Silicon wafer feeding butt joint mechanism and production equipment

Abstract

The utility model relates to a silicon wafer feeding butt joint mechanism and production equipment, and the mechanism comprises a feeding assembly which is provided with a pedestal and an upper carrying platform movably connected with the pedestal; the wafer placing assembly is provided with a placing table on which a single silicon wafer can be placed; the material taking finger is arranged on the side face of the base; the material taking finger is arranged in an interval defined by all the loading tables and all the placing tables when the loading tables are located at the slicing position; and the opening of the sheet basket positioned on the sheet separating position is obliquely arranged towards one side of the material taking finger relative to the base. The silicon wafer loading device is simple in structure and automatic in operation, and the wafer baskets loaded with silicon wafers can be placed on the loading assembly, so that the wafer baskets are in different postures at different positions to meet the requirements of loading and taking; the multiple feeding assemblies can work synchronously or asynchronously, silicon wafers are taken and placed through the same material taking finger, manual intervention is not needed, the butt joint efficiency is high, and safety and reliability are achieved; the transferring distance can be shortened, the taking and placing accuracy is high, and the consistency of butt joint and fragmentation of all silicon wafers is guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of semiconductor silicon wafer production equipment, and in particular relates to a silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism and production equipment equipped with the docking mechanism. Background Art

[0002] Current silicon wafer production requires pickling of individual wafers. Prior to pickling, the entire wafer basket must be separated into individual wafers. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are currently used for wafer delivery, but these are not adaptable to existing intelligent production lines, resulting in delayed wafer supply and requiring human intervention. For existing intelligent, unmanned factories, designing a docking mechanism that can automatically load wafers is crucial for improving wafer processing efficiency and reducing costs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present application provides a silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism and production equipment, which solves the technical problem that the existing docking mechanism cannot adapt to the existing intelligent production line, resulting in low production flow efficiency and high processing costs.

[0004] To solve at least one of the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted in this application is:

[0005] A silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism, comprising:

[0006] A loading assembly, which comprises a base and a loading platform movably connected thereto;

[0007] A wafer placement assembly, which is provided with a placement table capable of placing a single silicon wafer;

[0008] a material taking finger, which is arranged on the side of the base;

[0009] The material taking finger is placed in the area enclosed by the upper loading platform and all the placing platforms when the material taking finger is located at the slicing position; the opening of the sheet basket located at the slicing position is tilted toward the material taking finger relative to the base.

[0010] Furthermore, the material-taking finger is a multi-axis controlled long strip structure with a plurality of vacuum air holes provided thereon, which can adsorb and fix the silicon wafers placed in the wafer baskets on all the upper loading tables, and then alternately transfer them one by one to the placement table for placement.

[0011] Furthermore, it comprises two loading assemblies and two wafer placing assemblies, wherein the bases in the two loading assemblies are arranged in parallel along the silicon wafer transmission direction, and the material taking finger is located on the center line between the bases.

[0012] Furthermore, the upper loading platform and the placing platform are arranged to face each other relative to the position where the material picking finger is located.

[0013] Furthermore, a rotating platform is provided on the base, and the loading platform is connected to the base via the rotating platform.

[0014] Furthermore, the base is provided with a roller shaft arranged along its length direction, a translation motor for driving the roller shaft, and a rotation motor movably connected to the translation motor, and both the translation motor and the rotation motor are constructed inside the base;

[0015] The translation motor drives the rotation motor through the roller shaft to perform reciprocating horizontal movement along the length direction of the base between a loading position away from the material taking finger and a slicing position close to the material taking finger.

[0016] Furthermore, at the slice separating position in the base, the rotary motor drives the rotating platform and the loading platform to rotate through its vertically arranged rotating shaft, so as to drive the slice basket to rotate and tilt its opening toward the side of the material taking finger.

[0017] Furthermore, a matching groove with a radius length for matching with the material picking finger is provided on one side of the placing table.

[0018] Furthermore, the matching groove is constructed as a groove with a single-side opening, which starts from the center of the placement table and directly penetrates to the outer wall surface thereof;

[0019] The matching grooves are all arranged obliquely toward one side of the material taking finger, and their extension lines intersect with the center of the circle where the material taking finger is located.

[0020] A production device is equipped with the docking mechanism described above.

[0021] A silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism designed in this application and a production equipment equipped with the docking mechanism have a simple structure and automatic operation. A basket containing silicon wafers can be placed on a loading assembly so that it is in different positions and postures to meet the needs of loading and retrieving. Multiple groups of loading assemblies can work synchronously or asynchronously and perform pick-and-place operations on silicon wafers through the same retrieving finger without the need for human intervention. The docking is efficient, safe and reliable. Not only can the transfer distance be shortened, but the pick-and-place accuracy is also high, ensuring the consistency of the docking and slicing of all silicon wafers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 is a three-dimensional diagram of a docking mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 This is a state diagram of the loading assembly of one embodiment of the present application at the loading position;

[0024] Figure 3 This is a state diagram of the loading component in one embodiment of the present application when it is in the slicing position;

[0025] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the distribution of motors within a base according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a sheet placement assembly according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] In the picture:

[0028] 100, feeding mechanism 10, feeding assembly 11, base

[0029] 12. Loading platform 13. Rotating motor 14. Rotating platform

[0030] 15. Film basket 16. Translation motor 20. Film placement assembly

[0031] 21. Placement table 22. Adjustment slide 23. Matching groove

[0032] 30. Material collection DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0034] This embodiment proposes a silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes a loading assembly 10 for transferring wafer baskets loaded with silicon wafers and empty wafer baskets, a wafer placement assembly 20 for placing a single silicon wafer, and a material removal finger 30 for transferring silicon wafers. The material removal finger 30 is a multi-axis idle manipulator, which is a commonly used manipulator in this field. Among them, there are two loading assemblies 10 and two wafer placement assemblies 20, which share the same multi-axis rotating material removal finger 30 that can move back and forth between the loading assembly 10 and the wafer placement assembly 20. The two loading assemblies 10 and the two wafer placement assemblies 20 are arranged around the material removal finger 30 and are all placed towards the center position of the material removal finger 30. The loading assembly 10 can automatically adjust the wafer basket loaded with silicon wafers to different working postures at different positions, that is, two postures relative to the position of the material removal finger 30, one straight and one tilted, respectively, when in the loading position and the other tilted when in the material removal position. At the same time, multiple groups of loading components and wafer placement components 20 can work synchronously or asynchronously, and the silicon wafers can be picked up and placed through the same material picking finger 30, which has a fast flow efficiency; no human intervention is required, the docking efficiency is high and it is safe and reliable; it can not only shorten the transfer distance, but also has high pick-and-place accuracy, ensuring the consistency of all silicon wafer docking and slicing.

[0035] The pick-up fingers 30 are positioned along the centerline of the entire width of the device, that is, along the centerline of the wafer transport direction. Along the wafer transport direction, the two loading assemblies 10 are located outside the pick-up fingers 30, and the wafer placement assembly 20 is located inside the pick-up fingers 30. The loading assemblies 10 and wafer placement assembly 20 are positioned facing each other relative to the center of the pick-up fingers 30. The pick-up fingers 30 are positioned in the middle of the circle surrounded by the loading assemblies 10 and wafer placement assembly 20. The extended lines of the wafer placement angles of the loading assemblies 10 and wafer placement assembly 20 intersect at the center of the pick-up fingers 30.

[0036] like Figure 2-3 As shown, the loading mechanism 100 is provided with two loading platforms 12 and two placement platforms 21, and the material removal finger 30 is located at the center of the area surrounded by the two loading platforms 12 and the two placement platforms 21 at the wafer separation position. Two bases 11 are arranged in parallel along the direction of silicon wafer transmission, and the material removal finger 30 is located on the center line between the two bases. The loading platform 12 is connected to the base 11 via a rotating platform 14. The rotating platform 14 drives the loading platform 12 and the wafer basket carrying the silicon wafers from the loading position to the wafer separation position. The rotating platform 14 is driven by a rotary motor 13 located on one side of the wafer separation position, so that the rotating platform 14 drives the loading platform 12 and the wafer basket to rotate together, and the opening of the wafer basket is tilted toward the material removal finger 30.

[0037] Furthermore, the two loading assemblies 10 have the same structure. Each loading assembly 12 is equipped with an upper loading platform 12, which is placed on the base 11. A basket holder 15 is located on the upper loading platform 12 to hold the tablet basket. The base 11 is fixed to the machine platform. The upper loading platform 12 is mounted on the base 11 via a rotating platform 14. The base 11 and the rotating platform 14 are movably connected, and the upper loading platform 12 is fixed to the top of the rotating platform 14. On the base 11, the end away from the picking finger 30 is the loading position, and the end close to the picking finger 30 is the tablet separation position.

[0038] like Figure 4 As shown, the base 11 is arranged along the length direction of the machine. In the middle of its upper end face, there is a translation motor 16 for driving the rotating table 14 to move along the length direction of the base 11. The translation motor 16 is constructed on the inner side of the base 11. Accordingly, the rotating motor 13 is located on the central axis of the base 11 and is arranged vertically. The translation motor 16 can drive the flat roller to rotate through the rotating shaft to drive the rotating motor 13 to gradually move from the loading position to the slicing position, or from the slicing position to the loading position along the length direction of the base. At the same time, the rotating motor 13 drives the upper loading platform 12 to rotate at the slicing position through the vertically arranged rotating shaft to control the direction of the opening of the tablet basket in the tablet basket rack 15 at the slicing position, so that it is tilted toward the side of the material removal finger; or reversed from the tilted setting to its direction consistent with the length direction of the base 11.

[0039] like Figure 2As shown, when the upper loading platform 12 is at the loading position on the base 11, a wafer basket containing silicon wafers is placed in the wafer basket holder 15, with the open end of the wafer basket facing inward, that is, arranged inward along the centerline of the base 11. The translation motor 16 drives the roller to drive the rotation motor 13, which in turn drives the rotation platform 14, the upper loading platform 12, and the wafer basket holder 15 to move horizontally toward the wafer separation position until they reach the wafer separation position.

[0040] like Figure 3 As shown, when the rotary table 14 moves to the tablet separating position, the rotary motor 13 drives the rotary table 14 to rotate, causing the open end of the tablet basket 15 placed on the upper loading platform 12 to rotate 45 degrees toward the position of the material picking finger 30. The opening of the tablet basket 15 placed on the upper loading platform 12 is tilted toward the material picking finger 30. At this time, the open ends of the tablet baskets 15 on both sides are tilted toward the material picking finger 30, facilitating the material picking operation of the material picking finger 30.

[0041] like Figure 4 As shown, each sheet placement assembly 20 is equipped with a placement platform 21, and the two placement platforms 21 are positioned opposite each other on either side of the pick-up finger 30. A matching groove 23 with a radial length for matching the pick-up finger 30 is provided on one side of the placement platform 21. This matching groove 23 extends from the center of the placement platform 21 directly to its outer wall. It is a single-sided open groove that primarily matches the size and shape of the pick-up finger 30. The matching grooves 23 in both placement platforms 21 are tilted toward the pick-up finger 30, and the extended lines of the matching grooves 23 intersect at the center of the circle where the pick-up finger 30 is located.

[0042] The pick-up finger 30 is a multi-axis ceramic finger with a long, rectangular structure and several air holes. It uses vacuum suction to steadily place silicon wafers on its upper end surface, securely adsorbing the silicon wafers in all the wafer baskets on the upper loading platform 12 before alternately transferring them one by one to the placement platform 21 for placement. Driven by a multi-axis pivot joint, the pick-up finger 30 can extend and retract vertically and rotate at a preset angle on any horizontal plane, precisely removing silicon wafers from the wafer basket 15 and quickly placing them on the placement platform 21. To save time during the rotation and movement of the pick-up finger 30 and optimize its path, the open end of the wafer basket 15 at the slicing position and the open end of the mating slot 23 are preferably tilted toward the pick-up finger 30 at a 45° angle. This minimizes the rotation angle and movement path of the pick-up finger 30.

[0043] Outside the mating groove 23 and around the center of the placement platform 21, vacuum holes for suctioning silicon wafers are provided. These holes are evenly spaced. Furthermore, an adjustment slide 22 is located at the lower edge of the placement platform 21 for fine-tuning its horizontal and vertical position.

[0044] During this process, an empty wafer basket 15 is first placed at the loading position on the base 11. The robot then places the wafer basket loaded with silicon wafers into the basket 15. At this point, the opening of the basket 15 faces the slicing position, and all wafers are inserted horizontally into the basket. The translation motor 16 then drives the rollers, which in turn drive the rotary motor 13, thereby moving the turntable 14, the loading platform 12, and the wafer basket 15 horizontally to the slicing position on the base 11. When the turntable 14 is at the slicing position, the rotating shaft of the rotary motor 13 rotates against the turntable 14, causing the open side of the wafer basket 15 to rotate 45° toward the center of the circle where the pick-up finger 30 is located, and then rest. The pick-up finger 30 then adjusts its position and angle to remove wafers from the basket 15. The pick-up finger 30 first removes wafers from the top of the basket and then removes them one by one along the height of the basket, from top to bottom. The picking finger 30 drives the silicon wafer to rotate and adjusts its position so that its height matches the height of the placement table 21, and then the silicon wafer is placed on the placement table 21. At this point, the silicon wafer loading work is completed.

[0045] A production device is equipped with the docking mechanism described above.

[0046] The present application designs a silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism and production equipment with a simple structure and automated operation. A wafer basket containing silicon wafers can be placed on a loading assembly so that the basket is in different positions and postures to meet the requirements of loading and retrieving. Multiple groups of loading assemblies can work synchronously or asynchronously and perform pick-and-place operations on silicon wafers through the same retrieving finger without the need for human intervention. The docking is efficient, safe, and reliable. Not only can the transfer distance be shortened, but the pick-and-place accuracy is also high, ensuring the consistency of all silicon wafer docking and slicing.

[0047] The above embodiments of the present application are described in detail. The contents described are only preferred embodiments of the present application and should not be considered to limit the scope of implementation of the present application. All equivalent changes and improvements made within the scope of the present application should still fall within the scope of the patent application.

Claims

1. A silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism, characterized in that: include: A loading assembly, which comprises a base and a loading platform movably connected thereto; A wafer placement assembly, which is provided with a placement table capable of placing a single silicon wafer; a material taking finger, which is arranged on the side of the base; The material taking finger is placed in the area enclosed by the upper loading platform and all the placing platforms when the material taking finger is located at the slicing position; the opening of the sheet basket located at the slicing position is tilted toward the material taking finger relative to the base.

2. The silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material taking finger is a multi-axis controlled long strip structure with a plurality of vacuum air holes provided thereon, which can adsorb and fix the silicon wafers placed in the wafer baskets on all the upper loading tables, and then alternately transfer them one by one to the placement table for placement.

3. A silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: It comprises two loading assemblies and two wafer placing assemblies, wherein the bases in the two loading assemblies are arranged in parallel along the silicon wafer transmission direction, and the material taking finger is located on the center line between the bases.

4. The silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that: The upper loading platform and the placing platform are arranged to face each other relative to the position where the material picking finger is located.

5. A silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to any one of claims 1-2 and 4, characterized in that: A rotating platform is provided on the base, and the loading platform is connected to the base via the rotating platform.

6. The silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: The base is also provided with a roller shaft arranged along its length direction, a translation motor for driving the roller shaft, and a rotation motor movably connected to the translation motor, and the translation motor and the rotation motor are both constructed inside the base; The translation motor drives the rotation motor through the roller shaft to perform reciprocating horizontal movement along the length direction of the base between a loading position away from the material taking finger and a slicing position close to the material taking finger.

7. The silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: At the slice separating position in the base, the rotary motor drives the rotating platform and the loading platform to rotate through its vertically arranged rotating shaft, so as to drive the slice basket to rotate and tilt its opening toward the side of the material taking finger.

8. A silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to any one of claims 1-2, 4, 6-7, characterized in that: A matching groove with a radius length for matching with the material picking finger is provided on one side of the placing table.

9. The silicon wafer loading and docking mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that: The matching groove is constructed as a groove with a single-side opening, which starts from the center of the placement table and directly passes through its outer wall surface; the matching grooves are all arranged obliquely toward the side of the material picking finger, and their extended lines intersect at the center of the circle where the material picking finger is located.

10. A production equipment, characterized in that, The device is provided with a docking mechanism as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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