Wafer clamping and flipping robot

Abstract

This utility model discloses a wafer clamping and flipping robot, including a robot mounting base. One side of the robot mounting base is provided with a clamping mechanism for adaptively clamping the wafer body, and the robot mounting base is also provided with a flipping mechanism that drives the clamping mechanism to flip on one side. After the clamping mechanism adaptively clamps wafer bodies of different sizes, the flipping mechanism drives the clamping mechanism and the wafer body held by the clamping mechanism to perform vibration-free flipping within a range of 0° to 180° according to the required flipping range of the wafer body. Through the driving cooperation between the flipping mechanism and the clamping mechanism, the pose conversion efficiency of the wafer body in processes such as transfer, inspection, or coating is optimized, while reducing the contamination risk caused by traditional distributed operations, significantly improving the automation level and yield of semiconductor production lines.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of semiconductor processing technology, and in particular to a wafer clamping and flipping robot. Background Technology

[0002] Semiconductor component manufacturing involves numerous steps, some of which are performed on different sides of the wafer. For example, chips are processed on the front side of the wafer, while barcodes and other information identifying the wafer are etched on the back. Therefore, wafers need to be flipped before entering certain processes to ensure the processing side faces the direction of that process, such as flipping the back side of the wafer upwards for barcode reading. Thus, wafer flipping is an indispensable step in wafer fabrication.

[0003] Currently, traditional wafer flipping mechanisms mainly consist of wafer grippers, servo rotary motors, and gripping cylinders. These wafer flipping mechanisms use gripping cylinders to propel the fingers horizontally to grip the wafer, while the rotary motor on the wrist drives the fingertips to flip the wafer 180° in place. Therefore, the gripping and flipping actions require separate drive sources, resulting in a complex overall structure and high manufacturing costs. To address this, a wafer gripping and flipping robot has been proposed. Utility Model Content

[0004] To overcome the shortcomings mentioned above, this utility model aims to provide a technical solution that can solve the above problems.

[0005] A wafer clamping and flipping robot includes a robot mounting base. One side of the robot mounting base is provided with a clamping mechanism for adaptively clamping the wafer body, and the robot mounting base is provided with a flipping mechanism for driving the clamping mechanism to flip on one side.

[0006] Preferably, the flipping mechanism includes a flipping cylinder disposed above the robot mounting base, and a robotic arm flipping table is driven on one side of the flipping cylinder. The robotic arm flipping table is located on one side of the robot mounting base. The robotic arm flipping table and the clamping mechanism are flipped in the same direction. An electrical slip ring is driven on one side of the flipping cylinder, and the other end of the electrical slip ring is driven to connect with the robotic arm flipping table.

[0007] Preferably, the clamping mechanism includes a clamping robotic arm for clamping the wafer body, and the clamping robotic arm and the robotic arm flipping table are connected in the same direction for flipping. Support seats that make line contact with the wafer body are provided at both ends of one side of the clamping robotic arm, and a limiting seat that is obliquely opposite to the support seat is provided on the side away from the support seat, and the limiting seat makes surface contact with the wafer body.

[0008] Preferably, a push rod cylinder is provided between the gripping robotic arm and the mechanical flipping table, and a positioning drive frame is provided on one side of the push rod cylinder to position the wafer body on the gripping robotic arm, and a wafer top position frame is provided on one side of the positioning drive frame to move synchronously with it and limit the wafer body.

[0009] Preferably, a sensor for sensing the stroke of the positioning drive frame is provided on one side of the push rod cylinder, and a sensing plate that cooperates with the sensor is provided on one side of the positioning drive frame. The sensing plate and the positioning drive frame move in the same direction, and the push rod cylinder and the sensor are electrically connected.

[0010] Preferably, the robot mounting base is provided with a dustproof protective shell to protect the clamping mechanism and the flipping mechanism from dust, and the dustproof protective shell covers the clamping mechanism and the flipping mechanism.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are: after the clamping mechanism adaptively clamps wafer bodies of different sizes, according to the required flipping range of the wafer body, the flipping mechanism drives the clamping mechanism and the wafer body clamped by the clamping mechanism to perform vibration-free flipping within the range of 0° to 180°. Through the driving cooperation between the flipping mechanism and the clamping mechanism, the pose conversion efficiency of the wafer body in processes such as transmission, detection or coating is optimized, while reducing the contamination risk caused by traditional distributed operation, and significantly improving the automation level and yield of semiconductor production lines.

[0012] 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

[0013] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0014] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wafer clamping and flipping robot;

[0015] Figure 2 Another schematic diagram of a wafer clamping and flipping robot;

[0016] Figure 3 Another schematic diagram of a wafer clamping and flipping robot;

[0017] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the flipping mechanism.

[0018] The following components are shown in the figure: 1. Robot mounting base, 2. Dustproof protective shell, 3. Wafer body, 4. Robotic arm flipping table, 5. Clamping robotic arm, 6. Positioning drive frame, 7. Sensor plate, 8. Wafer top frame, 9. Soft wheel, 10. Sensor, 11. Flipping cylinder, 12. Support base, 13. Limiting base, 14. Push rod cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0020] Please see Figure 1-4 In this embodiment of the present invention, a wafer clamping and flipping robot includes a robot mounting base 1. A clamping mechanism for adaptively clamping a wafer body 3 is provided on one side of the robot mounting base 1, and a flipping mechanism is provided on the robot mounting base 1 to drive the clamping mechanism to flip on one side. Thus, when the clamping mechanism adaptively clamps wafer bodies 3 of different sizes, the flipping mechanism drives the clamping mechanism and the wafer body 3 clamped by the clamping mechanism to perform vibration-free flipping within a range of 0° to 180° according to the required flipping range of the wafer body 3. Through the driving cooperation between the flipping mechanism and the clamping mechanism, the pose conversion efficiency of the wafer body 3 in processes such as transmission, detection or coating is optimized, while reducing the contamination risk caused by traditional distributed operations, and significantly improving the automation level and yield of the semiconductor production line.

[0021] The flipping mechanism includes a flipping cylinder 11 disposed above the robot mounting base 1, and a robotic arm flipping platform 4 is driven on one side of the flipping cylinder 11. The robotic arm flipping platform 4 is located on one side of the robot mounting base 1. The robotic arm flipping platform 4 is connected to the clamping mechanism in the same direction for flipping. An electrical slip ring (not shown in the figure) is driven to one side of the flipping cylinder 11, and the other end of the electrical slip ring is driven to the robotic arm flipping platform 4. The flipping cylinder 1 drives the electrical slip ring to rotate, and when the electrical slip ring rotates, the robotic arm flipping platform 4 rotates as well. When the robotic arm flipping platform 4 rotates, it also flips the clamping mechanism and the wafer body 3 that is adaptively clamped by the clamping mechanism to adapt to the position and pose requirements of the wafer body 3.

[0022] The clamping mechanism includes a clamping robotic arm 5 for clamping the wafer body 3, and the clamping robotic arm 5 is connected to the robotic arm flipping table 4 in the same direction for flipping. The clamping robotic arm 5 has a support base 12 at both the front and rear ends of one side, which is in line contact with the wafer body 3. A limiting seat 13 is provided on the side away from the support base 12, which is obliquely opposite to the support base 12. The limiting seat 13 is in surface contact with the wafer body 3. Through the cooperation between the limiting seat 13 and the support base 12, when the wafer body 3 is placed on the clamping robotic arm 5, the limiting seat 13 is in surface contact with the clamping surface of the wafer body 3 on one side, and at the same time, the bottom round edge of the other side of the wafer body 3 is horizontally supported on the support base 12 and supported by the support base 12. This prevents the wafer cylinder 3 from contacting the clamping robotic arm 5 when it is on the clamping robotic arm 5, thus preventing contamination.

[0023] A push rod cylinder 14 is provided between the gripping robotic arm 5 and the mechanical flipping table 4. A positioning drive frame 6 is provided on one side of the push rod cylinder 14 to position the wafer body 3 on the gripping robotic arm 5. A wafer top frame 8 is provided on one side of the positioning drive frame 6 to move synchronously with it and limit the wafer body 3.

[0024] Then, when the wafer body 3 is located on the clamping robotic arm 5, the push rod cylinder 14 drives the positioning drive frame 6, along with the wafer top frame 8, to move towards the middle position of the clamping robotic arm 5. At the same time, during the movement, the wafer top frame 8 pushes the wafer body 3 towards the side of the limiting seat 13 until the limiting seat 13 makes face contact with one side of the wafer body 3. Then, the wafer top frame 8 stops moving, thereby clamping the wafer body 3 onto the clamping robotic arm 5. After the limiting seat 13 contacts and limits one side of the wafer body 3, the movement of the wafer top frame 8 on one side of the clamping robotic arm 5 allows for adaptive clamping of wafer bodies 3 of different sizes, making it compatible with wafer bodies 3 of different sizes, so that wafer bodies 3 of different sizes can be clamped in the future.

[0025] A sensor 10 for sensing the stroke of the positioning drive frame 6 is provided on one side of the push rod cylinder 14, and a sensing plate 7 for sensing and cooperating with the sensor 10 is provided on one side of the positioning drive frame 6. The sensing plate 7 and the positioning drive frame 6 move in the same direction, and the push rod cylinder 14 is electrically connected to the sensor 10. When the push rod cylinder 14 pushes the positioning drive frame 6 and the wafer top frame 8 to move, the sensing plate 7 passes through the inside of the sensor 10 and senses the movement. Through the sensing cooperation between the sensor 10 and the sensing plate 7, the stroke of the positioning drive frame 6 and the wafer top frame 8 when clamping wafer bodies 3 of different sizes is recorded. This allows the push rod cylinder 14 to drive the positioning drive frame 6 and the wafer top frame 8 to move the corresponding stroke when clamping wafer bodies 3 of the corresponding size, preventing damage to the wafer bodies 3.

[0026] The robot mounting base 1 is provided with a dustproof protective shell 2 to protect the clamping mechanism and the flipping mechanism from dust, and the dustproof protective shell 2 covers the clamping mechanism and the flipping mechanism.

[0027] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that it can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of this invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered exemplary and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of this invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, it is intended that all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims be included within this invention.

Claims

1. A wafer clamping and flipping robot, including a robot mounting base, characterized in that, The robot mounting base is provided with a clamping mechanism on one side for adaptive clamping of the wafer body, and the robot mounting base is provided with a flipping mechanism for driving the clamping mechanism to flip on one side. The clamping mechanism includes a clamping robotic arm that clamps the wafer body, and the clamping robotic arm and the robotic arm flipping table are connected in the same direction for flipping. Support seats that make line contact with the wafer body are provided at both the front and rear ends of one side of the clamping robotic arm, and a limiting seat that is obliquely opposite to the support seat is provided on the side away from the support seat, and the limiting seat makes surface contact with the wafer body. A push rod cylinder is provided between the gripping robotic arm and the mechanical flipping table. A positioning drive frame is provided on one side of the push rod cylinder to position the wafer body on the gripping robotic arm. A wafer top frame is provided on one side of the positioning drive frame to move synchronously with it and limit the wafer body. The push rod cylinder is provided with a sensor on one side to sense the stroke of the positioning drive frame, and a sensing plate is provided on one side of the positioning drive frame to cooperate with the sensor. The sensing plate and the positioning drive frame move in the same direction, and the push rod cylinder and the sensor are electrically connected.

2. The wafer clamping and flipping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flipping mechanism includes a flipping cylinder disposed above the robot mounting base, and a robotic arm flipping table is driven on one side of the flipping cylinder. The robotic arm flipping table is located on one side of the robot mounting base. The robotic arm flipping table and the clamping mechanism are flipped in the same direction. An electrical slip ring is driven to one side of the flipping cylinder, and the other end of the electrical slip ring is driven to the robotic arm flipping table.

3. The wafer clamping and flipping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The robot mounting base is equipped with a dustproof protective shell to protect the gripping mechanism and the flipping mechanism from dust, and the dustproof protective shell covers the gripping mechanism and the flipping mechanism.

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