Photocopying – Projection printing and copying cameras – With developing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-28
2001-07-31
Adams, Russell (Department: 2851)
Photocopying
Projection printing and copying cameras
With developing
C396S611000, C396S612000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06268900
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an accommodating apparatus for temporarily accommodating a glass substrate for use with a semiconductor wafer, a liquid crystal display (LCD), or the like before or after a process by an exposing device. The present invention also relates to a substrate processing system having such an accommodating apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a step for forming a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) array for an LCD, a sequence of a thin film forming pre-cleaning step, a thin film forming step, a resist coating step, an exposing step, a developing step, an etching step, and a resist peeling-off step is repeated the number of times corresponding to the number of layers formed on one glass substrate (for example, the sequence is repeated six times).
In the resist coating step, the exposing step, and the developing step, a structure of which for example a coating/developing device and an exposing device are connected is used. An arm type conveying device, an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), or the like conveys a glass substrate from an upstream device to the coating/exposing/developing device.
However, the process performance of the coating/exposing/developing device is higher than that of other devices. In other words, the process time of the coating/exposing/developing device is shorter than that of the other devices. Thus, when such a sequence of steps is repeated six times, even if devices corresponding to the number of layers are disposed (namely, six devices are disposed), one coating/exposing/developing device can sufficiently process glass substrates.
In an exposing device, however, a reticle should be replaced for each layer. However, in such a sheet processing system, after a substrate with a first layer is loaded from the down-stream device to the coating/exposing/developing device, a substrate with a second layer may be loaded to the coating/exposing/developing device. Thereafter, a substrate with a fifth layer may be loaded. In other words, since glass substrates with different layers are loaded at random, when glass substrates are processed by the exposing device in the order of which they have been loaded, reticles should be frequently replaced. Thus, the process time of the exposing process becomes long.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made from the above-described point of view. An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to provide an accommodating apparatus and a substrate processing system that allow a particular device such as an exposing device not to frequently replace reticles and thereby improve the process efficiency.
A first aspect of the present invention is an accommodating apparatus for temporarily accommodating a substrate on which a plurality of layers are formed at steps for forming the layers, the accommodating apparatus comprising a conveying path having a first end and a second end, substrates being successively conveyed from the first end, the second end being connected to a predetermined device, a plurality of accommodating portions disposed corresponding to a plurality of layers of the substrates, said accommodating portions being disposed along said conveying path, each of said accommodating portions accommodating a predetermined number of substrates, a conveying device travelable on said conveying path, said conveying device conveying, loading, and unloading the substrates among the first end and the second end of said conveying path and each of said accommodating portions, a means for inputting layer information of the layer of each substrate conveyed from the first end of said conveying path, and a means for loading a substrate conveyed from the first end of said conveying path to a relevant accommodating portion corresponding to the layer of the substrate through said conveying device and successively unloading substrates from the relevant accommodating portion to the predetermined device through said conveying device when the relevant accommodating portion accommodates a predetermined number of substrates.
A second aspect of the present invention is an accommodating apparatus for temporarily accommodating a substrate on which a plurality of layers are formed at steps for forming the layers, the accommodating apparatus comprising a conveying path having a first end and a second end, substrates being successively conveyed from the first end, the second end being connected to a predetermined device, a plurality of first accommodating portions disposed corresponding to a plurality of layers of the substrates, said first accommodating portions being disposed along one side of said conveying path, each of said first accommodating portions accommodating a predetermined number of substrates, a plurality of second accommodating portions disposed corresponding to a plurality of layers of the substrates, said second accommodating portions being disposed along the other side of said conveying path, each of said second accommodating portions accommodating a predetermined number of substrates, a conveying device travelable on said conveying path, said conveying device conveying, loading, and unloading the substrates among the first end and the second end of said conveying path, each of said first accommodating portions, and each of said second accommodating portions, a means for inputting layer information of the layer of each substrate conveyed from the first end of said conveying path, a means for storing the input layer information, a means for loading a substrate conveyed from the first end of said conveying path to a relevant first accommodating portion corresponding to the layer of the substrate through said conveying device, a means for successively unloading substrates from the relevant first accommodating portion to the predetermined device through said conveying device when the relevant first accommodating portion accommodates a predetermined number of substrates, a means for loading a substrate from the predetermined device to a relevant second accommodating portion corresponding to the layer of the substrate through said conveying device while a substrate conveyed from the first end of said conveying path is being loaded to a relevant first accommodating portion corresponding to the layer of the substrate through said conveying device, and a means for unloading substrates accommodated in a relevant second accommodating portion from the first end of said conveying path through said conveying device in the order of which the substrates have been loaded from the first end of said conveying path to the relevant second accommodating portion corresponding to the stored layer information through said conveying device.
A third aspect of the present invention is an substrate processing system for forming a first layer and a second layer on a substrate, the substrate processing system comprising an exposing device having a mechanism for replacing a first reticle corresponding to the first layer with a second reticle corresponding to the second layer or vice versa, and an accommodating device for temporarily accommodating a substrate, wherein said accommodating device comprises a conveying path having a first end and a second end, substrates being successively conveyed from the first end, the second end being connected to said exposing device, a first accommodating portion, disposed along the conveying path, for accommodating a first number of substrates with a first layer, a second accommodating portion, disposed along the conveying path, for accommodating a second number of substrates with a second layer, a conveying device travelable on the conveying path and for conveying, loading, and unloading substrates among the first end and the second end of the conveying path, the first accommodating portion, and the second accommodating portion, a means for inputting layer information that represents whether the layer formed on a substrate conveyed from the first end of the conveying path is the first layer or the second layer, and a
Adams Russell
Nguyen Hung Henry
Rader Fishman & Grauer
Tokyo Electron Limited
LandOfFree
Accommodating apparatus and substrate processing system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Accommodating apparatus and substrate processing system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Accommodating apparatus and substrate processing system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2478916