Wafer carrier warehousing system

Abstract

The utility model provides a wafer carrier warehousing system. The wafer carrier warehousing system comprises a warehousing body, a transferring module, a carrying robot and a control module. The storage body is provided with a transmission port and a plurality of storage areas. The transfer module is arranged at the transmission port to contact the internal space of the storage body with the external environment, and the transfer module is provided with a plurality of carrying tables. The transfer robot is disposed in the storage body and partially adjoins the transfer module, wherein the wafer carrier is conveyed to the storage area or moved out of the storage body through the transfer module and the transfer robot. The control module is electrically connected with the transfer module and the transfer robot. According to the wafer carrier warehousing system provided by the utility model, the wafer carriers can be efficiently conveyed, and the load of a related conveying device is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a warehousing system, and particularly to a wafer carrier warehousing system. Background Art

[0002] With the development of technology, the demand for semiconductor wafers is increasing. Since semiconductor wafers are high-precision, small in size and easily damaged products, semiconductor wafers are usually accommodated in a wafer cassette (wafer carrier) to improve the safety of semiconductor wafer distribution and transportation. Especially during the manufacturing of semiconductors, semiconductor wafers go through several process steps, each of which is performed by a dedicated processing machine. The wafer cassette is used to transport semiconductor wafers from one machine to another to maintain a protected internal environment and prevent the wafers from being contaminated by the external environment.

[0003] The existing wafer cassette transportation system has not optimized the transmission path. During the transportation of the wafer cassette by the handling robot, it often needs to cross multiple areas to successfully load / unload. This not only consumes time and reduces efficiency, but also increases the load of the pick-and-place arm of the handling robot due to long-distance transportation, and is prone to problems such as sagging and deformation, which is not conducive to its tolerance and service life. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] The utility model provides a wafer carrier warehousing system to efficiently transfer wafer carriers and reduce the load of related transfer devices.

[0005] A wafer carrier warehousing system of the utility model includes a warehousing body, a transfer module, a handling robot and a control module. The warehousing body has a transmission port and a plurality of storage areas. The transfer module is arranged at the transmission port to connect the internal space of the warehousing body with the external environment, and the transfer module has a plurality of carriers. The handling robot is arranged inside the warehousing body and is partially adjacent to the transfer module, wherein the wafer carrier is transferred to the storage area or removed from the warehousing body through the transfer module and the handling robot. The control module is electrically connected to the transfer module and the handling robot.

[0006] In an embodiment of the utility model, the above transfer module drives the wafer carrier horizontally, and the handling robot drives the wafer carrier vertically and horizontally.

[0007] In an embodiment of the utility model, the above transfer module includes a base, a limiting mechanism, a loading and unloading sensor and a presence sensor. The base has a plurality of tracks, and the carriers are electrically connected to the control module and are respectively movably coupled to the tracks. The limiting mechanism is arranged on the carriers and is electrically connected to the control module. The loading and unloading sensor is arranged on the base and is electrically connected to the control module to sense the loading state of the wafer carrier and the carrier. The presence sensor is arranged on the carrier and is electrically connected to the control module to sense whether the wafer carrier is on the carrier.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the above-mentioned transfer module further includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor, which is disposed on the carrier stage and electrically connected to the control module. The control module identifies and obtains information of the wafer carrier through the RFID sensor and synchronously records it in the storage unit of the control module.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the above-mentioned carrier stage is controlled by the control module to move in different directions to enter and exit the transfer port.

[0010] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the above-mentioned limiting mechanism is composed of a plurality of positioning posts and at least one hook. The positioning posts are adapted to be inserted into the bottom of the wafer carrier, and the hook is adapted to hold the side edge of the wafer carrier to limit the wafer carrier.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present utility model, it further includes an overhead hoist transport (OHT) module, which is adjacent to the transfer port to connect with the transfer module to transfer the wafer carrier.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the interior of the above-mentioned storage body is partitioned into a transfer area and a storage area. The storage areas are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the transfer area. The handling robot moves in the transfer area, and the transfer module and part of the storage area are located on the same side of the transfer area.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the above-mentioned storage areas are arranged in layers in the storage body, and the direction of the layer arrangement is the same as the extension direction of the transfer area and the lifting direction of the handling robot.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the above-mentioned wafer carrier is a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP).

[0015] Based on the above, the wafer carrier storage system can shorten the conveying stroke of the wafer carrier through the transfer module set at the transfer port and the handling robot set in the storage body. Briefly speaking, the control module controls the handling robot and the transfer module respectively, so that these two modules can perform transfer actions simultaneously without affecting each other. Therefore, the waiting time required during the transfer process can be saved, and the production cycle can be effectively shortened.

[0016] In addition, the transfer carried out by the cooperation of these two modules can effectively reduce the load of the relevant transfer modules. In other words, the situation where the existing robotic arm needs to be designed with a longer transfer arm due to the stroke relationship is expected to be reduced, but instead, the different transportation modules described in this case are used for division of labor, thereby improving the stability and reliability of the storage system during transportation.

[0017] In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 is a simple schematic diagram of a wafer carrier storage system according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0019] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of the transfer module;

[0020] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Electrical connection diagram of the wafer carrier storage system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Figure 1 It is a simple schematic diagram of a wafer carrier storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the transfer module. Figure 3 yes Figure 1 The electrical connection diagram of the wafer carrier storage system. The rectangular coordinates XYZ are also provided to facilitate component description. Please also refer to Figures 1 to 3 In the present embodiment, the wafer carrier storage system 10 includes a storage body 200, a transfer module 100, a handling robot 300 and a control module CM. The storage body 200 has a transmission port 220 and a plurality of storage areas 210. The transfer module 100 is disposed at the transmission port 220 to connect the internal space of the storage body 200 with the external environment, and the transfer module 100 has a plurality of carriers 120. The handling robot 300 is disposed in the storage body 200 and partially adjacent to the transfer module 100, wherein the wafer carrier 20 is transferred to the storage area 210 or moved out of the storage body 200 through the transfer module 100 and the handling robot 300. The control module CM is electrically connected to the transfer module 100 and the handling robot 300.

[0022] Compared to the prior art that uses a transfer robot to directly perform the storage of wafer carriers, the wafer carrier storage system 10 of the present embodiment uses a transfer module 100 and a transfer robot 300 to perform the transfer, that is, the transfer module 100 is responsible for the conversion and transmission inside and outside the storage body 200, and the transfer robot 300 is responsible for the transmission inside the storage body 200, so as to improve the transportation efficiency, avoid excessive load on the transfer robot 300, and avoid deformation of the transfer robot 300 due to a long transportation stroke. Accordingly, the wafer carrier storage system 10 can improve its tolerance and service life due to the above advantages.

[0023] For further information, please refer toFigure 1 And Figure 2 , in this embodiment, the transfer module 100 drives the wafer carrier 20 by horizontal conveyance, while the handling robot 300 drives the wafer carrier 20 by lifting conveyance and horizontal conveyance. Here, the transfer module 100 includes a base 110, a limiting mechanism 140, a loading and unloading sensor 150, a presence sensor 160, and the aforementioned stage 120. The base 110 has a plurality of tracks 111, and the stage 120 is electrically connected to the control module CM and is movably coupled to these tracks 111 respectively. Simply put, the stage 120 can move smoothly along the tracks 111 through a driving mechanism (such as a motor and related transmission parts), and thus, by referring to the shown rectangular coordinates X-Y-Z, it can be clearly known that the stage 120 can slide on the X-Y plane, and then as Figure 1 shown, the wafer carrier 20 can be smoothly introduced into the storage body 200 from the transfer port 220, or be sent out from the storage body 200 to the transfer port 220. As Figure 2 shown, there are a plurality of the shown stages 120, so the control module CM can drive the wafer carrier 20 to enter and exit the transfer port 220 in different directions according to requirements.

[0024] Furthermore, as Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown, the limiting mechanism 140 is disposed on the stage 120 and is electrically connected to the control module CM. In this embodiment, the wafer carrier 20 is, for example, a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP), and the limiting mechanism 140 is composed of a plurality of positioning posts 142, 143, 144 and at least one hook 141, so that the positioning posts 142-144 can be inserted into the bottom of the front opening wafer cassette, and the hook 141 can hold the side edge of the front opening wafer cassette, so as to achieve the effect of limiting and fixing the front opening wafer cassette on the stage 120.

[0025] On the other hand, as Figure 1 and Figure 3 shown, the wafer carrier storage system 10 of this embodiment further includes an overhead hoist transport (OHT) module 400, which is adjacent to the transfer port 220 to connect with the transfer module 100 to convey the wafer carrier 20. After the wafer carrier 20 is sent to the transfer port 220, it is then introduced into the storage body 200 by the transfer module 100, or after the transfer module 100 sends the wafer carrier 20 out of the storage body 200 to the transfer port 220, the overhead hoist transport module 400 takes it away from the transfer port 220, which are all the purposes that the wafer carrier storage system 10 of this embodiment can achieve.

[0026] In addition, as Figure 2 and Figure 3As shown, the loading and unloading sensor 150 of this embodiment is electrically connected to the control module CM to sense the loading state of the wafer carrier 20 and the stage 120. Specifically, as Figure 2 shown, the loading and unloading sensor 150 includes a plurality of sensing units 151, 152, 153, 154, for example, contrast sensing units. Since this embodiment takes two sets of tracks 111 (cooperating with two stages 120) as an example, the sensing units 151, 152 are used to correspond to the stage 120 on the left side in the figure, and the sensing units 153, 154 are used to correspond to the stage 120 on the right side in the figure. That is, each stage 120 has two corresponding sensing units 151, 152 (or sensing units 153, 154). The control module CM confirms the loading state of the wafer carrier 20 and the stage 120 through the sensing units 151 - 154, and accordingly notifies the suspended transportation module 400 whether to provide a new wafer carrier 20 to the stage 120 or remove the wafer carrier 20 from the stage 120.

[0027] Furthermore, the in - position sensor 160 includes sensing units 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, which are respectively arranged on the stage 120 and electrically connected to the control module CM. The control module CM confirms whether the wafer carrier 20 has been correctly placed flat on the stage 120 (i.e., whether it is in the correct position) through the sensing units 161 - 163, 164 - 166. It can be seen from the fact that there are three sensing units 161 - 163 (or sensing units 164 - 166) on each stage 120 that a detection plane is constructed through the three sensing units 161 - 163 (or 164 - 166) to facilitate ensuring that the wafer carrier 20 is correctly located on the stage 120. This also ensures that subsequent transfer operations can be smoothly executed. In other words, when the control module CM learns whether the wafer carrier 20 exists on the stage 120 and whether it is successfully carried on the stage 120 through the loading and unloading sensor 150, it can then determine and decide whether to transfer the wafer carrier 20 by driving the stage 120.

[0028] It should be further noted that Figure 2 as shown, the sensing units 151, 153 represent their assembly structures on the inner edge of the storage body 200, that is, it represents that the transfer module 100 is assembled on the aforementioned inner - edge assembly structure to facilitate corresponding to the other sensing units 152, 154 to achieve the required mutual sensing of the wafer carrier 20.

[0029] In addition, please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3, in this embodiment, the transfer module 100 further includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor 130, which is disposed on the carrier 120 and electrically connected to the control module CM. The control module CM identifies and obtains the information of the wafer carrier 20 through the RFID sensor 130, and synchronously records it in the storage unit of the control module CM. For example, the wafer carrier 20 provides a label as the relevant information of the wafers it accommodates. Therefore, after the wafer carrier 20 is placed on the carrier 120, the control module CM can drive the RFID sensor 130 to obtain the information, and can further perform access and analysis. In one embodiment, the RFID sensor 130 can also be one of the sensing units of the aforementioned in-seat sensor 160.

[0030] Please refer to Figure 1 , because the wafer carrier storage system 10 uses the transfer module 100 to provide the transfer operation of the wafer carrier 20 into and out of the storage body 200, inside the storage body 200, a handling robot 300 can be dedicated to the operation of picking and placing the wafer carrier 20 in the storage area 210. In this embodiment, the interior of the storage body 200 is partitioned into a transfer area 230 and a storage area 210. The storage areas 210 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the transfer area 230, and the handling robot 300 is controlled by the control module CM to move in the transfer area 230, where the transfer module 100 and part of the storage area 210 are on the same side of the transfer area 230. At the same time, the storage areas 210 are arranged in layers inside the storage body 200, and the direction of the layer arrangement is the same as the extension direction of the transfer area 230 and the lifting direction of the handling robot 300, as Figure 1 shown, and the aforementioned directions are all along the axial direction of the Z-axis.

[0031] In summary, in the above embodiments of the present utility model, the wafer carrier storage system shortens the conveying stroke of the wafer carrier through the transfer module set at the transmission port and the handling robot set inside the storage body. Simply put, the control module controls the handling robot and the transfer module respectively, so that these two modules each have a dedicated transmission area and can perform transmission actions simultaneously without affecting each other. Therefore, the waiting time required during the transmission process can be saved, thereby effectively shortening the production cycle and improving efficiency.

[0032] During the operation process, the wafer carrier storage system first sends the wafer carrier to the transmission port (or takes it away from the transmission port) through the suspended transportation module. Then, the wafer carrier enters and exits the storage body through the transfer module. Finally, the handling robot transfers the wafer carrier between the transfer module and the storage area. In this way, the three modules can be respectively controlled by the control module, and each provides the required transfer operation for the wafer carrier.

[0033] The transfer carried out by the wafer carrier storage system with different modules matched with each other can effectively reduce the load of related transfer modules. In other words, the situation where the existing robotic arm needs to be designed with a longer transfer arm due to the stroke relationship is expected to be reduced, but instead, different transportation modules described in this case are adopted for division of labor, thereby improving the stability and reliability during the transportation of the storage system.

[0034] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer carrier storage system, characterized in that: include: The storage body has a transmission port and multiple storage areas; A transfer module, arranged at the transmission port to connect the internal space of the storage body with the external environment, and the transfer module has a plurality of carriers; A transport robot is disposed in the storage body and partially adjacent to the transfer module, wherein the wafer carrier is transferred to the storage area or moved out of the storage body through the transfer module and the transport robot; and A control module is electrically connected to the transfer module and the transport robot.

2. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transfer module drives the wafer carrier by horizontal conveying, and the transport robot drives the wafer carrier by lifting conveying and horizontal conveying.

3. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transfer module comprises: A base having a plurality of tracks, wherein the plurality of carriers are electrically connected to the control module and are movably coupled to the plurality of tracks respectively; a limiting mechanism, disposed on the carrier and electrically connected to the control module; and A loading and unloading sensor, disposed on the base and electrically connected to the control module, to sense the loading status of the wafer carrier and the carrier; and A presence sensor is disposed on the carrier and electrically connected to the control module to sense whether the wafer carrier is on the carrier.

4. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The transfer module further includes a radio frequency identification sensor, which is disposed on the carrier and electrically connected to the control module. The control module identifies and obtains information of the wafer carrier through the radio frequency identification sensor, and simultaneously records it in a storage unit of the control module.

5. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The plurality of carriers are controlled by the control module to move in different directions to enter and exit the transmission port.

6. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The limiting mechanism is composed of a plurality of positioning posts and at least one buckle hook. The plurality of positioning posts are suitable for being inserted into the bottom of the wafer carrier, and the buckle hook is suitable for buckling the side edge of the wafer carrier to limit the wafer carrier.

7. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a suspended transport module, which is adjacent to the transmission port to connect with the transfer module to transfer the wafer carrier.

8. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The interior of the storage body is separated into a conveying area and the multiple storage areas. The multiple storage areas are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the conveying area. The transport robot moves in the conveying area. The transfer module and some of the multiple storage areas are located on the same side of the conveying area.

9. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The plurality of storage areas are arranged in layers within the storage body, and the direction of the layers is consistent with the extension direction of the transfer area and the lifting direction of the transport robot.

10. The wafer carrier storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wafer carrier is a front-opening wafer cassette.

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