# US 2002/0153098 A1 · Transferring apparatus and substrate processing apparatus

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- Number: US 2002/0153098 A1
- Document ID: US20020153098A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 09/998,431
- Filed: 2001-11-28
- Published: 2002-10-24
- Earliest claimed: 2000-11-29
- Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Inventors: Osamu Kuroda; Takayuki Ogami
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20020153098A1

## CPC

- H10P 72/0606: {Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection}
- B08B 3/04: Cleaning involving contact with liquid
- Y10S 134/902: Semiconductor wafer
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- B08B: CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

A cleaning apparatus 11 includes a cleaning bath 30 for cleaning wafers W, a wafer guide 31 moving up and down to accommodate the wafers W in the cleaning bath 30, a motor 49 for moving the wafer guide 31 up and down, an absolute encoder 33 for detecting the position of the wafer guide 31, a driver 62 and a controller 63. The absolute encoder 33 detects a rotational angle of a rotating shaft 53 of the motor 49 and outputs a detection signal to the driver 62. Based on this detection signal, the driver 62 detects the position of the wafer guide 31 and further outputs the positional information of the wafer guide 31 to the controller 63. Thus, the invention provides a transferring apparatus and a substrate processing apparatus both of which allow of easy detection of the wafer guide and further facilitate their maintenance.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A transferring apparatus comprising:
at least two moving bodies with mutual interference potential, at least one moving body being driven by a motor; and
a detection unit for detecting a position of the at least one moving body driven by the motor; wherein
the detection unit includes an absolute encoder directly connected to the motor thereby to detect a revolution amount of a rotating shaft of the motor and further output a detection signal, a driver which receives the detection signal outputted from the absolute encoder thereby to output a positional information, and a controller which receives the positional information outputted from the driver thereby to judge the position of the moving body; and
the controller controls in a manner that the moving bodies do not interfere with each other.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A transferring apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller inputs an establishment for control program into the driver, while the driver controls the motor on a basis of the inputted establishment.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A transferring apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positional information outputted from the driver to the controller is identical to a sensor output which is generated by detecting whether the moving body is positioned in a predetermined area when the rotating shaft is rotating and/or stops rotating.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A transferring apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the moving body is a substrate holder that moves while holding a substrate.

### Claim 5

A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
a transferring apparatus including: at least two substrate holders with mutual interference potential, at least one substrate holder being driven by a motor; and a detection unit for detecting a position of the at least one substrate holder; wherein the detection unit includes: an absolute encoder directly connected to the motor thereby to detect a revolution amount of a rotating shaft of the motor and further output a detection signal; a driver which receives the detection signal outputted from the absolute encoder thereby to output a positional information; and a controller which receives the positional information outputted from the driver thereby to judge the position of the substrate holder; wherein the controller controls in a manner that the substrate holders do not interfere with each other; and
a processing bath for processing a substrate;
wherein the substrate holder is movable to accommodate the substrate in the processing bath.

### Claim 6

A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
a transferring apparatus including: at least one first substrate holder and at least one second substrate holder with mutual interference potential, the at least one first substrate holder being driven by a motor; and a detection unit for detecting a position of the at least one first substrate holder; wherein the detection unit includes: an absolute encoder directly connected to the motor thereby to detect a revolution amount of a rotating shaft of the motor and further output a detection signal; a driver which receives the detection signal outputted from the absolute encoder thereby to output a positional information; and a controller which receives the positional information outputted from the driver thereby to judge the position of the first substrate holder; wherein the controller controls in a manner that the substrate holders do not interfere with each other; and
a processing bath for processing a substrate;
wherein the first substrate holder is movable to accommodate the substrate in the processing bath, while the second substrate holder transfers the substrate thereby to give and receive the substrate to and from the first substrate holder; and
the second substrate holder is provided with drive means for moving the second substrate holder and the controller controls the drive means and the motor.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

A substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller controls the drive means and the motor so that the first substrate holder does not collide with the second substrate holder.

### Claim 8

A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of processing baths arranged in a horizontal direction to process a substrate therein;
a plurality of first substrate holders provided for the plurality of processing baths respectively, the first substrate holders each moving between a position inside the corresponding processing bath and another position above the corresponding processing bath, in a vertical direction;
a plurality of vertical movement units for moving the plurality of first substrate holders in the vertical direction;
a second substrate holder which holds the substrate and moves to the horizontal direction above the plurality of processing baths;
a horizontal movement unit for moving the second substrate holder in the horizontal direction; and
a control unit which drives the vertical movement units and the horizontal movement unit so that the first substrate holders and the second substrate holder do not interfere with each other, thereby to move the first substrate holders and the second substrate holder.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

A substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a plurality of position sensors which are arranged in respective positions along a horizontal movement of the second substrate holder thereby to detect various horizontal positions of the second substrate holder.

### Claim 10

A transferring apparatus comprising:
a moving body driven by a motor;
an absolute encoder directly connected to the motor; and
a controller for detecting a position of the moving body on a basis of a signal outputted from the absolute encoder.

### Claim 11

A transferring apparatus comprising a moving body driven by a motor and detector for detecting a position of the moving body;
wherein the detector includes an absolute encoder directly connected to the motor thereby to detect a revolution amount of a rotating shaft of the motor and further output a detection signal, a driver which receives the detection signal outputted from the absolute encoder thereby to output a positional information, and a controller which receives the positional information outputted from the driver thereby to judge the position of the moving body.