position of the second cassette. The structure of this centering assembly is the same as that of the centering assembly on the aforementioned first cassette wafer inserting table 23 and will not be described in detail here. It can be seen from the figure that there are two sets of thimbles 261 on each of the left and right sides, but there are three cassette placement positions on each of the left and right sides. Therefore, it is necessary to set that the thimble 261 mechanism can move along the first direction to lift or receive the wafers in different second cassettes respectively. In this embodiment, the number of cassette placement positions on the second cassette carrier 26 and the number of corresponding thimble 261 mechanisms are not specifically limited and can be adaptively selected according to the actual design.

[0072] It should be noted that in some embodiments, when the first cassette wafer inserting table 23 and the second cassette carrier 26 are both inclined at a preset angle α, the wafer inserting direction (i.e., the second direction) of the wafer inserting assembly 21 forms a certain angle with the horizontal plane, so that the wafer inserting assembly 21 is perpendicular to the edges of the first cassette and the second cassette. Among them, the preset angle range is: 3° ≤ α ≤ 10°.

[0073] As Figure 10As shown in the figure, the carrier platform of the cassette and the alignment component for aligning the wafers are both installed at a preset angle α with respect to the horizontal plane where the bracket 211 is located. Therefore, the installation positions of the first suction cup components 214 and the second suction cup components 215 on both sides of the wafer insertion component 21 are also inclined at a preset angle α with respect to the plane where the bracket 211 is located. The purpose of the inclined design is to make the wafers inserted into the first cassette or the second cassette automatically lean towards one side of the cassette, so that the spacing between adjacent wafers is equal, and the surface of the wafers will not be scratched due to inconsistent wafer spacing when the top ruler 231 or the ejector pin 261 is inserted into the cassette. The range of this angle α is related to the size and mass of the wafers. The larger the mass and size of the wafers, the relatively larger the designed angle, but it is necessary to ensure that the wafers do not bend at this angle. Commonly used angles applicable to wafers include 4°, 3°, 5°, and 8°.

[0074] It should be noted that in this application, the wafer insertion direction of the wafer insertion component 21 is parallel to the wafer direction in the cassette. When the cassette is installed obliquely, the insertion direction changes accordingly, and it can be adjusted specifically according to whether the cassette needs to be installed obliquely in the actual design.

[0075] In some embodiments, if the ruler grooves that define the wafer positions in the first cassette and the second cassette are designed to be inclined, that is, the insertion direction when inserting the wafers forms a certain angle with the edge of the cassette. In such a cassette, the wafers will automatically tilt under the action of their own gravity after being inserted, and there is no need to place the cassette obliquely. Therefore, the corresponding first cassette carrier platform 22, the first cassette wafer insertion platform 23, and the second cassette carrier platform 26 do not need to be inclined. It is only necessary to design the first suction cup component 214 and the second suction cup component 215 of the wafer insertion component 21 to be consistent with the inclination angle of the wafers in the cassette.

[0076] In some embodiments, the aforementioned cassette gripper 25 includes: a mounting plate 251, and a first clamping plate 252 and a second clamping plate 253 oppositely arranged at both ends of the mounting plate 251. A first cylinder 254 and a second cylinder 255 are provided on the mounting plate 251, and the first cylinder 254 and the second cylinder 255 are respectively used to drive the first clamping plate 252 and the second clamping plate 253. As Figure 11 shown, the cassette gripper 25 in this embodiment needs to move along the first direction. When clamping the cassette, the first cylinder 254 is used to pull or push the first clamping plate 252, and the second cylinder 255 is used to pull or push the second clamping plate 253, so that the first clamping plate 252 and the second clamping plate 253 approach or move away from each other to clamp or release the cassette.

[0077] It should be noted that both the first clamping plate 252 and the second clamping plate 253 include positioning pins, which are used to match the positioning holes on the top or bottom plates of the first material box and the second material box, and at the same time increase the clamping force between the first clamping plate 252 and the second clamping plate 253 to prevent the top or bottom plates of the first material box and the second material box from sliding relative to the clamping surfaces of the first clamping plate 252 or the second clamping plate 253 during the moving process.

[0078] In some embodiments, the automatic chip inserting machine provided by the present application may further include an NG material box transmission mechanism 13, a feeding detection component, and a discharging detection component. The feeding detection component is arranged within the moving range of the feeding manipulator 14 and is used to detect the silicon wafers in the first material box fed by the feeding mechanism 11. The NG material box is transmitted by the NG material box transmission mechanism 13; the discharging detection component is arranged within the moving range of the feeding manipulator 14 and is used to extract and detect the performance parameters of the reacted silicon wafers in the first material box. The performance parameters at least include the sheet resistance of the battery chip. By sampling the sheet resistance detection, it can be determined whether the silicon wafers in the current material box meet the preset processing requirements.

[0079] In addition, it should be noted that the feeding mechanism 11 and the discharging mechanism 12 in the present application can be arranged in an up-and-down layered manner or horizontally side by side. The feeding mechanism 11, the discharging mechanism 12, and the NG material box transmission mechanism 13 all include two sections, one for laying the material box flat and then conveying it, and the other for directly conveying it. The number of the feeding mechanism 11, the discharging mechanism 12, and the NG material box transmission mechanism 13 is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

[0080] In a second aspect, the present application provides a wafer inversion method, which is applied to any of the aforementioned automatic chip inserting machines. The method includes the following two processes: Process 1, S1 - S5; Process 2, S10 - S30.

[0081] S1: The first material box is fed in.

[0082] S2: Move the first material box to the workbench for wafer picking or chip inserting of the first material box, and the chip inserting component 21 picks up wafers from the first material box to above the workbench for wafer picking or chip inserting.

[0083] S3: The chip inserting component 21 inserts the silicon wafers in the first material box into the second material box on the workbench for wafer picking or chip inserting of the second material box; takes out the silicon wafers in the second material box, moves them to the workbench for wafer picking or chip inserting of the first material box, inserts them into the first material box, and then feeds out the first material box.

[0084] S4: Carry the second material box on the workbench for wafer picking or chip inserting of the second material box to the material tray.

[0085] S5: Feed out the material tray full of the second material box.

[0086] S10: Receive the material tray full of the second material box.

[0087] S20: After the inserting component 21 takes out the silicon wafers in the second cassette, it moves to the workbench for wafer taking or inserting of the first cassette and inserts into the first cassette.

[0088] S30: The first cassette is sent out.

[0089] Among them, the inserting component 21 is a non-rotating multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical inserting mechanism, and Process 1 and Process 2 are carried out simultaneously.

[0090] As Figure 12 shown, the so-called Process 1 is that the first cassette carrying the unreacted silicon wafers enters the inserter, and then the inserting component 21 takes out the unreacted silicon wafers and inserts them into the second cassette. Then, after fixing multiple second cassettes in the cassette carrier, the cassette carrier is sent into the reaction equipment. The so-called Process 2 is to take out the second cassettes in the reacted cassette carrier sent out from the reaction equipment and place them at a preset position. After waiting for the inserting component 21 to take the wafers, the silicon wafers are inserted into the empty first cassette, and then the first cassette is sent out of the inserter. During the entire wafer inserting process of the inserter, the wafer inversion processes in the first cassette and the second cassette affect each other. When the unprocessed silicon wafers in the first cassette are taken out, the first cassette is empty, and the empty first cassette waits to insert the processed silicon wafers taken out from the second cassette. The second cassette is recycled, that is, the number of second cassettes required in the cassette carrier is equal to the number of second cassettes in each cassette carrier.

[0091] Finally, the present application provides an automatic inserter and a wafer inversion method. The automatic inserter includes a feeding mechanism 1, a wafer inversion mechanism 2, and a feeding mechanism 3. The wafer inversion mechanism 2 is arranged between the feeding mechanism 3 and the feeding mechanism 1 to transfer the first cassette. The wafer inversion mechanism 2 is used to import the materials in the first cassette into the second cassette and import the materials in the second cassette into the first cassette. The feeding mechanism 3 is used to send multiple second cassettes to the processing equipment and send the second cassettes output from the processing equipment to the wafer inversion mechanism 2. Among them, the feeding mechanism 1 includes a feeding mechanism 11, a discharging mechanism 12, and a feeding manipulator 14. The wafer inversion mechanism 2 includes an inserting component 21 that moves, inserts, and takes wafers in the horizontal plane. The feeding mechanism 3 includes a feeding manipulator 31 that exchanges the second cassettes between the processing equipment and the wafer inversion mechanism 2. The automatic inserter of the present application can not only increase the number of wafers inserted and taken each time, but also reduce the high positioning accuracy in wafer inserting and taking by the robotic arm. At the same time, it improves the economy and durability of the inserter, thereby improving the practicability of the inserter.

[0092] In addition, it should be noted that the various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. For the same or similar parts between the various embodiments, reference can be made to each other.

Claims

1. An automatic chip inserter, characterized in that, it includes a feeding mechanism (1), an inverting mechanism (2) and a feeding mechanism (3). The inverting mechanism (2) is arranged between the feeding mechanism (3) and the feeding mechanism (1). The feeding mechanism (1) is used for transporting a first cassette. The inverting mechanism (2) is used for introducing the materials in the first cassette into a second cassette and introducing the materials in the second cassette into the first cassette. The feeding mechanism (3) is used for sending a plurality of the second cassettes to a processing device and sending the second cassettes output from the processing device to the inverting mechanism (2); The feeding mechanism (1) includes a feeding-in mechanism (11), a feeding-out mechanism (12) and a feeding manipulator (14); the inverting mechanism (2) includes an inserting component (21). The inserting component (21) is arranged to move along a first direction and insert and pick up chips in a second direction. The second direction is perpendicular to or at a preset inclination angle to the first direction. The first cassette and the second cassette are placed directly below the inserting component (21); the feeding mechanism (3) includes a feeding manipulator (31). The feeding manipulator (31) is arranged to exchange the second cassettes between the processing device and the inverting mechanism (2).

2. The automatic chip inserter according to claim 1, characterized in that, the inserting component (21) includes a bracket (211), a first slide rail (212), a second slide rail (213), a first suction cup component (214) and a second suction cup component (215). The first slide rail (212) and the second slide rail (213) are arranged on opposite sides of the bracket (211) along the first direction. The first suction cup component (214) is slidably connected to the first slide rail (212). The second suction cup component (215) is slidably connected to the second slide rail (213); the first suction cup component (214) and the second suction cup component (215) independently pick up and insert chips in the first cassette and the second cassette along the second direction.

3. The automatic chip inserter according to claim 2, characterized in that, the first suction cup component (214) and the second suction cup component (215) have the same structure, and both include: a suction cup A (100) and a suction cup B (200). The suction cup A (100) and the suction cup B (200) both include independent driving devices. The suction claws of the suction cup A (100) and the suction claws of the suction cup B (200) are arranged to cross and overlap along the first direction; the suction cup A (100) and the suction cup B (200) further include a fine movement component (201). The fine movement component (201) is arranged to adjust the distance between the suction claws of the suction cup A (100) or the suction claws of the suction cup B (200) and the silicon wafer.

4. The automatic chip inserter according to claim 1, characterized in that, The film rewinding mechanism (2) further includes a first cassette receiving table (22), a first cassette inserting table (23), a first cassette transfer mechanism (24) arranged in sequence in the first direction, and a cassette gripper (25) that moves above the first cassette receiving table (22), the first cassette inserting table (23), and the first cassette transfer mechanism (24) along the first direction.

5. The automatic wafer inserter according to claim 4, wherein, the first cassette inserting table (23) includes a top ruler (231) that can be inserted into the first cassette along a direction parallel to the wafers in the first cassette, and the ruler groove of the top ruler (231) is used to lift the wafers in the first cassette above the first cassette for the wafer inserting assembly (21) to pick up the wafers, and is used to extend out of the first cassette to receive the wafers inserted into the first cassette by the wafer inserting assembly (21).

6. The automatic wafer inserter according to claim 4, wherein, the first cassette transfer mechanism (24) includes a second-direction drive (241), a cassette limiting plate (242), and a first-direction conveying mechanism (243). The second-direction drive (241) controls the first cassette placed in the cassette limiting plate (242) to vertically descend to the bottom layer, and the first-direction conveying mechanism (243) is used to receive the first cassette at the bottom layer and convey it to be docked with the feeding manipulator (14).

7. The automatic wafer inserter according to claim 4, wherein, the film rewinding mechanism (2) further includes a second cassette bearing table (26). The second cassette bearing table (26) is arranged on the side of the first cassette transfer mechanism (24). The second cassette bearing table (26) includes a thimble (261) that can move up and down along a direction perpendicular to the second cassette. The thimble (261) is used to lift the wafers in the second cassette above the second cassette and position them for the wafer inserting assembly (21) to pick up the wafers, and is used to extend out of the second cassette to receive the wafers inserted into the second cassette by the wafer inserting assembly (21).

8. The automatic wafer inserter according to claim 4, wherein, the cassette gripper (25) includes: a mounting plate (251), a first clamping plate (252) and a second clamping plate (253) oppositely arranged at both ends of the mounting plate (251). A first cylinder (254) and a second cylinder (255) are arranged on the mounting plate (251), and the first cylinder (254) and the second cylinder (255) are respectively used to drive the first clamping plate (252) and the second clamping plate (253).

9. The automatic wafer inserter according to claim 1, wherein, It further includes an NG cassette transfer mechanism (13), a loading table (32) and a material transfer fork (33). The NG cassette is transferred out by the NG cassette transfer mechanism (13). The loading table (32) is arranged between the feeding manipulator (31) and the material transfer fork (33). The material transfer fork (33) is used to carry the pallet filled with the second cassette between the processing equipment and the loading table (32). The feeding manipulator (31) is arranged to exchange the second cassette between the pallet and the wafer flipping mechanism.

10. The automatic chip inserter according to claim 7, characterized in that the first cassette chip insertion table (23) and the second cassette carrier table (26) are both inclined at a preset angle α, and the preset angle range is: 3° ≤ α ≤ 10°.

11. The automatic chip inserter according to claim 7, characterized in that the first cassette chip insertion table (23) and the second cassette carrier table (26) further include a rectifying component. The rectifying component includes a pair of rectifying plates (27) moving along the first direction. The rectifying plate (27) includes a limiting tooth (272) and a limiting plate (271), and the limiting tooth (272) and the limiting plate (271) are arranged vertically.

12. A wafer flipping method, characterized in that the method applies the automatic chip inserter according to any one of claims 1-11, and includes the following two processes: Process 1, S1-S5, Process 2, S10-S30: S1: The first cassette is fed in; S2: Move the first cassette to the workbench for taking or inserting chips of the first cassette. The chip insertion component (21) takes chips from the first cassette above the workbench for taking or inserting chips; S3: The chip insertion component (21) inserts the silicon wafers in the first cassette into the second cassette on the workbench for taking or inserting chips of the second cassette; takes out the silicon wafers in the second cassette and moves them to the workbench for taking or inserting chips of the first cassette, and after inserting them into the first cassette, the first cassette is transferred out; S4: Carry the second cassette on the workbench for taking or inserting chips of the second cassette into the pallet; S5: Transfer out the pallet full of the second cassette; S10: Receive the pallet full of the second cassette; S20: The chip insertion component (21) takes out the silicon wafers in the second cassette and then moves them to the workbench for taking or inserting chips of the first cassette, and inserts them into the first cassette; S30: The first cassette is transferred out; wherein, the chip insertion component is a non-rotating multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical chip insertion mechanism, and Process 1 and Process 2 are carried out simultaneously.

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