US 11,443,968 B2Granted

Substrate treating apparatus and substrate transporting method

AssigneeSCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

InventorJoji Kuwahara

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A substrate treating apparatus and a substrate transporting method. A platform is placed on a first ID block, and a platform is placed on a second ID block. A currently-used carrier platform is provided only on the first ID block. A substrate is transported in both a forward path and a return path between the first ID block and an IF block. The substrate is sent in the return path from the IF block to the second ID block disposed between a coating block and a developing block without being transported from the IF block to the first ID block. Consequently, transportation process in the return path by the coating block disposed between the first ID block and the second ID block is reduced. As a result, an entire throughput of a substrate treating apparatus can be enhanced.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A substrate treating apparatus for treating a substrate, comprising:

a plurality of treating blocks arranged in line;
a first indexer block connected to a treating block of the treating blocks on a first end and on which a first carrier platform for placing a carrier capable of accommodating substrates thereon is disposed;
an interface block connected to a treating block of the treating blocks on a second end and configured to load and unload a substrate into and from an external device configured to perform a predetermined treatment;
and
a second indexer block disposed between two treating blocks of the treating blocks and on which a second carrier platform for placing a carrier thereon is disposed;
wherein
the first indexer block takes a substrate from the carrier placed on the first carrier platform and sends the taken substrate to the treating block on the first end,
the treating blocks and the second indexer block send the substrate, having been sent from the first indexer block, from the treating block on the first end to the interface block via the second indexer block,
a treating block disposed between the first indexer block and the second indexer block performs a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the treating block on the first end to the interface block,
the interface block unloads the sent substrate into the external device,
the interface block loads the substrate, subjected to the predetermined treatment by the external device, from the external device and sends the loaded substrate to the treating block on the second end,
a treating block of the treating blocks disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block sends the substrate, having been sent from the interface block, from the treating block on the second end to the second indexer block,
the treating block disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block performs a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the treating block on the second end to the second indexer block, and
the second indexer block returns the sent substrate to the carrier placed on the second carrier platform.

11 more elements

A substrate treating apparatus for treating a substrate, comprising:

a plurality of treating blocks arranged in line;
a first indexer block connected to a treating block of the treating blocks on a first end and on which a first carrier platform for placing a carrier capable of accommodating substrates thereon is disposed;
an interface block connected to a treating block of the treating blocks on a second end and configured to load and unload a substrate into and from an external device configured to perform a predetermined treatment;
and
a second indexer block disposed between two treating blocks of the treating blocks and on which a second carrier platform for placing a carrier thereon is disposed;
wherein
the second indexer block takes a substrate from the carrier placed on the second carrier platform and sends the taken substrate to an adjacent treating block adjacent to the second indexer block toward the interface block,
a treating block of the treating blocks disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block sends the substrate, having been sent from the second indexer block, from the adjacent treating block to the interface block,
the treating block disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block performs a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the adjacent treating block to the interface block;
the interface block unloads the sent substrate into the external device,
the interface block loads the substrate, subjected to the predetermined treatment by the external device, from the external device and sends the loaded substrate to the treating block on the second end,
the treating blocks and the second indexer block send the substrate, having been sent from the interface block, from the treating block on the second end to the first indexer block via the second indexer block,
a treating block disposed between the first indexer block and the second indexer block performs a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the treating block on the second end to the first indexer block;
and
the first indexer block returns the sent substrate to a carrier placed on the first carrier platform.

12 more elements

A substrate transporting method for a substrate treating apparatus including:

a plurality of treating blocks arranged in line;
a first indexer block connected to a treating block of the treating blocks on a first end and on which a first carrier platform for placing a carrier capable of accommodating substrates thereon is disposed;
and
an interface block connected to a treating block of the treating blocks on a second end and configured to load and unload a substrate into and from an external device configured to perform a predetermined treatment;
the method comprising:
a taking and sending step of causing the first indexer block to take a substrate from the carrier placed on the first carrier platform and to send the taken substrate to the treating block on the first end;
a first sending step of causing the treating blocks and a second indexer block disposed between two of the treating blocks to send the substrate, sent from the first indexer block, from the treating block on the first end to the interface block via the second indexer block;
a first treating step of causing a treating block disposed between the first indexer block and the second indexer block to perform a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the treating block on the first end to the interface block;
an unloading step of causing the interface block to unload the sent substrate into the external device;
a loading and sending step of causing the interface block to load the substrate, subjected to the predetermined treatment by the external device, from the external device and to send the loaded substrate to the treating block on the second end;
a second sending step of causing a treating block of the treating blocks, disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block, to send the substrate, having been sent from the interface block, from the treating block on the second end to the second indexer block;
a second treating step of causing the treating block disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block to perform a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the treating block on the second end to the second indexer block;
and
a returning step of causing the second indexer block to return the sent substrate to the carrier placed on the second carrier platform provided in the second indexer block.

11 more elements

A substrate transporting method for a substrate treating apparatus including:

a plurality of treating blocks arranged in line;
a first indexer block connected to a treating block on the first end of the treating blocks and on which a first carrier platform for placing a carrier capable of accommodating substrates thereon is disposed;
and
an interface block connected to a treating block on a second end of the treating blocks and configured to load and unload a substrate into and from an external device configured to perform a predetermined treatment;
the method comprising:
a taking and sending step of causing the second indexer block, disposed between two treating blocks of the treating blocks, to take a substrate from the carrier placed on the second carrier platform in the second indexer block and to send the taken substrate to an adjacent treating block adjacent to the second indexer block toward to the interface block,
a first sending step of causing a treating block of the treating blocks, disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block, to send the substrate, having been sent from the second indexer block, from the adjacent treating block to the interface block;
a first treating step of causing the treating block disposed between the second indexer block and the interface block to perform a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the adjacent treating block to the interface block;
an unloading step of causing the interface block to unload the sent substrate into the external device;
a loading and sending step of causing the interface block to load the substrate, subjected to the predetermined treatment by the external device, from the external device and to send the loaded substrate to the treating block on the second end;
a second sending step of causing the treating blocks and the second indexer block to send the substrate, having been sent from the interface block, from the treating block on the second end to the first indexer block via the second indexer block;
a second treating step of causing a treating block disposed between the first indexer block and the second indexer block to perform a predetermined treatment on the substrate to be sent when the substrate is sent from the treating block on the second end to the first indexer block;
and
a returning step of causing the first indexer block to return the sent substrate to a carrier placed on the first carrier platform.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/724,429Filed 23 Dec 2019
Priority: JP JP2018-24873628 Dec 2018
Published: US 2020/0211880 A12 Jul 2020
Granted: 13 Sep 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

H10P 72/3218
Between different workstations: conveying cassettes, containers or carriers
H10P 72/3302
Into and out of processing chamber: mechanical parts of transfer devices
G03F 7/20
Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g.…
H10P 72/0458
Characterised by the layout of the process chambers: vertical arrangement

Family

US 2020/0211880 A1Pre-grant publication · published 2 Jul 2020
US 11,443,968 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key