Automatic switching device for horizontal mask

Abstract

The invention relates to an automatic switching device for a horizontal mask plate. The automatic switching device sequentially comprises a horizontal carrying assembly and an optical assembly from left to right, a stock bin lifting assembly is arranged at the bottom of the left side of the horizontal carrying fixing plate, and a lifting lead screw module drives a stock bin above to move in the vertical direction. A plurality of laminates are evenly distributed in the stock bin in the vertical direction, and fool-proof pins matched with fool-proof pin holes in the bottom of a mask are installed on one sides of the laminates. And a tidying assembly is arranged on the horizontal carrying fixing plate below the carrying arm. The device is suitable for equipment for frequently replacing the mask plate, and is simple, quick, stable, safe and efficient in structure and high in automation level.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field related to laser processing in the semiconductor industry, and particularly to a horizontal mask plate automatic switching device. Background Art

[0002] An optical mask plate is a structure that makes various functional patterns on a thin film, plastic or glass substrate material and precisely positions them for selective exposure of a photoresist coating. Mask plates are widely used and are required in fields involving lithography processes.

[0003] After retrieval, it is found that the existing Chinese patent publication number is CN220921372U, which discloses a welding device for a mask plate, including a workbench, a tensioning component and a welding component. The workbench is used to carry a mask frame. Two tensioning components are arranged on the workbench at intervals along a first direction. The tensioning component includes a base, a clamping member and a pulley. A chute is arranged on the base, and the length direction of the chute is inclined relative to the first direction. The pulley is rotatably connected to the clamping member, and the pulley is inserted into the chute and is in rolling connection with the chute; at least one of the bases is provided with a driving member, and the driving member is used to drive the base to move and make the two clamping members approach or move away from each other; the welding component is movably arranged on the workbench and is used to weld a shielding plate and a mask frame. When the two clamping members stretch the shielding plate, the shielding plate can be automatically adjusted to a position parallel to the first direction. This structure can avoid the misalignment of the two ends of the shielding plate caused by the non-alignment of the two clamping members, thereby ensuring the processing quality of the mask plate.

[0004] When the existing mask plate processing equipment processes a mask plate, in the case where multiple different mask plates need to be processed in sequence, it cannot well realize the switching of the mask plates, the replacement time is long, the difficulty is high, and the safety performance is poor.

[0005] In view of the above defects, the inventor actively conducts research and innovation in order to create a horizontal mask plate automatic switching device, making it more valuable for industrial use. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In order to solve any one of the above technical problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a horizontal mask plate automatic switching device.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] Horizontal mask plate automatic switching device, which successively includes a horizontal handling component and an optical component from left to right; the horizontal handling component includes a horizontal driving module installed on a horizontal handling fixed plate, the horizontal driving module drives a vertical driving module to move in the left-right direction, and the vertical driving module drives a handling arm to move in the vertical direction; the optical component includes an optical box installed on the right side of the horizontal handling fixed plate, and a 45° reflecting mirror and a lens are installed in the optical box;

[0009] A bin lifting component is arranged at the left bottom of the horizontal handling fixed plate, and the bin lifting component includes a lifting screw rod module installed at the left bottom of the horizontal handling fixed plate, and the lifting screw rod module drives the upper bin to move in the vertical direction;

[0010] A number of laminates are evenly distributed in the bin along the vertical direction, and a anti-fool pin adapted to the anti-fool pin holes at the bottom of the mask plate is installed on one side of the laminate;

[0011] A rectifying component is arranged on the horizontal handling fixed plate below the handling arm;

[0012] Both the 45° reflecting mirror and the lens move synchronously along the left-right direction under the action of an image translation module installed in the optical box. A alignment component is arranged in the optical box below the 45° reflecting mirror. The alignment component includes an alignment module installed in the optical box, an annular lamp located above the alignment module, and an adsorption plate installed at the bottom of the alignment module. A number of suction cups are installed at the bottom of the adsorption plate.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, a bin front door is installed on the left side of the bin through a door hinge, and at least one door sensor is installed in the bin on the inner side of the bin front door.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, a cover plate is installed on the bin on the right side of the laminate through a cover plate rotating shaft. An opening rod is installed at the rear bottom of the cover plate, and the opening rod is connected to a tension spring installed on the bin. An opening device is arranged on the horizontal handling fixed plate at the rear of the bin. The opening device includes an opening bottom plate installed on the horizontal handling fixed plate, a rotating cylinder is installed on the opening bottom plate, and the rotating cylinder drives the front end of the dial rod to rotate, and the opening and closing of the cover plate is realized through the adaptation of the dial rod and the opening rod.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present invention, an opening lower sensor and an opening upper sensor are successively installed on the opening bottom plate on the right side of the rotating cylinder from bottom to top.

[0016] As a further improvement of the present invention, at least one laminate sensor is installed on the top of the laminate, and an indicator lamp is installed on one side of the laminate.

[0017] As a further improvement of the present invention, the alignment component includes an alignment bottom plate installed on the horizontal handling fixed plate. On both the left and right sides of the alignment bottom plate, side push cylinders are installed, and side push blocks are installed on the side push cylinders. On both the front and back sides of the alignment bottom plate, end push cylinders are installed, and end push blocks are installed on the end push cylinders.

[0018] As a further improvement of the present invention, at least one alignment sensor is installed on the alignment bottom plate.

[0019] As a further improvement of the present invention, a window is opened on the optical box body on the left side of the alignment component. An opening door cylinder is installed on the optical box body above the window. The opening door cylinder drives the sealing plate below to move in the vertical direction to realize the opening and closing of the window.

[0020] As a further improvement of the present invention, clamping cylinders are installed on both the front and back sides of the bottom of the adsorption plate. The clamping cylinders drive the pressing blocks below to move in the vertical direction, and the pressing blocks are connected to the adsorption plate above through springs.

[0021] By means of the above solution, the present invention has at least the following advantages:

[0022] The present invention is applicable to equipment that often replaces the mask plate, is simple and fast, has a stable, safe and efficient structure, and has a high level of automation.

[0023] The present invention can realize the functions of putting multiple different mask plates into the material bin, automatically and randomly switching a certain mask plate, and automatically calibrating the mask plate.

[0024] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to be able to understand the technical means of the present invention more clearly and implement it according to the content of the description, the following will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required to be used in the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present invention, and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other related drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0026] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontal mask plate automatic switching device of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a schematic structural diagram of the material bin lifting component in ;

[0028] Figure 3 is Figure 2 a schematic structural diagram of the material bin in ;

[0029] Figure 4 is Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure on the other side;

[0030] Figure 5 is Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of the middle layer board;

[0031] Figure 6 is Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the structure of the middle cover opening device;

[0032] Figure 7 is Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the middle horizontal handling and rectifying component;

[0033] Figure 8 is Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the structure of the middle rectifying component;

[0034] Figure 9 is Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the middle optical component;

[0035] Figure 10 is Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the structure of the middle alignment component.

[0036] Among them, the meanings of the respective reference numerals in the figure are as follows.

[0037] Bin lifting component 1, horizontal handling component 2, optical component 3;

[0038] Lifting lead screw module 11, bin 12, cover opening device 13;

[0039] Bin front door 121, door sensor 122, door hinge 123, cover plate rotating shaft 124, cover plate 125, box opening rod 126, tension spring 127, layer board 128, layer board sensor 129, mask plate 1210, anti-fooling pin 1211, indicator light 1212;

[0040] Cover opening bottom plate 131, rotary cylinder 132, lever 133, lower cover opening sensor 134, upper cover opening sensor 135;

[0041] Horizontal handling fixing plate 21, horizontal driving module 22, vertical driving module 23, handling arm 24, rectifying component 25;

[0042] Rectifying bottom plate 251, side pushing cylinder 252, end pushing cylinder 253, rectifying sensor 254;

[0043] Optical box body 31, door opening cylinder 32, sealing plate 33, window 34, 45° reflecting mirror 35, lens 36, alignment component 37, image translation module 38;

[0044] Alignment module 371, ring light 372, adsorption plate 373, clamping cylinder 374, pressing block 375, spring 376, suction cup 377. Specific embodiments

[0045] The following combines the accompanying drawings and embodiments to further describe in detail the specific embodiments of the present invention. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present invention, but are not used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0046] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Usually, the components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention claimed, but only represents the selected embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0047] As Figures 1 to 10 shown,

[0048] The first embodiment of the present invention: As Figure 1 , a horizontal mask automatic switching device mainly includes a magazine lifting assembly 1, a horizontal handling assembly 2, and an optical assembly 3.

[0049] 1. The positional relationship and connection relationship of the magazine lifting assembly 1:

[0050] The lifting screw rod module 11 is installed along the vertical direction. The silo 12 is fixed on the slider of the lifting screw rod module 11. The cover opening device 13 is fixed beside the silo 12 and remains stationary. The front door 121 of the silo made of acrylic material is fixed to the silo housing through the door hinge 123. The door sensor 122 is fixed on the silo housing. The cover plate 125 is installed on the silo housing through the cover plate rotating shafts 124 on both sides. The box opening rod 126 is fixed to the lower edge of the cover plate 125. One end of the tension spring 127 is fixed on the silo housing, and the other end is buckled in the groove of the box opening rod 126 to ensure no detachment. Multiple laminates 128 are installed at equal intervals inside the silo housing. Two laminate sensors 129 are respectively installed on one of the diagonals of the laminate 128. The anti-fooling pin 1211 is installed in the anti-fooling pin hole of the laminate 128. The mask plate 1210 is placed on the upper surface of the laminate 128. The indicator light 1212 is installed on the front end face of the laminate 128. The rotary cylinder 132 is fixed on the cover opening bottom plate 131. The central hole of the lever 133 is sleeved on the rotating shaft of the rotary cylinder 132 and fixed with a set screw. The lower cover opening sensor 134 and the upper cover opening sensor 135 are both fixed on the cover opening bottom plate 131. As Figures 2 to 6 shown.

[0051] 2. The positional and connection relationships of the horizontal handling component 2:

[0052] The horizontal handling component 2 is fixed on the horizontal handling fixed plate 21. The vertical driving module 23 is installed on the slider of the horizontal driving module 22. The handling arm 24 is installed on the slider of the vertical driving module 23. The regularizing component 25 is fixed on the horizontal handling fixed plate 21. Two side push cylinders 252 are fixed on both sides of the boss of the regularizing bottom plate 251. Two end push cylinders 253 are fixed on the other two sides of the boss of the regularizing bottom plate 251. Two regularizing sensors 254 are respectively placed on the diagonals of the boss of the regularizing bottom plate 251. As Figures 7 to 8 shown.

[0053] 3. The positional and connection relationships of the optical box 3:

[0054] The door opening cylinder 32 is fixed to the outside of the optical box 31, the sealing plate 33 is fixed to the moving end plate of the door opening cylinder 32, a window 34 is provided on the optical box 31, the image translation module 38 is fixed to the bottom of the optical box 31, the 45° reflector 35 and the lens 36 are fixed to the slider of the image translation module 38; the alignment component 37 is fixed in the optical box 31; the ring light 372 is fixed just above the alignment module 371 and is installed concentrically. The base plate of the alignment module 371 is fixed in the optical box 31, and the adsorption plate 373 is fixed to the moving plate of the alignment module 371. Among them, the alignment module 371 can be a common correction motor and other structures in the art. Four soft suction cups 377 are embedded in the adsorption plate 373, two clamping cylinders 374 are installed on two diagonal sides of the adsorption plate 373, and the pressing block 375 is installed on the moving end plate of the clamping cylinder 374. The spring 376 is on both sides of the clamping cylinder 374, one end of the spring 376 is fixed on the adsorption plate 373, and the other end is fixed on both ends of the pressing block 375. Figures 9 to 10 shown.

[0055] The working principle and working process of the present invention are briefly described as follows:

[0056] First, open the acrylic silo front door 121, and place the mask 1210 on the layer 128. The anti-stupid pin hole under the mask 1210 is placed facing the anti-stupid pin 1211. The purpose is to ensure that the direction of the mask 1210 is uniform each time it is placed. If the direction is wrong, the mask 1210 will be tilted, and the two diagonal layer sensors 129 cannot sense it at the same time, and it is judged that the placement is abnormal. After the mask 1210 is laid flat, both layer sensors 129 sense it, and the indicator light 1212 on the layer changes from off to always on. Then close the silo front door 121, and the lifting screw module 11 can move only after the door sensor 122 confirms that the door is closed.

[0057] The lifting screw module 11 moves up and down to the specified layer and then stops. The output shaft of the rotating cylinder 132 drives the lever 133 to swing. The lever 133 moves the box opening rod 126, and the cover 125 is opened. When the cover 125 is opened, the end of the lever 133 faces the cover opening sensor 135. If the cover opening sensor 135 has a signal, it is confirmed that the cover 125 is really opened.

[0058] The horizontal driving module 22 quickly moves the handling arm 24 in front of the magazine 12. The vertical driving module 23 moves the handling arm 24 to the height of the layer to be picked. The horizontal driving module 22 drives the handling arm 24 to slowly move horizontally into the slot between the reticle 1210 and the layer board 128 until the adsorption finger stops directly below the reticle 1210. The vertical driving module 23 moves the handling arm 24 up by a specified distance to lift the reticle 1210 to a certain height. The vacuum of the adsorption finger is turned on. After the vacuum value reaches the set value, it is judged that the handling can continue. The horizontal driving module 22 drives the handling arm 24 to withdraw horizontally. The output shaft of the rotary cylinder 132 drives the lever 133 to swing back to the original position; the tension spring 127 pulls the box-opening rod 126 with the cover plate 125 to realize the automatic closing of the cover plate 125. The end of the box-opening rod 126 is directly opposite to the lower cover-opening sensor 134. When the lower cover-opening sensor 134 has an induction signal, it means that the cover plate 125 is normally closed. At this time, the indicator light 1212 changes from a constant on state to a flashing state. By observing the indicator light, the state of the layer can be known (the indicator light of the layer without a reticle is off, the indicator light of the layer with a reticle is constantly on, and the indicator light of the layer where the reticle has been taken away is flashing).

[0059] The handling arm 24 transports the reticle 1210 directly above the regularizing component 25. The vacuum of the adsorption finger is turned off. The vertical driving module 23 slowly descends to the set position. The reticle 1210 is placed on the convex platform of the regularizing bottom plate 251. When both regularizing sensors 254 have induction signals, it is confirmed that the reticle is placed correctly. The handling arm 24 withdraws horizontally; the two side-pushing cylinders 252 simultaneously push the reticle centripetally to regularize it in this direction; then the two end-pushing cylinders 253 simultaneously push the reticle centripetally to regularize it in this direction.

[0060] After the handling arm 24 withdraws, it moves to the other side of the regularizing component 25. The adsorption finger horizontally extends into the convex platform groove of the regularizing bottom plate 251 to directly below the reticle 1210. At this time, all four regularizing cylinders are loosened. The vertical driving module 23 slowly moves up by a specified distance to lift the reticle 1210 and then turns on the vacuum of this adsorption finger. When the vacuum value reaches the set value, it is considered normal and the handling continues.

[0061] The door-opening cylinder 32 drives the sealing plate 33 to move up to open the optical box entrance (i.e., the window 34). The adsorption finger drives the reticle to horizontally extend into the cavity to the set position and then moves up to the set position. The vacuums of the four soft suction cups 377 are turned on. When the vacuum value reaches the set value, it is considered that the reticle has been received. At this time, the vacuum of the adsorption finger is turned off and it moves down to the safe position. (The two clamping cylinders 374 simultaneously clamp the reticle. Because the reticle is in an inverted suction state, there is a risk of the reticle falling if the vacuum is abnormal. Therefore, a cylinder clamping structure is added. At the same time, the cylinder is also equipped with two springs 376 (which can also be tension springs) to ensure that the reticle will not fall even when there is no vacuum in the suction cup and no air in the cylinder. The reticle is pressed tightly by the spring 376 to achieve double insurance against falling).

[0062] The adsorption finger then horizontally exits the optical box body 31, and the door opening cylinder 32 drives the sealing plate 33 to move downward to close the entrance of the optical box and seal it; the annular lamp 372 is turned on for supplementary lighting, the image translation module 38 moves horizontally to move the image directly above the light source for photographing, calculates the offset angle and position information of the mask according to the software, and then adjusts the position of the mask by moving the alignment module 371. After the image is photographed again and confirmed to be correct, the image translation module 38 moves horizontally and exits, and then the laser can use this mask; if the mask needs to be replaced, the in-place mask needs to be taken out and placed in the 12th layer of the raw material bin first, and the operation process is the opposite, and then taken from the specified layer.

[0063] The present invention is applicable to equipment that often replaces masks, is simple and fast, has a stable structure, is safe and efficient, and has a high level of automation. It can realize the functions of putting multiple different masks into the material bin, automatically and randomly switching to a certain mask, and automatically calibrating the mask.

[0064] Among them, the left-right direction, front-back direction, and vertical direction described in this article are all shown in the display of Figure 1 as shown.

[0065] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention 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 invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. 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. Thus, the features defined with "first", "second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more.

[0066] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection, it can be a mechanical connection, it can be an electrical connection, it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood through specific situations.

[0067] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the technical principles of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A horizontal mask automatic switching device, comprising, from left to right, a horizontal transport assembly (2) and an optical assembly (3); the horizontal transport assembly (2) comprises a horizontal driving module (22) mounted on a horizontal transport fixing plate (21), the horizontal driving module (22) drives a vertical driving module (23) to move in a left-right direction, and the vertical driving module (23) drives a transport arm (24) to move in a vertical direction; the optical assembly (3) comprises an optical box (31) mounted on the right side of the horizontal transport fixing plate (21), a 45° reflector (35) and a lens (36) being mounted in the optical box (31); Features: A silo lifting assembly (1) is provided at the left bottom of the horizontal transport fixing plate (21), and the silo lifting assembly (1) comprises a lifting screw module (11) installed at the left bottom of the horizontal transport fixing plate (21), and the lifting screw module (11) drives the silo (12) above to move in the vertical direction; A plurality of layer plates (128) are evenly distributed along the vertical direction in the material bin (12), and an anti-stupidity pin (1211) adapted to the anti-stupidity pin hole at the bottom of the mask plate (1210) is installed on one side of the layer plate (128); A tidying component (25) is provided on the horizontal transport fixing plate (21) below the transport arm (24); The 45° reflector (35) and the lens (36) are both synchronously moved in the left-right direction under the action of an image translation module (38) installed in the optical box (31); an alignment component (37) is arranged in the optical box (31) below the 45° reflector (35); the alignment component (37) comprises an alignment module (371) installed in the optical box (31), a ring light (372) located above the alignment module (371), and an adsorption plate (373) installed at the bottom of the alignment module (371); and a plurality of suction cups (377) are installed at the bottom of the adsorption plate (373).

2. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A silo front door (121) is installed on the left side of the silo (12) via a door hinge (123), and at least one door sensor (122) is installed in the silo (12) inside the silo front door (121).

3. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A cover plate (125) is installed on the material bin (12) on the right side of the layer plate (128) via a cover plate rotating shaft (24); a box opening rod (126) is installed on the bottom rear side of the cover plate (125); the box opening rod (126) is connected to a tension spring (127) installed on the material bin (12); a cover opening device (13) is arranged on the horizontal transport fixing plate (21) on the rear side of the material bin (12); the cover opening device (13) comprises a cover opening bottom plate (131) installed on the horizontal transport fixing plate (21); a rotating cylinder (132) is installed on the cover opening bottom plate (131); the rotating cylinder (132) drives a lever (133) at the front end to rotate; and the cover plate (125) is opened and closed by the adaptation of the lever (133) and the box opening rod (126).

4. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 3, characterized in that: A lower cover opening sensor (134) and an upper cover opening sensor (135) are sequentially installed on the cover opening bottom plate (131) on the right side of the rotary cylinder (132) from bottom to top.

5. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one floor plate sensor (129) is installed on the top of the floor plate (128), and an indicator light (1212) is installed on one side of the floor plate (128).

6. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tidying assembly (25) comprises a tidying base plate (251) mounted on a horizontal transport fixing plate (21), side push cylinders (252) and side push blocks mounted on the side push cylinders (252) are mounted on both left and right sides of the tidying base plate (251), and end push cylinders (253) and end push blocks mounted on the end push cylinders (253) are mounted on both front and rear sides of the tidying base plate (251).

7. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 6, characterized in that: At least one regularization sensor (254) is installed on the regularization bottom plate (251).

8. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A window (34) is provided on the optical box (31) on the left side of the alignment component (37), and a door opening cylinder (32) is installed on the optical box (31) above the window (34). The door opening cylinder (32) drives the sealing plate (33) below to move in the vertical direction, thereby realizing the opening and closing of the window (34).

9. The horizontal mask automatic switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A clamping cylinder (374) is installed on both the front and rear sides of the bottom of the adsorption plate (373), and the clamping cylinder (374) drives the lower pressure block (375) to move in the vertical direction, and the pressure block (375) is connected to the upper adsorption plate (373) through a spring (376).

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