Wafer box transportation and storage system

Abstract

The utility model provides a wafer cassette transportation warehousing system, which comprises a cross-layer elevator, a wafer cassette feeding line, a wafer cassette warehousing line and a wafer cassette storage cabinet, the cross-layer elevator is used for cross-floor transportation of wafer cassettes, one end of the wafer cassette feeding line is connected with the cross-layer elevator, and the other end of the wafer cassette warehousing line is connected with the wafer cassette storage cabinet. The cross-layer elevator is used for conveying wafer boxes bearing wafers to the cross-layer elevator, the wafer box warehousing line and the wafer box discharging line are located on different floors, one end of the wafer box warehousing line is connected with the cross-layer elevator, the wafer box warehousing line is used for outputting the wafer boxes from the cross-layer elevator, and the wafer box storage cabinet and the wafer box warehousing line are located on the same floor. And the warehousing manipulator puts the wafer cassettes on the wafer cassette warehousing line into the wafer cassette storage cabinet for warehousing. The cross-floor automatic transportation and storage device has the beneficial effects that the cross-floor automatic transportation and storage of the wafer box are realized, and the production efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model belongs to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, and in particular relates to a wafer box transportation and storage system. Background Art

[0002] In the production workshop of single-crystal silicon wafers in semiconductor factories, wafer boxes are the main carriers of wafers and are widely used in various process equipment. The automatic handling of wafer boxes is the core of realizing the automation of the whole factory. Since different process equipment is located on different floors, wafer boxes need to be automatically transported and stored across floors. In the existing technology, wafer boxes can only be transported on the same floor, and cannot be automatically transported and stored across floors. Utility Model Content

[0003] In order to solve the above technical problems, the utility model provides a wafer box transportation and storage system, which effectively solves the problem that wafer boxes cannot be automatically transported and stored across floors, and overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the utility model is: a wafer box transportation and storage system, comprising:

[0005] Cross-floor elevator, used for transporting wafer boxes across floors;

[0006] A wafer box unloading line, one end of which is connected to the cross-layer elevator and is used to transport wafer boxes carrying wafers to the cross-layer elevator;

[0007] A wafer box storage line is located on a different floor from the wafer box unloading line, one end of which is connected to the cross-floor elevator and is used to output the wafer box from the cross-floor elevator;

[0008] The wafer box storage cabinet is located on the same floor as the wafer box storage line, and the storage robot puts the wafer boxes on the wafer box storage line into the wafer box storage cabinet for storage.

[0009] Furthermore, it also includes a warehouse-out robot for taking out and loading the wafer boxes in the wafer box storage cabinet.

[0010] Furthermore, it also includes an empty wafer box loading line and an empty wafer box return line. The empty wafer box loading line and the wafer box storage line are located on the same floor, one end of which is connected to the cross-floor elevator for conveying empty wafer boxes to the cross-floor elevator, and the empty wafer box return line and the wafer box unloading line are located on the same floor, one end of which is connected to the cross-floor elevator for outputting the empty wafer boxes from the cross-floor elevator.

[0011] Furthermore, the wafer box unloading line, the wafer box storage line, the empty wafer box loading line and the empty wafer box reflow line are all provided with trays for carrying the wafer boxes.

[0012] Furthermore, guide wheels are provided on both sides of the tray, and the guide wheels can roll along the wafer box unloading line, the wafer box storage line, the empty wafer box loading line and the empty wafer box reflow line.

[0013] Furthermore, a guide block is provided above the tray, and the bottom of the wafer box can be placed along the guide block.

[0014] Furthermore, the wafer box unloading line includes a wafer box feeding line and a first tray return line, and a first elevator is provided at one end of the wafer box feeding line and the first tray return line away from the cross-layer elevator.

[0015] Furthermore, the empty wafer box reflow line includes a wafer box cache line and a second tray reflow line, and a second elevator is provided at one end of the wafer box cache line and the second tray reflow line away from the cross-layer elevator.

[0016] Furthermore, the wafer box storage line includes a wafer box conveying line and a third pallet return line, and a lifting and grabbing station is provided on one side of the wafer box conveying line and the third pallet return line.

[0017] Furthermore, a connecting conveyor belt is provided between the wafer box storage line and the lifting and grabbing station.

[0018] The utility model has the advantages and positive effects that: due to the adoption of the technical solution, the automatic transportation and storage of wafer boxes across floors is realized, thereby improving the production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a wafer box transportation and storage system according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0020] Figure 2 The utility model is a schematic diagram of the structure of a cross-layer elevator of a wafer box transportation and storage system in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of warehousing and unwarehousing of a wafer box transportation storage system according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0022] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the tray structure of a wafer box transportation and storage system in an embodiment of the utility model.

[0023] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer box unloading line of a wafer box transportation and storage system in an embodiment of the utility model.

[0024] Figure 6 It is a schematic structural diagram of an empty wafer box reflow line of a wafer box transportation and storage system according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0025] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a wafer box storage line of a wafer box transportation and storage system according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0026] In the figure:

[0027] 10. Cross-layer elevator 11. Unloading line to interface 12. Storage line to interface

[0028] 13. Empty wafer box loading docking port 14. Empty wafer box reflow docking port 15. Double-layer conveyor basket

[0029] 20. Wafer box unloading line 21. Wafer box feeding line 22. First tray reflow line

[0030] 23. First elevator 30. Wafer box storage line 31. Wafer box conveyor line

[0031] 32. Third pallet return line 33. Connecting conveyor belt 34. Third elevator

[0032] 40. Wafer box storage cabinet 50. Inbound robot 60. Outbound robot

[0033] 70. Empty wafer box loading line 80. Empty wafer box reflow line 81. Wafer box cache line

[0034] 82. Second pallet return line 83. Second elevator 90. Pallet

[0035] 91, guide wheel 92, guide block 93, groove DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] An embodiment of the utility model provides a wafer box transportation and storage system, and the embodiment of the utility model is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0037] In the description of the embodiments of the present utility model, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "top", "bottom", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present utility model 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 on the present utility model. In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "set" and "connect" 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 directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be a connection between the two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present utility model can be understood by specific circumstances.

[0038] like Figure 1and Figure 2 As shown, an embodiment of the utility model is a wafer box transportation and storage system, including a cross-layer elevator 10, a wafer box discharge line 20, a wafer box storage line 30 and a wafer box storage cabinet 40. The cross-layer elevator 10 is arranged between different floors and is used for the cross-floor transportation of wafer boxes. It is a prior art and will not be described in detail here. One end of the wafer box discharge line 20 is connected to the discharge line interface 11 of the cross-layer elevator 10, and a wafer box carrying a wafer is manually placed on the wafer box discharge line 20, and the wafer box discharge line 20 transports the wafer box to the cross-layer elevator 10. The wafer box storage line 30 and the wafer box discharge line 20 are located on different floors, and one end is connected to the storage line interface 12 of the cross-layer elevator 10, which is used to output the wafer box from the cross-layer elevator 10. The wafer box storage cabinet 40 and the wafer box storage line 30 are located on the same floor. After the wafer boxes in the cross-layer elevator 10 are output through the wafer box storage line 30, the storage robot 50 puts the wafer boxes into the wafer box storage cabinet 40 for storage. The wafer box storage cabinet 40 is an automated storage system of a semiconductor factory, which has multiple storage spaces for automated storage, retrieval and transmission of wafer boxes of various specifications. The wafer box storage cabinet 40 is a prior art and will not be described in detail here.

[0039] Preferably, Figure 3 As shown, it also includes an outbound robot 60. The wafer box storage cabinet 40 transports the wafer boxes at the designated position on the shelf to the designated outbound port according to the outbound information. The outbound robot 60 delivers the wafer boxes at the outbound port to the loading position of the corresponding process machine for loading.

[0040] Preferably, in order to facilitate the reuse of empty wafer boxes, an empty wafer box loading line 70 and an empty wafer box return line 80 are also included. The empty wafer box loading line 70 and the wafer box storage line 30 are located on the same floor, and one end is connected to the empty wafer box loading interface 13 of the cross-floor elevator 10, which is used to transport empty wafer boxes to the cross-floor elevator 10. The empty wafer box return line 80 and the wafer box unloading line 20 are located on the same floor, and one end is connected to the empty wafer box return interface 14 of the cross-floor elevator, which is used to output empty wafer boxes from the cross-floor elevator.

[0041] Preferably, Figure 4 As shown, in order to facilitate the transportation of wafer boxes, trays 90 are provided on the wafer box unloading line 20, the wafer box storage line 30, the empty wafer box loading line 70 and the empty wafer box reflow line 80, and the wafer boxes are placed on the trays 90 for transportation.

[0042] Preferably, in order to facilitate the movement of the tray 90 along the conveyor line, guide wheels 91 are provided on both sides of the tray 90, and the guide wheels 91 can roll along the side baffles of the wafer box unloading line 20, the wafer box storage line 30, the empty wafer box loading line 70 and the empty wafer box return line 80. There is no limit to the number of guide wheels 91, and the guide wheels 91 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the tray 90. In this embodiment, four guide wheels 91 are symmetrically arranged at the four corners of the tray 90. The guide wheels 91 are arranged horizontally and are rotatably connected to the tray 90. When the tray 90 is transported on the conveyor line, the guide wheels 91 can roll along the baffles on both sides of the conveyor line.

[0043] Preferably, in order to facilitate the placement and positioning of the wafer box on the tray 90, a guide block 92 is provided on the tray 90, and the bottom of the wafer box can be placed along the guide block 92. The specific shape of the guide block 92 is not limited, and it is adapted to the bottom of the wafer box. In this embodiment, the guide blocks 92 are arranged at the four corners of the bottom of the wafer box, that is, one wafer box is configured with four guide blocks 92, and the guide blocks 92 are provided with grooves 93, and the specific shape is adapted to the bottom of the wafer box, and the bottom of the wafer box can be placed in the grooves 93 of the guide blocks 92. One tray 90 can hold four wafer boxes, that is, four groups of guide blocks 92 are provided.

[0044] Specifically, Figure 5 As shown, the wafer box unloading line 20 includes a wafer box feeding line 21 and a first pallet return line 22, and a first elevator 23 is provided at one end of the wafer box feeding line 21 and the first pallet return line 22 away from the cross-layer elevator 10. In this embodiment, the wafer box unloading line 20 includes two layers of conveying line bodies, the upper layer is the wafer box feeding line 21, and the wafer box carrying the wafer is manually placed on the wafer box feeding line 21 and transported to the cross-layer elevator 10, and the lower layer is the first pallet return line 22. When the wafer box is put into storage, the pallet 90 is transported to the first pallet return line 22 by the cross-layer elevator 10. After the upper layer of the wafer box feeding line 21 transports the wafer box to the cross-layer elevator 10, the first elevator 23 lifts the pallet 90 on the lower layer of the first pallet return line 22 to the wafer box feeding line 21. The elevator is a prior art and will not be described in detail here. A transmission line is installed on the first elevator 23 to transport the tray 90 in different layers.

[0045] Specifically, Figure 6As shown, the empty wafer box return line 80 includes a wafer box cache line 81 and a second tray return line 82, and a second elevator 83 is provided at one end of the wafer box cache line 81 and the second tray return line 82 away from the cross-layer elevator 10. In this embodiment, the empty wafer box return line 80 includes three layers of wafer box cache lines 81 and a second tray return line 82 located at the bottom. The empty wafer box is transported from the empty wafer box loading line 70 to the cross-layer elevator 10, and then transported by the cross-layer elevator 10 to the wafer box cache line 81 on the empty wafer box return line 80 to cache the empty wafer box. After the wafer box is taken away from the wafer box cache line 81, the tray 90 is transported by the second elevator 83 to the second tray return line 82, and the second tray return line 82 transports the tray 90 to the cross-layer elevator 10, and the cross-layer elevator 10 transports the tray 90 to the empty wafer box loading line 70 for carrying the empty wafer box. The elevator is a prior art and will not be described in detail here. A transmission line is installed on the second elevator 83, which can change the layer of the tray 90. In some embodiments, in order to facilitate the rapid transportation of empty wafer boxes, a double-layer transport basket 15 is set in the cross-floor elevator. The double-layer transport basket 15 is provided with a double-layer transport line, which can simultaneously transport double-layer empty wafer boxes to improve work efficiency.

[0046] Specifically, Figure 7 As shown, the wafer box storage line 30 includes a wafer box conveying line 31 and a third pallet return line 32, and a lifting and grabbing station is provided on one side of the wafer box conveying line 31 and the third pallet return line 32. In this embodiment, the wafer box storage line 30 includes an upper wafer box conveying line 31 and a lower third pallet return line 32, the wafer box conveying line 31 is used to output the wafer box in the cross-layer elevator 10 to the lifting and grabbing station, the storage robot 50 takes the wafer box from the lifting and grabbing station and stores it, the pallet 90 is moved down by the lifting and grabbing station and transported to the third pallet return line 32, the third pallet return line 32 transports the pallet 90 to the cross-layer elevator 10, and the cross-layer elevator 10 transports the pallet 90 to the first pallet return line 22 of the wafer box unloading line 20.

[0047] A connecting conveyor belt 33 is provided between the wafer box storage line 30 and the lifting and grabbing station. In the present embodiment, the connecting conveyor belt 33 is arranged perpendicular to the wafer box storage line 30, that is, the connecting conveyor belt 33 is vertically arranged on the wafer box conveying line 31 and the third tray return line 32, and the lifting and grabbing station is arranged at the end of the connecting conveyor belt 33 away from the wafer box storage line 30. The wafer box conveying line 31 and the third tray return line 32 are each provided with two sets of connecting conveyor belts 33. The lifting and grabbing station includes a third elevator 34, and a transmission line body is installed on the third elevator 34. The wafer box on the wafer box conveying line 31 is transmitted to the transmission line body on the third elevator 34 through the connecting conveyor belt 33, and the storage robot 50 takes the wafer box from the tray 90 and puts it into storage. The tray 90 descends with the third elevator 34 and flows back to the third tray return line 32 through the connecting conveyor belt 33. The elevator is a prior art and will not be described in detail here.

[0048] The advantages and positive effects of the utility model are:

[0049] 1. The wafer boxes are placed on pallets through multi-layer conveyor lines for circulation, and the cross-layer elevator is used to realize the automatic cross-floor transfer of the combined materials. The wafer boxes and pallets are separated by the warehousing robot and sent to the wafer box storage cabinet for warehousing. Then the wafer box storage cabinet completes the centralized caching of the wafer boxes. When the subsequent machine has a feeding demand, the wafer box storage cabinet sends the wafer box to the corresponding exit, and the outbound robot completes the loading of the corresponding machine, realizing the automatic cross-floor transportation and storage of the wafer boxes and improving production efficiency.

[0050] 2. By setting up the first pallet reflow line, the second pallet reflow line and the third pallet reflow line, the reflow recycling of the pallets is achieved.

[0051] 3. By setting up an empty wafer box loading line and an empty wafer box reflow line, the reflow recycling of empty wafer boxes is realized.

[0052] The above is a detailed description of the embodiments of the utility model, but the contents are only preferred embodiments of the utility model and cannot be considered to limit the scope of implementation of the utility model. All equivalent changes and improvements made within the scope of application of the utility model should still fall within the scope of the patent coverage of the utility model.

Claims

1. A wafer box transportation and storage system, characterized in that: include: Cross-floor elevator, used for transporting wafer boxes across floors; A wafer box unloading line, one end of which is connected to the cross-layer elevator and is used to transport wafer boxes carrying wafers to the cross-layer elevator; A wafer box storage line is located on a different floor from the wafer box unloading line, one end of which is connected to the cross-floor elevator and is used to output the wafer box from the cross-floor elevator; The wafer box storage cabinet is located on the same floor as the wafer box storage line, and the storage robot puts the wafer boxes on the wafer box storage line into the wafer box storage cabinet for storage.

2. A wafer box transport and storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a warehouse-out robot, which is used to take the wafer boxes in the wafer box storage cabinet out of the warehouse and load them.

3. A wafer box transportation and storage system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: It also includes an empty wafer box loading line and an empty wafer box return line. The empty wafer box loading line and the wafer box storage line are located on the same floor, one end of which is connected to the cross-layer elevator for conveying empty wafer boxes to the cross-layer elevator. The empty wafer box return line and the wafer box unloading line are located on the same floor, one end of which is connected to the cross-layer elevator for outputting the empty wafer boxes from the cross-layer elevator.

4. The wafer box transportation and storage system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The wafer box unloading line, the wafer box storage line, the empty wafer box loading line and the empty wafer box reflow line are all provided with trays for carrying the wafer boxes.

5. The wafer box transport and storage system according to claim 4, characterized in that: Guide wheels are arranged on both sides of the tray, and the guide wheels can roll along the wafer box unloading line, the wafer box storage line, the empty wafer box loading line and the empty wafer box reflow line.

6. A wafer box transport and storage system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: A guide block is arranged above the tray, and the bottom of the wafer box can be placed along the guide block.

7. The wafer box transportation and storage system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The wafer box unloading line comprises a wafer box feeding line and a first tray return line. A first elevator is arranged at one end of the wafer box feeding line and the first tray return line away from the cross-layer elevator.

8. A wafer box transport and storage system according to any one of claims 4-5 and 7, characterized in that: The empty wafer box return line comprises a wafer box cache line and a second tray return line. A second elevator is provided at one end of the wafer box cache line and the second tray return line away from the cross-layer elevator.

9. The wafer box transportation and storage system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The wafer box storage line includes a wafer box conveying line and a third tray return line, and a lifting and grabbing station is provided on one side of the wafer box conveying line and the third tray return line.

10. The wafer box transportation and storage system according to claim 9, characterized in that: A connecting conveyor belt is provided between the wafer box storage line and the lifting and grabbing station.

Images