Substrate storage apparatus, substrate storage method, and recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11699608-B2
Application number	US-201816487533-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2018
Priority date	Feb 22, 2017
Publication date	Jul 11, 2023
Grant date	Jul 11, 2023

Abstract

A substrate storage apparatus includes a stage on which a cassette that has a lid detachably mounted to an opening is disposed, a lid attaching/detaching plate that performs attaching/detaching of the lid to/from the opening of the cassette disposed on the stage, and is provided to be movable between a mounting position in contact with the lid disposed at a position of the opening and a retracted position not in contact with the lid disposed at the position of the opening, a lid holding sensor that detects whether the lid is being held by the lid attaching/detaching plate, and a controller that determines presence/absence of abnormality related to attachment/detachment of the lid based on a detection result of the lid holding sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate storage apparatus comprising:
a stage on which a cassette storing substrates is disposed, the cassette having an opening and a lid detachably mounted to the opening;
a lid attaching/detaching plate that performs attaching/detaching of the lid to/from the opening of the cassette disposed on the stage, the lid attaching/detaching plate being provided to be movable between a mounting position in contact with the lid disposed at a position of the opening and a retracted position not in contact with the lid disposed at the position of the opening, the lid attaching/detaching plate including a holder that holds the lid by suction;
a lid holding sensor that detects whether the lid is held by the lid attaching/detaching plate, the lid holding sensor including a suction pressure sensor that measures a suction pressure acting on the lid when the holder holds the lid and measures the suction pressure in a state where the lid attaching/detaching plate is disposed at a position other than the mounting position; and
a controller that determines presence/absence of abnormality related to an attachment/detachment of the lid based on estimation as to whether the lid attaching/detaching plate holds the lid, which is derived from a measurement result of the suction pressure sensor.

2. The substrate storage apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the lid holding sensor includes an abnormality detection sensor that detects presence/absence of an object at a specific position between the mounting position and the retracted position, and a close sensor that detects presence/absence of the lid attaching/detaching plate, the close sensor detecting the lid attaching/detaching plate disposed at the mounting position but not detecting the lid attaching/detaching plate disposed at the retracted position, and
the controller determines the presence/absence of the abnormality based on detection results of the abnormality detection sensor and the close sensor.

3. The substrate storage apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when the lid attaching/detaching plate moves from the retracted position toward the mounting position, the controller determines the presence/absence of the abnormality based on a time difference between a timing when the abnormality detection sensor detects the object at the specific position and a timing when the close sensor detects the lid attaching/detaching plate.

4. The substrate storage apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when the lid attaching/detaching plate moves from the mounting position toward the retracted position, the controller determines the presence/absence of the abnormality based on a time difference between a timing when the close sensor does not detect the lid attaching/detaching plate and a timing when the abnormality detection sensor does not detect the object at the specific position.

5. The substrate storage apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the lid holding sensor includes a lid detection sensor that detects the lid held by the lid attaching/detaching plate disposed at the retracted position, and
the controller determines the presence/absence of the abnormality based on a detection result of the lid detection sensor.

6. The substrate storage apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the lid attaching/detaching plate includes a key, and a holder that holds the lid,
the lid includes a key hole, and a latch that is disposed at a locking position and an unlocking position by the key engaged with the key hole,
the holder holds the lid by suction,
the substrate storage apparatus is provided with an abnormality detection sensor that detects presence/absence of an object at a specific position between the mounting position and the retracted position, a close sensor that detects presence/absence of the lid attaching/detaching plate, and a suction pressure sensor that measures a suction pressure acting on the lid when the holder holds the lid, the close sensor detecting the lid attaching/detaching plate disposed at the mounting position but not detecting the lid attaching/detaching plate disposed at the retracted position,
the controller performs a first abnormality determination different from the determination of the presence/absence of the abnormality, in which the presence/absence of the abnormality related to the attachment/detachment of the lid is determined based on a detection result of the abnormality detection sensor after the lid attaching/detaching plate is moved from the mounting position toward the retracted position in a state where the lid is disposed at the position of the opening and the latch is disposed at the locking position, and
the controller performs a second abnormality determination different from the determination of the presence/absence of the abnormality, in which the presence/absence of the abnormality related to the attachment/detachment of the lid is determined based on a result of measurement by the suction pressure sensor performed in a state where the holding portion executes suction for holding the lid after the lid attaching/detaching plate is moved toward the mounting position.

7. A substrate storage apparatus comprising:
a stage on which a cassette storing substrates is disposed, the cassette having an opening and a lid detachably mounted to the opening;
a lid attaching/detaching plate that performs attaching/detaching of the lid to/from the opening of the cassette disposed on the stage, the lid attaching/detaching plate being provided to be movable between a mounting position in contact with the lid disposed at a position of the opening and a retracted position not in contact with the lid disposed at the position of the opening;
a lid holding sensor that detects whether the lid is held by the lid attaching/detaching plate, the lid holding sensor including a weight sensor that measures a weight of the cassette disposed on the stage; and
a controller that determines a presence/absence of an abnormality related to an attachment/detachment of the lid based on a measurement result of the weight sensor.

8. A substrate storage apparatus comprising:
a stage on which a cassette storing substrates is disposed, the cassette having an opening and a lid detachably mounted to the opening;
a lid attaching/detaching plate that performs attaching/detaching of the lid to/from the opening of the cassette disposed on the stage, the lid attaching/detaching plate being provided to be movable between a mounting position in contact with the lid disposed at a position of the opening and a retracted position not in contact with the lid disposed at the position of the opening;
a lid holding sensor that detects whether the lid is held by the lid attaching/detaching plate, the lid holding sensor including a pressure sensor that measures an atmospheric pressure within the cassette;
a gas supply that supplies a gas into the cassette disposed on the stage; and
a controller that determines a presence/absence of an abnormality related to an attachment/detachment of the lid based on a measurement result of the pressure sensor during supply of the gas into the cassette by the gas supply or after the supply of the gas into the cassette by the gas supply.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Matsumoto Akihiro
• Matsushita Michiaki
• Murata Akira
• Tashiro Minoru

Classifications

• H10P72/3406

  involving removal of lid, door or cover · CPC title

• H10P72/1926

  characterised by the presence of atmosphere modifying elements inside or attached to the closed carrier · CPC title

• H10P72/1914 Primary

  characterised by locking systems · CPC title

• H10P72/1922 Primary

  characterised by the construction of the closed carrier · CPC title

• H01L21/67386 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic