Substrate inverting device, substrate processing apparatus, and substrate supporting device, and substrate inverting method, substrate processing method, and substrate supporting method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10622242-B2
Application number	US-201816043197-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2018
Priority date	Aug 30, 2017
Publication date	Apr 14, 2020
Grant date	Apr 14, 2020

Abstract

A pair of guide parts of a substrate inverting device comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of a substrate on both sides in the width direction of the substrate. The switching mechanism changes a state of contact between the pair of guide parts and the substrate by switching the positions of the pair of guide parts between a first contact position and a second contact position. Each of the pair of guide parts has a first contact region and a second contact region. The second contact region is located at a position different in the up-down direction and the width direction from the position of the first contact region. The substrate inverting device is capable of switching regions of the guide parts that come in contact with the substrate between the first contact regions and the second contact regions in accordance with the state of the substrate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A substrate inverting device comprising:
a supporting mechanism coming in contact with a peripheral edge portion of a substrate in a horizontal posture and supporting said substrate from below;
a catch-and-hold inversion mechanism catching and holding said substrate supported by said supporting mechanism and inverting said substrate,
wherein said supporting mechanism includes:
a pair of guide parts that comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of said substrate on both sides in a width direction of said substrate;
a guide moving mechanism advancing and retracting said pair of guide parts between a contact position at which said pair of guide parts comes in contact with said substrate and a retracted position that is farther away from said substrate than said contact position; and
a switching mechanism changing a state of contact between said pair of guide parts and said substrate by switching positions of said pair of guide parts positioned at said contact position between a first contact position and a second contact position, and
each of said pair of guide parts has:
a first contact region that comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of said substrate at said first contact position; and
a second contact region that is located at a position different in an up-down direction and said width direction from a position of said first contact region and comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of said substrate at said second contact position.

2. The substrate inverting device according to claim 1 , wherein
said second contact region of each of said pair of guide parts is located below and inward in said width direction of said first contact region, and
said switching mechanism switches the positions of said pair of guide parts between said first contact position and said second contact position by changing a distance in said width direction between said pair of guide parts.

3. The substrate inverting device according to claim 1 , wherein
said second contact region of one guide part, out of said pair of guide parts, is located below and inward in said width direction of said first contact region,
said second contact region of the other guide part, out of said pair of guide parts, is located above and outward in said width direction of said first contact region, and
said switching mechanism switches the positions of said pair of guide parts between said first contact position at which said first contact regions of said pair of guide parts are positioned at the same position in said up-down direction and said second contact position at which said second contact regions of said pair of guide parts are positioned at the same position in said up-down direction, by rotating said pair of guide parts about a rotation axis extending in a horizontal direction.

4. The substrate inverting device according to claim 1 , wherein
said second contact region of one guide part, out of said pair of guide parts, is located below and inward in said width direction of said first contact region,
said second contact region of the other guide part, out of said pair of guide parts, is located above and outward in said width direction of said first contact region, and
said switching mechanism switches the positions of said pair of guide parts between said first contact position at which said first contact regions of said pair of guide parts are positioned at the same position in said up-down direction and said second contact position at which said second contact regions of said pair of guide parts are positioned at the same position in said up-down direction, by moving said other guide part relative to said one guide part in said up-down direction.

5. The substrate inverting device according to claim 1 , wherein
a direction in which each guide part is moved by said guide moving mechanism is inclined relative to said up-down direction and said width direction.

6. The substrate inverting device according to claim 1 , wherein
said switching mechanism switches the positions of said pair of guide parts between said first contact position and said second contact position by moving said pair of guide parts together with said guide moving mechanism.

7. The substrate inverting device according to claim 1 , wherein
said first contact region and said second contact regions of each of said pair of guide parts are contact surfaces facing upward and are connected in stepwise form.

8. A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
the substrate inverting device according to claim 1 ;
a back-surface cleaning processing part cleaning a back surface of a substrate inverted by said substrate inverting device; and
a substrate transporter transporting said substrate between said substrate inverting device and said back-surface cleaning processing part.

9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a cleaning processing block in which said back-surface cleaning processing part and said substrate transporter are disposed; and
an indexer block in which another substrate transporter is disposed and that passes an unprocessed substrate to said cleaning processing block and receives a processed substrate from said cleaning processing block,
wherein said substrate inverting device is disposed at a connection between said cleaning processing block and said indexer block, and
in a case where one transporter out of said substrate transporter and said another substrate transporter transports a substrate into said substrate inverting device, said substrate is inverted by said substrate inverting device and transported out of said substrate inverting device by the other substrate transporter.

10. A substrate supporting device comprising:
a pair of guide parts coming in contact with a peripheral edge portion of a substrate in a horizontal posture on both sides in a width direction of the substrate and supporting said substrate from below; and
a switching mechanism changing a state of contact between said pair of guide parts and said substrate by switching positions of said pair of guide parts between a first contact position and a second contact position,
wherein each of said pair of guide parts has:
a first contact region that comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of said substrate at said first contact position, and
a second contact region that is located at a position different in an up-down direction and said width direction from a position of said first contact region and comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of said substrate at said second contact position.

Assignees

• Screen Holdings Co Ltd

Inventors

• Muramoto Ryo

Classifications

• H10P72/7621

  characterised by supporting two or more semiconductor substrates · CPC title

• H10P72/7608

  characterised by a plurality of separate clamping members, e.g. clamping fingers · CPC title

• H10P72/7606

  characterised by edge clamping, e.g. clamping ring · CPC title

• H10P72/7602

  the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance · CPC title

• H10P72/3211

  Changing orientation of the substrate, e.g. from a horizontal position to a vertical position · CPC title