U.S. patent application number 13/159760 was filed with the patent office on 2012-11-08 for automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing devices.
This patent application is currently assigned to INOTERA MEMORIES, INC.. Invention is credited to TSAN-I CHEN.
Application Number | 20120279415 13/159760 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47089354 |
Filed Date | 2012-11-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120279415 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; TSAN-I |
November 8, 2012 |
AUTOMATIC HANDLING SYSTEM APPLIED TO MANY WAFER PROCESSING
DEVICES
Abstract
An automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing
devices includes a handling rail unit and a transport vehicle unit.
The handling rail unit includes at least one handling rail. The
transport vehicle unit includes a plurality of OHT vehicles
disposed under the handling rail and mated with the handling rail,
wherein each OHT vehicle includes at least one sliding portion
slidably disposed on the handling rail, at least one rotatable
portion for clamping at least one wafer carrier device, and at
least one suspended portion connected between the sliding portion
and the rotatable portion, wherein the wafer carrier device has a
wafer pick-and-place opening, and the wafer carrier device is
rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT vehicle according to
the position of the wafer processing device for adjusting the
direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to face the wafer
processing device.
Inventors: |
CHEN; TSAN-I; (TAOYUAN
COUNTY, TW) |
Assignee: |
INOTERA MEMORIES, INC.
TAOYUAN COUNTY
TW
|
Family ID: |
47089354 |
Appl. No.: |
13/159760 |
Filed: |
June 14, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
104/89 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 21/67727 20130101;
H01L 21/67733 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
104/89 |
International
Class: |
B61B 3/00 20060101
B61B003/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 6, 2011 |
TW |
100116026 |
Claims
1. An automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing
devices, comprising: a handling rail unit including at least one
handling rail, wherein the handling rail is disposed above the
wafer processing devices and selectively crosses through the wafer
processing devices; and a transport vehicle unit including a
plurality of OHT vehicles disposed under the handling rail and
mated with the handling rail, wherein each OHT vehicle includes at
least one sliding portion slidably disposed on the handling rail,
at least one rotatable portion for clamping at least one wafer
carrier device, and at least one suspended portion connected
between the sliding portion and the rotatable portion, wherein the
wafer carrier device has a wafer pick-and-place opening, and the
wafer carrier device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT
vehicle according to the position of the wafer processing device
for adjusting the direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to
face the wafer processing device.
2. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
wafer processing devices are divided into a first wafer processing
unit and a second wafer processing unit, the first wafer processing
unit includes a plurality of first wafer processing machines, the
second wafer processing unit includes a plurality of second wafer
processing machines, each first wafer processing machine includes a
plurality of first placement areas disposed on the right side
thereof, each second wafer processing machine includes a plurality
of second placement areas disposed on the left side thereof, and
the right side of the first wafer processing machine and the left
side of the second wafer processing machine are two opposite
sides.
3. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the
handling rail crosses through the first placement areas of each
first wafer processing machine and the second placement areas of
each second wafer processing machine, wherein the wafer carrier
device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT vehicle
according to the positions of the first wafer placement areas of
the first wafer processing machine for adjusting the direction of
the wafer pick-and-place opening to face the first placement area,
and wafer carrier device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the
OHT vehicle according to the positions of the second wafer
placement areas of the second wafer processing machine for
adjusting the direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to face
the second placement area.
4. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the
first wafer processing machines and the second wafer processing
machines are arranged alternately as a wavy shape, thus the first
placement areas and the second placement areas are arranged as a
straight line.
5. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
rotatable portion of each OHT vehicle for clamping the wafer
carrier device is selectively rotated from 0 to 360 degrees.
6. An automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing
devices, comprising: a handling rail unit including at least one
handling rail, wherein the handling rail is disposed above the
wafer processing devices and selectively crosses through the wafer
processing devices; and a transport vehicle unit including a
plurality of OHT vehicles disposed under the handling rail and
mated with the handling rail, wherein each OHT vehicle includes at
least one rotatable portion for clamping at least one wafer carrier
device, the wafer carrier device has a wafer pick-and-place
opening, and the wafer carrier device is rotated by the rotatable
portion of the OHT vehicle according to the position of the wafer
processing device for adjusting the direction of the wafer
pick-and-place opening to face the wafer processing device.
7. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
wafer processing devices are divided into a first wafer processing
unit and a second wafer processing unit, the first wafer processing
unit includes a plurality of first wafer processing machines, the
second wafer processing unit includes a plurality of second wafer
processing machines, each first wafer processing machine includes a
plurality of first placement areas disposed on the right side
thereof, each second wafer processing machine includes a plurality
of second placement areas disposed on the left side thereof, and
the right side of the first wafer processing machine and the left
side of the second wafer processing machine are two opposite
sides.
8. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the
handling rail crosses through the first placement areas of each
first wafer processing machine and the second placement areas of
each second wafer processing machine, wherein the wafer carrier
device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT vehicle
according to the positions of the first wafer placement areas of
the first wafer processing machine for adjusting the direction of
the wafer pick-and-place opening to face the first placement area,
and wafer carrier device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the
OHT vehicle according to the positions of the second wafer
placement areas of the second wafer processing machine for
adjusting the direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to face
the second placement area.
9. An automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing
devices, comprising: a handling rail unit including at least one
handling rail; and a transport vehicle unit including a plurality
of OHT vehicles disposed under the handling rail and mated with the
handling rail, wherein each OHT vehicle includes at least one
rotatable portion for clamping at least one wafer carrier device,
wherein the wafer carrier device has a wafer pick-and-place
opening, and the wafer carrier device is rotated by the rotatable
portion of the OHT vehicle according to the position of the wafer
processing device for adjusting the direction of the wafer
pick-and-place opening to face the wafer processing device.
10. The automatic handling system as claimed in claim 9, wherein
the handling rail is disposed above the wafer processing devices
and selectively crosses through the wafer processing devices,
wherein each OHT vehicle includes at least one sliding portion
slidably disposed on the handling rail and at least one suspended
portion connected between the sliding portion and the rotatable
portion.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The instant disclosure relates to an automatic handling
system, and more particularly, to an automatic handling system
applied to many wafer processing devices.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] In semiconductor manufacturing, lots of wafers have to be
subjected to a fabrication process with multiple steps so as to be
manufactured into desired semiconductor devices. In order to obtain
profit, all the semiconductor manufacturers wish to reduce the time
required for manufacturing lots of wafers, thereby increasing the
yield of the semiconductor fabrication plant. There are many
factors to influence the time required for manufacturing the
wafers. In addition to the time required for manufacturing wafers
on the respective fabrication machine tools, the time for
transporting the wafers among different fabrication machine tools
is also another critical factor.
[0005] The traditional transport of wafers is achieved by manpower.
In this case, operators push vehicles in which wafers are carried
back and forth between different fabrication machine tools.
However, with the continuous advancement of the semiconductor
manufacturing process, the size of wafer is increased from 6'', 8''
to 12''. As a result, the size of a wafer carrier for carrying
wafers is increased accordingly. For example, a semiconductor plant
often utilizes front opened unified pods (FOUP). When a FOUP is
loaded with 25 pieces of wafers, the total weight of the wafer
carrier is up to 8 kilograms, so that the traditional transport by
manpower is not feasible any more. Moreover, taking the yield or
other factors into consideration, it is necessary to provide a
wafer transport system with high rate and efficiency, whereby the
yield of a semiconductor plant can be increased. Therefore, an
automatic transport system is developed for this purpose.
[0006] A common automatic transport system includes a plurality of
overhead transport rail sets. A plurality of sets of fabrication
machine tools is provided below each of the overhead transport rail
sets. Each of the overhead transport rail sets defines a bay. The
fabrication machine tools disposed in the same bay will be closely
related to each other. The transport rail sets are provided with a
plurality of overhead hoist transport vehicles (OHT vehicles) or
called "vehicles" for short. The vehicles move on the overhead
transport rail sets, whereby the wafer carrier can be transported
from one fabrication machine tool to another fabrication machine
tool. Further, each of the overhead transport rail sets is
connected with another overhead transport rail set, so that the
vehicles can move into different overhead transport rail sets to
thereby transport the wafer carrier into the fabrication machine
tool of another bay.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] One particular aspect of the instant disclosure is to
provide an automatic handling system that can be applied to many
wafer processing devices.
[0008] One of the embodiments of the instant disclosure provides an
automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing devices,
comprising: a handling rail unit and a transport vehicle unit. The
handling rail unit includes at least one handling rail, wherein the
handling rail is disposed above the wafer processing devices and
selectively crosses through the wafer processing devices. The
transport vehicle unit includes a plurality of OHT vehicles
disposed under the handling rail and mated with the handling rail,
wherein each OHT vehicle includes at least one sliding portion
slidably disposed on the handling rail, at least one rotatable
portion for clamping at least one wafer carrier device, and at
least one suspended portion connected between the sliding portion
and the rotatable portion, wherein the wafer carrier device has a
wafer pick-and-place opening, and the wafer carrier device is
rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT vehicle according to
the position of the wafer processing device for adjusting the
direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to face the wafer
processing device.
[0009] One of the embodiments of the instant disclosure provides an
automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing devices,
comprising: a handling rail unit and a transport vehicle unit. The
handling rail unit includes at least one handling rail, wherein the
handling rail is disposed above the wafer processing devices and
selectively crosses through the wafer processing devices. The
transport vehicle unit includes a plurality of OHT vehicles
disposed under the handling rail and mated with the handling rail,
wherein each OHT vehicle includes at least one rotatable portion
for clamping at least one wafer carrier device, the wafer carrier
device has a wafer pick-and-place opening, and the wafer carrier
device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT vehicle
according to the position of the wafer processing device for
adjusting the direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to face
the wafer processing device.
[0010] One of the embodiments of the instant disclosure provides an
automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing devices,
comprising: a handling rail unit and a transport vehicle unit. The
handling rail unit includes at least one handling rail. The
transport vehicle unit includes a plurality of OHT vehicles
disposed under the handling rail and mated with the handling rail,
wherein each OHT vehicle includes at least one rotatable portion
for clamping at least one wafer carrier device, wherein the wafer
carrier device has a wafer pick-and-place opening, and the wafer
carrier device is rotated by the rotatable portion of the OHT
vehicle according to the position of the wafer processing device
for adjusting the direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening to
face the wafer processing device.
[0011] Therefore, each OHT vehicle includes at least one rotatable
portion for clamping at least one wafer carrier device, thus the
wafer carrier device can be rotated by the rotatable portion of the
OHT vehicle according to the position of the wafer processing
device in order to adjust the direction of the wafer pick-and-place
opening to certainly face the wafer processing device.
[0012] To further understand the techniques, means and effects of
the instant disclosure applied for achieving the prescribed
objectives, the following detailed descriptions and appended
drawings are hereby referred, such that, through which, the
purposes, features and aspects of the instant disclosure can be
thoroughly and concretely appreciated. However, the appended
drawings are provided solely for reference and illustration,
without any intention to limit the instant disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 shows a lateral, schematic view of the automatic
handling system applied to many wafer processing devices according
to the instant disclosure;
[0014] FIGS. 2A to 2C are top, schematic views of the automatic
handling system applied to many first wafer processing machines
according to the instant disclosure, at different stages of the
transporting processes, respectively;
[0015] FIGS. 3A to 3D are top, schematic views of the automatic
handling system applied to many first and second wafer processing
machines according to the instant disclosure, at different stages
of the transporting processes, respectively;
[0016] FIG. 4A shows a top, schematic view of the automatic
handling system applied to many first wafer processing machines
according to the instant disclosure; and
[0017] FIG. 4B shows a top, schematic view of the automatic
handling system applied to many first and second wafer processing
machines according to the instant disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A to 2C, and 3A to 3D, FIG. 1 is a
lateral schematic view, and FIGS. 2A to 2C and 3A to 3D are top
schematic views.
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3A, the instant disclosure provides
an automatic handling system applied to many wafer processing
devices M, comprising: a handling rail unit 1 and a transport
vehicle unit 2. Moreover, the wafer processing devices M can be
divided into a first wafer processing unit M1 and a second wafer
processing unit M2. The first wafer processing unit M1 includes a
plurality of first wafer processing machines M10, and the handling
rail unit 1 can pass through the right side of the first wafer
processing machines M10. The second wafer processing unit M2
includes a plurality of second wafer processing machines M20, and
the handling rail unit 1 can pass through the left side of the
second wafer processing machines M20. Each first wafer processing
machine M10 includes a plurality of first placement areas M100
disposed on the right side R thereof, and each second wafer
processing machine M20 includes a plurality of second placement
areas M200 disposed on the left side L thereof. The right side R of
the first wafer processing machine M10 and the left side L of the
second wafer processing machine M20 are two opposite sides. The
right side R of the first wafer processing machine M10 is defined
as the right side of the advance direction of the transport vehicle
unit 2, and the left side L of the second wafer processing machine
M20 is defined as the left side of the advance direction of the
transport vehicle unit 2.
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3A, the handling rail unit 1
includes at least one handling rail 10, and the handling rail 10
can be disposed above the wafer processing devices M and
selectively crosses through the wafer processing devices M. For
example, the handling rail 10 can cross through the first placement
areas M100 of each first wafer processing machine M10 and the
second placement areas M200 of each second wafer processing machine
M20.
[0021] Furthermore, the transport vehicle unit 2 includes a
plurality of OHT vehicles 20 disposed under the handling rail 10
and mated with the handling rail 10. Each OHT vehicle 20 includes
at least one sliding portion 201 slidably disposed on or in the
handling rail 10, at least one rotatable portion 202 for clamping
at least one wafer carrier device 3, and at least one suspended
portion 203 connected between the sliding portion 201 and the
rotatable portion 202. For example, the rotatable portion 202 of
each OHT vehicle 20 for clamping the wafer carrier device 3 can be
selectively rotated from 0 to 360 degrees (as the rotary arrow
shown in FIG. 1), and the wafer carrier device 3 includes a
plurality of wafers W placed inside the inner portion thereof.
[0022] Moreover, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3A, the wafer carrier
device 3 has a wafer pick-and-place opening 30, and the wafer
carrier device 3 can be rotated by the rotatable portion 202 of the
OHT vehicle 20 according to the position of the wafer processing
device M in order to adjust the direction of the wafer
pick-and-place opening 30 to certainly face the wafer processing
device M. In other words, the wafer carrier device 3 can be rotated
by the rotatable portion 202 of the OHT vehicle 20 according to the
positions of the first wafer placement areas M100 of the first
wafer processing machine M10 for adjusting the direction of the
wafer pick-and-place opening 30 to certainly face the first
placement area M100. Alternatively, the wafer carrier device 3 can
be rotated by the rotatable portion 202 of the OHT vehicle 20
according to the positions of the second wafer placement areas M200
of the second wafer processing machine M20 for adjusting the
direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening 30 to certainly face
the second placement area M200.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 1, and 2A to 2C, when the wafer
processing devices M are the first wafer processing machines M10,
the wafer carrier device 3 can be clamped by the rotatable portion
202 (as shown in FIG. 1) and go forwardly along the handling rail
10 by the sliding portion 201 (as the rightward arrow shown in FIG.
1) to reach a predetermined first wafer processing machine M10 (as
shown in FIG. 2B). Hence, the wafer carrier device 3 can be placed
on the predetermined first wafer processing machine M10 to execute
related semiconductor process (as shown in FIG. 2C) and the OHT
vehicle 20 is proceeding to go forwardly (as shown in FIG. 2C).
[0024] Furthermore, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3A to 3D, when the
wafer processing devices M are the first wafer processing machines
M10 mated with the second wafer processing machines M20, the wafer
carrier device 3 can be clamped by the rotatable portion 202 (as
shown in FIG. 1) and go forwardly along the handling rail 10 by the
sliding portion 201 (as the rightward arrow shown in FIG. 1) to
reach a predetermined second wafer processing machine M20 (as shown
in FIG. 3C). However, because the second placement areas M200 are
disposed beside the left side L of the second wafer processing
machine M20, the wafer carrier device 3 needs to be rotated by the
rotatable portion 202 (as the rotary arrow shown in FIG. 3B) to
adjust the direction of the wafer pick-and-place opening 30 from
face-left (the face-left is defined as the left-hand of the advance
direction of the OHT vehicle 20) to face-right (the face-right is
defined as the right-hand of the advance direction of the OHT
vehicle 20). Finally, the wafer carrier device 3 can be placed on
the predetermined second wafer processing machine M20 to execute
related semiconductor process (as shown in FIG. 3D) and the OHT
vehicle 20 is proceeding to go forwardly (as shown in FIG. 3D).
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, when the wafer processing
devices M are the first wafer processing machines M10 (as shown in
FIG. 4A), only six first wafer processing machines M10 can be
arranged on a predetermined placement space. However, when the
wafer processing devices M are the first wafer processing machines
M10 mated with the second wafer processing machines M20 (as shown
in FIG. 4B), four first wafer processing machines M10 and four
second wafer processing machines M20 can be arranged on the
predetermined placement space (if the first wafer processing
machine M10 and the second wafer processing machine M20 occupy the
same placement space). Hence, the number of the wafer processing
devices M can be increased due to the usage of the rotatable
portion 202.
[0026] In addition, referring to FIG. 4B, the first wafer
processing machines M10 and the second wafer processing machines
M20 can be arranged alternately as a wavy shape, thus the first
placement areas M100 and the second placement areas M200 can be
arranged as a straight line.
[0027] In conclusion, each OHT vehicle includes at least one
rotatable portion for clamping at least one wafer carrier device,
thus the wafer carrier device can be rotated by the rotatable
portion of the OHT vehicle according to the position of the wafer
processing device in order to adjust the direction of the wafer
pick-and-place opening to certainly face the wafer processing
device.
[0028] The above-mentioned descriptions merely represent the
preferred embodiments of the instant disclosure, without any
intention or ability to limit the scope of the instant disclosure
which is fully described only within the following claims. Various
equivalent changes, alterations or modifications based on the
claims of instant disclosure are all, consequently, viewed as being
embraced by the scope of the instant disclosure.
* * * * *