Measuring and testing – Inspecting
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-01
2004-01-13
Williams, Hezron (Department: 2856)
Measuring and testing
Inspecting
C414S226050
Reexamination Certificate
active
06675666
ABSTRACT:
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2000-270330, filed Sep. 6, 2000; No. 2000-280883, filed Sep. 14, 2000; No. 2000-285640, filed Sep. 20, 2000; and No. 2000-285988, filed Sep. 20, 2000, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate transportation apparatus for transporting a substrate to an apparatus unit in order to inspect and measure, e.g., a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display by visual observation or using a microscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 20
is a view showing the arrangement of a semiconductor wafer outer appearance inspection apparatus. A wafer carrier
1
is formed on an outer appearance inspection apparatus frame
2
. The wafer carrier
1
forms a cassette.
The wafer carrier
1
has an uninspected wafer carrier
1
a
and inspected wafer carrier
1
b.
The uninspected wafer carrier
1
a
stores an uninspected semiconductor wafer
3
. Regarding the semiconductor wafer
3
, an uninspected semiconductor wafer will be referred to as a semiconductor wafer
3
a.
A transportation robot
4
is provided on the outer appearance inspection apparatus frame
2
. The transportation robot
4
has an X-movable shaft
4
a
and Y-movable shaft
4
b.
The Y-movable shaft
4
b
can move on the X-movable shaft
4
a
in the X-axis direction. A robot arm
5
is formed on the Y-movable shaft
4
b
and can move in the Y-axis direction. A hand
5
a
is provided to the robot arm
5
. The hand
5
a
holds the semiconductor wafer
3
.
A three-arm transportation apparatus
6
is provided between the transportation robot
4
and a microinspection section
9
(to be described later). The three-arm transportation apparatus
6
circularly transports the semiconductor wafer
3
among a wafer transfer position P
1
, macroinspection position P
2
, and microinspection/transfer position P
3
.
The three-arm transportation apparatus
6
has three transportation arms
6
a
,
6
b
, and
6
c
equiangularly, e.g., at every 120°, with respect to a shaft
8
. The transportation arms
6
a,
6
b,
and
6
c
have Y-shaped hands (with wafer chucks)
7
a,
7
b,
and
7
c,
respectively.
The microinspection section
9
is provided on the outer appearance inspection apparatus frame
2
. The microinspection section
9
receives the semiconductor wafer
3
held on the hand
7
a,
7
b,
or
7
c
positioned at the microinspection/transfer position P
3
, and inspects it by using a microscope.
The microinspection section
9
can sense the image of the semiconductor wafer
3
enlarged by the microscope with a CCD camera or the like, and can observe it through eyepieces
10
.
The operation will be described.
At the macroinspection position P
2
, macroinspection of the semiconductor wafer
3
is performed by the inspector through visual observation.
At the microinspection/transfer position P
3
, the semiconductor wafer
3
is transferred to the microinspection section
9
. The microinspection section
9
enlarges the image of the semiconductor wafer
3
by the objective lens of the microscope and senses it with the CCD camera or the like. At the microinspection section
9
, microinspection is performed by the inspector through the eyepieces
10
.
When macroinspection and microinspection are ended, the three-arm transportation apparatus
6
rotates, e.g., counterclockwise on the sheet of drawing, about the shaft
8
as the center. Thus, the hand
7
a
is positioned at the macroinspection position P
2
. The hand
7
b
is positioned at the microinspection/transfer position P
3
. The hand
7
c
is positioned at the wafer transfer position P
1
.
The robot arm
5
is driven by the transportation robot
4
to move to the wafer transfer position P
1
(indicated by a broken line). The robot arm
5
positions the hand
5
a
so as to enter the Y-shaped opening of the hand
7
c,
and receives an inspected semiconductor wafer
3
b
from the hand
7
c.
Then, the robot arm
5
is driven by the transportation robot
4
to move to a position corresponding to the inspected wafer carrier
1
b,
and stores the inspected semiconductor wafer
3
b
in the inspected wafer carrier
1
b.
Subsequently, the robot arm
5
is driven by the transportation robot
4
to move to a position corresponding to the uninspected wafer carrier
1
a,
and holds the uninspected semiconductor wafer
3
a
(second semiconductor wafer) stored in the uninspected wafer carrier
1
a.
While holding the uninspected semiconductor wafer
3
a,
the robot arm
5
is driven by the transportation robot
4
to move to a position corresponding to the wafer transfer position P
1
.
The robot arm
5
positions the hand
5
a
which holds the semiconductor wafer
3
a
so as to enter the Y-shaped opening of the hand
7
c,
and transfers the semiconductor wafer
3
a
to the transportation arm
6
c.
At the macroinspection position P
2
, the next semiconductor wafer
3
is macroinspected by the inspector through visual observation.
At the microinspection/transfer position P
3
, the next semiconductor wafer
3
is transferred to the microinspection section
9
and microinspected by the microscope.
After this, at the wafer transfer position P
1
, the uninspected and inspected semiconductor wafers
3
a
and
3
b
are transferred. At the macroinspection position P
2
, macroinspection is performed. At the microinspection/transfer position P
3
, transfer to the microinspection section
9
is sequentially performed.
In an inspection process at a semiconductor manufacturing factory, the apparatus layout and design specifications are changed in accordance with the line layout change and various types of specifications (types). In the above apparatus, the wafer carrier
1
, transportation robot
4
, three-arm transportation apparatus
6
, macroinspection section, and microinspection section
9
are integrally formed on the outer appearance inspection apparatus frame
2
. A change in specifications of this arrangement cannot be easily coped with.
Therefore, apparatuses with different numbers of wafer carriers
1
at different positions must be manufactured to match the individual orders in accordance with the line layout of the inspection process and various types of specifications.
In addition, the design specifications of the apparatus differ in accordance with the various types of specifications, and the number of constituent components of the respective apparatuses that are not common increases.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly versatile substrate transportation apparatus which can cope with various types of specifications by minimum design changes.
The present invention provides a substrate transportation apparatus comprising a first transportation section which extracts/stores a substrate from/in a storing container that stores the substrate, and a second transportation section which transfers the substrate with respect to the first transportation section and transfers the substrate with respect to an apparatus unit that performs a desired process for the substrate, wherein the second transportation section has a rotation arm which is circularly transported between a substrate transfer position with respect to the first transportation section and a substrate transfer position with respect to the apparatus unit, the first transportation section is separated from the second transportation section, and a transfer position with respect to the rotation arm is located within a transportation stroke range for the first transportation section with respect to two different directions such that the first transportation section can be selectively arranged with respect to the second transportation section in the two different directions.
In a substrate transportation apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention, the second transportation section is in
Maruyama Norio
Mori Yasuo
Taniguchi Yoshihisa
Yokoi Daisuke
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Garber Charles D
Olympus Optical Co,. Ltd.
Williams Hezron
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