Wafer transmission device

Abstract

A wafer transmission device is used for bearing a wafer and comprises a body, a shell and a displacement sensor, the body is provided with a handle part and a bearing part which are connected, and the bearing part is used for bearing the wafer; the shell is provided with a containing space, the handle part is arranged in the containing space, and the shell is used for being connected with an external machine tool; the displacement sensor is arranged in the shell, and the displacement sensor is used for sensing the displacement of the wafer borne by the bearing part.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a wafer transfer device; in particular to a wafer transfer device with a displacement sensor. Background Art

[0002] It is known in the semiconductor industry that a wafer transfer device such as a robotic arm is used to perform the operation of transporting wafers to achieve more precise handling operations. However, although the wafer transfer device is controlled by a computer, when the wafer transfer device is subjected to external force collision or other interferences, the wafer transfer device will still generate abnormal vibrations or cause the position of the loaded wafer to shift, thereby affecting the accuracy when transporting wafers.

[0003] Continuing from the above, generally, in order to improve the accuracy when transporting wafers, a displacement sensor is provided on the robotic arm to sense the movement of the wafer on the wafer transfer device in real time. However, when the displacement sensor needs to be detected or maintained, due to the overly complex and cumbersome disassembly and assembly steps, maintenance personnel need to spend a lot of time on detection or maintenance, thereby affecting production capacity and efficiency; therefore, how to provide a wafer transfer device that is conducive to maintenance personnel for detection or maintenance is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present utility model is to provide a wafer transfer device that is conducive to maintenance personnel for detection or maintenance.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, a wafer transfer device provided by the present utility model for carrying a wafer includes a body, a housing, and a displacement sensor. The body has a handle portion and a carrying portion connected to each other, and the carrying portion is for carrying the wafer; the housing has an accommodation space, the handle portion is disposed in the accommodation space, and the housing is for connecting to an external tool; the displacement sensor is disposed in the housing, and the displacement sensor is used to sense the displacement of the wafer carried by the carrying portion.

[0006] In one embodiment, the housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing, and the upper housing and the lower housing are detachably combined and jointly enclose to form the accommodation space, and the handle portion of the body is disposed in the accommodation space.

[0007] In one embodiment, one of the upper housing or the lower housing has a connecting portion for connecting to an external tool.

[0008] In one embodiment, the wafer transfer device includes a circuit board assembly. Wherein the other of the upper housing or the lower housing has a mounting portion on the side facing the accommodation space for accommodating the circuit board assembly, and the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to the displacement sensor.

[0009] In one embodiment, the housing is made of a material containing carbon fiber.

[0010] In one embodiment, on one side of the housing facing the bearing portion of the body, there are two detection holes. The two detection holes communicate with the external space and the accommodation space. The displacement sensor has two detection heads respectively disposed at positions adjacent to the two detection holes. The two detection heads respectively have a signal output shaft, and the signal output shafts of the two detection heads respectively pass through the two detection holes.

[0011] In one embodiment, the included angle between the signal output shafts of the two detection heads is between 40 degrees and 45 degrees.

[0012] In one embodiment, the body has two guide grooves, and each of the guide grooves is recessed from the surface of the body. The signal output shafts of the two detection heads respectively pass through the two guide grooves.

[0013] In one embodiment, the two guide grooves are semi-circular guide grooves.

[0014] In one embodiment, the wafer transfer device includes a circuit board assembly disposed in the accommodation space of the housing, and the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to the displacement sensor.

[0015] The effect of the present utility model is that through the design of disposing the displacement sensor in the housing, when the displacement sensor needs to be detected or maintained, the maintenance personnel only need to disassemble and assemble the housing to quickly perform detection or maintenance, thereby improving production capacity and efficiency. Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 It is a perspective view of a wafer transfer device according to a preferred embodiment of the present utility model.

[0017] Figure 2 It is a partial component decomposition schematic diagram of the wafer transfer device of the above preferred embodiment.

[0018] Figure 3 It is a decomposition schematic diagram of the wafer transfer device of the above preferred embodiment.

[0019] Figure 4 It is a top view of the wafer transfer device of the above preferred embodiment with the upper housing removed.

[0020] Figure 5 It is a block diagram of the displacement sensor and the circuit board assembly of the above preferred embodiment.

[0021] Description of the Reference Numerals:

[0022] 1: Wafer transfer device

[0023] 10: Body

[0024] 101: Guide groove

[0025] 10a: Handle part

[0026] 10b: Bearing part

[0027] 20: Housing

[0028] 22: Upper housing

[0029] 221: Connecting hole

[0030] 24: Lower housing

[0031] 241: Groove

[0032] 201: Detection hole

[0033] 30: Displacement sensor

[0034] 32: Detection head

[0035] 40: Circuit board assembly

[0036] 42: First circuit board

[0037] 421: Analog / digital signal converter

[0038] 422: Controller

[0039] 423: Transmission module

[0040] 44: Second circuit board

[0041] 441: Power control module

[0042] A: Signal output shaft

[0043] W: Wafer

[0044] θ: Included angle Detailed implementation manner

[0045] To more clearly illustrate the present utility model, preferred embodiments are given below and described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Please refer to Figures 1 to 4As shown, a wafer transfer device 1 of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is for carrying a wafer W, and includes a body 10, a housing 20 and a displacement sensor 30. The body 10 has a handle portion 10a and a carrying portion 10b connected to each other. The carrying portion 10b is for carrying the wafer W. The housing 20 has an accommodation space, and the handle portion 10a is disposed in the accommodation space. The housing 20 is for connecting to an external tool, and the external tool can be a robotic arm. The displacement sensor 30 is disposed in the housing 20, and the displacement sensor 30 is used to sense the displacement of the wafer W carried by the carrying portion 10b. In this embodiment, the displacement sensor 30 is illustrated by an electromagnetic displacement sensor. In other embodiments, the displacement sensor can also be, for example, an eddy current displacement sensor, a capacitive displacement sensor, a laser displacement sensor or an ultrasonic displacement sensor, etc.

[0046] In this embodiment, the housing 20 is made of a material containing carbon fiber. In this embodiment, the housing 20 is made of a composite material of nylon added with carbon fiber. By using the carbon fiber material with light weight and high strength, the protection performance of the housing 20 can be effectively improved and the load of the robotic arm can be reduced. In other embodiments, the housing 20 can also be made of other materials with light weight and strength, and is not limited to the carbon fiber material.

[0047] As Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown, the housing 20 includes an upper housing 22 and a lower housing 24. The upper housing 22 and the lower housing 24 are combined in a detachable manner such as by snap-fitting or screwing and jointly enclose to form the accommodation space. The handle portion 10a of the body 10 is disposed in the accommodation space. The upper housing 22 has a connection portion for connecting to an external tool. In this embodiment, the connection portion is a plurality of connection holes 221. Through the plurality of connection holes 221, the upper housing 22 can be connected to the robotic arm, and thus the wafer transfer device 1 can be controlled to move by the robotic arm. In addition, when the displacement sensor 30 needs to be detected or maintained, as Figure 2 shown, the maintenance personnel only need to detach the lower housing 24 from the upper housing 22 to quickly perform detection or maintenance, thereby improving production capacity and efficiency.

[0048] Please continue to cooperate with Figure 2, the wafer transfer device 1 includes a circuit board assembly 40, and the circuit board assembly 40 is electrically connected to the displacement sensor 30. Wherein, on the side of the lower housing 24 facing the accommodation space, there is a mounting portion, and the mounting portion is a groove 241 for accommodating the circuit board assembly 40. Therefore, the circuit board assembly 40 can be stably arranged in the groove 241. When the displacement sensor 30 needs to be detected or maintained, the maintenance personnel only need to detach the lower housing 24 from the upper housing 22, and then can quickly perform detection or maintenance, thereby improving production capacity and efficiency; in this embodiment, the mounting portion is illustrated by taking the groove as an example. In practice, the mounting portion can also be other structures capable of mounting the circuit board assembly, and is not limited to the groove.

[0049] Please cooperate with Figure 5 , wherein, the circuit board assembly 40 includes a first circuit board 42 and a second circuit board 44. The first circuit board 42 and the second circuit board 44 are respectively electrically connected to the displacement sensor 30. The first circuit board 42 receives a sensing signal output by the displacement sensor 30. Further, the first circuit board 42 is provided with an analog / digital signal converter 421, a controller 422, and a transmission module 423. The controller 422 can be, for example, a microcontroller, and the transmission module 423 can be, for example, a wired transmission module or a wireless transmission module. In this embodiment, the wireless transmission module is taken as an example; the second circuit board 44 is provided with a power control module 441, and the power control module 441 is used to provide the operating power for the displacement sensor 30; the displacement sensor 30 is electrically connected to the analog / digital signal converter 421, wherein the controller 422 is electrically connected to the analog / digital signal converter 421 and the transmission module 423. The controller 422 obtains the sensing signal of the displacement sensor 30 through the analog / digital signal converter 421, and transmits the sensing signal of the displacement sensor 30 to an external electronic device through the transmission module 423. Therefore, the operator can receive the sensing signal of the displacement sensor 30 in real time through the external electronic device and effectively monitor and analyze it.

[0050] Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is illustrated by taking the upper housing 22 having the connecting portion for connecting an external machine tool and the lower housing 24 having the mounting portion as an example. In other embodiments, it can also be that the lower housing has the connecting portion and the upper housing has the mounting portion, which can also achieve the purpose of the aforementioned connecting portion for connecting an external machine tool and the mounting portion for mounting the circuit board assembly 40.

[0051] Please cooperate with Figure 1, on one side of the housing 20 facing the bearing portion 10b of the body 10, there are two detection holes 201. The two detection holes 201 communicate with the external space and the accommodation space. The displacement sensor 30 has two detection heads 32 respectively disposed at positions adjacent to the two detection holes 201. As Figure 4 shown, the two detection heads 32 respectively have a signal output shaft A, and the signal output shafts A of the two detection heads 32 correspondingly pass through the two detection holes 201; and as Figure 4 shown, the included angle θ between the signal output shafts A of the two detection heads 32 is between 40 and 45 degrees. When the wafer transfer device 1 carries the wafer W, the signal output shafts A of the two detection heads 32 intersect at the centroid of the wafer W. Further, the body 10 has two guide grooves 101. Each of the guide grooves 101 is recessed from the surface of the body 10, and each of the guide grooves 101 extends along the signal output shaft A. The signal output shafts A of the two detection heads 32 correspondingly pass through the two guide grooves 101, wherein the two guide grooves 101 are semi-circular guide grooves 101; therefore, the signals of the two detection heads 32 can be respectively output from the two detection holes 201 and emitted along the two guide grooves 101 to the wafer W to detect the position of the wafer W.

[0052] In summary, through the design of arranging the displacement sensor 30 in the housing 20 in the present invention, when the displacement sensor 30 needs to be detected or maintained, the maintenance personnel only need to disassemble and assemble the housing 20 to quickly perform detection or maintenance, thereby improving production capacity and efficiency.

[0053] The above is only the preferred and feasible embodiment of the present invention. Any equivalent changes made by applying the description and claims of the present invention should be included in the patent scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer transfer device for carrying a wafer, characterized in that: Include: A body having a handle portion and a supporting portion connected to each other, wherein the supporting portion is used to support the wafer; A shell having a containing space, the handle is disposed in the containing space, and the shell is used to connect an external tool; as well as A displacement sensor is disposed in the housing, and the displacement sensor is used to sense the displacement of the wafer carried by the carrying part.

2. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shell comprises an upper shell and a lower shell, the upper shell and the lower shell are detachably combined and jointly enclose the accommodating space, and the handle of the body is arranged in the accommodating space.

3. The wafer transfer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: One of the upper housing or the lower housing has a connecting portion for connecting an external tool.

4. The wafer transfer device according to claim 3, characterized in that: It comprises a circuit board assembly, wherein the other of the upper shell or the lower shell has a mounting portion on a side facing the accommodation space for accommodating the circuit board assembly, and the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to the displacement sensor.

5. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The housing is made of a material containing carbon fibers.

6. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shell has two detection holes on one side of the bearing portion facing the main body, and the two detection holes are connected to the external space and the accommodating space. The displacement sensor has two detection heads respectively arranged at positions adjacent to the two detection holes. The two detection heads respectively have a signal output axis, and the signal output axes of the two detection heads pass through the two detection holes.

7. The wafer transfer device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The included angle of the signal output axes of the two detection heads is between 40 degrees and 45 degrees.

8. The wafer transfer device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The body has two guide grooves, each of which is formed by being concave from the surface of the body, and the signal output axes of the two detection heads pass through the two guide grooves accordingly.

9. The wafer transfer device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The two guide grooves are semi-arc guide grooves.

10. The wafer transfer device according to claim 1, wherein: A circuit board component is disposed in the accommodating space of the housing, and the circuit board component is electrically connected to the displacement sensor.

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