Wafer carrier sorting device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wafer carrier sorting device, comprising a turnover platform assembly, a lifting / lowering platform assembly, a storage area, and a wafer fork assembly. The turnover platform assembly comprises a turnover platform and a turnover driving mechanism driving the turnover platform to rotate between a first limit position and a second limit position. The turnover platform is provided with at least one storage position for fixing a wafer carrier, and when the turnover platform is at the first limit position, wafers in the wafer carrier at the storage position of the turnover platform are placed approximately horizontally; and when the turnover platform is at the second limit position, wafers in the wafer carrier at the storage position of the turnover platform are placed approximately vertically. The lifting / lowering platform assembly comprises a lifting / lowering platform provided below the turnover platform, a roller horizontally provided on the lifting / lowering platform, a rotation driving mechanism driving the roller to rotate, and a lifting / lowering driving mechanism. The lifting / lowering driving mechanism is transmittingly connected to the lifting / lowering platform and is used for driving the lifting / lowering platform to ascend so that the roller thereon vertically abuts against wafers on the turnover platform at the second position.

Description

Wafer conveying box arrangement device TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing process, and in particular to a wafer conveying box arrangement device. BACKGROUND

[0002] The edge of a wafer includes a round edge and a flat edge, also known as a positioning edge. The flat edge is formed by cutting the silicon ingot with a diamond saw before the silicon wafer is cut into individual wafers. The cut wafer presents an arcuate shape, and the arcuate chord is the flat edge. The flat edge has the following important functions:

[0003] Positioning and alignment: The flat edge helps the equipment to accurately position and align the silicon wafer during the manufacturing process, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of subsequent processing steps. This is because accurate control is crucial in the chip manufacturing process, and the presence of the flat edge provides a physical reference and positioning point for this process.

[0004] Crystal direction identification: The position and number of flat edges are closely related to the crystal direction of the silicon wafer. By observing the configuration of the flat edges, the crystal direction type of the silicon wafer can be quickly determined, such as <111>, <110>, or <100>. This is very important for ensuring the performance and reliability of the chip, as different crystal directions will affect the physical and chemical properties of the material.

[0005] Currently, wafer flat edge alignment is achieved by a rotating roller that abuts the wafer surface of the wafer conveying box. The end of the rotating roller is connected to a handle. When adjusting the wafer position, the worker usually rotates the handle to make the wafer abutting the rotating roller start to rotate, until the flat edges on each wafer are aligned with the outer wall of the rotating roller. After that, the wafer is sent to the loading equipment of the vertical chemical deposition furnace for loading. The conventional loading equipment mainly includes a wafer conveying box handling robot and a wafer handling robot.

[0006] Due to manual adjustment of the rotating roller, the position of the wafer after adjustment needs to be checked manually to avoid the wafer position not being adjusted in place. In addition, the efficiency of wafer adjustment depends on the skill level of the worker, which leads to a gap between manual operation and subsequent robot operation, and the loading efficiency of the vertical chemical deposition furnace is not stable enough.

[0007] It is necessary to improve and optimize the existing wafer flat edge alignment device to better meet user needs. SUMMARY

[0008] The wafer conveying box arrangement device aims at the shortcomings of the prior art structure, and can realize automatic flat edge alignment and automatic assembly line operation of the aligned feeding, and improves the production efficiency.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purposes, the wafer conveying box arrangement device is realized by the following technical scheme:

[0010] The wafer conveying box arrangement device relates to a wafer conveying box for loading an arc-shaped wafer, the wafer conveying box has a cavity penetrating from top to bottom and used for inserting the wafer, and the lower opening of the cavity is smaller than the upper opening and can prevent the wafer from falling off; the wafer conveying box arrangement device comprises:

[0011] The turnover table assembly comprises a turnover table and a turnover driving mechanism for driving the turnover table to turn between a first limit position and a second limit position; the turnover table is provided with at least one storage position for selectively fixing the wafer conveying box, and the wafer in the wafer conveying box on the storage position of the turnover table is placed horizontally when the turnover table is in the first limit position; the wafer in the wafer conveying box on the storage position of the turnover table is placed vertically when the turnover table is in the second limit position;

[0012] The lifting table assembly comprises a lifting table arranged below the turnover table, a plurality of supporting rollers horizontally arranged on the lifting table, a rotating driving mechanism for driving the supporting rollers to rotate, and a lifting driving mechanism; the lifting driving mechanism is in transmission connection with the lifting table and is used for driving the lifting table to rise so that the supporting rollers on the lifting table can vertically abut and lift the wafer outer edge on the turnover table in the second position;

[0013] The storage area is provided with a plurality of wafer conveying box storage positions;

[0014] The wafer conveying box mechanical arm assembly can move between the turnover table and each wafer conveying box storage position of the storage area, so as to correspondingly grab or place the wafer conveying box.

[0015] Further preferably, a groove roller is further arranged on the lifting table in parallel with the supporting rollers, the groove roller and the supporting rollers are driven to synchronously rotate by the rotating driving mechanism, and a plurality of grooves are uniformly arranged on the circumferential surface of the groove roller; when the lifting driving mechanism drives the lifting table to rise, the wafer in the wafer conveying box on the turnover table in the second position is just embedded in the groove of the groove roller, and can be simultaneously supported by the groove bottom and the supporting rollers.

[0016] Further preferably, the lifting platform is further provided with a wafer counting device, the wafer counting device comprising a 2*n close proximity pair sensor array: in two columns, the transmitting end and the receiving end are staggered and uniformly spaced in each column, and the transmitting end and the receiving end in each column form a pair of sensors; in n rows, a transmitting end is arranged in the first row, a receiving end is arranged in the last row, and a transmitting end and a receiving end are arranged in the remaining rows; in addition, when the lifting drive mechanism drives the lifting platform to rise, the wafer in the wafer transport box on the turnover platform in the second position just enters between the rows of the close proximity pair sensor array.

[0017] Further preferably, the wafer counting device further comprises a circuit board and a column of wedge-shaped blocks fixed on the circuit board, the transmitting end and the receiving end are connected to the circuit board, and the wedge-shaped blocks and the close proximity pair sensor array form a 3*n array: a transmitting end and a wedge-shaped block are arranged in the first row, a receiving end and a wedge-shaped block are arranged in the last row, and the wedge-shaped blocks in the remaining rows are arranged between the transmitting end and the receiving end; the top end of the wedge-shaped block is higher than the top end of the transmitting end and the receiving end.

[0018] Further preferably, the turnover platform is provided with a clamping mechanism for clamping the wafer transport box.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present application are: by designing the storage area and the flat edge alignment device, not only automatic flat edge alignment can be realized, but also automatic assembly line operation is realized, and the production efficiency is improved. The device is fully automated, improves the efficiency, reduces the labor cost, and is safer to operate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] The above features and advantages of the present application will become more apparent and easily understood from the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0021] Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a wafer transport box arrangement device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a wafer transport box arrangement device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a turnover platform assembly and a lifting platform assembly according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of a turnover platform assembly and a lifting platform assembly according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of a lifting platform assembly according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a wafer counting device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Fig. 7 is a top view of a wafer counting device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the wafer transfer box robot of the embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present application from the disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0030] The terms such as "front", "back", "left", "right", "inner", "outer" and the like in the specification are only for the convenience of clear description, not to limit the scope of the present application, and the change or adjustment of the relative relationship is also considered as the implementation of the present application without substantial change of the technical content.

[0031] In the description of the following embodiments, unless otherwise specifically defined and limited, the term "connection" and the like should be understood broadly, for example, "connection" can be fixed connection, or detachable connection, or integral; can be mechanical connection, or indirect connection through intermediate medium, can be internal communication of two elements or interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise specifically limited. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0032] Referring to Figures 1-4, the embodiment of the present application relates to a specific wafer transfer box 1, which is uniformly provided with grooves on the opposite two side walls, and a cavity for inserting and mounting wafers is formed between the two side walls, and the lower opening of the cavity is smaller than the upper opening and can prevent the wafer from falling off.

[0033] Referring to Figures 1-8, the wafer transfer box arrangement device in the embodiment includes:

[0034] The turnover table assembly 3

[0035] Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, the turnover table assembly 3 includes a turnover table 31, a turnover driving mechanism 32 and a clamping mechanism 33.

[0036] The turnover table 31 is provided with two storage positions for fixing the wafer transfer box, the storage position and the lower opening part of the wafer transfer box are adaptively shaped, so that the wafer transfer box can be placed on the turnover table with the lower opening exposed, and the clamping mechanism 33 is arranged beside the storage position for clamping the wafer transfer box. In the embodiment, the clamping mechanism 33 is a clamping block driven by a pneumatic cylinder, which can clamp the wafer transfer box in cooperation with the baffle on the other side of the storage position.

[0037] The turnover driving mechanism 32 is in transmission connection with the turnover table 31, and drives the turnover table 31 to turn between the first limit position and the second limit position. When the turnover table 31 is in the first limit position, the wafers in the wafer transport box 1 in the storage position of the turnover table 31 are placed horizontally. When the turnover table 31 is in the second limit position, the wafers in the wafer transport box 1 in the storage position of the turnover table 31 are placed vertically. It is particularly pointed out here that the wafers do not need to be absolutely vertical or horizontal in the first limit position and the second limit position. For example, in the first limit position, the wafer transport box can have a slight inclination to avoid the wafers from sliding out of the opening, but it must meet the requirements that the robot can horizontally pick up the wafers in the first limit position, and the wafers can be lifted by the carrier roller and the groove roller in the second limit position.

[0038] In the preferred embodiment, the turnover table 31 is pivotally connected to the frame 34, and the turnover driving mechanism 32 is a pneumatic cylinder, the seat part of which is pivotally connected to the frame 34, and the piston part of which is pivotally connected to the turnover table 31, so as to realize the turnover of the turnover table 31.

[0039] The lifting table assembly 4

[0040] Referring to FIGS. 1-5, the lifting table assembly 4 comprises a lifting table 41 and a lifting driving mechanism 42.

[0041] The lifting table 41 is arranged directly below the turnover table, and the lifting table 41 is provided with a carrier roller 42, a groove roller 43, a rotation driving mechanism 44 and a wafer counting device 5. The carrier roller 42 and the groove roller 43 are both horizontally rotatably arranged and parallel to each other. The carrier roller 42 and the groove roller 43 are synchronously rotated by the rotation driving mechanism 44. Specifically, the carrier roller 42 is fixedly provided with a belt pulley 421 at one end, and the groove roller 43 is fixedly provided with a belt pulley 431 at one end. The rotation driving mechanism 44 comprises a stepping motor 441, the output shaft of which is provided with a belt pulley 442. The belt pulleys 421 and 431 have the same diameter, and a belt 443 is wound around the belt pulleys 442, 421 and 431, so as to realize the synchronous rotation of the carrier roller 42 and the groove roller 43 by the stepping motor 441.

[0042] The groove roller 43 is provided with a wafer guiding sleeve, that is, the circumferential surface of the groove roller 43 is uniformly provided with grooves, and the grooves are matched with the gaps of the wafers in the wafer transport box. In the preferred embodiment, the wafer guiding sleeve of the groove roller 43 is made of Teflon. The carrier roller 42 is provided with a silica gel sleeve to increase the friction when contacting the wafers.

[0043] The lifting driving mechanism 42 is a cylinder. When the lifting driving mechanism 42 drives the lifting platform 41 to rise, the supporting roller 42 and the groove roller 43 rise. The wafers in the wafer transport box on the turnover platform 41 in the second position are just inserted into the grooves of the groove roller 43 and are in interference fit with the groove side plates. At this time, the wafers abut against the groove bottom of the groove roller 43 and the supporting roller 42 and are supported by the groove bottom of the groove roller 43 and the supporting roller 42 at the same time. When the wafers rotate to the flat edge, the supporting roller 42 and the groove roller 43 are just out of contact with the edge of the wafer, and the wafer is supported by the wafer transport box. Therefore, it can be known that the distance between the supporting roller 42 and the groove roller 43 needs to be matched with the width of the flat edge of the wafer.

[0044] When each wafer has a flat edge facing downward, the wafers in the wafer transport box are all aligned. Since the maximum rotation angle of the wafer does not exceed 360°, the rotation of the supporting roller 42 and the groove roller 43 by one revolution can complete the alignment of the wafers in each operation.

[0045] Wafer counting device 5

[0046] Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the wafer counting device 5 includes a circuit board 51, a close proximity pair sensor array, and a column of wedge-shaped blocks 52.

[0047] The close proximity pair sensor array is a 2*n rectangular array.

[0048] In each column, the transmitting end 53 and the receiving end 54 are arranged in an interleaved and uniform interval manner, and each pair of transmitting end 53 and receiving end 54 in each column constitutes a pair of proximity sensors.

[0049] In the n rows, one transmitting end 53 is arranged in the first row, one receiving end 54 is arranged in the last row, and one transmitting end 53 and one receiving end 54 are arranged in the remaining rows. The first row and the last row are in the same column, so one column has n transmitting ends plus one receiving end, and the other column has n-2 transmitting ends plus one receiving end.

[0050] The transmitting end 53 and the receiving end 54 are both erected on the circuit board 51 through support columns and are electrically connected to the circuit board 51.

[0051] When the lifting driving mechanism 42 drives the lifting platform 41 to rise, the wafers in the wafer transport box on the turnover platform 31 in the second position just enter between the rows of the close proximity pair sensor array, and the pair of transmitting end 53 and receiving end 54 detects whether there is a wafer between them, thereby batch detecting the distribution of wafers in the wafer transport box.

[0052] The wedge-shaped blocks 52 are also fixed on the circuit board 51, and the number is n. The wedge-shaped blocks 52 and the close proximity reflection sensor array form a 3*n array: a transmitting end 53 and a wedge-shaped block 52 are arranged in the first row, a receiving end 54 and a wedge-shaped block 52 are arranged in the last row, and the wedge-shaped blocks 52 in the remaining rows are arranged between the transmitting end 53 and the receiving end 54. The wedge-shaped block 54 is arranged above the top end of the transmitting end and the receiving end, and is used to guide the wafer into the rows of the close proximity reflection sensor array.

[0053] Warehouse area 6

[0054] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the warehouse area 6 has a plurality of stacked box racks, and a plurality of wafer transport boxes with corresponding numbers are arranged in the box racks

[0055] Wafer transport box manipulator assembly 2

[0056] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 8, the wafer transport box manipulator assembly 2 is a conventional wafer transport box manipulator, which has a Y-axis linear drive module 21, and a wafer transport box manipulator 22 is arranged on the Y-axis linear drive module 21. The wafer transport box manipulator 22 is a two-section manipulator, which includes a servo motor (not shown in the figure), a first arm 221 and a second arm 222. One end of the first arm 221 is fixed on the servo motor drive shaft through a hinge structure, the other end is connected to the second arm 222 through a hinge structure, and the other end of the second arm 222 is provided with a gripper 223 for clamping a wafer transport box. Since the above structure is a common technical means for those skilled in the art, the structure and operation principle will not be described again.

[0057] The wafer transport box manipulator assembly 2 can move between the turnover table 31 and the storage positions of the warehouse area 6 to correspondingly grab or place the wafer transport boxes. Obviously, since the moving range of the wafer transport box manipulator assembly 2 is determined by the moving range of the Y-axis linear drive module 21 and the mechanical arm of the wafer transport box manipulator 22, the positions and arrangement modes of the turnover table 31 and the warehouse area 6 should be coordinated with the wafer transport box manipulator assembly 2, and on this basis, the arrangement mode can be freely designed according to the specific production line requirements.

[0058] In combination with the device structure of the wafer transport box sorting device, the operation process of the wafer transport box sorting device is as follows:

[0059] The wafer transport box is fixedly placed on the storage position of the turnover table in the first limit position;

[0060] Then the turnover table is turned to the second limit position;

[0061] Then the lifting table is raised to abut the wafer of the wafer transport box on the storage position of the turnover table with the roller;

[0062] Then the roller rotates one circle and rotates to drive the wafer to rotate;

[0063] Then the lifting platform is lowered;

[0064] Then the turnover platform is turned back to the first limit position;

[0065] Then the wafer transport box manipulator assembly carries the wafer transport box on the turnover platform to the storage area; and records the storage and taking-out storage position serial number of the storage area.

[0066] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present application are: through the design of the storage area and the flat edge alignment device, not only can the automatic flat edge alignment be realized, but also the automatic assembly line operation of the alignment can be realized, thereby improving the production efficiency. In addition, through the design of the separately driven independent fork and the fork group, the function of the independent fork being independently extended during small-batch trial production can be realized, and during mass production, the independent fork and the fork group can be synchronously extended and retracted as a whole, thereby not reducing the production efficiency. The device is fully automated, improves the efficiency, reduces the labor cost, and is safer to operate.

[0067] The above embodiments are used to explain the application intent and implementation of the present application in detail, but those skilled in the art of the present application can understand that the above embodiments of the present application are only one of the preferred embodiments of the present application, and due to the limitation of the length, all the embodiments cannot be listed one by one, and any embodiment that can embody the technical scheme of the claims of the present application is within the protection scope of the present application.

[0068] It should be noted that the above content is a further detailed description of the present application in combination with specific embodiments, and the specific embodiments of the present application cannot be limited to the above, and those skilled in the art can make various improvements and modifications on the basis of the above embodiments under the guidance of the above embodiments, and these improvements or modifications are within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A wafer carrier arranging apparatus for loading a wafer carrier with a convex arcuate wafer, the wafer carrier having a cavity extending therethrough for inserting the wafer, and the lower opening of the cavity being smaller than the upper opening and capable of preventing the wafer from falling out of the cavity, characterized in that, The finishing device comprises: a turnover table assembly comprising a turnover table and a turnover driving mechanism for driving the turnover table to turn between a first limit position and a second limit position; the turnover table is provided with at least one storage position for selectively fixing a wafer transport box; when the turnover table is in the first limit position, the wafer in the wafer transport box in the storage position is placed horizontally; when the turnover table is in the second limit position, the wafer in the wafer transport box in the storage position is placed vertically; a lifting table assembly comprising a lifting table arranged below the turnover table, a plurality of supporting rollers horizontally arranged on the lifting table, a rotation driving mechanism for driving the supporting rollers to rotate, and a lifting driving mechanism; the lifting driving mechanism is in transmission connection with the lifting table, and is used for driving the lifting table to rise so that the supporting rollers on the lifting table vertically abut and lift the wafer outer edge on the turnover table in the second position; a storage area provided with a plurality of wafer transport box storage positions; a wafer transport box mechanical hand assembly capable of moving between the turnover table and each wafer transport box storage position of the storage area to correspondingly grab or place the wafer transport box.

2. The FOUP handling device according to claim 1, wherein: The lifting table is further provided with a groove roller parallel to the supporting rollers; the groove roller and the supporting rollers are driven by the rotation driving mechanism to synchronously rotate; the circumferential surface of the groove roller is uniformly provided with grooves; when the lifting driving mechanism drives the lifting table to rise, the wafer in the wafer transport box on the turnover table in the second position is just embedded in the grooves of the groove roller and can be simultaneously supported by the groove bottom and the supporting rollers.

3. The FOUP handling device according to claim 1, wherein The lifting table is further provided with a wafer counting device; the wafer counting device comprises a 2*n close-range opposite emission sensor array: in two columns, the emission end and the receiving end are staggered and uniformly spaced in each column, and the emission end and the receiving end in each column form a pair of opposite emission sensors; in n rows, the first row is provided with an emission end, the last row is provided with a receiving end, and the remaining rows are provided with an emission end and a receiving end; in addition, when the lifting driving mechanism drives the lifting table to rise, the wafer in the wafer transport box on the turnover table in the second position just enters the rows of the close-range opposite emission sensor array.

4. The FOUP handling device according to claim 3, wherein The wafer counting device further comprises a circuit board and a column of wedge-shaped blocks fixed on the circuit board; the emission end and the receiving end are connected to the circuit board; the wedge-shaped blocks and the close-range opposite emission sensor array form a 3*n array: the first row is provided with an emission end and a wedge-shaped block, the last row is provided with a receiving end and a wedge-shaped block, and the wedge-shaped blocks in the remaining rows are arranged between the emission end and the receiving end; the top end of the wedge-shaped block is higher than the top end of the emission end and the receiving end.

5. The FOUP handling device according to claim 4, wherein: The turnover table is provided with a clamping mechanism for clamping the wafer transport box.

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