Processing device

Abstract

To allow a processing device which loads and unloads a workpiece into a cassette to properly recognize the orientation of the workpiece surface, making it easy to check and change the settings for the robot's movement.SOLUTION: A processing device (10) includes a cassette (17, 18) for accommodating a workpiece (W), a temporary placement table (30) for temporarily placing the workpiece, a processing mechanism (50) for processing the workpiece, a cleaning mechanism (35) for cleaning the workpiece, a robot (20) for transporting the workpiece between the cassette, the temporary placement table, and the cleaning mechanism, and a touch panel (71). The touch panel has display portions (762, 763, 78, 79) for displaying an illustration of the processed surface (Wb) of a wafer before processing on the cassette placed on a cassette stage, and for displaying an illustration of the processed surface (Wb) of the workpiece when the workpiece is transported from the cleaning mechanism to the cassette placed on the cassette stage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] As disclosed in Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3, a grinding apparatus that grinds a wafer with a grinding wheel takes out the wafer from a cassette containing the wafer, conveys the wafer to a chuck table, and cleans the wafer held on the chuck table with a spinner cleaning unit and stores it in the cassette.

[0003] In a processing apparatus that performs processing other than grinding, for example, a cutting apparatus that cuts a wafer, a series of operations are performed in a flow of taking out the wafer from the cassette, cutting the wafer and cleaning the wafer, and then storing it in the cassette.

[0004] In a processing apparatus, the unloading of the wafer from the cassette and the loading of the wafer into the cassette are performed by a robot. The robot is equipped with a robot hand that holds the wafer. A plurality of types of robot hands are prepared, and a robot hand having a shape corresponding to the wafer transfer conditions is used. Further, the robot hand may hold the lower surface of the wafer by suction or hold the upper surface of the wafer by suction.

[0005] For example, when holding the lower surface of a wafer protruding outside the spinner table of a spinner cleaning mechanism, a U-shaped or C-shaped robot hand having an open portion through which the spinner table can pass is used. When holding the upper surface of, for example, a wafer ground to a thickness of 100 μm held on the spinner table, an O-shaped-1 robot hand having a circular holding surface capable of sucking and holding the entire upper surface of the wafer is used. Further, when transporting a wafer having a warp in the outer peripheral portion, an O-shaped-2 robot hand having a circular holding surface that holds the central portion of the wafer is used.

[0006] In addition, with respect to the wafers in the cassette, there are cases where the surface to be processed (the surface to be machined), such as by grinding, faces upward and cases where the surface to be processed faces downward.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] In a processing apparatus that uses a robot to load and unload wafers with respect to a cassette, the operating mode of the robot varies depending on the type and configuration of the robot hand attached to the robot. In addition, the orientation of the surface to be processed of the wafer before processing accommodated in the cassette and the orientation of the surface to be processed when the processed wafer is accommodated in the cassette differ depending on the processing conditions, and the difference in the orientation of the surface to be processed of these wafers affects the operation setting of the robot.

[0009] Therefore, when an operator (worker) who operates the processing apparatus sets the movement of the robot, the processing apparatus has a problem of enabling the operator to appropriately recognize the orientation of the surface to be processed of the workpiece and facilitating the confirmation and change of the movement setting of the robot.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] One aspect of the present invention is a processing apparatus including: a cassette stage on which a cassette capable of accommodating a workpiece in a shelf-like manner is placed; a temporary placement table for temporarily placing the workpiece; a chuck table for holding the workpiece; a processing mechanism for processing the workpiece held by the chuck table; a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the workpiece; a robot equipped with a robot hand for transporting the workpiece with respect to the cassette placed on the cassette stage, the temporary placement table, and the cleaning mechanism; and a touch panel. The touch panel includes a display unit that illustratively displays the surface of the workpiece to be processed before processing on the cassette placed on the cassette stage and illustratively displays the processed surface of the workpiece when the workpiece is transported from the cleaning mechanism to the cassette placed on the cassette stage.

[0011] The touch panel preferably includes a first setting unit for setting the movement of the robot when transporting the workpiece from the cassette placed on the cassette stage to the temporary placement table by touching the display unit, and a second setting unit for setting the movement of the robot when transporting the workpiece from the cleaning mechanism to the cassette placed on the cassette stage.

[0012] The processing apparatus preferably includes configuration settings that make non-selectable movements that cannot be set.

[0013] The touch panel may also include a surface setting unit for setting whether the surface to be processed or the processed surface of the workpiece accommodated in the cassette placed on the cassette stage is facing up or down.

Advantages of the Invention

[0014] According to the processing apparatus of the present invention, by providing a touch panel with a display unit that illustratively displays the surface to be processed (the workpiece surface before processing) and the processed surface (the workpiece surface after processing) of the workpiece, it is possible to appropriately recognize the orientation of the workpiece surface to be processed and easily confirm and change the setting of the robot movement.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Figure 5

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Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

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Figure 15

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. The processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and is a grinding apparatus that performs grinding on a wafer W as a workpiece. The X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction in the processing apparatus 10 are perpendicular to each other. The X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are substantially horizontal directions, and the Z-axis direction is the vertical direction. In the following description, the +X direction side may be referred to as the front, the -X direction side as the rear, the +Y direction side as the left, the -Y direction side as the right, the +Z direction side as the upper, and the -Z direction side as the lower.

[0017] The processing apparatus 10 is configured to perform a series of processes including a loading process, a grinding process, a cleaning process, and an unloading process on the wafer W. Note that the present invention is not limited to a processing apparatus for grinding, and can also be applied to other processing apparatuses that perform processing other than grinding. Specifically, a workpiece is unloaded from a cassette using a robot, predetermined processing such as grinding, cutting, or laser processing is performed on the workpiece unloaded from the cassette, the workpiece is then cleaned, and if it is a processing apparatus that loads the processed and cleaned workpiece into a cassette using a robot, it can be widely applied. Further, the processing apparatus 10 described below is an example, and is not limited to this configuration, and can be appropriately changed within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0018] The wafer W is an example of a workpiece, and is, for example, a substantially circular semiconductor wafer. Devices (not shown) are formed on the surface Wa of the wafer W. The surface Wa of the wafer W is covered and protected by a protective member H. The back surface Wb of the wafer W is a surface to be processed (ground surface) on which a grinding process is performed. The surface to be processed is a surface to be processed on the wafer W before processing, and is a surface that has been processed on the wafer W after processing. Note that the wafer W may be any plate-shaped workpiece to be ground, such as a semiconductor substrate such as silicon or gallium arsenide, an inorganic material substrate such as ceramic, glass, or sapphire, or even a package substrate of a semiconductor product.

[0019] In the wafer W, the state in which the surface Wa (protective member H) faces downward and the back surface Wb faces upward is called the first orientation, and the state in which the surface Wa (protective member H) faces upward and the back surface Wb faces downward is called the second orientation. In the processing apparatus 10, as will be described later, the robot 20 that conveys the wafer W has a function of reversing the vertical orientation of the front surface Wa and the back surface Wb of the wafer W, and depending on the processing conditions of the wafer W and the movement of the robot 20, the wafer W assumes either the first orientation or the second orientation. In either the first orientation or the second orientation of the wafer W, the surface facing upward (+Z direction side) is defined as the upper surface of the wafer W, and the surface facing downward (-Z direction side) is defined as the lower surface of the wafer W.

[0020] The processing apparatus 10 includes a first apparatus base 11, a second apparatus base 12 connected to the rear of the first apparatus base 11, a column 13 extending upward from the rear part of the second apparatus base 12, and a housing 14 covering the upper parts of the first apparatus base 11 and the second apparatus base 12.

[0021] On the front side of the first apparatus base 11, a first cassette stage 15 and a second cassette stage 16 are provided. The first cassette stage 15 and the second cassette stage 16 are arranged side by side in the Y-axis direction, with the first cassette stage 15 disposed on the right side (-Y direction side) and the second cassette stage 16 disposed on the left side (+Y direction side).

[0022] On the first cassette stage 15, a first cassette 17 for accommodating the wafer W before grinding is placed. On the second cassette stage 16, a second cassette 18 for accommodating the wafer W after grinding is placed. The wafer W is carried into the processing apparatus 10 while being accommodated in the first cassette 17, subjected to grinding and cleaning, and then accommodated in the second cassette 18.

[0023] Note that the wafer W before grinding may be accommodated in the first cassette 17, and the wafer W after grinding may be accommodated in the shelf position of the first cassette 17 where the wafer W before grinding was accommodated. And the second cassette 18 may also accommodate the wafer W after grinding in the same manner as the first cassette.

[0024] The first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18 are selected from two types of standard cassettes 120 and shelf cassettes 130 shown in FIG. 4. The specific configurations of the standard cassette 120 and the shelf cassette 130 will be described later. As shown in FIG. 4, inside each of the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18, a plurality of shelves are provided at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, and the wafers W are placed and supported on each of the plurality of shelves. That is, each cassette 17, 18 can store a plurality of wafers W.

[0025] The housing 14 of the processing apparatus 10 has two openings 19 at positions adjacent to the first cassette stage 15 and the second cassette stage 16. The opening 19 can be opened and closed by a shutter (not shown). The first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18 have openings communicating with the opening 19 of the housing 14 on the side surface in a state of being placed on the first cassette stage 15 and the second cassette stage 16 (see FIG. 4), and the wafers W are taken in and out of each cassette 17, 18 through this opening.

[0026] A robot 20 is provided on the upper surface of the first apparatus base 11 behind the first cassette stage 15 and the second cassette stage 16. By the robot 20, the wafer W before grinding is carried out from the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15, and the wafer W after grinding is carried into the second cassette 18 placed on the second cassette stage 16. When the wafer W is carried out from the first cassette 17 and when the wafer W is carried into the second cassette 18, the wafer W passes through the opening 19 of the housing 14.

[0027] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the robot 20 has a movable support portion 21 having an arm structure composed of multi-joint links. A robot hand 22 for holding the wafer W is attached to the tip of the movable support portion 21. The robot hand 22 is provided with a holding surface for adsorbing and holding the wafer W.

[0028] The movable support portion 21 has a plurality of links 23 that are relatively rotatably connected about an axis facing in the Z-axis direction. By relatively rotating the plurality of links 23, the position of the robot hand 22 can be changed in the horizontal direction. Further, the movable support portion 21 includes a lifting unit 24 capable of changing the position of the robot hand 22 in the Z-axis direction.

[0029] Furthermore, the movable support portion 21 includes a rotation unit 25 capable of rotating the robot hand 22 about an axis facing in the horizontal direction. When the robot hand 22 is rotated 180° by the rotation unit 25 while the robot hand 22 is holding the wafer W, the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W are inverted. Therefore, in addition to transporting the wafer W, the robot 20 can change the vertical orientation of the front surface Wa and the back surface Wb of the wafer W.

[0030] As described above, the movable support portion 21 includes a horizontal movement mechanism constituted by a plurality of links 23, a vertical movement mechanism constituted by the lifting unit 24, and a vertical inversion mechanism constituted by the rotation unit 25. By combining the operations of these mechanisms, highly flexible movement can be achieved for the robot hand 22 within the reach of the movable support portion 21.

[0031] The robot 20 includes a position output unit that outputs the position of the robot hand 22 in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis directions, and the vertical orientation of the holding surface of the robot hand 22. The position output unit is constituted by an encoder or the like connected to the motors that operate the respective mechanisms of the movable support portion 21. The control unit 70 of the processing apparatus 10 controls the movement of the robot 20 with reference to the signal output from the position output unit.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 1, the processing apparatus 10 includes a temporary placement table 30 and a cleaning mechanism 35 provided behind the robot 20. The temporary placement table 30 is located on the right side (-Y direction side) behind the robot 20, and the cleaning mechanism 35 is located on the left side (+Y direction side) behind the robot 20.

[0033] The temporary placement table 30 is a table for temporarily placing the wafer W. A plurality of alignment pins 31 are arranged around the temporary placement table 30. By moving the alignment pins 31 along the radial direction of the temporary placement table 30, the center of the wafer W placed on the temporary placement table 30 is aligned (centered) so as to coincide with the center of the temporary placement table 30.

[0034] The cleaning mechanism 35 includes a spinner table 36 and a nozzle 37 that injects cleaning water and drying air toward the spinner table 36. The spinner table 36 has a disk shape and has a holding surface on the upper surface for sucking and holding the wafer W. In the cleaning mechanism 35, cleaning water is injected from the nozzle 37 onto the wafer W held on the holding surface of the spinner table 36 to clean the wafer W, and after cleaning, drying air is blown from the nozzle 37 to dry the wafer W. The left and upper sides of the spinner table 36 are covered with a cover 38.

[0035] The processing apparatus 10 includes a first transfer mechanism 40 and a second transfer mechanism 41 between the temporary placement table 30 and the cleaning mechanism 35 in the Y-axis direction. Further, a chuck table 42 for holding the wafer W when grinding the wafer W is provided on the rear side of the first transfer mechanism 40 and the second transfer mechanism 41. The chuck table 42 is formed with a holding surface 43 made of a porous material, and a suction source (not shown) is driven to apply a suction force to the holding surface 43 to suck and hold the wafer W.

[0036] The first transfer mechanism 40 transfers the wafer W before grinding from the temporary placement table 30 to the chuck table 42. The second transfer mechanism 41 transfers the wafer W after grinding from the chuck table 42 to the cleaning mechanism 35. The first transfer mechanism 40 and the second transfer mechanism 41 are each equipped with a transfer pad 44 that sucks and holds the wafer W. The first transfer mechanism 40 and the second transfer mechanism 41 can perform a rotational (swiveling) motion centered on an axis facing in the Z-axis direction and a lifting motion in the Z-axis direction, and transfer the wafer W by performing these motions while sucking and holding the wafer W with the transfer pad 44.

[0037] On the upper surface of the second device base 12, a rectangular opening extending in the X-axis direction is formed, and this opening is covered by a moving plate 45 and a bellows-shaped waterproof cover 46. The chuck table 42 is supported so as to be movable in the X-axis direction together with the moving plate 45, and a table moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the chuck table 42 and the moving plate 45 in the X-axis direction is provided below the waterproof cover 46. The table moving mechanism is a ball screw mechanism including a ball screw extending in the X-axis direction. When the ball screw is rotated, the chuck table 42 and the moving plate 45 advance and retreat in the X-axis direction.

[0038] The chuck table 42 is connected to a table rotation mechanism (not shown) provided below the waterproof cover 46, and rotates about an axis facing in the Z-axis direction by the drive of the table rotation mechanism.

[0039] A grinding mechanism 50 for grinding the wafer W held by the chuck table 42 and a lifting mechanism 60 for moving the grinding mechanism 50 in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) are provided. The grinding mechanism 50 and the lifting mechanism 60 are supported by the column 13, and the grinding mechanism 50 can be moved closer to and away from the chuck table 42 by the drive of the lifting mechanism 60.

[0040] The grinding mechanism 50 is an example of a processing mechanism for processing the wafer W. The spindle unit 51 included in the grinding mechanism 50 is, for example, an air spindle, and rotatably supports the spindle 52 via high-pressure air inside the casing. A mount 53 is connected to the tip (lower end) of the spindle 52, which is a shaft body extending in the Z-axis direction, and a grinding wheel 54 is mounted on the mount 53. A plurality of grinding wheels 55 are provided in an annular shape on the lower surface side of the grinding wheel 54.

[0041] The elevating mechanism 60 includes a pair of parallel guide rails 61 arranged on the front side of the column 13 and extending in the Z-axis direction, an elevating table 62 slidably installed in the Z-axis direction with respect to the pair of guide rails 61, and a ball screw 63 extending in the Z-axis direction and screwing into a screwing portion (not shown) of the elevating table 62. When the ball screw 63 is rotated by the driving force of a motor 64 connected to one end of the ball screw 63, the elevating table 62 moves in the Z-axis direction.

[0042] The grinding mechanism 50 is supported via a housing 65 provided on the front side of the elevating table 62. When the elevating table 62 is moved in the Z-axis direction by the elevating mechanism 60, the position of the grinding mechanism 50 in the Z-axis direction changes. By rotating the spindle 52 by the spindle unit 51 and lowering the grinding mechanism 50 by the elevating mechanism 60, the back surface Wb of the wafer W sucked and held by the chuck table 42 is ground by the grinding wheel 55.

[0043] The processing apparatus 10 includes a control unit 70 that comprehensively controls each part of the apparatus. The control unit 70 has a processing unit 701 including a processor that executes various processes, and a storage unit 702 including a memory that stores control programs and various data. The control unit 70 causes the processing unit 701 to control the grinding mechanism 50 and the lifting mechanism 60 to perform grinding until the thickness of the wafer W reaches the finished thickness, for example, according to a control program stored in the storage unit 702. Further, the control unit 70 controls the transfer operation of the wafer W by the robot 20 and each transfer mechanism 40, 41, and the cleaning operation of the wafer W by the cleaning mechanism 35. Regarding the operations of each part of the processing apparatus 10 described below, when the control subject is not specified, it is assumed that the operation is controlled by a control signal sent from the control unit 70.

[0044] In the processing apparatus 10 configured as described above, the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15 is held by the robot hand 22, and the wafer W is transferred from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30 by driving the robot 20. The wafer W placed on the temporary placement table 30 has its back surface Wb facing upward (the first orientation). Subsequently, the first transfer mechanism 40 transfers the wafer W from the temporary placement table 30 to the chuck table 42, and the wafer W is sucked and held on the holding surface 43.

[0045] The chuck table 42 holding the wafer W is moved backward by the table moving mechanism and positioned at the processing position below the grinding mechanism 50. Subsequently, the grinding mechanism 50 is lowered by the lifting mechanism 60 to bring the grinding wheel 55 into contact with the back surface Wb of the wafer W, and the back surface Wb is ground while pressing the wafer W with the rotating grinding wheel 55. When grinding the wafer W, the chuck table 42 is rotated by the table rotating mechanism. When the back surface Wb of the wafer W is ground to the desired thickness, the grinding mechanism 50 is lifted by the lifting mechanism 60 to separate the grinding wheel 55 from the wafer W on the chuck table 42, and the grinding process is completed.

[0046] After grinding, the chuck table 42 is moved forward by the table moving mechanism and positioned at the transfer position near the second transfer mechanism 41. Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred from the chuck table 42 to the spinner table 36 by the second transfer mechanism 41, and the wafer W held on the spinner table 36 is cleaned in the cleaning mechanism 35. After the wafer W is cleaned, the wafer W on the spinner table 36 is held by the robot hand 22, and by driving the robot 20, the wafer W is transferred into and accommodated in the second cassette 18 placed on the second cassette stage 16.

[0047] As described above, the processing apparatus 10 includes a robot 20 equipped with a robot hand 22 for transferring the wafer W with respect to the respective cassettes 17 and 18 placed on the respective cassette stages 15 and 16, the temporary placement table 30, and the spinner table 36 of the cleaning mechanism 35.

[0048] The processing apparatus 10 can use a plurality of types of cassettes having different structures for accommodating the wafer W as the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18. As specific examples of the plurality of types of cassettes, a standard cassette 120 and a shelf cassette 130 are shown in FIG. 4. Note that the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18 may use the same type of cassette, or may be selectively used with different types of cassettes.

[0049] The standard cassette 120 has a plurality of cantilevered split shelf plates 122 formed along the inner surfaces of a pair of side walls 121 located on both sides of the opening for inserting and removing the wafer W, at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. The space between the horizontally paired split shelf plates 122 is a vertically penetrating space. That is, the central portion inside the standard cassette 120 has a through structure without partitioning. In the standard cassette 120, the peripheral portion of the lower surface of each wafer W is supported by a pair of split shelf plates 122 spaced apart in the horizontal direction, and each wafer W is accommodated in each section partially partitioned by the plurality of split shelf plates 122.

[0050] The shelf cassette 130 has a plurality of full-surface shelf boards 132 of a double-support structure that connect between a pair of side walls 131 located on both sides of an opening for inserting and removing the wafer W, at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. The internal space is partitioned into a plurality of compartments in the vertical direction by the plurality of full-surface shelf boards 132. In the shelf cassette 130, the lower surface of each wafer W is supported by an individual full-surface shelf board 132, and each wafer W is accommodated in each compartment partitioned as a whole by the plurality of full-surface shelf boards 132.

[0051] Further, the processing apparatus 10 can use a plurality of types of spinner tables 36 having different sizes and shapes of holding surfaces in the cleaning mechanism 35. As specific examples of the plurality of types of spinner tables 36, a large-diameter table 140 and a small-diameter table 150 are shown in FIG. 5.

[0052] The large-diameter table 140 has a disk shape with a diameter equal to or larger than that of the wafer W, and has a substantially circular holding surface 141 with an area equal to or larger than the area of the wafer W on the upper surface. The holding surface 141 can hold the entire lower surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W held on the holding surface 141 does not protrude outside the large-diameter table 140. The large-diameter table 140 is supported above a table support portion 142, and the table support portion 142 is rotatably supported by a table rotation mechanism (not shown).

[0053] The small-diameter table 150 has a disk shape with a diameter smaller than that of the wafer W, and has a substantially circular holding surface 151 with an area smaller than the area of the wafer W on the upper surface. The holding surface 151 can hold a part of the lower surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W held on the holding surface 151 protrudes outside the small-diameter table 150. The small-diameter table 150 is supported above a table support portion 152, and the table support portion 152 is rotatably supported by a table rotation mechanism (not shown).

[0054] Both the holding surface 141 of the large-diameter table 140 and the holding surface 151 of the small-diameter table 150 are formed of a porous material. When the large-diameter table 140 and the small-diameter table 150 are attached to the processing apparatus 10 respectively, they are connected to a suction source (not shown). By driving the suction source, a suction force acts on the holding surface 141 and the holding surface 151.

[0055] The robot 20 of the processing apparatus 10 can be selectively used from a plurality of types of robot hands 22. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, different types of robot hands 22 can be detachably attached to a mounting portion 27 provided at the tip of the movable support portion 21. As specific examples of the plurality of types of robot hands 22, four types of robot hands 160, 170, 180, and 190 are shown in FIG. 6.

[0056] The first robot hand 160 is registered and displayed as the "O-type - 1" robot hand in the transfer setting data (FIG. 7) and the configuration setting screen (FIG. 9) described later. The robot hand 160 includes a plate-shaped holding portion 161 having a substantially O-shaped holding surface, and a base portion 162 extending from the holding portion 161 and connected to the mounting portion 27. A plurality of suction holes 163 are formed in the holding surface of the holding portion 161.

[0057] Unlike the robot hands 180 and 190 described later, the holding portion 161 of the robot hand 160 is not formed with a notch (opening) through which the temporary placement table 30 and the spinner table 36 (small-diameter table 150) pass. Also, the maximum width Da (diameter) passing through the center of the circular portion of the holding portion 161 is larger than the width Db of the holding portion 171 of the robot hand 170 and the width Dc of the holding portion 181 of the robot hand 180 described later. Therefore, the area of the holding surface of the holding portion 161 of the robot hand 160 is larger than the areas of the holding portions 171, 181, and 191 of the other three types of robot hands 170, 180, and 190. The robot hand 160 configured in this way is used, for example, for transporting a wafer W having a thin thickness and no warpage at the outer peripheral portion.

[0058] The second robot hand 170 is registered and displayed as an "O-type - 2" robot hand in the conveyance setting data (Fig. 7) and configuration setting screen (Fig. 9) described later. The robot hand 170 includes a plate-shaped holding portion 171 having a substantially O-shaped holding surface, and a base portion 172 extending from the holding portion 171 and connected to the mounting portion 27. A plurality of suction holes 173 are formed in the holding surface of the holding portion 171.

[0059] Similar to the robot hand 160, no notch (opening) for passing the temporary placement table 30 or the spinner table 36 (small-diameter table 150) is formed in the holding portion 171 of the robot hand 170. Also, the maximum width Db (diameter) passing through the center of the circular portion of the holding portion 171 is smaller than the width Da of the holding portion 161 of the robot hand 160. That is, the holding portion 171 of the robot hand 170 is smaller in size and area than the holding portion 161 of the robot hand 160. The robot hand 170 configured in this way is used, for example, for conveying a wafer W having a warp in the outer peripheral portion.

[0060] The third robot hand 180 is registered and displayed as a "U-type" robot hand in the conveyance setting data (Fig. 7) and configuration setting screen (Fig. 9) described later. The robot hand 180 includes a plate-shaped holding portion 181 having a substantially U-shaped holding surface, and a base portion 182 extending from the holding portion 181 and connected to the mounting portion 27. A plurality of suction holes 183 are formed in the holding surface of the holding portion 181.

[0061] A notch portion 184, which is a groove-shaped opening extending from the tip side to the base portion 182 of the robot hand 180, is formed in the holding portion 181. The width E and the depth of the notch portion 184 are larger than the diameter of the small-diameter table 150 of the spinner table 36 and smaller than the diameter of the large-diameter table 140. Therefore, the small-diameter table 150 can pass through the notch portion 184. The innermost portion of the notch portion 184 has an arc shape along the outer peripheral shape of the small-diameter table 150 of the spinner table 36.

[0062] The holding part 181 has a pair of arm parts 185 on both sides of the notch part 184. The width Dc of the holding part 181 connecting the straight parts on both sides of the pair of arm parts 185 is smaller than the width Da of the holding part 161 of the robot hand 160, and is about the same as the width Db of the holding part 171 of the robot hand 170.

[0063] The fourth robot hand 190 is registered and displayed as a "C-shaped" robot hand in the conveyance setting data (FIG. 7) and the configuration setting screen (FIG. 9) described later. The robot hand 190 includes a plate-shaped holding part 191 having a substantially C-shaped holding surface, and a base part 192 extending from the holding part 191 and connected to the mounting part 27. A plurality of suction holes 193 are formed in the holding surface of the holding part 191.

[0064] A notch part 194, which is a groove-shaped opening extending from the tip side of the robot hand 190 toward the base part 192, is formed in the holding part 191. The width E and the depth of the notch part 194 are larger than the diameter of the small-diameter table 150 of the spinner table 36 and smaller than the diameter of the large-diameter table 140. Therefore, the small-diameter table 150 can pass through the notch part 194. The innermost part of the notch part 194 has an arc shape along the outer peripheral shape of the small-diameter table 150 of the spinner table 36.

[0065] The holding part 191 has a pair of arm parts 195 on both sides of the notch part 194. Both sides of the pair of arm parts 195 have an arc shape, and the maximum width Dd of the holding part 191 connecting the arc surfaces on both sides of the pair of arm parts 195 is smaller than the width Da of the holding part 161 of the robot hand 160.

[0066] By passing the small-diameter table 150 of the spinner table 36 inside the notch part 184 and the notch part 194, the robot hand 180 and the robot hand 190 can move in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and the horizontal direction without interfering with the small-diameter table 150. For example, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the small-diameter table 150 passes through the notch part 194 of the robot hand 190.

[0067] The width Dc of the robot hand 180 is smaller than the width Dd of the robot hand 190. For example, the robot hand 190 with a wide width is used for transporting a wafer W without warping in the outer peripheral portion. The U-shaped robot hand 190 is used for transporting a rectangular wafer W or a rectangular package substrate.

[0068] The diameter of the temporary table 30 is the same as or smaller than the diameter of the small-diameter table 150. Therefore, the robot hands 180 and 190 can move in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and the horizontal direction without interfering with the temporary table 30 by passing the temporary table 30 inside the notch 184 and the notch 194.

[0069] When the bases 162, 172, 182, and 192 of the robot hands 160, 170, 180, and 190 are attached to the mounting portion 27 of the robot 20, a suction source (not shown) provided in the processing apparatus 10 communicates with the suction holes 163, 173, 183, and 193. Then, by driving the suction source, a suction force acts on the holding surfaces of the holding portions 161, 171, 181, and 191.

[0070] The transport source and the transport destination of the wafer W transported by the robot 20 are the cassettes 17, 18, the temporary table 30, and the spinner table 36 of the cleaning mechanism 35. In the processing apparatus 10, a robot hand 22 having a suitable shape is selected based on the holding structure of the wafer W at these transport sources and transport destinations and conditions such as the shape, thickness, and warping of the wafer W.

[0071] The processing apparatus 10 restricts the operation of the robot 20 in the configurations of each of the cassettes 17, 18, the temporary placement table 30, and the spinner table 36 as shown in the transfer settings in FIG. 7. This transfer setting is stored in the storage unit 702 of the control unit 70 as transfer setting data. The transfer setting data configures the selectable operations of the robot hand 22 in the form of table data in combination with the respective configurations of the cassettes 17, 18, the temporary placement table 30, the spinner table 36, and the four types of robot hands 22. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the robot 20 and the display of the touch panel 71 described later based on the transfer setting data.

[0072] FIG. 7 shows an example of the transfer setting data to be stored in the storage unit 702. The transfer setting data includes three configuration setting items: the types of the cassettes 17, 18 as the holding structures at the transfer source and destination of the wafer W, the type of the spinner table 36 of the cleaning mechanism 35, and the type of the temporary placement table 30. The types of the cassettes 17, 18 are divided into the case of the standard cassette 120 (''standard cassette'' in FIG. 7) and the case of the shelf cassette 130 (''shelf cassette'' in FIG. 7). The types of the spinner table 36 are divided into the case of the large-diameter table 140 (''large-diameter table'' in FIG. 7) and the case of the small-diameter table 150 (''small-diameter table'' in FIG. 7). Regarding the temporary placement table 30, only one type is used in the processing apparatus 10, and since the diameter of the temporary placement table 30 is equal to or less than the diameter of the small-diameter table 150, additional information of ''small diameter'', which means it belongs to the same dimension category as the small-diameter table 150, is set.

[0073] The types of the robot hands 22 in the transfer setting data of FIG. 7 are set as ''O-type - 1'' corresponding to the robot hand 160, ''O-type - 2'' corresponding to the robot hand 170, ''U-type'' corresponding to the robot hand 180, and ''C-type'' corresponding to the robot hand 190.

[0074] As a premise for the explanation of the transfer setting data, the meanings of picking up from above, picking up from below, placing on top, and withdrawing from below in the transfer of the wafer W will be explained.

[0075] Picking up from above and picking up from below represent the differences in the holding forms of the wafer W by the robot hand 22 when the wafer W held at the transfer source is held (received) by the robot 20. Picking up from above means sucking and holding the upper surface of the wafer W from above by the holding surface of the robot hand 22. Picking up from below means sucking and holding the lower surface of the wafer W from below by the holding surface of the robot hand 22.

[0076] Placing on top and withdrawing from below represent the differences in the delivery forms of the wafer W from the robot 20 to the delivery destination when the wafer W held by the robot 20 is delivered to the delivery destination. Placing on top means moving the robot hand 22 while sucking and holding the upper surface of the wafer W by the holding surface of the robot hand 22, placing the lower surface of the wafer W on the delivery destination, and then retracting and moving the robot hand 22 upward or laterally to complete the delivery. Withdrawing from below means moving the robot hand 22 while sucking and holding the lower surface of the wafer W by the holding surface of the robot hand 22, placing the lower surface of the wafer W on the delivery destination, and then pulling out the robot hand 22 laterally or downward to complete the delivery.

[0077] In order to perform picking up from above or placing on top, the robot hand 22 needs to be able to access the upper surface side of the wafer W. In order to perform picking up from below or withdrawing from below, the robot hand 22 needs to be able to access the lower surface side of the wafer W.

[0078] Since each of the cassettes 17, 18, the temporary table 30, and the spinner table 36 has a structure for holding the lower surface of the wafer W, the upper surface side of the wafer W is open and accessible to the robot hand 22. That is, the pick-up and the placement can be performed regardless of the types of the cassettes 17, 18, the temporary table 30, and the spinner table 36. On the other hand, since the lower surface side of the wafer W is easily subject to the constraints of the holding structure, there are cases where the pick-down and the removal can be performed and cases where they cannot be performed.

[0079] The transfer conditions of the wafer W in the transfer setting data of FIG. 7 include "pick-up only", "placement only", and "no restrictions". "Pick-up only" means that when the robot hand 22 holds the wafer W at the transfer source, the pick-down of the wafer W is restricted and only the pick-up is possible. "Placement only" means that when the robot hand 22 transfers the held wafer W to the transfer destination, the transfer by removal is restricted and only the placement is possible. "No restrictions" means that not only pick-up and placement but also pick-down and removal are possible. For the cassette, when applied to the first cassette 17 as the transfer source, it is either "pick-up only" or "no restrictions", and when applied to the first cassette 17 as the transfer destination, it is either "placement only" or "no restrictions". The content of the transfer setting data will be described in more detail.

[0080] When the first cassette 17 is the shelf cassette 130, since the entire lower surface of the wafer W is held by the entire shelf plate 132, regardless of the shape of the robot hand 22, the robot hand 22 cannot access from below the wafer W to hold the lower surface of the wafer W (pick down the wafer W). Therefore, in the transfer setting data, when the first cassette 17 is the shelf cassette 130, the transfer setting is determined to be "pick-up only" for all the robot hands 160, 170, 180, and 190.

[0081] When the first cassette 17 is the standard cassette 120, since only a part of the periphery of the lower surface of the wafer W is held by a pair of horizontally separated split shelf plates 122, a robot hand 22 having a maximum width smaller than the interval between the pair of split shelf plates 122 can access from below the wafer W without interfering with the split shelf plates 122 and hold the lower surface of the wafer W (pick up the wafer W). Conversely, a robot hand 22 having a maximum width larger than the interval between the pair of split shelf plates 122 interferes with the split shelf plates 122, so it cannot access from below the wafer W and hold the lower surface of the wafer W (pick up the wafer W). Since the widths Db of the robot hand 170, the width Dc of the robot hand 180, and the width Dd of the robot hand 190 each satisfy the above pick-up possible conditions, the transfer setting is determined as "unrestricted". The width Da of the robot hand 160 is larger than the interval between the pair of split shelf plates 122 and does not satisfy the above pick-up possible conditions, so the transfer setting is restricted to "pick up only".

[0082] When the second cassette 18 is the shelf cassette 130, regardless of the difference in the shape of the robot hand 22, while the lower surface of the wafer W is held by the robot hand 22, the robot hand 22 is located between the lower surface of the wafer W and the entire surface shelf plate 132, so the lower surface of the wafer W cannot be placed on the upper surface of the entire surface shelf plate 132 (transfer in the form of punching out). Therefore, in the transfer setting data, when the second cassette 18 is the shelf cassette 130, for all the robot hands 160, 170, 180, and 190, the transfer setting is restricted to "place on top only".

[0083] When the second cassette 18 is the standard cassette 120, the robot hand 22 with a maximum width smaller than the interval between the pair of divided shelf plates 122 can enter the space between the pair of divided shelf plates 122 and place the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the wafer W on the upper surfaces of the pair of divided shelf plates 122 (transfer in the form of blanking). Since the widths Db, Db, and Dd of the robot hand 170 each satisfy the above-mentioned blanking - possible condition, the transfer setting is determined as "unrestricted". The width Da of the robot hand 160 is larger than the interval between the pair of divided shelf plates 122 and does not satisfy the above - mentioned blanking - possible condition, so the transfer setting is restricted to "only placing on top".

[0084] Note that in the data of FIG. 7, the transfer settings related to the first cassette 17 and the transfer settings related to the second cassette 18 are described together, but table data separately dividing the transfer settings of each cassette 17, 18 may be created.

[0085] When the spinner table 36 is the large - diameter table 140, the entire lower surface of the wafer W is held by the holding surface 141 during the cleaning of the wafer W, and the wafer W does not protrude outside the large - diameter table 140. Therefore, regardless of the shape difference of the robot hand 22, the robot hand 22 cannot access from below the wafer W to hold the lower surface of the wafer W (pick up the wafer W). Therefore, in the transfer - setting data, when the spinner table 361 is the large - diameter table 140, for all robot hands 160, 170, 180, 190, the transfer setting is restricted to "only pick up from above".

[0086] When the spinner table 36 is the small-diameter table 150, the holding surface 151 holds only a part near the center of the lower surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W protrudes outside the small-diameter table 150. Therefore, for the robot hand 180 and the robot hand 170, the small-diameter table 150 is passed through the inside of the notch 184 and the notch 194 and positioned below the wafer W, and the lower surface of the wafer W protruding outside the small-diameter table 150 can be held (the wafer W can be picked up). Therefore, the conveyance settings for the robot hand 180 and the robot hand 170 are set to "unrestricted". On the other hand, the robot hand 160 and the robot hand 170 do not have notches. When trying to enter to a position where the wafer W can be picked up, they interfere with the small-diameter table 150 and the movement is hindered in the middle, so the wafer W cannot be picked up. Therefore, the conveyance settings for the robot hand 160 and the robot hand 170 are restricted to "pick-up only".

[0087] Figure 2 shows a configuration example in which the spinner table 36 is the large-diameter table 140 and the robot hand 22 is the O-type robot hand 160. In the conveyance setting data of FIG. 7, when the large-diameter table 140 is used, regardless of the type of the robot hand 22, the operation when holding the wafer W on the large-diameter table 140 with the robot hand 22 is restricted to pick-up. Therefore, when assuming pick-up from the large-diameter table 140, it is not limited to the robot hand 160 shown in the configuration example of FIG. 2, and other types of robot hands 170, 180, 190 can also be used.

[0088] Figure 3 shows a configuration example in which the spinner table 36 is the small-diameter table 150 and the robot hand 22 is the U-type robot hand 180. In the conveyance setting data of FIG. 7, in the case of the combination of the small-diameter table 150 and the U-type robot hand 180, the operation of the robot hand 180 for holding the wafer W on the small-diameter table 150 can be both pick-up and pick-down.

[0089] Since the diameter of the temporary table 30 is set to "small diameter" which is equal to or less than the diameter of the small-diameter table 150, the content of the transfer setting for the temporary table 30 is similar to the case where the spinner table 361 is the small-diameter table 150. That is, for the robot hand 180 having the notch 184 and the robot hand 170 having the notch 194, the transfer setting is defined as "unrestricted" such that the wafer W can be transferred to and from the small-diameter table 150 both from above and from below. The robot hands 160 and 170 without notches are restricted in the transfer setting to "only placing from above" where only placing the wafer W from above is possible.

[0090] As described above, in the processing apparatus 10, the selectable transfer settings differ depending on the respective configuration settings of the cassettes 17, 18, the spinner table 36, the temporary table 30, and the robot hand 22. In particular, there are a transfer setting in which the operation of the robot hand 22 is restricted to picking up from above and placing from above to hold the upper surface of the wafer W, and a transfer setting in which there is no such restriction and the robot hand 22 can also handle picking up from below and taking out from below to hold the lower surface of the wafer W.

[0091] Also, in the processing apparatus 10, the vertical orientation of the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 or the second cassette 18 differs depending on the processing conditions. That is, there can be a first accommodation form in which the back surface Wb of the wafer W faces upward and the front surface Wa (protective member H) faces downward, and a second accommodation form in which the front surface Wa (protective member H) of the wafer W faces upward and the back surface Wb faces downward. In the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18, which form of the first orientation and the second orientation the wafer W is accommodated in is included in the processing conditions of the wafer W, and is input in advance as part of the grinding recipe to the control unit 70 and stored in the storage unit 702.

[0092] Furthermore, the robot 20 includes a rotation unit 25 capable of rotating the robot hand 22 around a horizontal axis, and the vertical orientation of the wafer W may be changed by driving the rotation unit 25.

[0093] Thus, factors such as the holding form of the wafer W by the robot 20 (the distinction between top pick-up and bottom pick-up, the distinction between top placement and bottom extraction, the presence or absence of rotation by the rotation unit 25) are related, making it difficult for the operator who operates the processing apparatus 10 to grasp the vertical orientation of the wafers W (the directions of the front surface Wa and the back surface Wb) accommodated in each cassette 17, 18, and the situation regarding the transfer of the wafers W by the robot 20.

[0094] In the processing apparatus 10, when placing the wafer W on the temporary table 30, the back surface Wb to be ground is held facing upward. The first transfer mechanism 40 transfers the wafer W from the temporary table 30 to the chuck table 42 without changing the vertical orientation of the wafer W with the back surface Wb facing upward. The wafer W on the chuck table 42 is held with the back surface Wb facing upward, and the back surface Wb is ground by the grinding wheel 55. The second transfer mechanism 41 transfers the wafer W from the chuck table 42 to the spinner table 36 without changing the vertical orientation of the wafer W with the back surface Wb facing upward.

[0095] Therefore, before processing the wafer W, the robot 20 needs to place the wafer W on the temporary table 30 in a first orientation with the back surface Wb facing the upper surface. To achieve this, it is necessary to grasp whether the vertical orientation of the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 is the first orientation or the second orientation, and appropriately manage the orientation (top pick-up, bottom pick-up) in which the robot 20 holds the wafer W in the first cassette 17 and the presence or absence of rotation by the rotation unit 25 when the robot 20 transfers the wafer W to the temporary table 30.

[0096] Also, after processing the wafer W, the robot 20 needs to accommodate the wafer W in the second cassette 18 in an appropriate orientation (the orientation determined by the processing conditions). To achieve this, it is necessary to appropriately manage the orientation (top pick-up, bottom pick-up) in which the robot 20 holds the wafer W on the spinner table 36 and the presence or absence of rotation by the rotation unit 25 when the robot 20 transfers the wafer W to the second cassette 18.

[0097] The processing apparatus 10 of this embodiment facilitates the identification of the orientation of the wafer W as described above, and the confirmation and modification of the movement settings of the robot 20. The details will be described below.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 1, a touch panel 71 is installed on the outer surface of the housing 14 of the processing apparatus 10. The touch panel 71 is a touch panel type image display, and serves as an input device for the operator to input instruction contents regarding the operation and settings of the processing apparatus 10, and a display device for displaying the setting information of the processing apparatus 10, the progress of processing, etc. The image display function of the touch panel 71 is realized by, for example, a method such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Organic Electro Luminescence) display, but the method of image display is not limited to this. The information input function of the touch panel 71 is realized by a touch sensor of an arbitrary method such as a pressure-sensitive type or a capacitance type.

[0099] The control unit 70 includes an input / output interface that transmits and receives signals to and from the touch panel 71. The signal input to the touch panel 71 is transmitted to the control unit 70, and the control unit 70 controls the operation and settings of the processing apparatus 10 based on the received signal. Further, a display driver included in the control unit 70 transmits an image signal to the touch panel 71 to cause the touch panel 71 to perform image display. Various display contents of the touch panel 71 (see FIGS. 8 to 15) described later are displayed under the control of the control unit 70.

[0100] FIG. 8 shows an example of the screen display of the touch panel 71. The screen display shown in FIG. 8 includes a first display area 72, a second display area 73, a third display area 74, a fourth display area 75, and a fifth display area 76. Note that the screen layout and display contents shown in FIG. 8 are merely examples, and may be different from the illustrated example. The touch panel 71 only needs to be able to display at least the display contents of the fifth display area 76 (FIG. 8), the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9), and the conveyance setting screen 77 (FIGS. 10 to 15) described later.

[0101] The first display area 72 is a horizontally long area at the uppermost part of the screen of the touch panel 71, where the current date and time, text messages, etc. are displayed. In the transfer setting of the wafer W by the robot 20, when there is an error state described later, a simple message or icon indicating an error is displayed in the fifth display area 76 and the transfer setting screen 77 (Figs. 10 to 15), and a detailed error message explaining the content of the error can also be displayed in the first display area 72. Further, the processing apparatus 10 may include components such as display lamps and speakers in addition to the touch panel 71 as components for notifying the error state.

[0102] The second display area 73 is a horizontally long area at the lowermost part of the screen of the touch panel 71, where a plurality of operation buttons 731 are arranged. The operation buttons 731 arranged in the second display area 73 are assigned for input related to the overall operation and processing of the processing apparatus 10, such as setting the operation mode (automatic processing, manual processing) of the processing apparatus 10, shifting to the maintenance mode, reading various data, starting and stopping the processing. According to the touch operation of a predetermined operation button 731, another setting screen may be displayed in an overlapping manner.

[0103] The third display area 74 is an area at the upper middle part on the left side of the screen of the touch panel 71, where the content related to the grinding recipe, which is the processing content for the wafer W, is mainly displayed. For example, information such as the diameter of the wafer W, the thickness of the wafer W before grinding and after grinding, and the grinding amount of the wafer W (numerical values or pull-down selection items) is displayed within the frame in the third display area 74. By touching and operating a plurality of operation buttons 741 arranged at the right end of the third display area 74, the numerical values and selection items displayed in the third display area 74 can be changed and adjusted.

[0104] The fourth display area 75 is an area at the lower middle part on the left side of the screen of the touch panel 71, and mainly displays the content related to the status of the grinding mechanism 50 of the processing apparatus 10. For example, the rotational speed of the spindle 52, the wear amount of the grinding wheel 55, the supply amount of the grinding water, etc. are displayed within the frame in the fourth display area 75. By performing a touch operation on a plurality of operation buttons 751 arranged at the right end of the fourth display area 75, settings related to the operation of the grinding mechanism 50 and acquisition of the operation log of the grinding mechanism 50 can be performed.

[0105] The fifth display area 76 is an area in the middle right of the screen of the touch panel 71, and displays the overall operation status of the processing apparatus 10 and the conveyance status of the wafer W. In the fifth display area 76, there is shown an apparatus layout diagram 761 conceptually showing the main components of the processing apparatus 10 as illustrations (icons) in a top view. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals as those of the components of the processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 are assigned to the illustrations of the respective components included in the apparatus layout diagram 761. Near the illustrations of the respective components of the apparatus layout diagram 761, English notation names (abbreviations) are displayed, and below each notation name, the operation status of the corresponding component is displayed. The display of "Ready" shown in FIG. 8 means that the operation preparation of the corresponding component is completed. Also, near the illustration showing the grinding mechanism 50 in the apparatus layout diagram 761, position information of the grinding wheel 55 in the Z-axis direction, etc. are displayed.

[0106] In the fifth display area 76, a first transfer information display section 762 is further displayed near an illustration showing the first cassette stage 15, and a second transfer information display section 763 is displayed near an illustration showing the second cassette stage 16. The first transfer information display section 762 and the second transfer information display section 763 are display sections that display the orientation of the wafer W accommodated in each of the cassettes 17 and 18. When the first cassette 17 is used as a cassette for accommodating the wafer W before processing, the first transfer information display section 762 functions as a display section for illustratively displaying the surface to be processed (back surface Wb) of the wafer W before processing on the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15. Further, when the second cassette 18 is used as a cassette for accommodating the wafer W after processing (after cleaning), the second transfer information display section 763 functions as a display section for illustratively displaying the processed surface (back surface Wb) of the wafer W when the wafer W is transferred from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18 placed on the second cassette stage 16.

[0107] A cassette information icon 80, which is information regarding the vertical orientation of the wafer W within the first cassette 17, is displayed on the first transfer information display section 762. The cassette information icon 80 schematically shows the first cassette 17 and the wafer W in an illustration, and the orientation of the surface to be ground (Grind Side), that is, the orientation of the back surface Wb, before processing is shown in the schematic diagram of this wafer W. In the display example of FIG. 8, the surface to be ground is indicated by a dashed line. The display of "Load" in the transfer information display section 762 means that the wafer W is moved from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30 (unloading from the first cassette 17 and loading into the processing apparatus 10). Therefore, the cassette information icon 80 in FIG. 8 shows information that the wafer W before grinding is accommodated within the first cassette 17 with the back surface Wb facing downward (in the second orientation).

[0108] The second transfer information display section 763 displays a cassette information icon 85 which is information regarding the vertical orientation of the wafer W within the second cassette 18. The cassette information icon 85 schematically shows the second cassette 18 and the wafer W in an illustration, and in this schematic diagram of the wafer W, the orientation of the ground surface after processing (Grind Side), that is, the orientation of the back surface Wb is shown. In the display example of FIG. 8, the ground surface is indicated by a dashed line. The display of "Unload" in the transfer information display section 763 means that the wafer W is moved from the spinner table 36 of the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18 (unloading from the processing apparatus 10 and loading into the second cassette 18). Therefore, in the cassette information icon 85 of FIG. 8, information is shown that the wafer W after being ground is accommodated within the second cassette 18 with the back surface Wb facing downward (in the second orientation).

[0109] Note that in the first transfer information display section 762 and the second transfer information display section 763, the back surface Wb (ground surface) of the wafer W may be displayed in a form other than a dashed line. For example, when the touch panel 71 supports color display, the back surface Wb can be displayed in a predetermined color.

[0110] Also, unlike the display example of FIG. 8 in which the first transfer information display section 762 and the second transfer information display section 763 are separated, a display section in a form where the cassette information icon 80 and the cassette information icon 85 are collectively displayed in one area may be provided on the touch panel 71.

[0111] As shown in FIG. 9, the touch panel 71 further includes a configuration setting screen 100 for performing configuration settings of a plurality of types of robot hands, a plurality of types of spinner tables, and a plurality of types of cassettes. This configuration setting screen 100 can be displayed, for example, by touching any one of the robot 20 (robot information icon), cleaning mechanism 35 (spinner information icon), cassette information icon 80, and cassette information icon 85 illustrated as an illustration in the fifth display area 76 of FIG. 8. Then, the types of the robot hand 22, spinner table 36, and cassettes 17 and 18 are set by the configuration setting screen 100 in FIG. 9.

[0112] Note that the display size of the configuration setting screen 100 is arbitrary, and the configuration setting screen 100 may be displayed so as to partially overlap on the display screen shown in FIG. 8, or instead of the display screen shown in FIG. 8, the configuration setting screen 100 may be displayed on the entire screen of the touch panel 71. Further, a dedicated operation button for displaying the configuration setting screen 100 may be arranged on the touch panel 71 separately from the illustration of each configuration of the device layout diagram 761 displayed on the fifth display area 76.

[0113] The configuration setting screen 100 shown in FIG. 9 includes a robot configuration display section 101 for inputting and displaying the type of the robot hand 22 of the robot 20, a spinner table configuration display section 102 for inputting and displaying the type of the spinner table 36, and a cassette configuration display section 103 for inputting and displaying the types of the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18. At the bottom of the configuration setting screen 100, an OK button 104 and a cancel button 105 are arranged.

[0114] In the robot configuration display section 101 of the configuration setting screen 100, it is blank when the type of the robot hand 22 is not set. When the operator touches the robot configuration display section 101, the robot hand list 106 is displayed. The robot hand list 106 includes four selection items: "Type O-1" corresponding to the robot hand 160, "Type O-2" corresponding to the robot hand 170, "Type U" corresponding to the robot hand 180, and "Type C" corresponding to the robot hand 190. The operator touches and operates any one of the four selection items in the robot hand list 106 to select the type of the robot hand 22 to be used. When the selection in the robot hand list 106 is made, the display of the robot hand list 106 disappears, and the selected type of the robot hand 22 (any one of Type O-1, Type O-2, Type U, and Type C) is displayed in the robot configuration display section 101.

[0115] In the spinner table configuration display section 102 of the configuration setting screen 100, it is blank when the type of the spinner table 36 is not set. When the operator touches the spinner table configuration display section 102, the spinner table list 107 is displayed. The spinner table list 107 includes two selection items: "Large-diameter table" corresponding to the large-diameter table 140 and "Small-diameter table" corresponding to the small-diameter table 150. The operator touches and operates any one of the two selection items in the spinner table list 107 to select the type of the spinner table 36 to be used. When the selection in the spinner table list 107 is made, the display of the spinner table list 107 disappears, and the selected type of the spinner table 36 (either the large-diameter table or the small-diameter table) is displayed in the spinner table configuration display section 102.

[0116] When the types of the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18 are not set in the cassette configuration display section 103 of the configuration setting screen 100, it is blank. When the operator touches the cassette configuration display section 103, the cassette list 108 is displayed. The cassette list 108 includes two selection items: "Standard Cassette" corresponding to the standard cassette 120 and "Shelved Cassette" corresponding to the shelved cassette 130. The operator touches one of the two selection items in the cassette list 108 to select the type of each cassette 17, 18 to be used. When the selection in the cassette list 108 is made, the display of the cassette list 108 disappears, and the types of the selected cassettes 17, 18 (either the standard cassette or the shelved cassette) are displayed in the cassette configuration display section 103.

[0117] Note that this embodiment is applicable when the same type of cassette is used for the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18, and the configuration setting screen 100 includes one cassette configuration display section 103 corresponding to both the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18. Differently, the configuration setting screen 100 may include two cassette configuration display sections so that the type of cassette used for the first cassette 17 and the type of cassette used for the second cassette 18 can be set individually.

[0118] The specific display forms of the robot hand list 106, the spinner table list 107, and the cassette list 108 are not limited. For example, each list 106, 107, 108 may be displayed in a pop-up form so as to overlap on the configuration setting screen 100, or may be displayed as a pull-down type sub-menu attached to the robot configuration display section 101, the spinner table configuration display section 102, or the cassette configuration display section 103.

[0119] After the operator inputs the configuration into all of the robot configuration display section 101, the spinner table configuration display section 102, and the cassette configuration display section 103, and then touches and operates the OK button 104 on the configuration setting screen 100, the configuration settings of each part set on the configuration setting screen 100 are finalized. The finalized configuration settings are stored in the storage section 702 of the control section 70. When the operator touches and operates the cancel button 105 on the configuration setting screen 100, the display returns to the screen display of FIG. 8 with the settings on the configuration setting screen 100 canceled.

[0120] When the configuration settings of each part are finalized on the configuration setting screen 100, under the control of the control section 70, the display on the touch panel 71 transitions to the conveyance setting screen 77 shown in FIGS. 10 to 15. Note that after the configuration settings of each part are finalized on the configuration setting screen 100, the display may return to the screen display of FIG. 8, and then, when an operation of touching the first conveyance information display section 762 or the second conveyance information display section 763 in the device layout diagram 761 is performed, the display may be controlled so that the conveyance setting screen 77 is displayed.

[0121] The display size of the conveyance setting screen 77 is arbitrary, and the conveyance setting screen 77 may be displayed so as to partially overlap on the display screen shown in FIG. 8, or the conveyance setting screen 77 may be displayed across the entire screen of the touch panel 71 in place of the display screen shown in FIG. 8.

[0122] FIGS. 10 and 11 show a first embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77. FIGS. 12 and 13 show a second embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77. FIGS. 14 and 15 show a third embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77. These three embodiments differ in some of the display contents and setting contents, and the details will be described later.

[0123] The operator can check the orientation of the wafer W and the operation content of the robot 20, or set the transfer content of the wafer W performed by the robot 20, via the information displayed on the transfer setting screen 77 and the operation buttons. Further, the control unit 70 controls the display content on the transfer setting screen 77 or assists the transfer setting performed by the operator using the transfer setting screen 77, based on the transfer setting data (Fig. 7) stored in the storage unit 702 and the configuration setting data (hereinafter referred to as configuration setting data) input by the operator on the configuration setting screen 100.

[0124] The transfer setting screen 77 is roughly divided into two parts vertically, and has an upper first transfer information display section 78 and a lower second transfer information display section 79. The first transfer information display section 78 and the second transfer information display section 79 are display sections that display the movement of the robot 20 and the orientation of the wafers W accommodated in the respective cassettes 17, 18.

[0125] Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, a first embodiment of the transfer setting screen 77 will be described in detail. The first transfer information display section 78 displays cassette information icons 80 (information regarding the orientation of the wafers W within the first cassette 17) similar to the first transfer information display section 762 (Fig. 8) of the device layout diagram 761, and further, setting items related to the movement of the robot 20 when transferring the wafer W from the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15 to the temporary placement table 30 are displayed.

[0126] Specifically, the first transfer information display section 78 displays cassette information icons 80, a wafer holding direction setting button 81, and a wafer inversion setting button 82. The wafer holding direction setting button 81 and the wafer inversion setting button 82 constitute a first setting unit for the operator to set the movement of the robot 20 when touching the first transfer information display section 78 to transfer the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30.

[0127] The cassette information icon 80 is an information display indicating the vertical orientation of the wafer W within the first cassette 17, and is common to the information display shown in the first conveyance information display section 762 in the fifth display area 76 of FIG. 8. That is, in the example of the cassette information icon 80 shown in FIG. 10, the illustration shows information that the wafer W before grinding is housed in the first cassette 17 with the back surface Wb (indicated by the dashed line), which is the surface to be processed next, facing downward. Since the vertical orientation of the wafer W housed in the first cassette 17 is involved in setting the conveyance operation of the wafer W by the robot 20, the display content of the cassette information icon 80, together with the display content by the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and the wafer inversion setting button 82 described later, is included in the information display regarding the movement of the robot 20 when conveying the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30.

[0128] The wafer holding direction setting button 81 is a button for displaying and selecting the setting of whether the robot hand 22 of the robot 20 sucks and holds (picks up from above) the upper surface of the wafer W or sucks and holds (picks up from below) the lower surface of the wafer W when conveying the wafer W housed in the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30. It is composed of a first button 811 and a second button 812 arranged vertically on the screen. The first button 811 and the second button 812 display an illustration showing the wafer W and an illustration showing the robot hand 22 and the arrow indicating its moving direction. These illustrations enable visual identification of how the robot hand 22 operates to hold the wafer W within the first cassette 17. Further, the character "pick up from above" is described on the first button 811, and the character "pick up from below" is described on the second button 812, and the operation of the robot hand 22 can also be identified by the character information.

[0129] When the first button 811 is selected, when the robot 20 transports the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17, the holding surface of the robot hand 22 approaches from above the wafer W and sucks and holds the upper surface of the wafer W, which is the setting content of the pick-up. In the cassette information icon 80 shown in FIG. 10, since the surface Wa of the wafer W is the upper surface in the first cassette 17, in the state where the first button 811 is selected, the surface Wa of the wafer W (strictly speaking, the protective member H covering the surface Wa) will be sucked and held by the robot hand 22.

[0130] When the second button 812 is selected, when the robot 20 transports the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17, the holding surface of the robot hand 22 approaches from below the wafer W and sucks and holds the lower surface of the wafer W, which is the setting content of the pick-down. In the cassette information icon 80 shown in FIG. 10, since the back surface Wb of the wafer W is the lower surface in the first cassette 17, in the state where the second button 812 is selected, the back surface Wb of the wafer W will be sucked and held by the robot hand 22.

[0131] Based on the transfer setting data (FIG. 7) stored in the storage unit 702 and the configuration setting data set on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9), the control unit 70 determines whether pick-up and pick-down of the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 can be selected.

[0132] When the configuration setting corresponds to "no restriction" of the transfer setting data and it is determined that both pick-up and pick-down can be selected, the control unit 70 makes it possible to receive an operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 81 (a state where selection of the setting by a touch operation of the button is possible).

[0133] When it is determined that the configuration setting corresponds to "only pick-up" in the transfer setting data and only pick-up is possible and pick-down is not possible for the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17, the control unit 70 makes it impossible to accept the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 81, automatically sets the operation of the first button 811 to be selected (the state where pick-up is selected), and disables the selection of the second button 812 for selecting the pick-down operation. The state where the operation input is not accepted means, for example, performing mask display such as graying out, screening, or hatching in the display area of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 to notify the operator that the input to the wafer holding direction setting button 81 is invalid, and also performing a process of not accepting the input of the operation signal even if the operator touches the wafer holding direction setting button 81.

[0134] The operation result of the operator on the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and the result of the control unit 70 automatically selecting the operation content of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 are shown on the first transfer information display unit 78. For example, among the first button 811 and the second button 812, the selected button by the operator or the control unit 70 can be indicated by changing the display mode such as the change of the display color, blinking, or the change of the button shape.

[0135] The wafer inversion setting button 82 is a button for displaying and selecting the setting of whether the robot hand 22 of the robot 20 inverts the wafer W up and down or not when transporting the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30. It is composed of a third button 821 and a fourth button 822 arranged vertically on the screen. On the third button 821 and the fourth button 822, an illustration showing the wafer W and an illustration showing the robot hand 22 and the presence or absence of its inversion operation are displayed. With these illustrations, it is possible to visually identify how the robot hand 22 operates to transfer the wafer W to the temporary placement table 30. Further, the character "Invert" meaning to perform inversion is described on the third button 821, and the character "Do not invert" is described on the fourth button 822, and the operation of the robot hand 22 can also be identified by the character information.

[0136] When the third button 821 is selected, the robot 20 operates the rotation unit 25 during transportation, inverts the wafer W up and down since it is accommodated in the first cassette 17, and places it on the temporary placement table 30. When the fourth button 822 is selected, the robot 20 does not operate the rotation unit 25 during transportation, and places it on the temporary placement table 30 while maintaining the same orientation of the wafer W as when it is accommodated in the first cassette 17.

[0137] Based on the transfer setting data (Figure 7) stored in the storage unit 702 and the configuration setting data set on the configuration setting screen 100 (Figure 9), the control unit 70 determines whether the selection of whether to invert the wafer W when transferring it from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30 is possible. When it is determined that the selection of whether to invert is possible, the control unit 70 makes it possible to accept the operator's operation input to the wafer inversion setting button 82 (a state where the setting can be selected by touching the button).

[0138] When it is determined that only one of either reversing the wafer W or not reversing the wafer W can be selected, the control unit 70 disables the operator from operating and inputting to the wafer reversal setting button 82, automatically selects an appropriate one of the third button 821 and the fourth button 822, and disables the other selection. The state of not accepting operation input means, for example, performing mask display such as graying out, screening, or hatching in the display area of the wafer reversal setting button 82 to notify the operator that the input to the wafer reversal setting button 82 is invalid, and also performing processing of not accepting the input of the operation signal even if the operator touches the wafer reversal setting button 82.

[0139] The operation result of the operator on the wafer reversal setting button 82 and the result of the control unit 70 automatically selecting the operation content of the wafer reversal setting button 82 are shown on the first transfer information display unit 78. For example, among the third button 821 and the fourth button 822, the selected button by the operator or the control unit 70 can be indicated by changing the display mode such as the change of the display color, blinking, or the change of the button shape.

[0140] In the display example of FIG. 10, for the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and the wafer reversal setting button 82 of the first transfer information display unit 78, the outline of the button selected by the operator's touch operation is shown by a dashed line, and the outline of the button automatically selected under the control of the control unit 70 is shown by a double frame line. Also, in the display example of FIG. 10, the display area of the button in a state where the operator's operation input is not accepted in the first transfer information display unit 78 is hatched with oblique lines.

[0141] Referring to the first conveyance information display section 78 in FIG. 10, a specific example of the conveyance setting when the wafer W is conveyed from the first cassette 17 to the temporary table 30 will be described. In this specific example, in the configuration setting screen 100 of FIG. 9, the use of the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) is selected in the robot configuration display section 101, and the use of the standard cassette 120 is selected as the first cassette 17 in the cassette configuration display section 103. Also, the wafer W is set to be accommodated in the first cassette 17 in a second orientation with the front surface Wa as the upper surface and the back surface Wb as the lower surface, and information regarding the orientation of the wafer W in the first cassette 17 has been previously input to the control unit 70 as part of the processing conditions. Based on the processing conditions, under the control of the control unit 70, the wafer W is illustratively displayed on the cassette information icon 80 in the second orientation.

[0142] As shown in the conveyance setting data of FIG. 7, when the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) is attached to the robot 20 and the standard cassette 120 is selected as the first cassette 17, the wafer W can be held by the robot hand 170 in both an upward pick-up and a downward pick-up manner. Also, when using the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2), the form of the transfer of the wafer W to the temporary table 30 is limited to placing it on top.

[0143] In the conveyance setting shown in FIG. 10, the operator touches the second button 812 of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 to select that the robot hand 170 holds the wafer W in a downward pick-up manner. Here, since the transfer of the wafer W to the temporary table 30 is limited to placing it on top, it is not possible to convey the wafer W while holding it in the downward pick-up orientation and perform the transfer of the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the temporary table 30 by pushing it through from below. Therefore, the control unit 70 determines that it is necessary to invert the wafer W during conveyance by the robot hand 170 (only the operation of inverting the wafer W can be selected). Based on this determination, the control unit 70 makes it so that it does not accept the operator's operation input to the wafer inversion setting button 82, automatically selects the third button 821 for the setting content of performing the inversion, and controls to make the selection of the fourth button 822 unavailable.

[0144] In this way, the transfer settings regarding the operation details of the robot hand 170 when transferring the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary table 30 are performed via the first transfer information display section 78 of the transfer setting screen 77. The control unit 70 refers to the transfer setting data and the configuration setting data, and accepts the operator's operation input only for the contents that can be selected by the operator (operation of the wafer holding direction setting button 81). For the contents for which there is no room for the operator to make a selection (operation of the wafer inversion setting button 82), the settings are automatically selected without involving the operator's selection. Thereby, there is no risk that the operator will make a setting that cannot be implemented due to structural constraints or the like, and the robot 20 can be made to execute the transfer of the wafer W suitable for the processing apparatus 10.

[0145] In the above transfer settings, the case of using the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) has been described as an example. However, in the configuration setting screen 100, even when the use of other types of robot hands 160 (O-type - 1), 180 (U-type), and 190 (C-type) is selected, it is possible to perform optimized transfer settings corresponding to the configurations of the respective robot hands.

[0146] For example, unlike the O-type - 2 robot hand 170, the U-type robot hand 180 and the C-type robot hand 190 can transfer the wafer W to and from the temporary table 30 both from above and from below (refer to the transfer setting data in FIG. 7). Therefore, when the use of the robot hand 180 or the robot hand 190 is selected on the configuration setting screen 100, the control unit 70 can be made to be in a state where it can accept the operator's operation input to the wafer inversion setting button 82 regardless of the setting contents on the wafer holding direction setting button 81.

[0147] The O-type-1 robot hand 160 differs from the O-type-2 robot hand 170 in that it cannot select picking from the standard cassette 120 (refer to the transfer setting data in Fig. 7). Therefore, when the use of the robot hand 160 is selected on the configuration setting screen 100, the control unit 70 may not accept the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and may control so that the operation of the first button 811 is automatically selected (the state where picking is selected).

[0148] As described above, a series of transfer settings regarding the transfer of the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30 are performed via the first transfer information display unit 78 of the transfer setting screen 77. In the cassette information icon 80 of the first transfer information display unit 78, information indicating the directions of the front surface Wa and the back surface Wb of the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 is displayed. In the wafer holding direction setting button 81, information on whether the robot 20 picks up or picks down the wafer W in the first cassette 17 is displayed by the first button 811 and the second button 812. In the wafer inversion setting button 82, information on whether the robot 20 inverts the wafer W during transfer or not is displayed by the third button 821 and the fourth button 822.

[0149] By referring to this information displayed on the first transfer information display unit 78, the operator can visually and easily recognize in what direction the wafer W is arranged in the first cassette 17 and in what manner the wafer W is transferred from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30. Therefore, it is possible to easily confirm and change the settings of the movement of the robot 20 that transfers the wafer W before processing.

[0150] For example, by visually recognizing the cassette information icon 80 in FIG. 10, it can be recognized that in the temporary table 30, it is necessary to change the back surface Wb of the wafer W that is facing downward in the first cassette 17 to face upward in order to grind the back surface Wb of the wafer W. And the fact that the back surface Wb of the wafer W is changed to face upward can be recognized by the fact that the third button 821 that displays the inversion information is selected by the wafer inversion setting button 82.

[0151] Also, when the transfer setting from the first cassette 17 to the temporary table 30 cannot be structurally executed by the processing apparatus 10 or when the processing conditions for the wafer W are made inappropriate, the control unit 70 can avoid the occurrence of problems by automatically adjusting the setting content in the first transfer information display unit 78 or notifying the operator of the error state.

[0152] Next, the second transfer information display unit 79 will be described. The second transfer information display unit 79 displays a cassette information icon 85 (information regarding the orientation of the wafer W in the second cassette 18) similar to the second transfer information display unit 763 (FIG. 8) of the device layout diagram 761, and further, setting items regarding the movement of the robot 20 when transferring the wafer W from the spinner table 36 of the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18 are displayed.

[0153] Specifically, the second transfer information display unit 79 displays a cassette information icon 85, a wafer holding direction setting button 86, and a wafer inversion setting button 87. The wafer holding direction setting button 86 and the wafer inversion setting button 87 constitute a second setting unit for the operator to set the movement of the robot 20 when transferring the wafer W from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18 by touching the second transfer information display unit 79.

[0154] The cassette information icon 85 is an information display indicating the vertical orientation of the wafer W within the second cassette 18, and is common to the information display shown in the second conveyance information display section 763 in the fifth display area 76 of FIG. 8. That is, in the example of the cassette information icon 85 shown in FIG. 10, an illustration shows information that the wafer W after grinding is housed in the second cassette 18 with the back surface Wb (shown by a dashed line), which is the processed surface, facing downward. Since the vertical orientation of the wafer W housed in the second cassette 18 is involved in setting the conveyance operation of the wafer W by the robot 20, the display content of the cassette information icon 85, together with the display content by the wafer holding direction setting button 86 and the wafer inversion setting button 87 described later, is included in the information display regarding the movement of the robot 20 when conveying the wafer W from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18.

[0155] The wafer holding direction setting button 86 is a button for displaying and selecting the setting of whether the robot hand 22 of the robot 20 sucks and holds (picks up from above) the upper surface of the wafer W or sucks and holds (picks up from below) the lower surface of the wafer W when conveying and housing the wafer W held on the spinner table 36 of the cleaning mechanism 35 into the second cassette 18. It is composed of a first button 861 and a second button 862 arranged vertically on the screen. An illustration showing the wafer W and an illustration showing the robot hand 22 and the arrow of its moving direction are displayed on the first button 861 and the second button 862, and these illustrations enable visual identification of how the robot hand 22 operates to hold the wafer W on the spinner table 36. Further, the character "pick up from above" is described on the first button 861, and the character "pick up from below" is described on the second button 862, and the operation of the robot hand 22 can also be identified by the character information.

[0156] When the first button 861 is selected, when the robot 20 transports the wafer W held on the spinner table 36, the holding surface of the robot hand 22 approaches from above the wafer W and sucks and holds the upper surface of the wafer W, which is the setting content of picking up. Since the wafer W to be cleaned by the cleaning mechanism 35 has its back surface Wb regarded as the upper surface on the spinner table 36, in the state where the first button 861 is selected, the back surface Wb of the wafer W will be sucked and held by the robot hand 22.

[0157] When the second button 862 is selected, when the robot 20 transports the wafer W held on the spinner table 36, the holding surface of the robot hand 22 approaches from below the wafer W and sucks and holds the lower surface of the wafer W, which is the setting content of picking down. In order for the robot 20 to suck and hold the lower surface of the wafer W held on the spinner table 36 by picking down, as described above, the size of the spinner table 36 and the configuration of the robot hand 22 need to satisfy a predetermined relationship. Specifically, when the robot 20 is equipped with a U-shaped robot hand 180 or a C-shaped robot hand 190, and the spinner table 36 is a small-diameter table 150, both picking up and picking down of the wafer W can be selected, and in other configurations, only picking up of the wafer W can be selected.

[0158] Based on the transfer setting data (Fig. 7) stored in the storage unit 702 and the configuration setting data set on the configuration setting screen 100 (Fig. 9), the control unit 70 determines whether it is possible to select picking up or picking down for the wafer W held on the spinner table 36.

[0159] When the configuration setting corresponds to "unrestricted" in the transfer setting data and it is determined that both picking up and picking down can be selected, the control unit 70 makes it possible to receive an operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86 (a state where selection of the setting by touching the button is possible).

[0160] When it is determined that the configuration setting corresponds to "only take-up" of the transfer setting data and only take-up is possible and take-down is not possible for the wafer W held on the spinner table 36, the control unit 70 disables the operator from operating and inputting to the wafer holding direction setting button 86, automatically sets the operation of the first button 861 to be selected (the state where take-up is selected), and disables the selection of the second button 862 for selecting the take-down operation. The state where operation input is not accepted means that, for example, mask display such as graying out, screening, or hatching is performed in the display area of the wafer holding direction setting button 86 to notify the operator that input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86 is invalid, and even if the operator touches the wafer holding direction setting button 86, a process of not accepting the input of the operation signal is performed.

[0161] The operation result of the operator on the wafer holding direction setting button 86 and the result of the control unit 70 automatically selecting the operation content of the wafer holding direction setting button 86 are shown on the second transfer information display unit 79. Similar to the case of the above-described wafer holding direction setting button 81, the operation result can be indicated by changing some display mode of the button selected by the operator or the control unit 70 among the first button 861 and the second button 862.

[0162] The wafer inversion setting button 87 is a button for displaying and selecting the setting of whether the robot hand 22 of the robot 20 inverts the wafer W vertically or not when transporting the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18. It is composed of a third button 871 and a fourth button 872 arranged vertically on the screen. An illustration showing the wafer W and an illustration showing the robot hand 22 and the presence or absence of its inversion operation are displayed on the third button 871 and the fourth button 872. These illustrations enable visual identification of how the robot hand 22 operates to transfer the wafer W to the second cassette 18. Furthermore, the character "Invert" meaning to perform inversion is described on the third button 871, and the character "Do not invert" is described on the fourth button 872, making it possible to identify the operation of the robot hand 22 also by the character information.

[0163] When the third button 871 is selected, the robot 20 operates the rotation unit 25 during transportation, inverts the wafer W vertically from the time of holding by the spinner table 36, and transports it to the second cassette 18. When the fourth button 872 is selected, the robot 20 does not operate the rotation unit 25 during transportation, and transports it to the second cassette 18 while maintaining the same orientation of the wafer W as when held by the spinner table 36.

[0164] Based on the transfer setting data (Figure 7) stored in the storage unit 702 and the configuration setting data set on the configuration setting screen 100 (Figure 9), the control unit 70 determines whether the selection of the presence or absence of inversion is possible when transporting the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18. When it is determined that the selection of the presence or absence of inversion is possible, the control unit 70 makes it possible to accept the operator's operation input to the wafer inversion setting button 87 (a state where the setting can be selected by touching the button).

[0165] When it is determined that only one of reversing the wafer W and not reversing the wafer W can be selected, the control unit 70 disables the operator from operating and inputting to the wafer reverse setting button 87, automatically selects an appropriate operation of either the third button 871 or the fourth button 872, and disables the other selection. The state of not accepting operation input means, for example, performing mask display such as graying out, screening, or hatching in the display area of the wafer reverse setting button 87 to notify the operator that the input to the wafer reverse setting button 87 is invalid, and also performing a process of not accepting the input of an operation signal even if the operator touches the wafer reverse setting button 87.

[0166] The operation result of the operator on the wafer reverse setting button 87 and the result of the control unit 70 automatically selecting the operation content of the wafer reverse setting button 82 are shown on the second transfer information display unit 79. Similar to the case of the above-described wafer reverse setting button 82, the operation result can be indicated by changing some display mode of the button selected by the operator or the control unit 70 among the third button 871 and the fourth button 872.

[0167] In the display example of FIG. 10, for the wafer holding direction setting button 86 and the wafer reverse setting button 87 of the second transfer information display unit 79, the outline of the button selected by the operator's touch operation is indicated by a dashed line, and the outline of the button automatically selected under the control of the control unit 70 is indicated by a double frame line. Also, in the example of FIG. 10, the display area of the button in a state where the operator's operation input is not accepted in the second transfer information display unit 79 is hatched with oblique lines.

[0168] Referring to the second transfer information display section 79 of FIG. 10, a specific example of the transfer settings when transferring the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18 will be described. In this specific example, on the configuration setting screen 100, the use of the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) is selected in the robot configuration display section 101, the use of the small-diameter table 150 as the spinner table 36 is selected in the spinner table configuration display section 102, and the use of the standard cassette 120 as the second cassette 18 is selected in the cassette configuration display section 103.

[0169] As shown in the transfer setting data of FIG. 7, when the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) is attached to the robot 20, regardless of whether the spinner table 36 is the large-diameter table 140 or the small-diameter table 150, when the robot hand 170 holds the wafer W on the spinner table 36, it is impossible to pick up from below, and only pick up from above is possible. Therefore, based on the transfer setting data, the control unit 70 determines that the operation of receiving the wafer W by the robot hand 170 from the spinner table 36 is limited to picking up from above. Based on this determination, the control unit 70 makes it impossible to receive the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86, automatically selects the first button 861 with the setting content of picking up from above, and controls to make the selection of the second button 622 impossible.

[0170] In the transfer setting of FIG. 10, the operator touches the third button 871 of the wafer inversion setting button 87 and selects to invert the wafer W during transfer by the robot hand 170. When the robot hand 170 that has picked up the wafer W from the spinner table 36 is inverted, the transfer of the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the second cassette 18 will be performed by the operation of inserting from below. When the second cassette 18 is the standard cassette 120, since the robot hand 170 can insert from below, the control unit 70 enables the operator's operation on the wafer inversion setting button 87 to be received in the second transfer information display section 79.

[0171] After grinding, the wafer W transported from the chuck table 42 to the cleaning mechanism 35 by the second transfer mechanism 41 is held on the spinner table 36 in a first orientation with the ground back surface Wb facing upward. When the robot 20 transports the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18, the robot 20 flips the wafer W, and the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in a second orientation with the back surface Wb facing downward. Based on the inversion information of the wafer W by the selection of the third button 871 of the wafer inversion setting button 87, the control unit 70 updates the display content of the cassette information icon 85 and causes an illustration display indicating that the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in a second orientation with the back surface Wb as the lower surface.

[0172] In this way, the transfer setting regarding the operation content of the robot hand 170 when transporting the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18 is performed via the second transfer information display unit 79 of the transfer setting screen 77. The control unit 70 refers to the transfer setting data and the configuration setting data, accepts an operation input from the operator only for the content that can be selected by the operator (operation of the wafer inversion setting button 87), and for the content for which there is no room for operator selection (operation of the wafer holding direction setting button 86), performs the setting by automatic selection without intervening the operator's selection. Thereby, there is no risk that the operator will make a setting that cannot be implemented due to structural constraints or the like, and the robot 20 can execute the transfer of the wafer W suitable for the processing apparatus 10.

[0173] In the above transfer setting, the case of using the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) has been described as an example. However, even when the use of other types of robot hands 160 (O-type - 1), robot hand 180 (U-type), and robot hand 190 (C-type) is selected on the configuration setting screen 100, it is possible to perform an optimized transfer setting corresponding to the configuration of each robot hand.

[0174] For example, unlike the O-type-2 robot hand 170, the U-type robot hand 180 and the C-type robot hand 190 can hold the wafer W on the small-diameter table 150 (spinner table 36) in both the pick-up and the put-down manners (refer to the transfer setting data in FIG. 7). Therefore, when the use of the robot hand 180 or the robot hand 190 is selected on the configuration setting screen 100, the control unit 70 can be made to be in a state where it can accept the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86.

[0175] The O-type-1 robot hand 160 is different from the O-type-2 robot hand 170 in that it cannot select the pick-down in the standard cassette 120 (refer to the transfer setting data in FIG. 7). If the wafer W on the spinner table 36 is picked up by the robot hand 160 and the robot hand 160 further performs an operation of inverting the wafer W during the transfer, the pick-down transfer state, which is not possible in the standard cassette 120, will occur. Therefore, when the use of the robot hand 160 is selected on the configuration setting screen 100, the control unit 70 may be in a state where it does not accept the operator's operation input to the wafer inversion setting button 87, and may be controlled so that the operation of the fourth button 872 is automatically selected (the state of the transfer in the upper placement in the second cassette 18).

[0176] As described above, a series of transfer settings regarding the transfer of the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18 are performed via the second transfer information display unit 79 of the transfer setting screen 77. In the cassette information icon 80 of the second transfer information display unit 79, information indicating the directions of the front surface Wa and the back surface Wb of the wafer W accommodated in the second cassette 18 is displayed. In the wafer holding direction setting button 86, information on whether the robot 20 picks up or picks down the wafer W on the spinner table 36 is displayed by the first button 861 and the second button 862. In the wafer inversion setting button 87, information on whether the robot 20 inverts or does not invert the wafer W during the transfer is displayed by the third button 871 and the fourth button 872.

[0177] By referring to this information displayed on the second transfer information display unit 79, the operator can visually and easily recognize how the wafer W is transferred from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18 and how it is arranged in the second cassette 18. Therefore, it is possible to easily confirm and change the settings of the movement of the robot 20 that transfers the processed wafer W.

[0178] For example, by visually recognizing the cassette information icon 85 in FIG. 10, it can be recognized that the back surface Wb of the wafer W facing upward on the spinner table 36 is being changed to face downward in the second cassette 18. And the fact that the back surface Wb of the wafer W is changed to face downward can be recognized by the selection of the third button 871 that displays the inversion information on the wafer inversion setting button 87.

[0179] Also, when the transfer setting from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18 cannot be structurally executed by the processing apparatus 10, the control unit 70 can avoid malfunctions by automatically adjusting the setting content on the second transfer information display unit 79 or notifying the operator of the error state.

[0180] When the operator performs a touch operation to select the setting content for each of the first transfer information display unit 78 and the second transfer information display unit 79, and further touches the confirmation button 88 arranged at the bottom of the transfer setting screen 77, the transfer setting of the robot 20 set on the transfer setting screen 77 is confirmed, and the screen returns to the screen display in FIG. 8. Then, when the operator touches the process execution button included in the operation button 731 of the second display area 73 of the touch panel 71, the above series of operations in the processing apparatus 10 are executed, and the robot 20 is driven according to the content set using the transfer setting screen 77. Also, when the cancel button 89 arranged at the bottom of the transfer setting screen 77 is touched, the setting content on the transfer setting screen 77 is canceled, and the screen returns to the screen display in FIG. 8.

[0181] When the control unit 70 changes the display content of the cassette information icon 85 in accordance with the setting operation on the conveyance setting screen 77 in FIG. 10, when returning to the screen display in FIG. 8, the control unit 70 also changes the display content of the second conveyance information display unit 763 correspondingly.

[0182] FIG. 11 shows different examples of conveyance settings in the first embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77. The configuration set on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9) is the same as that in the conveyance setting in FIG. 10. That is, the use of the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) in the robot 20, the use of the standard cassette 120 in the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18, and the use of the small-diameter table 150 in the spinner table 36 are selected. With this configuration setting, the robot hand 170 can hold the wafer W in the first cassette 17 both from above and from below. Also, the form of delivering the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the temporary placement table 30 is limited to placing it from above. Also, the holding of the wafer W on the spinner table 36 by the robot hand 170 is limited to picking it up from above. Also, the form of delivering the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the second cassette 18 can be both placing it from above and taking it out from below.

[0183] As a difference from the conveyance setting in FIG. 10, a processing condition that the wafer W is accommodated in the first cassette 17 in the first orientation with the back surface Wb facing upward is input to the control unit 70. According to this information, under the control of the control unit 70, in the first conveyance information display unit 78, the wafer W is displayed on the cassette information icon 80 in the first orientation.

[0184] In the transfer setting of the first transfer information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 11, the operator touches the first button 811 of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 to select that the robot hand 170 holds the wafer W in the first cassette 17 by picking it up. When using the robot hand 170, since the transfer of the wafer W to the temporary table 30 is limited to placing it on top, the control unit 70 determines that it is impossible to reverse the wafer W during the transfer by the robot hand 170 after picking it up. Based on this determination, the control unit 70 makes it impossible to accept the operator's operation input to the wafer reversal setting button 82, and controls to automatically select the fourth button 822 with the setting content of not performing reversal, and makes it impossible to select the reversal operation by operating the third button 821.

[0185] In the transfer setting of the second transfer information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 11, since the operation of receiving the wafer W from the spinner table 36 by the robot hand 170 is limited to picking it up, the control unit 70 makes it impossible to accept the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86, and controls to automatically select the first button 861 with the setting content of picking it up, and makes it impossible to select the picking-down operation by operating the second button 862.

[0186] Also, the operator touches the fourth button 872 of the wafer reversal setting button 87 to select that the wafer W is not reversed during the transfer from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18 by the robot hand 170. By not performing the reversal during the transfer, the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in the first orientation with the back surface Wb facing upward, similar to the state of being held on the spinner table 36. Based on the above transfer settings performed via the second transfer information display unit 79, the control unit 70 updates the display content of the cassette information icon 85 to display that the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in the first orientation with the back surface Wb as the upper surface.

[0187] When the control unit 70 changes the display content of the cassette information icon 85 in accordance with the setting operation on the transfer setting screen 77 of FIG. 11, when returning to the screen display of FIG. 8, the control unit 70 also changes the display content of the second transfer information display unit 763 accordingly.

[0188] Subsequently, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, a second embodiment of the transfer setting screen 77 will be described in detail. In this second embodiment, instead of the wafer inversion setting button 82 and the wafer inversion setting button 87 in the first embodiment (FIGS. 10 and 11), a wafer transfer setting button 90 is arranged in the first transfer information display unit 78, and a wafer transfer setting button 91 is arranged in the second transfer information display unit 79. The wafer holding direction setting button 81 and the wafer transfer setting button 91 constitute a first setting unit for setting the movement of the robot 20 when the operator touches the first transfer information display unit 78 to transfer the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30. The wafer holding direction setting button 86 and the wafer transfer setting button 91 constitute a second setting unit for setting the movement of the robot 20 when the operator touches the second transfer information display unit 79 to transfer the wafer W from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18.

[0189] The wafer transfer setting button 90 in the first transfer information display unit 78 is composed of a fifth button 901 for setting the operation that the robot hand 22 moves upward when transferring the wafer W to the temporary placement table 30, and a sixth button 902 for setting the operation that the robot hand 22 moves downward.

[0190] On the fifth button 901 and the sixth button 902 of the wafer transfer setting button 90, in addition to the illustration showing the wafer W and the illustration showing the robot hand 22 and the arrow indicating its moving direction, an illustration showing the temporary placement table 30 is shown. These illustrations enable visual identification of how the robot hand 22 operates with respect to the temporary placement table 30 to transfer the wafer W. Furthermore, the character "Upper Placement" meaning to perform upper placement is described on the fifth button 901, and the character "Lower Punching" meaning to perform lower punching is described on the sixth button 902, and the operation of the robot hand 22 can also be identified by the character information.

[0191] The wafer transfer setting button 91 of the second transfer information display unit 79 is composed of a fifth button 911 with setting content for the robot hand 22 to perform an upper placement operation when transferring the wafer W to the second cassette 18, and a sixth button 912 with setting content for the robot hand 22 to perform a lower punching operation.

[0192] On the fifth button 911 and the sixth button 912 of the wafer transfer setting button 91, in addition to the illustration showing the wafer W and the illustration showing the robot hand 22 and the arrow indicating its moving direction, illustrations showing the shelves (partition shelf plates 122, full surface shelf plates 132) in each of the cassettes 17, 18 are shown. These illustrations enable visual identification of how the robot hand 22 operates with respect to the second cassette 18 to transfer the wafer W. Furthermore, the character "Upper Placement" meaning to perform upper placement is described on the fifth button 911, and the character "Lower Punching" meaning to perform lower punching is described on the sixth button 912, and the operation of the robot hand 22 can also be identified by the character information.

[0193] In the second embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77 with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, the configuration set on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9) is the same as that in the first embodiment (FIGS. 10 and 11) described above, and the use of the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) in the robot 20, the use of the standard cassette 120 in the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18, and the use of the small-diameter table 150 in the spinner table 36 are selected.

[0194] In the conveyance setting of the first conveyance information display section 78 shown in FIG. 12, a processing condition that the wafer W is accommodated in the first cassette 17 in a second orientation with the back surface Wb facing downward is input to the control unit 70. In response to this information, under the control of the control unit 70, the first conveyance information display section 78 displays the wafer W in the second orientation on the cassette information icon 80.

[0195] In the first conveyance information display section 78 shown in FIG. 12, the operator touches the second button 812 of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 to select that the robot hand 170 holds the wafer W in the first cassette 17 by picking it up. When using the robot hand 170, since the transfer of the wafer W to the temporary table 30 is limited to placing it on top, the control unit 70 does not accept the operator's operation input to the wafer transfer setting button 90, and controls to automatically select the fifth button 901 for the setting of placing it on top, and makes it impossible to select the under-drawing operation by operating the sixth button 902.

[0196] In order for the robot hand 170 to pick up the wafer W in the first cassette 17 and place the wafer W on the temporary table 30 as set, the robot 20 needs to perform an inversion operation of the wafer W during conveyance. That is, the operation of the robot 20 is the same as the operation performed in the conveyance setting of the first conveyance information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, when the conveyance setting of the first conveyance information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 12 is determined, the control unit 70 determines that an operation setting for the robot 20 to invert the wafer W is performed when conveying the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary table 30, and controls the operation of the robot 20.

[0197] In the conveyance setting of the second conveyance information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 12, since the operation of receiving the wafer W by the robot hand 170 from the spinner table 36 is limited to picking up, the control unit 70 makes it a state where it does not accept the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86, and controls it to automatically select the first button 861 with the setting content of picking up, and makes it impossible to select the picking-down operation by operating the second button 862. Also, the operator touches and operates the sixth button 912 of the wafer transfer setting button 91 and selects to perform the transfer of the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the second cassette 18 by the operation of picking out.

[0198] In order for the robot hand 170 to pick up the wafer W from the spinner table 36 and deliver the wafer W to the second cassette 18 by picking out as set, the robot 20 needs to perform an inversion operation of the wafer W during conveyance. That is, the operation of the robot 20 is the same as the operation performed in the conveyance setting of the second conveyance information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, when the conveyance setting of the second conveyance information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 12 is determined, the control unit 70 determines that an operation setting for the robot 20 to invert the wafer W is performed when conveying the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18, and controls the operation of the robot 20.

[0199] Further, based on the determination to invert the wafer W, the control unit 70 updates the display content of the cassette information icon 85, and causes an illustrative display indicating that the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in a second orientation with the back surface Wb as the lower surface.

[0200] FIG. 13 shows different examples of transfer settings in the second embodiment of the transfer setting screen 77. In the transfer setting of the first transfer information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 13, a processing condition that the wafer W is accommodated in the first cassette 17 in a first orientation with the back surface Wb facing upward is input to the control unit 70. In response to the information, under the control of the control unit 70, the first transfer information display unit 78 displays the wafer W in the first orientation on the cassette information icon 80.

[0201] In the first transfer information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 13, the operator touches the first button 811 of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and selects that the robot hand 170 holds the wafer W in the first cassette 17 by picking up. When using the robot hand 170, since the transfer of the wafer W to the temporary table 30 is limited to placing it on top, the control unit 70 does not accept the operator's operation input to the wafer transfer setting button 90, and controls to automatically select the fifth button 901 for the setting of placing it on top, and makes it impossible to select the downward extraction operation by operating the sixth button 902.

[0202] In order for the robot hand 170 to pick up the wafer W in the first cassette 17 and place the wafer W on the temporary table 30 as set, the robot 20 needs to transfer the wafer W without inverting it. That is, the operation of the robot 20 is the same as the operation performed in the transfer setting of the first transfer information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 11. Therefore, when the transfer setting of the first transfer information display unit 78 shown in FIG. 13 is determined, the control unit 70 determines that an operation setting is performed such that the robot 20 does not invert the wafer W when transferring the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary table 30, and controls the operation of the robot 20.

[0203] In the transfer setting of the second transfer information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 13, since the operation of receiving the wafer W by the robot hand 170 from the spinner table 36 is limited to picking up, the control unit 70 makes it impossible to receive the operator's operation input to the wafer holding direction setting button 86, and controls to automatically select the first button 861 for the setting content of picking up, and makes it impossible to select the picking-down operation by operating the second button 862. In addition, the operator touches and operates the fifth button 911 of the wafer transfer setting button 91 to select to transfer the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the second cassette 18 in an upward placement operation.

[0204] According to the said setting, in order for the robot hand 170 to pick up the wafer W from the spinner table 36 and transfer the wafer W to the second cassette 18 in an upward placement, the robot 20 needs to transfer the wafer W without inverting it. That is, the operation of the robot 20 is the same as the operation performed in the transfer setting of the second transfer information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 11. Therefore, when the transfer setting of the second transfer information display unit 79 shown in FIG. 13 is determined, the control unit 70 determines that an operation setting is performed such that the robot 20 does not invert the wafer W when transferring the wafer W from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18, and controls the operation of the robot 20.

[0205] In addition, based on the determination that the wafer W is not inverted, the control unit 70 updates the display content of the cassette information icon 85 to make the display content that the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in the first orientation with the back surface Wb as the upper surface.

[0206] As described above, in the second embodiment of the transfer setting screen 77 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, without using the display and operation concepts of inversion, by specifying the upward or downward placement of the wafer W with respect to the temporary placement table 30 and the second cassette 18 as the transfer destination, it is possible to perform the operation setting of the robot 20 including whether or not to invert the wafer W.

[0207] Next, with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, a third embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77 will be described in detail. In this third embodiment, instead of the cassette information icons 80 and 85 in the second embodiment (FIGS. 12 and 13), a cassette information icon 92 is arranged in the first conveyance information display section 78, and a cassette information icon 93 is arranged in the second conveyance information display section 79.

[0208] Similar to the cassette information icon 80 in the first and second embodiments, the cassette information icon 92 includes an illustration of the first cassette 17 and an illustration of the wafer W, and the orientation of the back surface Wb, which is the surface to be ground of the wafer W, is indicated by a dashed-line illustration. Further, a surface setting section 921 arranged above the illustration of the wafer W and a surface setting section 922 arranged below the illustration of the wafer W are provided accompanying the cassette information icon 92. The surface setting section 921 and the surface setting section 922 are setting sections for setting whether the back surface Wb of the wafer W accommodated in the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15 is on the upper or lower side.

[0209] Similar to the cassette information icon 85 in the first and second embodiments, the cassette information icon 93 includes an illustration of the second cassette 18 and an illustration of the wafer W, and the orientation of the back surface Wb, which is the surface to be ground of the wafer W, is indicated by a dashed-line illustration. Further, a surface setting section 931 arranged above the illustration of the wafer W and a surface setting section 932 arranged below the illustration of the wafer W are provided accompanying the cassette information icon 93. The surface setting section 931 and the surface setting section 932 are setting sections for setting whether the back surface Wb of the wafer W accommodated in the second cassette 18 placed on the second cassette stage 16 is on the upper or lower side.

[0210] The surface setting units 921, 922, 931, and 932 are each operation buttons that can be input by an operator's touch operation, and the selected button by the touch operation can be indicated by changing the display mode such as a change in display color, blinking, or a change in button shape. In the display example of FIG. 14, the outline of the button of the surface setting unit selected by the operator's touch operation is shown by a dashed line. Also, in the display example of FIG. 15, the outline of the button of the surface setting unit automatically selected under the control of the control unit 70 is shown by a double frame line. Further, the characters "Grind Side" are displayed on the surface setting units 921, 922, 931, and 932 respectively.

[0211] The conveyance setting shown in FIG. 14 is a setting example when, as a configuration set on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9), the use of the robot hand 170 (O-type - 2) in the robot 20, the use of the standard cassette 120 in the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18, and the use of the small-diameter table 150 in the spinner table 36 are selected, similar to the first and second embodiments described above.

[0212] In the conveyance setting of FIG. 14, the operator touches the surface setting unit 922 of the cassette information icon 92 on the first conveyance information display unit 78 to specify that the wafer W is to be housed in the first cassette 17 in the second orientation with the back surface Wb facing downward. The control unit 70 updates the display of the cassette information icon 92, displays the wafer W in the second orientation, and displays the state in which the surface setting unit 922 is selected. Then, the control unit 70 that has received the designation of the orientation of the wafer W automatically sets the operation of the robot 20 based on the conveyance setting data (FIG. 7) and the configuration set on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9).

[0213] Specifically, the form of the transfer of the wafer W from the robot hand 170 to the temporary placement table 30 is limited to face-up placement. Since the wafer W needs to be held in the temporary placement table 30 with the back surface Wb facing upward in the first orientation, the robot 20 needs to invert the wafer W during the transfer from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30. In order to invert the wafer W and place it on the temporary placement table 30 in a face-up manner, the robot hand 170 needs to hold the wafer W in a bottom-pickup manner within the first cassette 17. To meet these requirements, the control unit 70 automatically selects the second button 812 with the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and sets it to bottom-pickup, and automatically selects the fifth button 901 with the wafer transfer setting button 90 and sets it to face-up placement. For the wafer holding direction setting button 81 and the wafer transfer setting button 90, the control unit 70 displays the content automatically selected by the control unit 70 without accepting the operator's operation input.

[0214] Also, in the transfer setting of FIG. 14, the operator touches the surface setting unit 932 of the cassette information icon 93 with the second transfer information display unit 79 to specify that the wafer W is accommodated in the second cassette 18 in the second orientation with the back surface Wb facing downward. The control unit 70 updates the display of the cassette information icon 93, displays the wafer W in the second orientation, and displays the state in which the surface setting unit 932 is selected. Then, the control unit 70 that has received the specification of the orientation of the wafer W automatically sets the operation of the robot 20 based on the transfer setting data (FIG. 7) and the configuration set on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9).

[0215] Specifically, the operation of holding the wafer W on the spinner table 36 (small-diameter table 150) with the robot hand 170 is limited to picking up. On the spinner table 36, the wafer W is held in a first orientation with its back surface Wb facing upward. During the transfer from the spinner table 36 to the second cassette 18, the robot 20 needs to invert the wafer W. If the robot hand 170 holding the wafer W on the spinner table 36 in a pick-up manner is inverted during transfer, the delivery of the wafer W in the second cassette 18 will be a drop-through. To meet these requirements, the control unit 70 automatically selects the first button 861 with the wafer holding direction setting button 86 and sets it to pick-up, and automatically selects the sixth button 912 with the wafer delivery setting button 91 and sets it to drop-through. The control unit 70 displays the content automatically selected by the control unit 70 without accepting the operator's operation input for the wafer holding direction setting button 86 and the wafer delivery setting button 91.

[0216] As described above, in the transfer setting shown in FIG. 14, when the orientation of the wafer W is selected by a touch operation on either of the surface setting parts 921, 922 of the cassette information icon 92 and either of the surface setting parts 931, 932 of the cassette information icon 93, the control unit 70 automatically sets the optimal operation for the other operations of the robot 20. And the control unit 70 displays the content automatically selected by the control unit 70 without accepting the operator's operation input for the wafer holding direction setting buttons 81, 86 and the wafer delivery setting buttons 90, 91. That is, the wafer holding direction setting buttons 81, 86 and the wafer delivery setting buttons 90, 91 are used as a display unit that visibly displays the operation content selected by the control unit 70.

[0217] The transfer settings shown in FIG. 15 are configured as settings on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9). Different from the above-described first and second embodiments, the use of the robot hand 160 (O-type - 1) in the robot 20 and the use of the shelf cassette 130 in the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18 are selected. Regarding the spinner table 36, no matter which of the large-diameter table 140 and the small-diameter table 150 is selected for use, the content of the control by the control unit 70 described below remains unchanged.

[0218] In this configuration setting, as shown in the transfer setting data of FIG. 7, the selection of the operation of the robot 20 is the most restricted. The robot hand 160 can only pick up the wafer W held on the first cassette 17 and the spinner table 36 and place it on the wafer W with respect to the temporary placement table 30 and the second cassette 18. Also, since the inversion when the robot 20 transports the wafer W cannot be selected, the orientations of the wafers W in the first cassette 17 and the second cassette 18 are each restricted to only the first orientation with the back surface Wb facing upward.

[0219] Therefore, at the stage when the configuration setting is performed on the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9), it is no longer necessary for the operator to select on the transfer setting screen 77, and the control unit 70 automatically sets the operation of the robot 20. The control unit 70 does not accept the operator's operation input in all areas of the transfer setting screen 77, makes the selection of operations that cannot be set unavailable, and displays the automatically set operation content of the robot 20 on the wafer holding direction setting buttons 81, 86 and the wafer transfer setting buttons 90, 91. Also, the control unit 70 updates the respective displays of the cassette information icons 92, 93, displays the wafer W in the first orientation, and displays the state in which the surface setting units 921, 931 are automatically selected.

[0220] As described above, in the third embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77, there are surface setting units 921, 922, 931, and 932 for setting whether the surface to be processed or the processed surface (i.e., the back surface Wb) of the wafer W accommodated in the cassettes 17 and 18 is on the top or bottom. For parts where a predetermined operation of the robot 20 is determined according to the settings in the surface setting units 921, 922, 931, and 932 as in the conveyance setting of FIG. 14, the control unit 70 performs automatic setting, thereby reducing the operator's workload and realizing an efficient and optimized conveyance setting. Further, as in the conveyance setting of FIG. 15, when the settings in the surface setting units 921, 922, 931, and 932 are also automatically determined according to the configuration settings in the configuration setting screen 100 (FIG. 9), the control unit 70 can automatically set all the settings in the conveyance setting screen 77.

[0221] Even when automatically setting part or all of the setting contents in the conveyance setting screen 77, as in FIGS. 14 and 15, by displaying the contents selected on the conveyance setting screen 77, the operator can visually identify the up and down orientation of the wafer W and the operation of the robot 20.

[0222] As described above, in the processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, on the touch panel 71, an illustration of the surface to be processed (back surface Wb) of the wafer W before processing is displayed for the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15, and an illustration of the processed surface (back surface Wb) of the wafer W when the wafer W is conveyed from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18 placed on the second cassette stage 16 is displayed (the first conveyance information display unit 762, the second conveyance information display unit 763, the first conveyance information display unit 78, the second conveyance information display unit 79).

[0223] More specifically, the above display unit of the touch panel 71 displays cassette information icons 80, 85, 92, and 93. The orientations of the front surfaces of the wafers W accommodated in the first cassette 17 before being processed are illustratively shown in the cassette information icons 80 and 92. Thereby, the operator can easily recognize the operation settings of the robot 20 (particularly, whether or not to invert the wafer W) when transporting the wafer W from the first cassette 17 to the temporary placement table 30. Also, the orientations of the processed surfaces of the wafers W accommodated in the second cassette 18 are illustratively shown in the cassette information icons 85 and 93. Thereby, the operator can easily recognize the operation settings of the robot 20 (particularly, whether or not to invert the wafer W) when transporting the wafer W from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18.

[0224] Therefore, the operator can be made to appropriately and quickly perform the transfer settings of the robot 20, and the workability of the settings is significantly improved. The operator sets and changes the transfer operation of the wafer W by the robot 20 based on the vertical orientations of the wafers W in each of the cassettes 17 and 18. Thus, the information display on the cassette information icons 80, 85, 92, and 93 is, in a broad sense, included in the information display regarding the movement of the robot 20.

[0225] The touch panel 71 also includes a first setting unit (wafer holding direction setting button 81, wafer inversion setting button 82, wafer transfer setting button 90) for setting the movement of the robot 20 when transporting the wafer W from the first cassette 17 placed on the first cassette stage 15 to the temporary placement table 30, and a second setting unit (wafer holding direction setting button 86, wafer transfer setting button 91) for setting the movement of the robot 20 when transporting the wafer W from the cleaning mechanism 35 to the second cassette 18 placed on the second cassette stage 16.

[0226] On the conveyance setting screen 77, the part for displaying the movement of the robot 20 is made into buttons for setting operations that constitute the first setting unit and the second setting unit, and the operation system is such that the movement of the robot 20 is set by touching the button. Therefore, it has become easier to change the setting of the movement of the robot 20 and improve the work efficiency of the operator. Also, the movement of the robot 20 is displayed by illustrations (icons) and characters, making it easy for the operator to intuitively identify.

[0227] In the third embodiment of the conveyance setting screen 77 shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, further, as display elements on the touch panel 71, there are provided surface setting units 921, 922, 931, 932 for setting whether the surface (back surface Wb) to be processed or the processed surface (back surface Wb) of the wafer W accommodated in each cassette 17, 18 placed on each cassette stage 15, 16 is on the upper or lower side. By the display and setting via the surface setting units 921, 922, 931, 932, the operator can more clearly grasp the orientation of the wafer W.

[0228] Also, it has configuration settings that can be selected by input to the configuration setting screen 100, and the control unit 70 makes the movements that cannot be set in the setting input on the conveyance setting screen 77 unselectable according to the configuration settings. Then, the control unit 70 automatically selects the movements that can be selected. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the work burden of the operator and make the conveyance setting of the robot 20 easier and faster.

[0229] On the touch panel 71, illustrations such as the robot 20 (robot information icon), the cleaning mechanism (spinner information icon) 35, the cassette information icon 80, and the cassette information icon 85 in the fifth display area 76 are set as buttons for switching the screen to the configuration setting screen 100.

[0230] Also, after the setting on the configuration setting screen 100, the first conveyance information display unit 762 and the second conveyance information display unit 763 in the fifth display area 76 of the touch panel 71 may be set as buttons for switching the screen to the conveyance setting screen 77.

[0231] By using the screen display in this way, in the device layout diagram 761 of the fifth display area 76, the display content around each cassette 17, 18 and the robot 20 is simple and easy to view. On the other hand, in the configuration setting screen 100 and the conveyance setting screen 77, the selection menu for configuration settings, the information on the orientation of the wafer W in the cassette information icon, various operation buttons for setting the operation of the robot 20, etc. are displayed large, so that the orientation of the wafer W in each cassette 17, 18 and the operation setting of the robot 20 can be easily and surely confirmed.

[0232] In the temporary table 30 of the processing apparatus 10, there is a limitation that the back surface Wb of the wafer W becomes the upper surface. Also, similarly, the chuck table 42 that conveys the wafer W next to the temporary table 30 needs to hold the back surface Wb of the wafer W as the upper surface and perform grinding. And the first transfer mechanism 40 that transfers the wafer W from the temporary table 30 to the chuck table 42 does not have a function of inverting the wafer W. Therefore, if the surface Wa (protection member H) of the wafer W is held as the upper surface on the temporary table 30 without observing the above limitation, in the grinding process performed by holding the wafer W on the chuck table 42, the surface Wa (protection member H) of the wafer W will be ground with the grinding wheel 55, and the processing condition of grinding the back surface Wb will not be satisfied.

[0233] As an option to prevent such problems, by changing the illustration display of the cassette information icon on the conveyance setting screen 77, when the wafer W is conveyed to the temporary table 30, the operator can recognize whether the vertical orientation of the wafer W is appropriate.

[0234] For example, different from the operation example shown in FIG. 11, when the operator touches and operates the second button 812 of the wafer holding direction setting button 81 to instruct the take-down of the wafer W, and touches and operates the third button 821 of the wafer inversion setting button 82 to instruct the execution of the inversion of the wafer W, when the robot 20 conveys the wafer W to the temporary placement table 30, the back surface Wb of the wafer W is placed on the temporary placement table 30 with the back surface as the lower surface. When such an inappropriate conveyance setting is made regarding the up and down orientation of the wafer W, the control unit 70 changes the display to switch the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W of the cassette information icon 80, and by displaying the back surface Wb of the wafer W on the lower side, the operator can be made aware that the setting is incorrect.

[0235] Alternatively, when the above inappropriate conveyance setting is made, the control unit 70 may fix the back surface Wb of the wafer W in the cassette information icon 80 in the downward orientation (without performing the display switching of the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W indicating that the setting is incorrect), and instead, notify the operator that the setting is incorrect by means of character display on the touch panel 71 or voice output from the speaker.

[0236] In the processing apparatus 10 of the above embodiment, the first cassette 17 for accommodating the wafer W before processing and the second cassette 18 for accommodating the wafer W after processing are separated, but it is also possible to apply it to a processing apparatus having only one cassette installed on the cassette stage. That is, the cassette for accommodating the wafer W before processing and the cassette for accommodating the wafer W after processing may be a common cassette, and the processing apparatus may include only one cassette stage. Alternatively, it is also possible to apply it to a processing apparatus in which the robot distributes and conveys to three or more cassettes.

[0237] In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the robot 20 selectively uses four types of robot hands has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to a robot of a type that does not replace the robot hand. When selectively using a plurality of types of robot hands, the variations in the operating conditions of the robot increase, and the conditions related to the operation setting and operation change of the robot become complicated. Therefore, applying the present invention is particularly useful for improving the work efficiency of the operator. However, even when only one type of robot hand is used, it is possible to obtain the effect of improving the work efficiency of the operator by displaying the movement of the robot and the state of the wafer in the cassette.

[0238] Alternatively, the present invention can also be applied to a processing apparatus provided with a robot capable of replacing five or more types of robot hands. As described above, the more types of robot hands there are, the more variations in the operation of the robot there are. Therefore, the present invention, which facilitates changing the setting of the movement of the robot, is highly useful.

[0239] In the example of the transfer setting screen 77 shown in FIGS. 10 to 15, character information such as "pick-up", "drop-off", "invert", "do not invert", "place on top", and "remove from below" is additionally displayed on each button for setting the operation of the robot 20. However, the movement of the robot 20 may be displayed only with graphic information such as icons and illustrations without including the character information. Conversely, on each button of the transfer setting screen 77, the movement of the robot 20 may be displayed only with character information.

[0240] In the first embodiment of the transfer setting screen 77 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the illustrations of the wafer W and the robot hand 22 displayed on the wafer inversion setting buttons 82 and 87 are in a positional relationship where the robot hand 22 is located above the wafer W (a positional relationship corresponding to picking up the wafer W). However, the display content of the wafer inversion setting buttons 82 and 87 may be dynamically changed according to the setting content of picking up or placing down the wafer W on the wafer holding direction setting buttons 81 and 82. For example, when the operator touches the second buttons 812 and 862 of the wafer holding direction setting buttons 81 and 86 to select placing down the wafer W, the illustrations of the wafer W and the robot hand 22 displayed on the wafer inversion setting buttons 82 and 87 may be changed to be displayed in a positional relationship where the robot hand 22 is located below the wafer W (a positional relationship corresponding to placing down the wafer W).

[0241] In the transfer setting screen 77 of the above embodiment, the control unit 70 automatically makes the movements that cannot be set unselectable according to the configuration settings of the processing apparatus 10. However, it is also possible to adopt a form in which such automatic unselectable control is not performed. For example, when the types of the cassettes 17 and 18, the type of the robot hand 22, and the type of the spinner table 36 are few, simply displaying an illustration showing the vertical orientation of the wafer W and an illustration showing the movement of the robot 20 on the touch panel 71 can provide useful information regarding the transfer setting, and can obtain the effect of reducing the work burden by allowing the operator to perform an appropriate transfer setting.

[0242] Therefore, by at least illustratively displaying the processed surface (back surface Wb) of the wafer W, which is the workpiece, on a predetermined display portion of the touch panel 71, the operator can appropriately recognize the orientation of the processed surface of the wafer W, and the effect of facilitating the confirmation and change of the movement setting of the robot 20 can be obtained.

[0243] Note that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and various changes, substitutions, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the technical idea of the present invention. Furthermore, if the technical idea of the present invention can be realized in another way by technological progress or another derived technology, the method may be used for implementation. Therefore, the scope of the claims covers all embodiments that can be included within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

Industrial Applicability

[0244] As described above, the processing apparatus of the present invention includes a touch panel having a display unit for illustratively displaying the surface to be processed or the processed surface of the workpiece, which facilitates confirmation and change of the movement settings of the robot by the operator and contributes to an improvement in the working efficiency of the processing apparatus that carries in and out the workpiece with respect to the cassette by the robot.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0245] 10: Processing apparatus 15: First cassette stage 16: Second cassette stage 17: First cassette 18: Second cassette 20: Robot 21: Movable support portion 22: Robot hand 30: Temporary placement table 31: Alignment pin 35: Cleaning mechanism 36: Spinner table 40: First transfer mechanism 41: Second transfer mechanism 42: Chuck table 43: Holding surface 50: Grinding mechanism (processing mechanism) 51: Spindle unit 52: Spindle 54: Grinding wheel 55: Grinding stone 60: Lifting mechanism 70: Control Unit 71: Touch Panel 72: First Display Area 73: Second Display Area 74: Third Display Area 75: Fourth Display Area 76: Fifth Display Area 761: Equipment Schematic Diagram 762: First Conveyance Information Display Section (Display Section) 763: Second Conveyance Information Display Section (Display Section) 77: Conveyance Setting Screen 78: First Conveyance Information Display Section (Display Section) 79: Second Conveyance Information Display Section (Display Section) 80: Cassette Information Icon 81: Wafer Holding Direction Setting Button (First Setting Section) 811: First Button 812: Second Button 82: Wafer Inversion Setting Button (First Setting Section) 821: Third Button 822: Fourth Button 85: Cassette Information Icon 86: Wafer Holding Direction Setting Button (Second Setting Section) 861: First Button 862: Second Button 87: Wafer Inversion Setting Button (Second Setting Section) 871: Third Button 872: Fourth Button 90: Wafer Transfer Setting Button (First Setting Section) 901: Fifth Button 902: Sixth Button 91: Wafer Transfer Setting Button (Second Setting Section) 911: Fifth Button 912: Sixth Button 92: Cassette Information Icon 921: Plane Setting Section 922: Plane Setting Section 93: Cassette Information Icon 931: Plane Setting Section 932: Surface setting section 100: Configuration setting screen (Configuration setting) 101: Robot configuration display section 102: Spinner table configuration display section 103: Cassette configuration display section 120: Standard cassette 130: Shelf cassette 140: Large-diameter table (Spinner table) 141: Holding surface 150: Small-diameter table (Spinner table) 151: Holding surface 160: Robot hand 170: Robot hand 180: Robot hand 184: Notch 190: Robot hand 194: Notch H: Protection member W: Wafer (Workpiece) Wa: Surface of the wafer Wb: Back surface of the wafer (Surface to be processed, Processed surface)

Claims

1. A processing apparatus comprising: a cassette stage on which a cassette capable of accommodating a workpiece is placed; a temporary placement table for temporarily placing the workpiece; a chuck table for holding the workpiece; a processing mechanism for processing the workpiece held by the chuck table; a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the workpiece; a robot equipped with a robot hand for transporting the workpiece to the cassette placed on the cassette stage, the temporary placement table, and the cleaning mechanism; and a touch panel, wherein the touch panel, illustrates the surface of the workpiece to be processed before processing on the cassette placed on the cassette stage, and comprises a display unit for illustratively displaying the processed surface of the workpiece when the workpiece is transported from the cleaning mechanism to the cassette placed on the cassette stage.

2. The touch panel touches the display unit to set a first setting unit for setting the movement of the robot when transporting the workpiece from the cassette placed on the cassette stage to the temporary placement table, and set a second setting unit for setting the movement of the robot when transporting the workpiece from the cleaning mechanism to the cassette placed on the cassette stage, The processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. Comprising configuration settings, The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the movement that cannot be set is made unselectable by the configuration settings.

4. The touch panel according to claim 1 or claim 3, comprising a surface setting unit for setting whether the surface to be processed or the processed surface of the workpiece accommodated in the cassette placed on the cassette stage is upper or lower.

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