JPH0244738B2 - HAKUBANJOBUTSUTAINOTORIDASHISOCHI - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for taking out thin plate-like objects, and more specifically, a device for taking out a plurality of thin plate-like objects such as wafers stored in a carrier in layers. A take-out arm having a light-emitting part and a light-receiving part is used to check the presence or absence of a thin plate-like object and take it out one by one.

[Prior Art] A thin plate-like object, such as a wafer 1, is stored in layers in a box-shaped carrier 2 for convenient handling, as shown in FIG. The wafer 1 thus stored is placed on a take-out arm (not shown) inserted horizontally into the carrier 2 and taken out of the carrier 2. This take-out arm is configured to be driven and controlled from the lower side to the upper side while reciprocating in the left-right direction as shown by the broken line in the figure, so as to take out the wafers 1 from the carrier 2 one after another.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional device for taking out thin plate-like objects, the taking-out arm is driven regardless of whether or not there is a wafer 1 in the carrier 2, so the taking-out arm is driven even when there is no wafer 1. It moved unnecessarily, and it took a long time to take out the wafer 1.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to efficiently and sequentially take out a plurality of plate-shaped objects stored in a layer in a carrier from the carrier, and to make it possible to remove the main body of the device from the carrier. An object of the present invention is to provide a device for taking out a thin plate-like object that can be made compact.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a take-out device for sequentially taking out a plurality of thin plate-like objects stored in a carrier in layers from the carrier. a supporting arm; a drive mechanism that moves the arm in a forward and backward direction with respect to the carrier and in a stacking direction of the thin plate-like object; and a drive mechanism that emits light to an arm support surface side of the thin plate-like object supported by the arm. a light-emitting side fiber, one end of which is provided on the arm as a light-emitting section for irradiation, and one end of which is provided on the arm as a light-receiving section for receiving light reflected from the arm support surface side of the thin plate-like object. When the arm enters the carrier, the light-receiving fiber receives light from the light-emitting portion of the light-emitting fiber that is reflected on the arm support surface side of the thin plate-shaped object. a detector for detecting whether or not the thin plate-like object is present in the vicinity of the arm that has entered the carrier; It is characterized by controlling the operation of the mechanism.

[Function] In the device for taking out a thin plate-like object of the present invention configured as described above, a place where there is no thin plate-like object in the carrier is detected through the light receiving part of the take-out arm, and based on this detection result, the take-out arm is moved. Since it is skip-driven, there is no unnecessary movement of the take-out arm, and the take-out of the thin plate-shaped object can be completed quickly.

[Examples] Examples will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show a wafer take-out device constructed according to the present invention. As shown in the figures, a horizontal take-out arm 3 has a light-emitting side along its longitudinal direction. The fiber 4 and the light-receiving fiber 5 are arranged in a bundle in two stages, upper and lower.
A light emitting part 4a and a light receiving part 5a at the tips of these fibers 4 and 5 are connected to a prism 6.
The light emitted from the wafer 1 is refracted directly upward through the prism 6, and the reflected light from the wafer 1 is introduced through the prism 6 into the light receiving section 5a. Since the prism 6 of the fibers 4 and 5 is used in this manner, the thickness of the take-out arm 3 can be made to be approximately the same as the conventional one.

The base end of the take-out arm 3 is supported by a lifting member 7 as shown in FIG. 2, and the take-out arm 3 is moved vertically and It is designed to be freely driven in the left and right directions. The light-emitting fiber 4 and the light-receiving fiber 5 are connected to a sensor amplifier 8, and the reflected light from the wafer 1 is introduced into the sensor amplifier 8 through the light-receiving fiber 5 and detected. Note that the detectable distance for determining whether or not the wafer 1 is above the take-out arm 3 is appropriately set by adjusting the sensor amplifier 8.

The detection results of the sensor amplifier 8 are input to the controllers (not shown) of the vertical drive device and horizontal drive device described above, and when the wafer 1 is not directly above the take-out arm 3, the wafer is taken out as shown in FIG. The arm 3 is skip-driven upward, and is driven again as before when the wafer 1 is present.

In the take-out apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. The light is introduced into the light-receiving section 5a, passes through the light-receiving fiber 5, and is detected by the sensor amplifier 8. Based on this detection result, the take-out arm 3 is driven and controlled from the bottom to the top while reciprocating in the left-right direction, and the wafers 1 are taken out one by one.

On the other hand, in a place where there is no wafer 1 in the carrier 2, the light emitted from the light emitting part 4a of the take-out arm 3 does not return to the light receiving part 5a, so the sensor amplifier 8 detects this and takes out the wafer based on the detection result. The arm 3 is skip-driven upward.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified in various ways. For example, although the prism 6 is used in the above embodiment, a reflecting mirror may also be used. Furthermore, the light emitting parts 4a and the light receiving parts 5a of the fibers 4 and 5 may be directed upward. Further, the present invention is applicable not only to the wafer 1 but also to devices for taking out various thin plate-like objects.

[Effects of the Invention] In the device for taking out a thin plate-shaped object of the present invention, since the take-out arm is skip-driven in areas where there are no wafers, there is no unnecessary movement of the take-out arm, and the take-out of the wafer can be completed quickly. . Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned functions can be achieved without increasing the size of the take-out arm. Therefore, according to the present invention, there is no need to make the drive mechanism for the take-out arm large-scale, so it is possible to provide a compact and speedy take-out device for thin plate-like objects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a take-out arm of a wafer take-out apparatus constructed according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the entire take-out apparatus, FIG. 3 is a side view showing the movement locus of the take-out arm, and FIG. This figure is a side view similar to FIG. 3 of a conventional wafer unloading device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Wafer, 2... Carrier, 3... Take-out arm, 4... Light-emitting fiber, 4a... Light-emitting section, 5... Light-receiving fiber, 5a... Light-receiving section, 6
...Prism, 8...Sensor amplifier.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A take-out device that sequentially takes out a plurality of thin plate-like objects stored in a layer in a carrier from the carrier, including an arm that supports the thin plate-like objects, a direction in which the arm moves forward and backward with respect to the carrier, and a direction in which the thin plate-like objects are stacked. a driving mechanism that moves along the arm, and a light-emitting side fiber whose one end is provided in the arm as a light-emitting portion to irradiate light onto the arm support surface side of the thin plate-shaped object supported by the arm; a light-receiving side fiber, one end of which is provided in the arm as a light-receiving portion for receiving light reflected on the arm support surface side of the thin plate-like object; The vicinity of the arm entering the carrier is detected by detecting the light from the light emitting part of the light emitting fiber reflected on the arm support surface side of the thin plate-shaped object via the light receiving part of the light receiving fiber. A device for taking out a thin plate-shaped object, comprising: a detector for detecting whether or not the thin plate-shaped object is present; and controlling the operation of the drive mechanism based on the detection result of the detector.