Adjustable Blade Substrate Conveying Robot
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate conveying robots are not suitable for all types of substrate placing structures, particularly when there are no empty stages available for processed substrates in storage structures like FOUPs, limiting their ability to efficiently convey substrates and shorten tact time.
Innovation Solution
A substrate conveying robot with a pair of blade members that can adjust their vertical position and be elevated independently, allowing for advanced blade member operations such as substrate receiving and placing, and switching between different working states to accommodate various substrate placing structures, including those with tight pitch configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a robot conveys a plurality of wafers at the same time by one hand, then the tact time in conveying wafers is shortened, but the robot is not suitable for single-wafer processing steps where conveying processed wafers and un-processed wafers one by one is advantageous
Solution Approach 1:
The robot hand is segmented into a pair of independent blade members (first blade member and second blade member) that can operate independently. Each blade member can hold or not hold a substrate, allowing the robot to convey one or two substrates simultaneously or separately, thus adapting to both batch processing and single-wafer processing requirements while maintaining short tact time
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical interval between the first blade member and second blade member is made adjustable rather than fixed. The interval can be changed according to the type of substrate placing structure (FOUP or shelf), enabling the robot to adapt its configuration dynamically to different processing scenarios and substrate storage configurations
2Productivity
If a substrate holding device with pair of hands capable of sagging vertical interval is used, then simultaneous carrying-out and carrying-in of substrates is enabled, but the technology cannot be applied when there are no empty stages on substrate placing structure
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate holding device is divided into two independent blade members that can operate independently. The first blade member can hold a substrate while the second blade member remains open, or vice versa. This segmentation allows the robot to place a substrate on one stage while receiving another substrate on a different stage, enabling operation even when not all stages are empty
Solution Approach 2:
Each blade member has its own substrate holding state (holding or non-holding), allowing different local conditions at different positions. This enables the first blade member to interact with one stage while the second blade member interacts with another stage, providing flexibility to operate with partially filled substrate placing structures
Data Source
AI summary
A control unit of a substrate conveying robot makes a robot arm and a substrate holding device execute a blade member advancing operation, a substrate receiving operation, and a substrate placing operation. The substrate holding device is configured to be capable of being switched between a first working state that a pair of blade members are arranged in the vertical direction and a second working state that a pair of blade members are arranged in a position out of the vertical direction and a single blade member can be advanced into a substrate placing structure.