SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING SUBSTRATE

The present invention relates to a substrate transfer system and method enabling a direction of a substrate or the order of substrates to be maintained even when the substrate is swing-moved and transferred by a robot transportation device, in particularly, the substrate transfer system may include: a robot transportation device that transfers at least one substrate using at least one swing-movable transport arm; and a compensatory rotation device that is mounted on the transport arm of the robot transportation device and selectively supports the substrate to thus enable compensatory rotation thereof so that, even when the transport arm has a swing motion while the substrate is transferred by the robot transportation device, a direction of the substrate or the order of the substrates can be maintained.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0139532, filed on Oct. 26, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for transferring a substrate, and more particularly, to a system and method for transferring a substrate, which are capable of maintaining a direction of the substrate or the order of substrates even when the substrates are swing-moved and transported by a robot transportation device.

2. Description of the Related Art

When a robot transportation device transports substrate from an upstream equipment on the left to a downstream equipment on the right, if the substrates are in the order of substrate A and substrate B, an orientation angle of the robot transportation device is altered by 180° while the robot transportation device is being turned and a transport arm is swinging so that the order of the substrates is naturally and necessarily reversed to substrate B and substrate A.

Therefore, according to the conventional art, in order to ensure continuity of the order of substrates between equipments by further reversing such reversed order of substrates as described above into substrate A and substrate B, an additional turning-table device capable of changing the order of substrates or the direction of substrates has been mounted on the upstream equipment or the downstream equipment.

Therefore, according to the conventional art, a substrate transport time of the robot transportation device to transfer the substrate and a substrate-turning time of further reversing the previously reversed substrate by the turning-table device were needed separately, hence requiring a long time for transferring and aligning the substrates. Further, there was a problem of additionally demanding undesired parts or space for installation of a turning-table.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made to overcome different problems including the afore-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate transfer system in which a compensatory rotation device capable of further reversing the previously reversed substrate is mounted on a robot transportation device so that, even when a substrate is transferred by the robot transportation device, a direction of a substrate or the order of substrates can be maintained; wherein an alternative turning-table device is not desired and thus a space utility of apparatus may be improved; wherein the substrate can undergo compensatory rotation while transferring the substrate at the same time, thereby greatly reducing a distribution and transportation time, as well as a substrate transfer method. However, such an object as described above is only for illustrative purpose and the scope of the present invention is duly not restricted thereby.

In order to achieve the above objects, the substrate transfer system according to the spirit of the present invention may include: a robot transportation device that transfers at least one substrate using at least one swing-movable transport arm; and a compensatory rotation device that is mounted on the transport arm of the robot transportation device and selectively supports the substrate to thus enable compensatory rotation thereof so that, even when the transport arm has a swing motion while the substrate is transferred by the robot transportation device, a direction of the substrate or the order of the substrates can be maintained.

Further, according to the present invention, the compensatory rotation device may include: a rotational swing deck that supports the substrate and is rotatably mounted; a swing deck lifting device that moves up and down the rotational swing deck from a first height lower than the transport arm to a second height higher than the transport arm; and a swing deck rotating device that rotates the rotational swing deck lifted to the second height.

Further, according to the present invention, the rotational swing deck may include: a main body connected to the swing deck lifting device or the swing deck rotating device; an extending part installed to be extendable from the main body; and an extension device to extend the extending part.

Further, according to the present invention, the extending part may be a foldable rotary arm to be folded to and unfolded from the main body.

Further, according to the present invention, the foldable rotary arm may include: a first rotating arm to be unfolded in one direction based on the main body; and a second rotating arm to be unfolded in the other direction based on the main body.

Further, according to the present invention, a first support pin may be formed on the main body to support the substrate at three points or more, a second support pin may be formed on the first rotating arm; and a third support pin may be formed on the second rotating arm.

Further, according to the present invention, a control unit to apply a swing motion control signal to the robot transportation device and to apply a compensatory rotation control signal to the compensatory rotation device may be further included, wherein, when the robot transportation device is in swing motion, the control unit may control a compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device based on a swing motion rate of the robot transportation device so as to constantly maintain a direction of the substrate, thereby preventing rotational shock applied to the substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, when the robot transportation device is in swing motion, the control unit may enable the compensatory rotation device to reversely rotate the substrate by a first angle if the substrate normally rotates at the first angle by the robot transportation device.

Further, according to the present invention, the compensatory rotation device may include: a roll wheel which is mounted on the transport arm of the robot transportation device, and is in rolling contact with the bottom surface of the substrate; and a wheel rotating device which rotates the roll wheel so that the roll wheel can rotate the substrate in a self-rotational direction of the substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, at least three or more roll wheels may be arranged at equal angles based on the center of the substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, the extending part may be a sliding type forward/backward arm that is stored in and then protrudes from the main body.

Further, according to the present invention, the sliding type forward/backward arm may include: a first forward/backward arm to contract and stretch in one direction based on the main body; and a second forward/backward arm to be contacted and stretched in the other direction based on the main body.

Meanwhile, in order to achieve the above objects, a substrate transfer method according to the spirit of the present invention may include: (a) transferring at least one substrate using at least one swing-movable transport arm by a robot transportation device; and (b) while the substrate is transferred by the robot transportation device, selectively supporting the substrate and enabling compensatory rotation thereof using a compensatory rotation device mounted on the transport arm of the robot transportation device so that, even when the transport arm is in swing motion, a direction of the substrate or the order of the substrates can be maintained.

Further, according to the present invention, the step (b) may include: (b-1) moving the compensatory rotation device upward from a first height lower than the transport arm to a second height higher than the transport arm to thus support the substrate; (b-2) rotating the substrate by the compensatory rotation device; and (b-3) moving the compensatory rotation device downward from the second height higher than the transport arm to the first height lower than the transport arm to thus be spaced from the substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, before the step (b-1), the above step (b) may further include (b-4) extending the extending part from the main body by the compensatory rotation device.

Further, according to the present invention, in the step (b), when the robot transportation device is in swing motion, the compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device may be controlled based on the swing motion rate of the robot transportation device so as to maintain the direction of the substrate, thereby preventing rotational shock applied to the substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, in the step (b), when the robot transportation device is in swing motion, the compensatory rotation device may reversely rotate the substrate by a first angle if the substrate normally rotates at the first angle by the robot transportation device.

Further, according to the present invention, in the step (b), the compensatory rotation device may rotate the roll wheel in rolling contact with the bottom surface of the substrate to a self-rotational direction of the substrate, thereby enabling compensatory rotation of the substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, the method may further include (c) transferring the compensation-rotated substrate to other apparatus by the robot transportation device while maintaining the direction of the substrate or the order of the substrates.

Meanwhile, in order to achieve the above objects, the substrate transfer system according to the spirit of the present invention may include: a robot transportation device that transfers at least one substrate using at least one swing-movable transport arm; a compensatory rotation device that is mounted on the transport arm of the robot transportation device, and selectively supports the substrate and enables compensatory rotation thereof so that, even when the transport arm is in swing motion while the substrate is transferred by the robot transportation device, a direction of the substrate or the order of the substrates can be maintained; and a control unit that applies a swing motion control signal to the robot transportation device and also a compensatory rotation control signal to the compensatory rotation device, wherein the compensatory rotation device may include: a rotational swing deck that supports the substrate and is rotatably mounted; a swing deck lifting device that moves up and down the rotational swing deck from a first height lower than the transport arm to a second height higher than the transport arm; a swing deck rotating device that rotates the rotational swing deck lifted to the second height; a roll wheel that is mounted on the transport arm of the robot transportation device and is in rolling contact with the bottom surface of the substrate; and a wheel rotating device that rotates the roll wheel so that the roll wheel can rotate the substrate in a self-rotational direction of the substrate, wherein the rotational swing deck may include: a main body connected to the swing deck lifting device or the swing deck rotating device; an extending part mounted to be extendable from the main body; and an extension device to extend the extending part, wherein the extending part is a foldable rotary arm to be folded to and then unfolded from the main body, and the foldable rotary arm may include: a first rotating arm that is unfolded in one direction based on the main body; and a second rotating arm that is unfolded to the other direction based on the main body, wherein a first support pin may be formed to support the substrate at three points or more, a second support pin may be formed on the first rotating arm; and a third support pin may be formed on the second rotating arm, and wherein the control unit may control a compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device based on a swing motion rate of the robot transportation device so that, when the robot transportation device is in swing motion, the direction of the substrate is constantly maintained to thus prevent rotational shock applied to the substrate.

According to one embodiment of the present invention completed as described above, the robot transportation device is provided with a compensatory rotation device cable of further reversing the previously reversed substrate so that, even when the substrate is transferred by the robot transportation device, a direction of the substrate or the order of the substrates may be maintained; an additional turning-table device is undesired to thus improve a space utility of the apparatus; and a compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device may be controlled based on a swing motion rate of the robot transportation device to constantly maintain the direction of the substrate during transferring, thereby effectively preventing rotational shock applied to the substrate. Of course, the scope of the present invention is duly not limited to such effects as described above.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, different preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely describe the present invention to persons having ordinary knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains (“those skilled in the art”), the following embodiments may be modified into different forms, and the scope of the present invention is duly not restricted to the following embodiments. On the contrary, these embodiments will be provided to further sufficiently and completely prepare the present disclosure and to perfectly inform those skilled in the art with the spirit of the present invention. In addition, a thickness or size of each layer shown in the figures will be exaggerated for convenience and clarity of the explanation.

The terms used in the present disclosure are used for explaining specific embodiments but not for restricting the present invention. As used in the present disclosure, the singular form may also include the plural form unless otherwise an alternative case is indicated in the context. Further, “comprise” and/or “comprising” in the present disclosure will specify the existence of mentioned shapes, numbers, steps, motions, members, elements and/or the group thereof, however, does not exclude the existence and/or addition of one or more other shapes, numbers, motions, members, elements and/or the groups thereof.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings in which ideal embodiments of the present invention are schematically illustrated. With regard to the drawings, for example, modification of the illustrated shapes may be expected on the basis of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerance. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present inventive spirit should not be construed as limitation to specific morphologies in the section illustrated in the specification, for example, should include a change in morphologies caused during manufacturing.

FIG.1is a plan view showing the substrate transfer system100according to some embodiments of the present invention.

First, as illustrated inFIG.1, the substrate transfer system100may generally include a robot transportation device10, a compensatory rotation device20and a control unit30(SeeFIG.10).

For example, the robot transportation device10is a device that may receive at least one substrate1from an upstream equipment, swing a rotate by 180° or, after swing rotation by a specific angle, may deliver the substrate to a downstream equipment. Therefore, this device may transfer at least one substrate1using at least one swing-movable transport arm11.

As such, the robot transportation device10may be a structure having intensity and durability enough to support the compensatory rotation device20installed on the transport arm11as well as the substrate1.

The robot transportation device10may include a plurality of transport arms11for supporting the substrate1and a robot main body12to which the transport arms11are fixed and in which a rotation axis of the swing rotation is provided.

However, the robot main body12is not necessarily limited to that shown in the drawings, instead, diverse shapes of actuators, joints, or links for rotating the rotation axis of swing rotation (“swing rotation axis”) may be further provided on the robot main body.

Further, for example, the compensatory rotation device20is installed in a central transport arm or a transport arm adjacent the center among the transport arms11of the robot transport device10, and may selectively support the substrate1and enable compensatory rotation thereof so that, even when the transport arm11is in swing motion while the substrate1is transferred by the robot transportation device10, a direction of the substrate1or the order of the substrates1can be maintained.

For example, the compensatory rotation device20may include: a rotational swing deck21that supports the substrate1and is rotatably mounted; a swing deck lifting device22that moves up and down the rotational swing deck21from a first height H1lower than the transport arm11shown inFIG.3to a second height H2(SeeFIG.5) higher than the transport arm11; and a swing deck rotating device23that rotates the rotational swing deck21lifted to the second height H2.

Herein, as shown inFIG.1, the rotational swing deck21extends from the left side to the right side, and may be formed with a length sufficient to support two or more substrates1, that is, both of substrate B in the left direction and substrate A in the right direction.

More particularly, for example, the rotational swing deck21may include: a main body211connected to the swing deck lifting device22or the swing deck rotating device23; an extending part212mounted to be extendable from the main body211; and an extension device213to extend the extending part212.

In this regard, the extending part212is a foldable rotary arm R that is folded to and then unfolded from the main body211, wherein the foldable rotary arm R may include: a first rotating arm R1unfolded in one direction based on the main body211; and a second rotating arm R2unfolded in the other direction based on the main body211.

Accordingly, a first support pin P1is formed on the main body211to support the substrate1, a second support pin P2is formed on the first rotating arm R1, and a third support pin P3is formed on the second rotating arm R2, so that, when the rotational swing deck21is lifted by the swing deck lifting device22, the substrate1can be supported at three points or more.

FIGS.2to9exhibit an operational process of the substrate transfer system100ofFIG.1by stages.

As illustrated inFIGS.2to9, the operational process of the substrate transfer system100according to some embodiments of the present invention will be described. First, as shown inFIGS.2and3, after loading the substrate1, the swing deck lifting device22moves the rotational swing deck21downward to the first height H1lower than the transport arm11as shown inFIG.3, and then, the extension device213may extend and unfold the first rotating arm R1and the second rotating arm R2.

Then, as illustrated inFIGS.4and5, the swing deck lifting device22may move the rotational swing deck21upward to the second height H2higher than the transport arm11, so that the first support pin P1, the second support pin P2and the third support pin P3can support the substrate B on the left and the substrate A on the right, respectively, at three points.

Following this, as shown inFIG.6, the swing deck rotating device23may turn the rotational swing deck21by 90° in counter-clockwise direction so as to locate the substrate A in front and the substrate B in the rear.

Then, as shown inFIG.7, the swing deck rotating device23may further turn the rotational swing deck21by 90° in counter-clockwise direction so as to locate the substrate A on the left and the substrate B on the right.

Next, as shown inFIG.8, the swing deck lifting device22may move the rotational swing deck21downward to the first height H1lower than the transport arm11so that the rotational swing deck21can be spaced from the substrate1.

Then, as shown inFIG.9, the extension device213may fold the first rotating arm R1and the second rotating arm R2so as to prepare unloading of the substrate1.

FIGS.10to12exhibit a process of transferring the substrates1delivered from the upstream equipment to the downstream equipment by the substrate transfer system100ofFIG.1by stages. First, as shown inFIG.10, for example, the substrates1may be loaded in the order of substrate A on the left and substrate B on the right of the robot transportation device10from the upstream equipment.

Then, as shown inFIG.11, when the robot transportation device10is in swing motion, the control unit30may control a compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device20based on a swing motion rate of the robot transportation device10so that a direction of the substrate1can be constantly maintained to prevent rotational shock applied to the substrate1.

Herein, the control unit30may be any of different control devices such as a microprocessor, an integrated circuit, a semiconductor chip, a central processing unit, an operational device, a storage device having a program stored therein, a server computer, a personal computer, a smart pad, a smartphone, a smart device, a terminal, etc., which can apply a swing motion control signal to the robot transportation device10and apply a compensatory rotation control signal to the compensatory rotation device20.

As illustrated inFIG.11, when the robot transportation device10is in swing motion, the control unit30may enable the compensatory rotation device20to reversely rotate the substrate1by a first angle K1if the substrate1normally rotates at the first angle K1by the robot transportation device10, and thus may constantly maintain the direction of the substrate1or the order of the substrates, thereby preventing rotational shock applied to the substrate1.

Then, the robot transportation device10may unload the substrates in the order of substrate A on the left and substrate B on the right of the downstream equipment even when the transport arm11is in swing rotation.

Therefore, the robot transportation device10may be provided with the compensatory rotation device20capable of reversing again the previously reversed substrate1so that, even when the substrate1is transferred by the robot transportation device10, a direction of the substrate1or the order of the substrates1can be maintained; an alternative turning-table device is undesired to thus improve a space utility; the substrate may undergo compensatory rotation while transferring the substrate at the same time, thereby greatly reducing a distribution and transportation time; and a compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device20may be controlled based on a swing motion rate of the robot transportation device10to thus constantly maintain the direction of the substrate1, thereby preventing rotational shock applied to the substrate1.

FIG.13is a plan view showing a substrate transfer system200according to some other embodiments of the resent invention.

As illustrated inFIG.13, the first rotating arm R1and the second rotating arm R2of the substrate transfer system200according to some other embodiments of the present invention may be possibly formed on the outside far away from the center of compensatory rotation, unlike the first rotating arm R1and the second rotating arm R2shown inFIG.12.

In addition, the first rotating arm R1and the second rotating arm R2can be formed in very diverse shapes and positions, therefore, are not particularly limited to the drawings.

FIG.14is a plan view showing a substrate transfer system300according to some further embodiments of the present invention, andFIG.15is a side view showing the substrate transfer system300ofFIG.14.

As illustrated inFIGS.14and15, the substrate transfer system300according to some further embodiments of the present invention may further include: as the compensatory rotation device20, a roll wheel24which is mounted on the transport arm11of the robot transportation device10and is in rolling contact with the bottom surface of the substrate1; and a wheel rotating device25to rotate the roll wheel24so that the roll wheel24can rotate the substrate1in a self-rotational direction of the substrate1.

Herein, the roll wheel24may be provided in plural such as four (4), and these roll wheels may be disposed at an equal angle of 90° based on the center of C substrate1.

Therefore, it is possible to further easily induce compensatory rotation of the substrate1by self-rotation of the C substrate1using the roll wheels24.

FIG.16is a plan view showing a substrate transfer system400according to some yet further embodiments of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIG.16, the substrate transfer system400according to some yet further embodiments of the present invention may include a sliding type forward/backward arm S1, S2as the extending part212, which is stored in a main body211and then protrudes therefrom.

As illustrated inFIG.16, the sliding type forward/backward arm S1, S2may include a first forward/backward arm S1to contract and stretch in one direction based on the main body211; and a second forward/backward arm S2to contract and stretch in the other direction based on the main body211.

Accordingly, when the rotational swing deck21is lifted by the swing deck lifting device22, the first support pin P1, the second support pin P2and the third support pin P3may support the substrate1at three points or more.

FIG.17is a flow chart exhibiting a substrate transfer method according to some embodiments of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIGS.1to17, the substrate transfer method according to some embodiments of the present invention may include: (a) transferring at least one substrate1using at least one swing-movable transport arm11by a robot transportation device10; (b) while the substrate1is transferred by the robot transportation device10, selectively supporting the substrate1and enabling compensatory rotation thereof using a compensatory rotation device20mounted on the transport arm11of the robot transportation device10so that, even when the transport arm11is in swing motion, a direction of the substrate1or the order of the substrates1can be maintained; and (c) transferring the compensation-rotated substrate1to other apparatus by the robot transportation device10while maintaining the direction of the substrate1or the order of the substrates1.

Herein, in the step (b), when the robot transportation device10is in swing motion, a compensatory rotation rate of the compensatory rotation device20may be controlled based on a swing motion rate of the robot transportation device10so that the direction of the substrate1can be constantly maintained to thus prevent rotational shock applied to the substrate1.

Further, for example, in the step (b), when the robot transportation device10is in swing motion, the compensatory rotation device20may reversely rotate the substrate1by a first angle K1if the substrate1normally rotates at the first angle K1by the robot transportation device10.

Further, for example, in the step (b), the compensatory rotation device20may rotate the roll wheel24, which is in rolling contact with the bottom surface of the substrate1, in a self-rotational direction of the substrate1, thereby enabling compensatory rotation of the substrate1.

FIG.18is a flow chart more specifically illustrating the step (b) of the substrate transfer method ofFIG.17.

As illustrated inFIGS.1to18, the step (b) may include: (b-4) extending the extending part212from the main body211by the compensatory rotation device20; (b-1) moving the compensatory rotation device20upward from a first height H1lower than the transport arm11to a second height higher H2higher than the transport arm11to thus support the substrate1; (b-2) rotating the substrate1by the compensatory rotation device20; and (b-3) moving the compensatory rotation device20downward from the second height H2higher than the transport arm11to the first height H1lower than the transport arm11to thus be spaced from the substrate1.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, however, these are merely proposed for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and other equivalent embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true and technical range of the present invention to be protected would be defined on the basis of technical spirit disclosed in the appended claims.