Thin-plate substrate holding finger and transfer robot provided with said finger

A thin-plate substrate transfer robot, comprising:

• an arm body including a thin-plate substrate holding finger on a tip of the arm body, the thin-plate substrate holding finger including the following:
• a finger body being internally formed with only a flow path for circulating an inert gas,
• the finger body being provided with a purge portion for ejecting the inert gas on a thin-pate substrate held by the holding finger, said purge portion having a plurality of ejection ports communicating with the flow path and being disposed on a surface of the finger body opposing an upwardly facing surface to be processed of the thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger for ejecting the inert gas onto the entire upwardly facing surface to be processed of the thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger and filling the space formed by the holding finger between the entire upwardly facing surface to be processed of the thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger and the holding finger;
• a piping member providing communication between an inert gas supply source and the flow path;
• an abutting member being disposed on the surface of the finger body on which the plurality of ejection ports are formed, said abutting member being configured to abut a peripheral portion of the thin-plate substrate;
• a clamp member being disposed to be movable forward and backward with respect to the thin-plate substrate;
• and
• a clamp mechanism for moving the clamp member forward and backward;
• an arm body drive mechanism for operating the arm body in a horizontal plane;
• and
• an elevating mechanism for moving up and down the arm body in a vertical direction.

A thin-plate substrate transfer device, comprising;

• a transfer space in which a thin-plate substrate transfer robot is disposed, said thin-plate substrate transfer robot including the following:
• an arm body including a thin-plate substrate holding finger on a tip of the arm body, the thin-plate substrate holding finger including the following:
• a finger body being internally formed with only a flow path for circulating an inert gas,
• the finger body being provided with a purge portion for ejecting the inert gas on a thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger, said purge portion having a plurality of ejection ports communicating with the flow path and being disposed on a surface of the finger body opposing an upwardly facing surface to be processed of the thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger for ejecting the inert gas onto the entire upwardly facing surface to be processed of the thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger and filling the space formed by the holding finger between the entire upwardly facing surface to be processed of the thin-plate substrate held by the holding finger and the holding finger;
• a piping member providing communication between an inert gas supply source and the flow path;
• an abutting member being disposed on the surface of the finger body on which the plurality of ejection ports are formed, and said abutting member being configured to abut a peripheral portion of the thin-plate substrate;
• a clamp member being disposed to be movable forward and backward with respect to the thin-plate substrate;
• and
• a clamp mechanism for moving the clamp member forward and backward;
• an arm body drive mechanism for operating the arm body in a horizontal plane;
• and
• an elevating mechanism for moving up and down the arm body in a vertical direction;
• a transfer space forming member for forming the transfer space;
• a lid opening/closing device for opening and closing a lid for airtightly closing a closed container, being fixed to the transfer space forming member, said closed container for containing the thin-plate substrate being placed at a predetermined position;
• a fan filter unit (FFU) for supplying clean air to the transfer space as a downflow, provided on an upper part of the transfer space forming member, and
• wherein a floor surface of the transfer space is provided with an opening for discharging the clean air supplied from the FFU.