Subtrate processing apparatus and device for and method of exchanging substrate in substrate processing apparatus

• US 5,571,325 A
• Filed: 06/07/1995
• Issued: 11/05/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Company Limited (SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Company Limited (SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Matsumura, Yoshio, Adachi, Hideki, Tanaka, Yasuhide, Ueyama, Tsutomu
• Primary Examiner(s): Housel, James C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Freed, Rachel
• Application Number:
  US08/476,052
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 118/320, 118/319, 414/935, 414/939, 414/222, 414/217, 414/609, 414/DIG. 1, 414/DIG. 2, 414/DIG. 6, 414/3-5
• US Class Current: 118/320
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70733 Handling masks and workpieces, e.g. exchange of workpiece or mask, transport of workpiece or mask
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/7075 Handling workpieces outside exposure position, e.g. SMIF box
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67161 characterized by the layout of the process chambers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67178 vertical arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67742 Mechanical parts of transfer devices robots in general in B25J
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67748 horizontal transfer of a single workpiece
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67751 vertical transfer of a single workpiece
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68707 the wafers being placed on a robot blade, or gripped by a gripper for conveyance
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/135 Associated with semiconductor wafer handling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/136 including wafer orienting means
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/14 Wafer cassette transporting

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus comprises a processing part and a transferring part. In the processing part there are a plurality of stages in which a plurality of processing units are arranged in a row along a horizontal direction and the stages are arranged in a stack vertically. Thus, the processing units are arranged in matrix. The transferring part includes a plurality of horizontal transferring devices each movable in the horizontal direction and a vertical transferring device movable in the vertical direction. Hence, a substrate is movable both horizontally and vertically to be transferred to the desired processing unit.

Claims

1. A substrate processing apparatus for transferring and processing substrates having plate configurations, said apparatus comprising:

processing means including a plurality of processing units for processing each of said substrates serially one by one, each of said processing units processing said substrates in a selected one of a plurality of different manners, each of said processing units including a holding component for holding each of said substrates horizontally while said substrate is processed in said processing unit, said processing units being arranged in upper and lower processing rows, each processing row comprises selected ones of said plurality of said processing units arranged in a predetermined horizontal direction, said upper processing row being arranged above and in parallel with said lower processing row; and

transferring means, arranged along both said upper and lower processing rows, for transporting each of said substrates, one by one in a predetermined order, while simultaneously supporting each of said substrates horizontally, to each of said processing units, said transferring means also receiving each of said substrates from said holding component of each of said plurality of processing units and transferring said substrate to said holding component of another one of said processing units.

2. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said transferring means includes a horizontally movable component for transferring said substrate in a horizontal direction along said upper and lower processing rows, and a vertically movable component for transferring said substrate in a vertical direction between said upper and lower processing rows.

3. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for supplying clean air downwardly to said transferring means.

4. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of said processing units in said upper processing row includes a plurality of processing components each of which processes one of said plurality of substrates in an identical manner, said plurality of processing components being arranged vertically with respect to each other.

5. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of said processing units in said lower processing row includes means for processing said substrates individually one by one while each of said substrates rotates around a vertical axis perpendicular to said substrate.

6. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of said processing units in said upper processing row includes means for processing substrates individually one by one without rotating said substrates.

7. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of said processing units in said upper processing row includes means for heating said substrate.

8. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of said processing units in said upper processing row includes means for cooling said substrate.

9. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of said processing units in said upper processing row includes means for coating said substrate with an adhesion agent.

10. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein at least one of said processing units in said lower processing row includes means for coating a photo-resist liquid on said substrate while said substrate rotates and while said photo-resist liquid is on said substrate.

11. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein at least one of said processing units in said lower processing row includes means for supplying developing liquid on said substrate while said substrate rotates.

12. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said substrate to be processed is generally rectangular.

13. A substrate processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein said substrate to be processed is a glass substrate used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display.