Photomask clamping device

By designing a mask clamping device including frame, connecting rod, cylinder, retractable guide rail and vacuum suction cup, the mask damage problem caused by the small operating space above the mask table is solved, and efficient and safe mask clamping and processing are achieved.

CN222952585UActive Publication Date: 2025-06-06HUA HONG SEMICON WUXI LTD
View PDF 0 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
CN202421679776.6
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Utility models(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-07-16
Publication Date
2025-06-06
Estimated Expiration
2034-07-16

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Due to the small operating space above the mask table, it is inconvenient to manually pick up the mask on the mask table directly with your hands, which easily leads to damage to the mask and increases production costs.

Method used

A photomask clamping device is designed, including a frame, connecting rod, cylinder, retractable guide rail and vacuum suction cup. The vacuum suction force is generated through the cylinder, and the photomask is absorbed by the vacuum suction cup to achieve clamping.

Benefits of technology

It effectively reduces the risk of photocoat damage, speeds up processing speed, improves the efficiency of handling photocoat downtime, and avoids the contamination problem when manually holding the photocoat directly with your hands.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CN222952585U_ABST
    Figure CN222952585U_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

The utility model provides a photomask clamping device which comprises a frame, a connecting rod, at least two air cylinders, a telescopic guide rail and a plurality of vacuum suction cups, the frame comprises a transverse frame part and a vertical frame part, the telescopic guide rail is installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame part and the connecting rod, and the air cylinders are installed between the connecting rod and the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame part side by side at intervals; and the vacuum chucks are uniformly mounted on the outer side of the bottom end of the transverse frame part. The connecting rod is extruded upwards, so that the connecting rod moves upwards along the telescopic guide rail when being stressed, a piston of the air cylinder is driven to move, vacuum suction force is generated in the air cylinder and transmitted to the vacuum suction cup, and the vacuum suction cup is used for sucking the photomask on the mask table, so that the photomask is smoothly clamped, and the problems that the operation space above the mask table is narrow and small and the working efficiency is high are solved. And the photomask on the mask table is very inconvenient to directly take by hands, so that the photomask is easy to damage due to errors.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, in particular to a photomask clamping device. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, chip production has been in short supply. As the bottleneck machine in chip production, how to shorten the downtime of lithography machines, reduce process risks, and increase chip production has become the primary problem that equipment engineers need to solve.

[0003] The downtime caused by the mask problem is a high-risk and difficult problem to solve among the downtimes of the lithography machine. Usually, to solve this downtime, it is necessary to manually take the mask on the machine table (mask table), but the operating space near the mask table is small, which is not convenient for the delicate operation of taking the mask. At the same time, the cost of the mask is very high. If the mask is taken manually, it is very easy to cause a large loss if it is wrong. Utility Model Content

[0004] The utility model aims to provide a mask clamping device to solve the problem that it is very inconvenient to directly take the mask on the mask stage by hand due to the narrow operating space above the mask stage, and the mask is easily damaged by mistakes.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the utility model provides a mask clamping device, comprising: a frame, a connecting rod, at least two cylinders, a retractable guide rail and a plurality of vacuum suction cups, wherein:

[0006] The frame includes: a horizontal frame part and a vertical frame part, wherein the vertical frame part is installed in the middle position of the horizontal frame part.

[0007] The telescopic guide rail is installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame and the connecting rod, the cylinder is installed side by side and at intervals between the connecting rod and the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame, and the vacuum suction cup is evenly installed on the outer side of the bottom end of the horizontal frame.

[0008] Optionally, in the photomask clamping device, the photomask clamping device further comprises: a mechanical lock, wherein the mechanical lock is installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame portion and the connecting rod and is adjacent to the retractable guide rail.

[0009] Optionally, in the photomask clamping device, the photomask clamping device further includes: a plurality of gas pipelines, through which one of the gas cylinders is connected to at least two of the vacuum suction cups.

[0010] Optionally, in the mask clamping device, the cylinder includes: a piston and a cylinder body, the piston is arranged in the cylinder body, the piston is connected to the connecting rod, and the cylinder body is installed on the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame part.

[0011] Optionally, in the photomask clamping device, the number of the vacuum suction cups is at least 8, and the vacuum suction cups are symmetrically installed at two opposite ends of the transverse frame portion away from the vertical frame portion.

[0012] Optionally, in the mask clamping device, the vacuum suction cup includes: a rod portion and a suction cup body, one end of the rod portion is installed on the outer side of the bottom end of the horizontal frame portion, and the other end of the rod portion is connected to the suction cup body.

[0013] Optionally, in the photomask clamping device, the frame is made of stainless steel.

[0014] The technical solution of this application has at least the following advantages:

[0015] The present application squeezes the top of the vertical frame and the connecting rod so that the connecting rod moves upward along the retractable guide rail when force is applied, thereby driving the piston in the cylinder body to move, so that vacuum suction is generated in the cylinder and transmitted to the vacuum suction cup, and the vacuum suction cup is used to suck the mask on the mask table, thereby smoothly clamping the mask. This solves the problem that it is very inconvenient to manually take the mask on the mask table directly by hand due to the small operating space above the mask table, and it is easy to cause damage to the mask by mistake, thereby increasing production costs. This can effectively reduce risks, speed up processing, and improve the efficiency of handling photolithography machine downtime problems. At the same time, it also avoids the situation where the mask is contaminated when it is taken directly by hand. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a photomask clamping device according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a front view of the mask clamping device of the embodiment of the utility model;

[0018] Figure 3 It is a left side view of the mask clamping device of the utility model embodiment;

[0019] The reference numerals are described as follows:

[0020] 11-vertical frame part, 12-horizontal frame part, 20-connecting rod, 41-cylinder one, 411-piston one, 412-cylinder body one, 42-cylinder two, 421-piston two, 422-cylinder body two, 31-retractable guide rail one, 32-retractable guide rail two, 51-vacuum suction cup one, 511-rod part, 512-suction cup body, 52-vacuum suction cup two, 53-vacuum suction cup three, 54-vacuum suction cup four, 55-vacuum suction cup five, 56-vacuum suction cup six, 57-vacuum suction cup seven, 58-vacuum suction cup eight, 60-mechanical lock. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The following is a further detailed description of the mask clamping device proposed in the utility model in combination with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. According to the following description, the advantages and features of the utility model will be clearer. It should be noted that the drawings are all in a very simplified form and use non-precise proportions, which are only used to conveniently and clearly assist in explaining the purpose of the embodiments of the utility model. In addition, the structure shown in the drawings is often a part of the actual structure. In particular, the emphasis that each drawing needs to show is different, and sometimes different proportions are used.

[0022] The utility model provides a mask clamping device, referring to Figure 1-Figure 3 , Figure 1 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a mask clamping device according to an embodiment of the utility model. Figure 2 This is a front view of the mask clamping device of the utility model embodiment. Figure 3 It is a left view of the photomask clamping device of an embodiment of the utility model, and the photomask clamping device comprises: a frame, a connecting rod 20, at least two cylinders, a telescopic guide rail and a plurality of vacuum suction cups.

[0023] Furthermore, the frame includes: a transverse frame portion 12 and a vertical frame portion 11 , and the vertical frame portion 11 is installed at a middle position of the transverse frame portion 12 .

[0024] Preferably, the frame is made of stainless steel, that is, both the transverse frame portion 12 and the vertical frame portion 11 are made of stainless steel. In this embodiment, the vertical frame portion 11 can be fixed to the middle position of the transverse frame portion 12 by welding.

[0025] In this embodiment, the photomask clamping device includes two cylinders, namely, cylinder one 41 and cylinder two 42; the photomask clamping device includes two retractable guide rails, namely, retractable guide rail one 31 and retractable guide rail two 32.

[0026] Preferably, the number of the vacuum suction cups is at least 8, and the vacuum suction cups are symmetrically mounted on the outer sides of the bottom ends of two oppositely disposed frames of the transverse frame portion 12 away from the vertical frame portion 11. All the vacuum suction cups have exactly the same structure.

[0027] In this embodiment, the number of the vacuum suction cups is 8, namely, vacuum suction cup 1 51, vacuum suction cup 2 52, vacuum suction cup 3 53, vacuum suction cup 4 54, vacuum suction cup 55, vacuum suction cup 6 56, vacuum suction cup 7 57 and vacuum suction cup 8 58. In this embodiment, vacuum suction cup 1 51, vacuum suction cup 2 52, vacuum suction cup 3 53 and vacuum suction cup 4 54 are installed on the outer side of the bottom end of one side frame of the transverse frame portion 12 away from the vertical frame portion 11, and vacuum suction cup 5 55, vacuum suction cup 6 56, vacuum suction cup 7 57 and vacuum suction cup 8 58 are installed on the outer side of the bottom end of the other side frame of the transverse frame portion 12 away from the vertical frame portion 11.

[0028] Among them, the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32 are installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame part 11 and the connecting rod 20, the cylinder 1 41 and the cylinder 2 42 are installed side by side and at intervals between the connecting rod 20 and the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame part 11, and the vacuum suction cup 1 51, the vacuum suction cup 2 52, the vacuum suction cup 3 53, the vacuum suction cup 4 54, the vacuum suction cup 55, the vacuum suction cup 6 56, the vacuum suction cup 7 57 and the vacuum suction cup 8 58 are evenly installed on the outer side of the bottom end of the horizontal frame part 12.

[0029] Furthermore, the cylinder 1 41 includes: a piston 1 411 and a cylinder body 1 412, wherein the piston 1 411 is disposed in the cylinder body 1 412, the piston 1 411 is connected to the connecting rod 20, and the cylinder body 1 412 is mounted on the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame 11. Similarly, the cylinder 2 42 includes: a piston 2 421 and a cylinder body 2 422, wherein the piston 2 421 is disposed in the cylinder body 2 422, the piston 2 421 is connected to the connecting rod 20, and the cylinder body 2 422 is mounted on the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame 11.

[0030] Preferably, the mask clamping device further includes: a plurality of gas pipelines (not shown), through which the cylinder is connected to at least two of the vacuum suction cups. In this embodiment, through the gas pipelines, the cylinder 1 41 is respectively connected to the vacuum suction cup 1 51, the vacuum suction cup 3 53, the vacuum suction cup 5 55, and the vacuum suction cup 7 57, and is used to provide vacuum suction force to the vacuum suction cup 1 51, the vacuum suction cup 3 53, the vacuum suction cup 5 55, and the vacuum suction cup 7 57; the cylinder 2 42 is respectively connected to the vacuum suction cup 2 52, the vacuum suction cup 4 54, the vacuum suction cup 6 56, and the vacuum suction cup 8 58, and is used to provide vacuum suction force to the vacuum suction cup 2 52, the vacuum suction cup 4 54, the vacuum suction cup 6 56, and the vacuum suction cup 8 58.

[0031] In this embodiment, taking the vacuum suction cup 51 as an example, the vacuum suction cup 51 includes: a rod portion 511 and a suction cup body 512, one end of the rod portion 511 is installed on the outer side of the bottom end of the cross frame portion 12, and the other end of the rod portion 511 is connected to the suction cup body 512.

[0032] Furthermore, the photomask clamping device also includes: a mechanical lock 60, which is installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame portion 11 and the connecting rod 20 and is adjacent to the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32. In the present embodiment, the mechanical lock 60 is located between the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32 and maintains a certain distance from the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32, respectively.

[0033] The working principle of the photomask clamping device is as follows: when clamping the photomask, by squeezing the top of the vertical frame part 11 and the connecting rod 20, the vertical frame part 11 is subjected to downward force, and the connecting rod 20 is subjected to upward force. When subjected to force, the connecting rod 20 moves upward along the telescopic guide rail 1 31 and the telescopic guide rail 2 32, and the telescopic guide rail 1 31 and the telescopic guide rail 2 32 are changed from a dilated state to a contracted state. At this time, the connecting rod 20 drives the piston 1 411 in the cylinder body 1 412 of the cylinder 1 41 to move upward, and drives the piston 2 421 in the cylinder body 2 422 of the cylinder 2 42 to move upward, so that vacuum suction is generated in the cylinder 1 41 and the cylinder 2 42, and the vacuum suction in the cylinder 1 41 and the cylinder 2 42 is respectively transmitted to the respective connected vacuum suction cups, and all the vacuum suction cups are used to suck the photomask on the mask table, so as to smoothly clamp the photomask;

[0034] Furthermore, when the photomask is transferred to a specific workbench by using the photomask clamping device, after the photomask contacts the specific workbench surface, the connecting rod 20 is subjected to downward force, and the connecting rod 20 moves downward along the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32 when subjected to force, and the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32 change from a contracted state to a relaxed state. At this time, the connecting rod 20 drives the piston 1 411 in the cylinder body 1 412 of the cylinder 1 41 to move downward, and drives the piston 2 421 in the cylinder body 2 422 of the cylinder 2 42 to move downward, so that the cylinder 1 41 and the cylinder 2 42 release the vacuum suction, thereby releasing the vacuum suction in all the vacuum suction cups, so that the photomask clamping device is separated from the photomask.

[0035] Furthermore, the mechanical lock 60 is used to flexibly limit the distance between the connecting rod 20 and the cross frame portion 12. After the vacuum suction cups 1 51 to 8 58 suck the photomask to be clamped, the mechanical lock 60 can lock the length of the telescopic guide rail 1 31 and the telescopic guide rail 2 32, that is, lock the contracted state of the telescopic guide rail 1 31 and the telescopic guide rail 2 32, that is, lock the distance between the connecting rod 20 and the cross frame portion 12, to prevent the telescopic guide rail 1 31 and the telescopic guide rail 2 32 from extending after the photomask is clamped, thereby driving the connecting rod 20 to move downward, resulting in premature release of the vacuum and causing the photomask to fall. Furthermore, when the photomask is transferred to a specific workbench, the mechanical lock 60 is opened, so that the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32 are changed from a contracted state to a relaxed state, and the retractable guide rail 1 31 and the retractable guide rail 2 32 are extended to drive the connecting rod 20 to move downward, and the connecting rod 20 drives the piston 1 411 in the cylinder body 1 412 of the cylinder 1 41 to move downward and drives the piston 2 421 in the cylinder body 2 422 of the cylinder 2 42 to move downward, so that the cylinder 1 41 and the cylinder 2 42 release the vacuum suction, thereby releasing the vacuum suction in all the vacuum suction cups, so that the photomask clamping device is separated from the photomask.

[0036] The mask clamping device provided in the present application solves the problem that due to the small operating space above the mask table, it is very inconvenient to manually pick up the mask on the mask table directly by hand, which is easy to cause damage to the mask and thus increase production costs. It can effectively reduce risks, speed up processing, and improve the efficiency of handling photolithography machine downtime problems. At the same time, it also avoids the situation where the mask is contaminated when it is directly picked up by hand.

[0037] The above description is only a description of the preferred embodiment of the utility model, and is not any limitation on the scope of the utility model. Any changes and modifications made by ordinary technicians in the field of the utility model based on the above disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A mask clamping device, characterized in that: include: A frame, a connecting rod, at least two cylinders, a retractable guide rail and a plurality of vacuum suction cups, wherein: The frame includes: a horizontal frame part and a vertical frame part, wherein the vertical frame part is installed in the middle position of the horizontal frame part. The telescopic guide rail is installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame and the connecting rod, the cylinder is installed side by side and at intervals between the connecting rod and the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame, and the vacuum suction cup is evenly installed on the outer side of the bottom end of the horizontal frame.

2. The mask clamping device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The photomask clamping device further comprises: a mechanical lock, which is installed between the inner side of the top end of the vertical frame portion and the connecting rod and is adjacent to the telescopic guide rail.

3. The mask clamping device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The photomask clamping device further comprises: a plurality of gas pipelines, through which one of the gas cylinders is connected to at least two of the vacuum suction cups.

4. The mask clamping device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cylinder comprises a piston and a cylinder body, wherein the piston is arranged in the cylinder body, the piston is connected to the connecting rod, and the cylinder body is installed on the inner side of the bottom end of the vertical frame part.

5. The mask clamping device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the vacuum suction cups is at least 8, and the vacuum suction cups are symmetrically installed at two opposite ends of the transverse frame portion away from the vertical frame portion.

6. The mask clamping device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vacuum suction cup comprises a rod portion and a suction cup body, one end of the rod portion is mounted on the outer side of the bottom end of the transverse frame portion, and the other end of the rod portion is connected to the suction cup body.

7. The mask clamping device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frame is made of stainless steel.