Horizontal Clean Air Flow for Substrate Transfer Chamber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate processing apparatuses face increased energy consumption and manufacturing costs when scaling up clean air flowing units to accommodate more substrate processing chambers, and complexity arises with vertically arranged chambers, leading to inefficient clean air management.
Innovation Solution
The substrate processing apparatus features a clean air flowing unit that generates a horizontal flow within the substrate transfer chamber using sidewall-mounted air supply and exhaust units, with the air supply positioned above the substrate loading/unloading port and the exhaust at the opposite sidewall, allowing clean air to flow along the substrate transfer region, reducing the need for extensive vertical installations and energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of substrate processing chambers is increased to improve processing capacity, then productivity is improved, but the clean air flowing unit must be scaled up resulting in increased energy consumption and manufacturing cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the clean air flow direction from vertical (conventional) to horizontal, allowing the clean air to flow along the substrate transfer chamber in the horizontal direction. This dimensional change enables the clean air flowing unit to serve multiple processing chambers without requiring proportional scaling of the unit's size, thus improving productivity while controlling energy consumption.
2Productivity
If the number of substrate processing chambers is increased to improve processing capacity, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing cost increases due to scaling up the clean air flowing unit
Solution Approach 1:
By redirecting the clean air flow to horizontal direction, the patent enables a single compact clean air flowing unit to effectively cover multiple substrate processing chambers arranged along the horizontal axis. This reduces the total volume and material requirements of the clean air flowing unit, thereby lowering manufacturing cost while maintaining high processing capacity.
3Volume of moving object
If substrate processing chambers are vertically arranged in multiple levels, then space utilization is improved, but the configuration of the clean air flowing unit becomes complicated resulting in scale-up of the apparatus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adopts horizontal clean air flow instead of vertical flow, which simplifies the configuration when chambers are vertically arranged. The horizontal flow can uniformly cover multiple vertical levels without requiring complex vertical distribution systems, thereby maintaining simple apparatus configuration while achieving good space utilization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration allows for a more compact and cost-effective clean air management system, reducing energy consumption and manufacturing costs while maintaining a clean air environment for substrate processing, even with vertically arranged chambers.
Implementation Method 1
a clean air flowing unit that allows clean air to flow along the substrate transfer chamber
Implementation Method 2
an air exhaust unit provided at a sidewall on the other end of the substrate transfer chamber
Data Source
AI summary
Manufacturing cost or energy consumption of a substrate processing apparatus can be reduced. The substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate loading/unloading unit (a substrate transit chamber 12) that transfers a substrate 2 accommodated in a carrier 3; a substrate transfer chamber 14 (25) communicating with the substrate loading/unloading unit via a substrate loading/unloading port 37 (39); a plurality of substrate processing chambers 15 to 24 (26 to 35) arranged along the substrate transfer chamber 14 (25); a substrate transfer device 36 (38) provided in the substrate transfer chamber 14 (25) and configured to transfer the substrate 2 between the substrate loading/unloading unit and the substrate processing chambers 15 to 24 (26 to 35); and a clean air flowing unit 41 (42) that allows clean air to flow along the substrate transfer chamber 14 (25).