JPH11123675A - Vertical shaft up and down mechanism or robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To extend the elevating stroke of an arm mechanism while suppressing the full height of a robot main body. SOLUTION: In a vertical shaft up and down mechanism 2 of robot furnished with a vertical shaft 5 to move up and down an arm mechanism for grasping workpieces, and moving the vertical shaft 5 up and down by a driving source, a movable frame 8 movable in the up and down moving direction by a driving source is provided to a fixed frame 7 to support the vertical shaft 5 movable up and down, an amplifier mechanism 9 to amplify its moving distance by the movement of the movable frame 8 is installed to the movable frame 8, and the vertical shaft 5 is connected to the amplifier mechanism 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vertical axis vertically moving mechanism of a robot for holding and vertically moving a work. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vertical axis vertical mechanism of a robot that vertically moves a vertical axis that supports an arm mechanism that holds a workpiece.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A transfer robot is used to transfer a thin work such as a glass substrate for liquid crystal or a semiconductor wafer from a stocker to a processing device or the like. Since such a work needs to avoid dust, all operations such as transportation are performed in a clean room. When transferring the work, the height of the pass line for transferring the work should be set at about 9 mm from the floor surface in order to avoid dust from the transfer robot and the processing device.
A transfer robot and a processing device are installed below this pass line with a length of 50 to 1050 mm. Here, the reason why the height of the pass line is set to about 950 to 1050 mm is that it is necessary to store the transfer robot and the main body of the processing apparatus below the pass line, and it is necessary to secure a certain height. This is because the dead space is not required to be made as low as possible, so that the height is not so high, and the easiness of the work by the worker is considered.

[0003] The bottom of the stockers stacked vertically is set to be equal to the height of the work pass line. Thus, for example, when taking out a work accommodated in the upper part of the stocker, the robot arm is moved upward from the height of the pass line to take out the work from the stocker and lower it again to the pass line.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the transfer robot 101 has an arm mechanism 102 for holding a work, and a vertical axis (quill) that supports the arm mechanism 102 and moves up and down.
103 and the lower part of the vertical axis 103
Slider 104 that moves up and down together with it, a vertical ball screw 105 that moves the slider 104 up and down, and a ball screw 1
And a drive motor 107 for rotating the ball screw 105. Then, the ball screw 10 is driven by the drive motor 107.
5, the vertical shaft 103 and the arm mechanism 102 are moved up and down by moving the slider 104 up and down.

[0005]

However, in the above-described transfer robot 101, the slider 104 supporting the arm mechanism 102 and the vertical shaft 103 is fixed to the fixed frame 106.
The arm mechanism 102 is directly mounted on the robot body 10 and moves up and down.
8 is obtained by subtracting the height HS of the slider 104 from the total height HA. That is, the total height H of the robot body 108
A is as shown in Formula 1,

[0006]

HA = HS + S + HB + HM where HS: height of slider, S: vertical stroke, HB: height of base, HM: extra height Of which, the height HB of the base 109 and the extra height HM are the full height HA. Is very small as compared to
04 height HS and the lifting stroke S of the arm mechanism 102
Is approximately equal to the sum of Thereby, the arm mechanism 1
Robot body 1 to lengthen the lifting stroke S of 02
It is necessary to increase the total height HA of 08.

By the way, with the recent enlargement of the glass substrate for liquid crystal, the bending of the glass plate has increased. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the vertical interval (pitch) of each stage of the stocker, so that the overall height of the stocker increases. For example, the vertical spacing of each stage of the stocker is conventionally 1
What has been about 0 mm has recently been increased to about 34 mm. According to this interval, the total height of, for example, a 20-stage stocker becomes about 750 mm.

[0008] In order to put the glass plate of such a high stocker in and out, it is necessary to lengthen the elevating stroke S of the arm mechanism 102, and for this purpose, the total height HA of the robot body 108 must be increased. However, if the overall height HA of the robot body 108 is increased, the height of the pass line P is increased, so that a large dead space is generated below the pass line P and workability is deteriorated.

Here, there is a case where a concave portion is provided in a part of the floor of the clean room and the transfer robot 101 is inserted and arranged. According to this arrangement, in order to lengthen the elevating stroke S of the arm mechanism 102, the robot body 108
The height of the pass line P can be suppressed to the same height as that of the related art even if the total height HA is increased. However, if the transfer robot 101 is arranged in such a hole, the position of the transfer robot 101 is limited to the hole, and the degree of freedom in the layout of each device is reduced. In addition, since the washing machine and the like cannot be freely attached to and detached from the transfer robot 101, debugging work cannot be performed at an installation site, and maintenance becomes complicated.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vertical axis vertical mechanism of a robot in which the vertical stroke of the arm mechanism is increased while the overall height of the robot body is suppressed to the same level as in the past.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention comprises a vertical axis for vertically moving an arm mechanism for gripping a work, and the vertical axis is vertically moved by a driving source. In the vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot,
On a fixed frame that supports the vertical axis so that it can move up and down, a movable frame that can be moved in the up and down direction by a drive source is provided,
An amplification mechanism whose movement distance is amplified by the movement of the movable frame is attached to the movable frame, and a vertical axis is connected to the amplification mechanism.

Therefore, when the driving source is driven, the movable frame moves up and down. Then, the amplification mechanism operates by the vertical movement of the movable frame. The amplification mechanism amplifies the moving distance of the movable frame and moves the vertical axis up and down. Here, when the arm mechanism is at the lowermost position, since the fixed frame and the movable frame are arranged in a horizontal direction, the total height of the robot body is equal to the height of the higher one of the fixed frame and the movable frame. Become. For this reason, the up-and-down stroke of the movable frame is at most the shorter of the fixed frame and the movable frame, and is shorter than the overall height of the robot body. However, since the up-and-down stroke of the movable frame is amplified to be the up-and-down stroke of the vertical axis, the up-and-down stroke of the vertical axis can be made longer than, for example, the overall height of the robot body. Therefore, even if the total height of the robot body is set to the same height as the conventional one, the elevating stroke of the arm mechanism can be made longer than before.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the amplifying mechanism includes two pulleys provided on upper and lower portions of a movable frame and a toothed belt wound around the pulleys, and a position between the pulleys. The fixed frame is connected to one of the toothed belts, and the vertical shaft is connected to the other of the toothed belts located between the pulleys.

Therefore, when the movable frame is moved up and down by the driving source, the two pulleys and the toothed belt also move up and down. At this time, since one of the toothed belts located between the pulleys is connected to the fixed frame, the one toothed belt does not move with respect to the fixed frame. And
As the two pulleys move up and down, the other of the toothed belts located between the pulleys, that is, the toothed belt to which the vertical axis is connected, moves relative to the fixed frame. Here, since the amount of movement of the movable frame with respect to the fixed frame is equal to the amount of movement of the vertical axis with respect to the movable frame, the amount of movement of the vertical axis with respect to the fixed frame is two times the amount of movement of the movable frame.
It is amplified twice. In other words, the vertical stroke of the vertical axis is twice the vertical stroke of the movable frame. For this reason, even if the total height of the robot main body is set to the same height as the conventional one, the lifting stroke of the arm mechanism can be made longer than before.

Further, in the vertical axis vertical movement mechanism of the robot according to the third aspect, the movable frame is housed in the cylindrical movable cylinder that moves up and down together with the movable frame, and the vertical axis can protrude from the movable cylinder. I am trying to do it. Therefore, since the movable frame and the vertical axis are housed in the movable cylinder, the movable part of the vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot can be shielded from its surroundings. For this reason, it is possible to prevent dust generated from the movable portion from scattering around and adhering to the work.

In the robot vertical axis vertical mechanism according to the fourth aspect, the arm mechanism is an articulated arm mechanism. Therefore, even if the total height of the robot body of the robot having the multi-joint arm mechanism is set to the same height as the conventional one, the elevating stroke of the arm mechanism can be lengthened.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the present invention will be described below in detail based on an example of an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 to 7 show an example of an embodiment of a vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, a vertical axis vertical mechanism of a transfer robot for transferring a thin plate-like work such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal between a stocker and a processing device in a clean room is described.

The vertical axis vertical mechanism 2 of the robot 1 includes a vertical axis 5 (quill) for vertically moving an arm mechanism 4 for gripping a work 3, and the vertical axis 5 is vertically moved by a drive source 6. It is. The vertical axis vertically moving mechanism 2 includes a fixed frame 7 that supports the vertical axis 5 so as to be vertically movable.
A movable frame 8 movable in a vertical movement direction by a driving source 6, an amplifying mechanism 9 whose movement distance is amplified by the movement of the movable frame 8 is attached to the movable frame 8, and a vertical axis is attached to the amplifying mechanism 9. 5 are connected.

The fixed frame 7 is vertically fixed to a horizontal base 10. As shown in FIG. 4, a large number of ribs 7a are formed on the fixed frame 7 (not shown in other drawings) to increase rigidity. As shown in FIGS.
Rail receivers 11 having vertical grooves are attached to upper and lower ends of the fixed frame 7 at two ends in the width direction.

The vertical shaft 5 is rotatably mounted on a slider 12 supported on the movable frame 8 so as to be vertically movable. At both ends of the slider 12 in the width direction, rail receivers 13 having vertical grooves are mounted in two vertical stages.

The movable frame 8 has an amplifying mechanism 9, two vertical fixed rails 14, 14 arranged in the width direction facing the fixed frame 7, and a width arranged in the width direction facing the vertical axis 5 side. And two vertical moving side rails 15. The fixed side rail 14 is a rail receiver 1 of the fixed frame 7.
1 is slidably fitted. The movable frame 8 is vertically movably supported by the fixed frame 7 by the fixed rails 14 and the rail receiver 11 of the fixed frame 7.

The moving rail 15 is slidably fitted on a rail receiver 13 of a slider 12 that supports the vertical shaft 5. The slider 12 is moved by the movable frame 8 by the moving rail 15 and the rail receiver 13 of the slider 12.
Is supported to be able to move up and down.

The amplifying mechanism 9 includes two pulleys 16 provided at the upper and lower portions of the movable frame 8, and these pulleys 1
6, 16 wound around a toothed belt. The fixed frame 7 is connected to the one toothed belt 17a located between the pulleys 16 and 16, and the vertical shaft 5 is supported on the other toothed belt 17b located between the pulleys 16 and 16. The slider 12 is connected. Here, a belt stopper 18 made of an L-shaped angle material is attached between the rail receivers 11 arranged vertically above the fixed frame 7. This belt stopper 1
8 connects the fixed frame 7 and the toothed belt 17a. A belt stopper 19 made of an L-shaped angle material is mounted between the rail receivers 13 arranged above and below the slider 12. This belt stopper 19
Connect the slider 12 and the toothed belt 17b.
Therefore, by moving the movable frame 8 up and down,
While the one toothed belt 17a located between the pulleys 16 and 16 does not move with respect to the fixed frame 7,
The other toothed belt 17b located between the pulleys 16 and 16 moves with respect to the fixed frame 7. Here, since the moving amount of the movable frame 8 with respect to the fixed frame 7 is equal to the moving amount of the slider 12 with respect to the movable frame 8, the moving amount S of the slider 12 with respect to the fixed frame 7 is twice the moving amount S 'of the movable frame 8. Is amplified.

In the vicinity of the movable frame 8, an elevating mechanism 30 for moving the movable frame 8 up and down by a drive motor which is a drive source 6, for example, a stepping motor is arranged. The lifting mechanism 30 includes a vertical ball screw 20 rotatably supported along the fixed frame 7,
An elevating block 21 fixed to the movable frame 8 and screwed to the ball screw 20 and movable up and down together with the movable frame 8
And a pulley 22 fixed to the lower end of the ball screw 20
And a pulley 23 fixed to the drive source 6, and a toothed belt 24 connecting the pulleys 22, 23.
Therefore, when the drive source 6 is driven, the ball screw 20 rotates via the pulleys 22 and 23 and the toothed belt 24, and the elevating block 21 and the movable frame 8 move up and down.

Further, the slider 12 has a rotary motor 2 for rotating the vertical shaft 5, for example, a stepping motor.
5 is attached. The rotary motor 25 and the vertical shaft 5 are connected via a pulley or a toothed belt (not shown).

The fixed frame 7, the movable frame 8, the slider 12, the driving source 6, and the elevating mechanism 30 are housed in a cylindrical movable cylinder 26. The movable cylinder 26 is fixed to the movable frame 8 and moves up and down together with the movable frame 8. Then, the vertical shaft 5 protrudes and retracts with respect to the upper surface of the movable barrel 26. Therefore, the driving source 6 of the vertical axis
Since the movable parts such as the movable frame 8 and the like can be shielded from the surroundings, dust generated from the movable parts can be prevented from scattering around and adhering to the work 3.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, two arm mechanisms 4, 4 are attached to the upper end of the vertical shaft 5 via an arm support member 27. Each of the arm mechanisms 4 is a multi-joint arm mechanism. The arm portions of the arm mechanisms 4 and 4 are vertically shifted. This prevents the arms from interfering with each other. The arm support member 27 houses a drive motor for operating the arm mechanism 4 and the like.

In this embodiment, each of the arm mechanisms 4 and 4 is a multi-joint arm mechanism. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and another arm mechanism such as an orthogonal unit may be used. Further, in this embodiment, two arm mechanisms 4 and 4 are provided on one vertical shaft 5, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one arm mechanism or three or more arm mechanisms may be provided.

This robot 1 is arranged on a base 10. The base 10 is installed in a transfer device 28 and moves in a transfer path 29.

The operation of the robot 1 equipped with the above-described vertical axis vertical mechanism 2 will be described below. Transfer robot 1 to transfer device 2
8 and is stopped at the working position. Then, the drive source 6 is driven to rotate the ball screw 20 to move the lifting block 21 and the movable frame 8 up and down. As the movable frame 8 moves up and down, the two pulleys 16 and 16 and the toothed belt 17 also move up and down.

Here, since the one toothed belt 17a located between the pulleys 16 and 16 is connected to the fixed frame 7, the toothed belt 17a does not move with respect to the fixed frame 7. In addition, the toothed belt 17b on the other side located between the pulleys 16 and 16, that is, the one to which the vertical shaft 5 is connected by the two pulleys 16 and 16 moving up and down.
Moves with respect to the fixed frame 7. Here, since the moving amount of the movable frame 8 with respect to the fixed frame 7 is equal to the moving amount of the slider 12 with respect to the movable frame 8, the moving amount S of the slider 12 with respect to the fixed frame 7 is twice the moving amount S 'of the movable frame 8. Is amplified. This allows
The slider 12 and the vertical shaft 5 move up and down by a moving amount S twice as large as that of the movable frame 8. When the arm mechanism 4 reaches a desired height, the drive source 6 is stopped to stop the vertical movement. In this state, the arm 3 is operated to take out or mount the work 3.

According to the vertical axis vertical mechanism 2 of the present embodiment,
Since the vertical movement of the movable frame 8 is amplified by the amplification mechanism 9 and the vertical axis 5 is moved up and down, the total height HA of the robot body (that is, the portion excluding the arm mechanism 4 from the robot 1) is set to the same height as the conventional height. , The lifting stroke S of the arm mechanism 4 can be made longer than before.

Here, when the arm mechanism 4 is at the lowermost position, the fixed frame 7 and the movable frame 8 are arranged in a horizontal direction. Is slightly higher than the higher one. For this reason, the up-and-down stroke S 'of the movable frame 8 is shorter than the fixed frame 7 and the movable frame 8 even if it is long, and is shorter than the total height HA of the robot body. However, the vertical stroke S of the vertical axis 5
Is amplified twice as much as the up-and-down stroke S 'of the movable frame 8, so that it can be made longer than the total height HA of the robot body, for example.

On the other hand, in the conventional transfer robot 101 in which the vertical axis 103 is directly installed on the fixed frame 106 as shown in FIG. Is always shorter than the total height HA of the robot body 108.

Therefore, according to the vertical axis up-down mechanism 2 of the present embodiment, the vertical stroke S of the arm mechanism 4 can be made longer than before even if the total height HA of the robot body is set to the same height as the conventional one. . As a result, the lifting stroke S of the arm mechanism 4 can be lengthened while keeping the overall height of the robot 1 at the same level as before, so that even if the height of the stocker of the work 3 increases, the pass line of the work 3 can be set to the same height as the conventional one You can respond while doing. Therefore, the size of the thin plate-shaped work 3 can be increased, and the existing processing equipment and the like can be used as it is because there is no change in the height of the pass line. In addition, since the robot 1 can be arranged on the same floor as other processing devices and the like, it is possible to prevent a reduction in layout flexibility.

The above embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, only one movable frame 8 is provided between the fixed frame 7 and the vertical
Although a stepped structure is used, the structure is not limited to this, and a structure having three or more steps provided with two or more movable frames 8 may be used. Also in this case, the vertical stroke S of the arm mechanism 4 can be lengthened while the total height HA of the robot body is suppressed to the same level as in the related art. Here, the length of the up-and-down stroke S of the arm mechanism 4 is expressed by Equation 2
Is shown as

[0037]

## EQU2 ## S = stroke S 'of movable frame × (number of steps) Therefore, the total height HA of the robot body required for the robot
By determining the stroke S ′ of the movable frame and the number of steps according to the vertical stroke S of the arm mechanism 4, it is possible to design a robot that satisfies the conditions of the total height HA and the vertical stroke S.

In the present embodiment, the work is a glass substrate for liquid crystal. However, the present invention is not limited to this and may be a semiconductor wafer or other thin plate material.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, the invention of claim 1 is a robot having a vertical axis for vertically moving an arm mechanism for gripping a work, and vertically moving the vertical axis by a driving source. In the vertical axis vertical mechanism, a movable frame that is movable in the vertical direction by a driving source is provided on a fixed frame that supports the vertical axis so that the vertical axis can be moved up and down, and the movement distance of the movable frame is amplified by the movement of the movable frame. Since the amplification mechanism is attached and the vertical axis is connected to the amplification mechanism, the amplification mechanism amplifies the moving distance of the movable frame and moves the vertical axis up and down. Even if the height is set, the elevating stroke of the arm mechanism can be made longer than before.
For this reason, even if the height of the work stocker increases, it is possible to cope with the work while keeping the pass line at the same height as the conventional one. Accordingly, the size of the thin plate-shaped work can be increased, and the height of the pass line is not changed, so that existing facilities such as processing equipment can be used as it is. In addition, since the robot can be arranged on the same floor as other processing devices or the like, it is possible to prevent the degree of freedom in layout from lowering.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the amplifying mechanism includes two pulleys provided on upper and lower portions of a movable frame and a toothed belt wound around the pulleys, and a position between the pulleys. The fixed frame is connected to one of the toothed belts, and the vertical shaft is connected to the other of the toothed belts located between the pulleys. 2
Can be doubled. Thereby, even if the total height of the robot body is set to the same height as the conventional one, the up-and-down stroke of the arm mechanism can be made longer than before.

Further, in the vertical axis moving mechanism of the robot according to the third aspect, the movable frame is housed in the cylindrical movable cylinder which moves up and down together with the movable frame, and the vertical axis can be projected from the movable cylinder. Therefore, the movable part of the vertical axis vertical mechanism can be shielded from its surroundings. For this reason, it is possible to prevent dust generated from the movable portion from scattering around and adhering to the work.

Further, in the robot vertical axis vertical mechanism according to the fourth aspect, since the arm mechanism is a multi-joint arm mechanism, the total height of the robot body of the robot having the multi-joint arm mechanism is equivalent to the conventional one. Even if the height is set, the elevating stroke of the arm mechanism can be lengthened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a vertical axis vertical mechanism of a robot according to the present invention when a vertical axis is at an uppermost position.

FIG. 2 is a side view when a vertical axis showing a main part of a vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot of the present invention is at a lowermost position.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view when a vertical axis indicating a main part of a vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot according to the present invention is at a lowermost position.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a robot equipped with the vertical axis up-down mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a robot equipped with the vertical axis up-down mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a robot equipped with the vertical axis up-down mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a robot equipped with a conventional vertical axis vertical mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a main part of a vertical axis vertical mechanism of a conventional robot when a vertical axis is at a lowermost position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot 2 Vertical axis vertical mechanism 3 Work 4 Arm mechanism 5 Vertical axis 6 Drive source 7 Fixed frame 8 Movable frame 9 Amplification mechanism 16 Pulley 17 Toothed belt 17a One toothed belt 17b The other toothed belt 26 Movable cylinder

Claims (4)

[Claims] A vertical axis for vertically moving an arm mechanism for gripping a workpiece; and a vertical axis vertically moving mechanism for a robot for vertically moving the vertical axis by a driving source, wherein the vertical axis is supported to be vertically movable. A fixed frame is provided with a movable frame movable in the vertical movement direction by the driving source, an amplifying mechanism whose movement distance is amplified by the movement of the movable frame is attached to the movable frame, and the vertical axis is attached to the amplifying mechanism. A vertical axis vertical mechanism of the robot, which is connected. 2. The amplifying mechanism includes two pulleys provided on upper and lower portions of the movable frame and a toothed belt wound around the pulley, and the one of the toothed belts located between the pulleys includes the pulley. The vertical axis vertical mechanism of a robot according to claim 1, wherein a fixed frame is connected, and the vertical axis is connected to the other of the toothed belts located between the pulleys. 3. The movable frame is housed in a cylindrical movable cylinder that moves up and down together with the movable frame with the vertical axis, and the vertical axis can protrude from the movable cylinder. The vertical axis vertical mechanism for a robot according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A vertical axis vertical mechanism for a robot according to claim 1, wherein said arm mechanism is an articulated arm mechanism.