Open front wafer cassette adapter

Abstract

The utility model discloses an open wafer box adapter, open wafer box adapter includes: substrate, positioning mechanism, trigger mechanism and pressing plate mechanism, substrate is used to bear open wafer box, and positioning mechanism is located on the substrate and includes a plurality of positioning piece for limiting the position of open wafer box, and trigger mechanism includes a plurality of trigger piece located on the substrate, and open wafer box is suitable for triggering corresponding sensor through the pressing trigger piece, and pressing plate mechanism is movably located on the substrate between the gland position and the avoidance position and includes the pressing plate body, and in the gland position, the pressing plate body presses down at least one trigger piece and triggers the sensor, and in the avoidance position, the pressing plate body is spaced apart from the trigger piece. According to the open wafer box adapter of the utility model, the applicability of open wafer box adapter can be improved better, so that the number of adapters required for adapting different open wafer boxes can be reduced, and the cost of loading station adapting different open wafer boxes is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of wafer manufacturing technology, and in particular to an open wafer cassette adapter. Background Technology

[0002] In semiconductor manufacturing, due to the complexity and diversity of processes, wafers need to be moved to various types of equipment for processing. To enable the loading stage to be compatible with open wafer cassettes, related technologies typically install adapters on the loading stage to assist in identifying the wafer cassette type. However, these adapters cannot meet the compatibility requirements of open wafer cassettes of different sizes and specifications. Therefore, improvements are needed. Utility Model Content

[0003] This invention proposes an open wafer cassette adapter, which has the advantages of being adaptable to different open wafer cassettes and having a wide range of applications.

[0004] An open wafer cassette adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a substrate for supporting an open wafer cassette; a positioning mechanism disposed on the substrate, the positioning mechanism including a plurality of positioning elements, wherein when the open wafer cassette is placed on the substrate, the plurality of positioning elements are adapted to restrict the position of the open wafer cassette; a triggering mechanism including a plurality of triggering elements disposed on the substrate, wherein a loading stage is provided with a plurality of sensors corresponding one-to-one with the plurality of triggering elements, wherein when the open wafer cassette is placed on the substrate, the open wafer cassette is adapted to trigger the corresponding sensor by pressing down on the triggering element; and a pressure plate mechanism movably disposed on the substrate between a pressure cover position and a clearance position, the pressure plate mechanism including a pressure plate body, wherein in the pressure cover position, the pressure plate body presses down on at least one of the triggering elements to trigger the sensor, and in the clearance position, the pressure plate body and the triggering element are spaced apart.

[0005] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the open wafer cassette adapter can improve the applicability of the open wafer cassette adapter by means of a movable pressure plate mechanism disposed between the pressure cover position and the clearance position, thereby reducing the number of adapters required to adapt to different open wafer cassettes and reducing the cost of adapting the loading stage to different open wafer cassettes.

[0006] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the upper surface of the substrate is provided with a first placement position and a second placement position, at least a portion of the first placement position and the second placement position overlap, the area of ​​the first placement position is larger than the area of ​​the second placement position, the loading table is provided with a wafer picking mechanism, the end of the substrate near the wafer picking mechanism is the wafer picking end, and the first placement position and the second placement position are both near the wafer picking end and coaxially arranged with the substrate.

[0007] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the positioning mechanism includes a plurality of first positioning elements and a plurality of second positioning elements. The first positioning elements are disposed at the first placement position, and the second positioning elements are disposed at the second placement position. The plurality of first positioning elements and the plurality of second positioning elements are respectively used to position the open wafer cassette of different sizes.

[0008] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the height of the second positioning member is lower than the height of the first positioning member.

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first positioning element includes a connecting seat and a first positioning post, the first positioning post being disposed on the top of the connecting seat and connected to the substrate through the connecting seat, and the second positioning element being a positioning block.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the sensor includes: an existence sensor and an information sensor, the trigger includes a first trigger, the first trigger corresponds to one of the information sensors, the first trigger is disposed within the first placement position and outside the second placement position, and the pressure cover position includes the placement position of the first trigger.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first triggering member includes a pressure block and a first elastic member. The pressure block is movably disposed on the substrate in the vertical direction, and the first elastic member is disposed between the pressure block and the substrate. The first elastic member is used to push the pressure block to move upward.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the triggering element includes a second triggering element, the second triggering element including: a pressure rod and a second elastic element, the first end of the pressure rod being rotatably connected to the substrate, the second elastic element being disposed between the second end of the pressure rod and the substrate, and the second elastic element being used to drive the second end of the pressure rod to move upward.

[0013] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the pressure plate mechanism further includes a connecting rod and a locking member. The pressure plate body is disposed at the first end of the connecting rod, and the second end of the connecting rod is rotatably connected to the substrate to drive the pressure plate body to move between the pressure cover position and the clearance position. The locking member is used to lock the connection between the connecting rod and the substrate.

[0014] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the substrate includes a top plate and a connecting plate that are formed independently. The positioning mechanism and the pressure plate mechanism are disposed on the upper surface of the top plate, and the connecting plate is disposed at the bottom of the top plate. The connecting plate and the top plate together define an installation space for mounting the trigger.

[0015] Additional aspects and advantages of this invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a top view of an open wafer cassette adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an open wafer cassette adapter placed on a loading stage according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 Exploded view of a local structure in the middle;

[0019] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Enlarged view of region A in the middle;

[0020] Figure 5 yes Figure 3 Enlarged view of region B in the middle;

[0021] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the locking component of the open wafer cassette adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 7 This is a top view of the top plate of the open wafer cassette adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 8 This is a top view of the connection board of the open wafer cassette adapter according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0024] Figure 9 This is a top view of the loading stage of the open wafer cassette adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure label:

[0026] 100. Open wafer cassette adapter;

[0027] 1. Substrate; 1a. Wafer pick-up end; 11. Top plate; 111. Clearance hole; 112. First mounting hole; 113. First fixing hole; 114. Clearance notch; 12. Connecting plate; 121. Positioning slot; 122. Positioning slot; 123. Second fixing hole; 124. Second mounting hole; 125. Third mounting hole;

[0028] 2. Positioning component; 2a. First positioning component; 21. Connecting seat; 22. First positioning pin; 2b. Second positioning component;

[0029] 3. Trigger; 3a. First trigger; 31a. Pressure block; 32a. First elastic element; 3b. Second trigger; 31b. Pressure rod; 311. First protrusion; 312. Second protrusion; 32b. Second elastic element;

[0030] 4. Pressure plate mechanism; 41. Pressure plate body; 42. Connecting rod; 43. Locking component; 431. Fixing rod; 432. Fastener;

[0031] 200, loading platform; 210, presence sensor; 220, information sensor; 230, second positioning post; 240, third fixing hole. Detailed Implementation

[0032] The embodiments of this utility model are described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain this utility model, and should not be construed as limiting this utility model.

[0033] The following disclosure provides numerous different embodiments or examples for implementing various structures of the present invention. To simplify the disclosure, specific examples of components and arrangements are described below. These are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, reference numerals and / or letters may be repeated in different examples. Such repetition is for simplification and clarity and does not in itself indicate a relationship between the various embodiments and / or arrangements discussed. In addition, examples of various specific processes and materials are provided in this invention; however, those skilled in the art will recognize the applicability of other processes and / or the use of other materials.

[0034] The open wafer cassette adapter 100 according to a first aspect of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] like Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, the open wafer cassette adapter 100 according to a first aspect embodiment of the present invention is suitable for mounting on a loading stage 200 to facilitate the loading stage 200 in recognizing the open wafer cassette and transferring the wafers placed inside the open wafer cassette. The open wafer cassette adapter 100 includes: a substrate 1, a positioning mechanism, a triggering mechanism, and a pressure plate mechanism 4. The substrate 1 is used to support the open wafer cassette. The positioning mechanism is disposed on the substrate 1 and includes multiple positioning elements 2. When the open wafer cassette is placed on the substrate 1, the multiple positioning elements 2 are adapted to restrict the position of the open wafer cassette. Here, the positioning elements 2 restricting the position of the open wafer cassette means that the positioning elements 2 abut against the outer edge of the open wafer cassette, or control the distance between the outer edge of the open wafer cassette and the positioning elements 2 within a certain threshold range, so as to stably control the position of the open wafer cassette on the substrate 1 through the positioning elements 2, thereby improving the stability of subsequent wafer removal operations.

[0036] The triggering mechanism includes multiple trigger elements 3 disposed on the substrate 1. The loading stage 200 is equipped with multiple sensors corresponding one-to-one with each trigger element 3. When an open wafer cell is placed on the substrate 1, the open wafer cell is adapted to trigger the corresponding sensor by pressing down on the trigger element 3. Therefore, the triggering status of the sensor can be used to determine whether an open wafer cell has been placed on the substrate 1. A pressure plate mechanism 4 is movably disposed on the substrate 1 between a pressure cover position and a clearance position. The pressure plate mechanism 4 includes a pressure plate body 41. In the pressure cover position, the pressure plate body 41 presses down on at least one trigger element 3 to trigger the sensor. In the clearance position, the pressure plate body 41 and the trigger element 3 are spaced apart.

[0037] It is understood that open-cell wafers of different sizes occupy different placement areas on substrate 1. Larger open-cell wafers require more trigger elements 3 to be pressed down, while smaller open-cell wafers require fewer. In other words, different sizes of open-cell wafers require different trigger elements 3 to be pressed down, and smaller open-cell wafers cannot cover some of the pressed trigger elements 3. The movable pressure plate mechanism 4, positioned between the pressure cover position and the clearance position, allows the pressure plate body 41 at the pressure cover position to press down the trigger elements 3 that smaller open-cell wafers cannot cover, thus ensuring that multiple sensors on the loading stage 200 can be stably triggered to identify the placement of the open-cell wafers. This significantly improves the applicability of the open-cell wafer adapter 100, reducing the number of adapters required to adapt to different open-cell wafers and lowering the cost of adapting the loading stage 200 to different open-cell wafers.

[0038] For example, when adapting to a larger open wafer cassette, the large open wafer cassette can cover and press down all the triggers 3 to trigger all the sensors, so that the loading stage 200 can recognize that the open wafer cassette has been placed. At this time, the pressure plate body 41 is in a clearance position to avoid affecting the placement of the large open wafer cassette. When adapting to a smaller open wafer cassette, the small open wafer cassette cannot cover and press down all the triggers 3. That is, the small open wafer cassette can only cover and press down some of the triggers 3. Therefore, when adapting to a small open wafer cassette, the pressure plate body 41 can be moved to the pressure cover position to press down the triggers 3 that are not pressed down by the small open wafer cassette to ensure that all triggers 3 are pressed down to trigger all the sensors.

[0039] According to the embodiment of the present utility model, the open wafer cassette adapter 100 can improve the applicability of the open wafer cassette adapter 100 by means of a movable pressure plate mechanism 4 disposed between the pressure cover position and the avoidance position, thereby reducing the number of adapters required to adapt to different open wafer cassettes and reducing the cost of the loading stage 200 adapting to different open wafer cassettes.

[0040] It should be noted that the number of sensors corresponds one-to-one with the trigger points of trigger element 3. Here, the trigger point of trigger element 3 refers to the structure on trigger element 3 used to trigger the sensor, thereby ensuring that after the open wafer cell is placed on the substrate 1, the corresponding sensor can be triggered through multiple trigger points.

[0041] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the upper surface of the substrate 1 is provided with a first placement position and a second placement position, and at least a portion of the first placement position and the second placement position overlap. That is, the first placement position and the second placement position have different areas and can be used to place two different sizes of open wafer cassettes respectively. A portion of the upper surface of the substrate 1 belongs to both the first placement position and the second placement position. Since only one open wafer cassette is placed on the open wafer cassette adapter 100 at a time, by making at least a portion of the first placement position and the second placement position overlap, the total area occupied by the first placement position and the second placement position on the substrate 1 can be reduced, thereby improving the space utilization rate of the substrate 1.

[0042] Furthermore, the area of ​​the first placement position is larger than the area of ​​the second placement position. The loading stage 200 is provided with a wafer picking mechanism. The end of the substrate 1 near the wafer picking mechanism is the wafer picking end 1a. Both the first placement position and the second placement position are located near the wafer picking end 1a and are coaxially arranged with the substrate 1.

[0043] In other words, the first placement position can be used to place larger open-cell wafer cassettes, and the second placement position can be used to place smaller open-cell wafer cassettes. When adapting the open-cell wafer cassette, the open-cell wafer cassette adapter 100 is first installed on the loading stage 200, and then the open-cell wafer cassette is placed on the adapter 100. Since both the first and second placement positions are located close to the wafer pick-up end 1a, when the open-cell wafer cassette is placed in either the first or second placement position, it is closer to the wafer pick-up mechanism. This effectively shortens the distance between the wafer pick-up mechanism and the open-cell wafer cassette, facilitating the wafer pick-up mechanism to retrieve wafers from the open-cell wafer cassette.

[0044] Furthermore, it should be noted that the first placement position and the second placement position being coaxially arranged with the substrate 1 means that the center line of the first placement position along the first direction (e1 as shown in the figure), the center line of the second placement position along the first direction, and the center line of the substrate 1 along the first direction are collinear. The first direction is perpendicular to the vertical direction and perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the wafer picking mechanism and the open wafer cassette adapter 100, thereby ensuring that the positions of different sizes placed on the substrate 1 can be aligned, so as to facilitate the wafer picking mechanism to pick up the wafers.

[0045] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the positioning mechanism includes a plurality of first positioning elements 2a and a plurality of second positioning elements 2b. The first positioning elements 2a are disposed in a first placement position, and the second positioning elements 2b are disposed in a second placement position. The plurality of first positioning elements 2a and the plurality of second positioning elements 2b are respectively used to position open wafer cassettes of different sizes. For ease of description, the description of this application refers to a first open wafer cassette and a second open wafer cassette. The first open wafer cassette and the second open wafer cassette have different sizes. The projected area of ​​the bottom surface of the first open wafer cassette on the substrate 1 is larger than the projected area of ​​the bottom surface of the second open wafer cassette on the substrate 1.

[0046] The multiple first positioning elements 2a can be used to position the first open wafer cassette, and the multiple second positioning elements 2b can be used to position the second open wafer cassette. That is, by providing multiple first positioning elements 2a and multiple second positioning elements 2b on the upper surface of the substrate 1, the open wafer cassette adapter 100 can adapt to the first open wafer cassette through the multiple first positioning elements 2a to restrict the position of the first open wafer cassette on the substrate 1. Furthermore, the open wafer cassette adapter 100 can also adapt to the second open wafer cassette through the multiple second positioning elements 2b to restrict the position of the second open wafer cassette on the substrate 1. Therefore, by providing multiple first positioning elements 2a and multiple second positioning elements 2b on the substrate 1, the open wafer cassette adapter 100 can be adapted to two different open wafer cassettes. This significantly improves the applicability of the open wafer cassette adapter 100, thereby reducing the number of adapters required to adapt to different open wafer cassettes and lowering the cost of adapting the loading stage 200 to different open wafer cassettes.

[0047] In some embodiments, a plurality of first positioning members 2a are symmetrically arranged relative to the substrate 1 along the centerline of the first direction, and a plurality of second positioning members 2b are symmetrically arranged relative to the substrate 1 along the centerline of the first direction. Specifically, there are four first positioning members 2a, which are distributed at the four corner positions of the first placement position, and four second positioning members 2b, which are distributed at the four corner positions of the second placement position, so as to improve the stability of the positioning mechanism for the positioning of the open wafer cassette.

[0048] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the height of the second positioning member 2b is lower than the height of the first positioning member 2a. This effectively prevents the first open wafer cassette from being lifted by the second positioning member 2b before it engages with the first positioning member 2a, thus facilitating the engagement of the first open wafer cassette with the first positioning member 2a. In one specific example, the first positioning member 2a is located outside the second placement position, and at least a portion of the second positioning member 2b is located within the first placement position.

[0049] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first positioning member 2a includes a connecting seat 21 and a first positioning post 22. The first positioning post 22 is disposed on the top of the connecting seat 21 and connected to the substrate 1 through the connecting seat 21. The second positioning member 2b is a positioning block. Specifically, the first positioning member 2a can be inserted and cooperated with the first open wafer cassette through the first positioning post 22, so as to limit the position of the first open wafer cassette by multiple first positioning posts 22. Multiple second positioning blocks can define a limiting space. The bottom of the second open wafer cassette can be placed within the limiting space defined by multiple second positioning blocks. The second positioning blocks abut against the outer peripheral edge of the bottom of the second open wafer cassette to limit the position of the second open wafer cassette.

[0050] In some embodiments, the height of the positioning block protruding from the substrate 1 is not higher than the height of the connector 21 protruding from the substrate 1. That is, the top surface of the positioning block is flush with the top surface of the connector 21, or the top surface of the positioning block is lower than the top surface of the connector 21. Therefore, it can be ensured that the first positioning post 22 is fully inserted into the first open wafer cassette and that the first open wafer cassette abuts against the connector 21, that is, it can be ensured that the first positioning post 22 is inserted in place, thereby improving the positioning effect of the first positioning member 2a on the first open wafer cassette.

[0051] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the sensor includes: an existence sensor 210 and an information sensor 220. The trigger 3 includes a first trigger 3a, which corresponds to an information sensor 220. The first trigger 3a is disposed within a first placement position and outside a second placement position, and the pressure cover position includes the placement position of the first trigger 3a. That is, the first trigger 3a is located within the first placement position and outside the second placement position. However, since the second open wafer cassette is small, it cannot press down the first trigger 3a when placed in the second placement position. Therefore, by including the placement position of the first trigger 3a in the pressure cover position, when the open wafer cassette adapter 100 is adapted to the second open wafer cassette, it can move the pressure plate body 41 to the placement position of the first trigger 3a to press down the first trigger 3a, thereby ensuring that the information sensor 220 corresponding to the first trigger 3a can be stably triggered by the first trigger 3a.

[0052] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the first triggering member 3a includes a pressing block 31a and a first elastic member 32a. The pressing block 31a is movably disposed on the substrate 1 in the vertical direction, and the first elastic member 32a is disposed between the pressing block 31a and the substrate 1. The first elastic member 32a is used to push the pressing block 31a upward. Specifically, when the first triggering member 3a is not pressed down, the upper end of the pressing block 31a protrudes from the upper surface of the substrate 1. When the pressing block 31a is pressed down, the pressing block 31a moves downward and squeezes the first elastic member 32a to deform until the lower end of the pressing block 31a contacts the corresponding sensor to trigger the sensor. The cooperation between the pressing block 31a and the first elastic member 32a reduces the installation space occupied by the first triggering member 3a and allows multiple first triggering members 3a to be arranged more compactly, i.e., reducing the distance between multiple first triggering members 3a, thereby reducing the difficulty of simultaneously pressing down multiple first triggering members 3a through the pressure plate body 41.

[0053] According to some embodiments of this utility model, such as Figure 5As shown, the trigger 3 includes a second trigger 3b, which includes a pressure rod 31b and a second elastic member 32b. The first end of the pressure rod 31b is rotatably connected to the substrate 1, and the second elastic member 32b is disposed between the second end of the pressure rod 31b and the substrate 1. The second elastic member 32b is used to drive the second end of the pressure rod 31b to move upward. Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, when the pressure rod 31b is not subjected to other external forces, such as before the open wafer cassette is placed on the substrate 1, the second end of the pressure rod 31b is lifted upward under the action of the second elastic member 32b. After the open wafer cassette is placed on the substrate 1, the open wafer cassette contacts the pressure rod 31b and presses down on the second end of the pressure rod 31b, causing the second end of the pressure rod 31b to deform and descend by squeezing the second elastic member 32b, and causing the pressure rod 31b to contact the sensor to trigger the sensor. Thus, through the cooperation of the pressure rod 31b and the second elastic member 32b, it can be ensured that the pressure rod 31b moves downward to trigger the sensor after being pressed down, and that after the open wafer cassette is removed from the substrate 1, the pressure rod 31b is driven upward to reset under the action of the second elastic member 32b, which is convenient for subsequent use.

[0054] In a specific example, the top of the second end of the pressure rod 31b is provided with a first protrusion 311, and the bottom of the first end of the pressure rod 31b is provided with a second protrusion 312. When the open wafer cassette is not placed, the first protrusion 311 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the substrate 1 so as to contact the open wafer cassette when the open wafer cassette is placed. When the pressure rod 31b is pressed down, it contacts the corresponding sensor through the second protrusion 312 to trigger the sensor.

[0055] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the second trigger 3b is located in the middle region of the second placement position along the second direction (e2 in the figure), where the second direction is the arrangement direction of the open wafer cassette and the wafer picking mechanism. That is, when the second open wafer cassette is placed in the second placement position and cooperates with multiple second positioning elements 2b, the middle position of the second open wafer cassette along the second direction triggers the corresponding sensor by pressing down the second trigger 3b. When the sensor corresponding to the second trigger 3b is triggered, it indicates that the second open wafer cassette has been placed in place. It can be understood that placing the second trigger 3b in the middle of the open wafer cassette along the second direction, rather than placing it at one end of the open wafer cassette along the second direction, avoids misjudgments caused by only one end of the open wafer cassette being placed and the sensor being triggered by the second trigger 3b. Therefore, it can better ensure that both ends of the second open wafer cassette along the second direction are placed in place, thereby improving the accuracy of determining whether the second open wafer cassette is placed correctly based on the triggering status of the sensor corresponding to the second trigger 3b.

[0056] In some embodiments, two second triggers 3b are arranged at intervals along a first direction, the first direction being perpendicular to a second direction, and both the second and first directions being perpendicular to the vertical direction. Therefore, by providing two second triggers 3b, when the loading stage 200 determines that an open wafer cassette has been placed, both second triggers 3b need to simultaneously trigger the corresponding two sensors, which can improve the accuracy of the loading stage 200 in determining whether an open wafer cassette has been placed.

[0057] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the first trigger 3a and the second trigger 3b are arranged along the second direction. In the avoidance position, the pressure plate body 41 is located on the side of the first trigger 3a away from the second trigger 3b. Therefore, the pressure plate body 41 can avoid occupying the space in the second placement position, thereby preventing the pressure plate body 41 from interfering with the placement of the second open wafer cassette, and increasing the operating space of the pressure plate body 41 to improve the convenience of operating the pressure plate body 41.

[0058] According to some embodiments of this utility model, such as Figure 2 and Figure 6 As shown, the pressure plate mechanism 4 also includes a connecting rod 42 and a locking member 43. The pressure plate body 41 is located at the first end of the connecting rod 42, and the second end of the connecting rod 42 is rotatably connected to the substrate 1 to drive the pressure plate body 41 to move between the pressure cover position and the clearance position. The locking member 43 is used to lock the connection between the connecting rod 42 and the substrate 1. That is, the locking member 43 has an unlocked state and a locked state. In the unlocked state, the connecting rod 42 can rotate freely relative to the substrate 1 to drive the pressure plate body 41 to move between the pressure cover position and the clearance position. In the locked state, the connecting rod 42 is fixed relative to the substrate 1 to firmly fix the pressure plate body 41 in the pressure cover position or the clearance position. Therefore, by setting a connecting rod 42 that can rotate relative to the substrate 1, the structure for controlling the movement of the pressure plate body 41 between the pressure cover position and the clearance position can be simplified. By setting a locking member 43, the stability of the pressure plate body 41 in the pressure cover position or the clearance position can be improved to ensure the pressure cover effect of the pressure plate body 41.

[0059] In a specific example, the locking member 43 includes a fixing rod 431 and a fastener 432. The fixing rod 431 passes sequentially through the connecting rod 42, the base plate 1, and the fastener 432. Therefore, the position between the pressure plate body 41 and the base plate 1 can be locked by controlling the fastener 432 to tighten the fixing rod 431. Of course, the position of the pressure plate body 41 can also be adjusted by controlling the fastener 432 to loosen the fixing rod 431, allowing at least one of the connecting rod 42 and the base plate 1 to rotate relative to the fixing rod 431. The fastener 432 can be screwed to the fixing rod 431, for example, the fixing rod 431 can be a bolt and the fastener 432 a nut. The engagement between the fastener 432 and the fixing rod 431 is simple and easy to operate. It should be noted that the engagement between the fastener 432 and the fixing rod 431 only needs to satisfy the requirement that the connecting rod 42 can rotate relative to the base plate 1 while maintaining a relatively fixed relationship between the connecting rod 42 and the base plate 1. No specific restrictions are placed on the engagement between the fixing rod 431 and the fastener 432.

[0060] According to some embodiments of this utility model, the substrate 1 includes a top plate 11 and a connecting plate 12, which are separately formed. A positioning mechanism and a pressure plate mechanism 4 are disposed on the upper surface of the top plate 11, and the connecting plate 12 is disposed on the bottom of the top plate 11. The connecting plate 12 and the top plate 11 together define the mounting space for the mounting trigger 3. Therefore, by splitting the substrate 1 into two parts, the top plate 11 and the connecting plate 12, which have simpler structures, the production and design difficulty of the substrate 1 can be reduced, thereby improving the production and assembly efficiency of the open wafer cassette adapter 100.

[0061] In a specific example, such as Figure 3 and Figure 7 As shown, the top plate 11 has clearance holes 111, first mounting holes 112, first fixing holes 113, and clearance notches 114. The clearance holes 111 are provided with multiple holes corresponding one-to-one with the trigger members 3. The clearance holes 111 penetrate the top plate 11 in the vertical direction, allowing the trigger members 3 to extend upwards from the substrate 1 through the clearance holes 111. There are four first positioning members 2a and four second positioning members 2b. The four first positioning members 2a are distributed at the four corners of the upper surface of the substrate 1 and together define a first placement position. The four second positioning members 2b are arranged in an array and together define a second placement position. Multiple first mounting holes 112 are provided, used to mount the first positioning members 2a and the second positioning members 2b. The first fixing hole 113 penetrates the top plate 11 in the vertical direction and has a plurality of holes spaced apart in the horizontal direction. The clearance notch 114 is formed at the edge of the top plate 11 and is positioned opposite to the information reader on the loading stage 200 in the vertical direction, so that the information reader can read the information on the open wafer cassette through the clearance notch 114.

[0062] like Figure 3 and Figure 8As shown, the connecting plate 12 is Y-shaped and has a positioning slot 121, a positioning slot 122, a second fixing hole 123, a second mounting hole 124, and a third mounting hole 125. The positioning slot 121 is located at the edge of the connecting plate 12 and has two slots spaced apart along a first direction. The two positioning slots 121 correspond to two first positioning members 2a, and the bottom of the first positioning member 2a is inserted into the corresponding positioning slot 121. Multiple positioning slots 122 are provided for positioning between the connecting plate 12 and the loading platform 200. Multiple second fixing holes 123 are provided, corresponding one-to-one with the first fixing holes 113, and penetrate the connecting plate 12 in the vertical direction. The second mounting hole 124 is used to install the second elastic member 32b, and the third mounting hole 125 is used to install the first elastic member 32a.

[0063] like Figure 3 and Figure 9 As shown, the loading stage 200 is equipped with sensors, second positioning posts 230, and third fixing holes 240. Multiple sensors are provided, including presence sensors 210 and information sensors 220. Three presence sensors 210 and one information sensor 220 are located in the area corresponding to the second placement position. Two presence sensors 210 correspond to the area of ​​the second placement position, while the information sensor 220 and the other presence sensor 210 are located outside the second placement position. Multiple second positioning posts 230 are arranged at intervals along a horizontal direction, such as three arranged in a triangle. Multiple positioning slots 122 are provided, each corresponding to one of the second positioning posts 230. The second positioning posts 230 are inserted into their corresponding positioning slots 122 to position the substrate 1 using the loading stage 200. The third fixing hole 240 has multiple holes corresponding to the first fixing hole 113. The first fixing hole 113, the corresponding second fixing hole 123, and the third fixing hole 240 are opposite to each other in the vertical direction and are connected. After the open wafer cassette adapter 100 is placed on the loading stage 200, the open wafer cassette adapter 100 can be stably fixed on the loading stage 200 by fasteners 432 passing through the first fixing hole 113, the second fixing hole 123, and the third fixing hole 240 in sequence.

[0064] Specifically, the first open wafer cassette is a 12-inch wafer cassette. When a wafer retrieval operation is required on the 12-inch wafer cassette, it is placed on the substrate 1 and engaged with four first positioning members 2a to achieve positioning of the 12-inch wafer cassette. At this time, the 12-inch wafer cassette triggers three presence sensors 210 and one information sensor 220 by pressing down two second trigger members 3b and two first trigger members 3a. This allows the loading stage 200 to determine that the 12-inch wafer cassette has been placed in place based on the sensor triggering status, facilitating the wafer retrieval mechanism to perform subsequent wafer retrieval operations on the 12-inch wafer cassette.

[0065] The second open wafer cassette is an 8-inch wafer cassette. When the 8-inch wafer cassette needs to be picked up, it is placed on the substrate 1 and cooperates with four second positioning members 2b to achieve the positioning of the 8-inch wafer cassette. At this time, the 8-inch wafer cassette triggers two presence sensors 210 corresponding to the second placement position by pressing down two second trigger members 3b. By moving the pressure plate body 41 to the pressure cover position, it presses down two first trigger members 3a located outside the second placement position to trigger another presence sensor 210 and information sensor 220, so that the loading stage 200 can determine that the 8-inch wafer cassette has been placed in place by the sensor triggering status, which facilitates the wafer picking mechanism to perform subsequent wafer picking operations on the 8-inch wafer cassette.

[0066] It should be noted that this is merely an example of one specific embodiment of the open wafer cassette adapter 100 to facilitate understanding of the overall structure of the open wafer cassette adapter 100 and the cooperation between its components, and is not a specific limitation on the structure of the open wafer cassette adapter 100. The number and position of the triggering mechanisms can be flexibly adjusted according to the position and number of sensors on the loading stage 200. For example, in some embodiments, if multiple information sensors 220 are provided, multiple triggering mechanisms corresponding one-to-one with each of the multiple information sensors 220 need to be set to accurately trigger the corresponding information sensors 220.

[0067] In this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0068] In the description of this specification, the references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Moreover, without contradiction, those skilled in the art can combine and integrate the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, as well as the features of different embodiments or examples.

[0069] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An open wafer cassette adapter, suitable for mounting on a loading stage, characterized in that, include: A substrate for supporting an open wafer cassette; A positioning mechanism is disposed on the substrate. The positioning mechanism includes a plurality of positioning elements. When the open wafer cell is placed on the substrate, the plurality of positioning elements are adapted to restrict the position of the open wafer cell. The triggering mechanism includes multiple trigger elements disposed on the substrate. The loading stage is provided with multiple sensors that correspond one-to-one with the multiple trigger elements. When the open wafer cassette is placed on the substrate, the open wafer cassette is adapted to trigger the corresponding sensor by pressing down on the trigger elements. A pressure plate mechanism is movably disposed on the substrate between a pressure cover position and a clearance position. The pressure plate mechanism includes a pressure plate body. In the pressure cover position, the pressure plate body presses down on at least one of the trigger elements to trigger the sensor. In the clearance position, the pressure plate body and the trigger elements are spaced apart.

2. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 1, characterized in that, The upper surface of the substrate is provided with a first placement position and a second placement position. At least a portion of the first placement position and the second placement position overlap. The area of ​​the first placement position is larger than the area of ​​the second placement position. The loading table is provided with a wafer picking mechanism. The end of the substrate near the wafer picking mechanism is the wafer picking end. Both the first placement position and the second placement position are close to the wafer picking end and are coaxially arranged with the substrate.

3. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 2, characterized in that, The positioning mechanism includes multiple first positioning elements and multiple second positioning elements. The first positioning elements are disposed at the first placement position, and the second positioning elements are disposed at the second placement position. The multiple first positioning elements and multiple second positioning elements are respectively used to position the open wafer cassette of different sizes.

4. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 3, characterized in that, The height of the second positioning element is lower than the height of the first positioning element.

5. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first positioning element includes a connecting seat and a first positioning post. The first positioning post is located on the top of the connecting seat and is connected to the substrate through the connecting seat. The second positioning element is a positioning block.

6. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 2, characterized in that, The sensor includes an existence sensor and an information sensor. The trigger includes a first trigger, which corresponds to one of the information sensors. The first trigger is disposed within the first placement position and outside the second placement position. The pressure cover position includes the placement position of the first trigger.

7. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first triggering element includes a pressure block and a first elastic element. The pressure block is movably disposed on the substrate in the vertical direction, and the first elastic element is disposed between the pressure block and the substrate. The first elastic element is used to push the pressure block to move upward.

8. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 1, characterized in that, The triggering element includes a second triggering element, which includes a pressure rod and a second elastic element. The first end of the pressure rod is rotatably connected to the substrate, and the second elastic element is disposed between the second end of the pressure rod and the substrate. The second elastic element is used to drive the second end of the pressure rod to move upward.

9. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pressure plate mechanism further includes a connecting rod and a locking member. The pressure plate body is disposed at the first end of the connecting rod, and the second end of the connecting rod is rotatably connected to the substrate to drive the pressure plate body to move between the pressure cover position and the clearance position. The locking member is used to lock the connection between the connecting rod and the substrate.

10. The open wafer cassette adapter according to claim 1, characterized in that, The substrate includes a top plate and a connecting plate that are formed independently. The positioning mechanism and the pressure plate mechanism are disposed on the upper surface of the top plate, and the connecting plate is disposed at the bottom of the top plate. The connecting plate and the top plate together define an installation space for mounting the trigger.

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