Vacuum processing apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:
- a cassette mount table for holding a cassette;
a first conveyor structure for transferring a wafer from the cassette held on the cassette mount table;
a vacuum loader provided with a vacuum conveyor chamber and a second conveyor structure in the vacuum conveyor chamber; and
a lock chamber disposed between the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure, wherein;
the first conveyor structure is disposed between the cassette mount table and the lock chamber and in front of the lock chamber, the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure are respectively provided with a first robot and a second robot, and the first robot is shiftable in a direction perpendicular to an inlet of the lock chamber, the lock chamber is provided with both the inlet and an outlet, which are located in a horizontal line, and the second robot is disposed in the vacuum conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the lock chamber, and the vacuum loader is provided with a gate for a vacuum processing chamber to be connected with the vacuum conveyor chamber.
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Abstract
A vacuum processing apparatus which includes a cassette mount table for holding a cassette, a conveying structure for transferring a wafer from the held on the cassette mount table, a robot, and a vacuum loader. The vacuum loader is provided with a vacuum conveyor chamber and a conveying structure which further include an additional robot.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:
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a cassette mount table for holding a cassette;
a first conveyor structure for transferring a wafer from the cassette held on the cassette mount table;
a vacuum loader provided with a vacuum conveyor chamber and a second conveyor structure in the vacuum conveyor chamber; and
a lock chamber disposed between the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure, wherein;
the first conveyor structure is disposed between the cassette mount table and the lock chamber and in front of the lock chamber, the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure are respectively provided with a first robot and a second robot, and the first robot is shiftable in a direction perpendicular to an inlet of the lock chamber, the lock chamber is provided with both the inlet and an outlet, which are located in a horizontal line, and the second robot is disposed in the vacuum conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the lock chamber, and the vacuum loader is provided with a gate for a vacuum processing chamber to be connected with the vacuum conveyor chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
the first conveyor structure is provided with a transfer structure, the lock chamber is provided with a gate valve at the inlet, and the first robot is installed on the transfer structure and travels along a front surface of the gate valve.
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10. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a set of two cassettes is disposed on the cassette mount table.
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11. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:
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a cassette mount table for holding a cassette;
a first conveyor structure for horizontally transferring a wafer from the cassette held on the cassette mount table;
a vacuum loader provided with a vacuum conveyor chamber and a second conveyor structure in the vacuum conveyor chamber; and
at least two lock chambers disposed between the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure, wherein the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure are respectively provided with a first robot and a second robot, the vacuum conveyor chamber is provided with gates to be respectively connected to at least five chambers which comprise at least three vacuum processing chambers and the at least two lock chambers provided with at least two wafer transfer chambers, each lock chamber is provided with both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and the second robot is disposed in the vacuum conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the lock chamber. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:
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a cassette mount table for holding a set of two cassettes adjacent to each other;
a first conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount table;
a vacuum loader provided with a vacuum conveyor chamber and a second conveyor structure in the vacuum conveyor chamber; and
a lock chamber disposed between the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure, wherein;
the first conveyor structure forms a sole transfer structure on which a track is installed, positioned along an inlet of the lock chamber, the first conveyor structure is provided with a first robot which travels on the track, the first robot is adapted to transfer a wafer from the cassette to the lock chamber, the first conveyor structure is disposed between the set of two cassettes and a set of chambers forming the lock chamber, which comprises a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer, and an inlet and an outlet of the lock chamber are in a horizontal line. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:
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a cassette mount table for holding a cassette;
a first conveyor structure for horizontally transferring a wafer from the cassette held on the cassette mount table, and having a first robot;
a vacuum loader provided with a vacuum conveyor chamber and a second conveyor structure in the vacuum conveyor chamber, the second conveyor structure including a second robot; and
a plurality of lock chambers connected to the vacuum loader, wherein;
the first robot is shiftable in a direction perpendicular to an inlet of any of the plurality of lock chambers, the second robot is a sole robot installed in the vacuum conveyor chamber and has an arm accessing any of the plurality of lock chambers, and the vacuum conveyor chamber is provided with at least five gates connected with the plurality of lock chambers and three vacuum processing chambers. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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Specification