CN107857064B - Article carrying apparatus - Google Patents

Article carrying apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
CN107857064B
CN107857064B CN201710859693.3A CN201710859693A CN107857064B CN 107857064 B CN107857064 B CN 107857064B CN 201710859693 A CN201710859693 A CN 201710859693A CN 107857064 B CN107857064 B CN 107857064B
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China
Prior art keywords
article
posture
transport
path
conveyance
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Active
Application number
CN201710859693.3A
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Chinese (zh)
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CN107857064A (en
Inventor
北原素行
森本雄一
松尾研介
樱井武司
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Daifuku Co Ltd
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Daifuku Co Ltd
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Publication of CN107857064A publication Critical patent/CN107857064A/en
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G35/00—Mechanical conveyors not otherwise provided for
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/67724—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations by means of a cart or a vehicule
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G43/00—Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/67706—Mechanical details, e.g. roller, belt
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/67733—Overhead conveying
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
    • H01L21/67778—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading involving loading and unloading of wafers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02—Articles
    • B65G2201/0235—Containers

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)

Abstract

Provided is an article transport facility which is integrally provided with an article transport vehicle and a posture changing mechanism for changing the posture of an article, and which can suppress the increase in size of the article transport vehicle. The article transport facility includes an article transport vehicle that moves along a movement path to transport an article, and a control device that controls the article transport vehicle, the article transport vehicle includes an accommodating portion that accommodates the article, a cover portion that covers the accommodating portion, a transfer mechanism that transfers the article between a transport target location and an article transport vehicle, and an attitude changing mechanism that changes an attitude of the article during transport, the attitude changing mechanism being capable of changing the attitude of the article into a first attitude and a second attitude, the cover portion being provided at a position that interferes with the article in the intermediate attitude, the control device executes attitude change control that changes the article from the first attitude to the second attitude by the attitude changing mechanism in a state where the article is moved outward with respect to the accommodating portion by the transfer mechanism in the middle of the movement path, and then accommodates the article in the accommodating portion by the transfer mechanism.

Description

Article carrying apparatus
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an article transport facility including an article transport vehicle that moves along a movement path between a plurality of transport target locations to transport an article.
Background
For example, in the equipment disclosed in patent document 1, the moving path of the article carrier is set in a state where the moving path passes through a plurality of conveyance target places. Then, in a conveyance target location that is a conveyance destination among the plurality of conveyance target locations, the posture of the article is changed so as to assume an appropriate posture for transferring the article. The reason why the posture of the article is changed between the source and destination of conveyance is, for example, that the article is a container having an opening for the entry and exit of the contents only on one side surface thereof, and in the case where the place to be conveyed is a processing unit for processing the contents, the opening of the container must be opposed to the processing unit. In order to change the posture of the article, the apparatus of patent document 1 includes a posture changing mechanism provided in a state of connecting the movement paths and separately provided in addition to the article transport vehicle. The article transport vehicle transfers an article to the posture changing mechanism, and the posture changing mechanism rotates the article, whereby the posture of the article is changed from the first posture to the second posture.
Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2012 and 253070.
As described above, in the equipment provided with the posture changing mechanism in addition to the article carrier, the arrangement space of the posture changing mechanism is required, and the cost of the equipment increases according to the installation of the posture changing mechanism. Therefore, the inventors of the present application have studied to integrally provide an article transport vehicle with a posture changing mechanism. However, in the conveyance of an article by the article transport vehicle, the storage portion that stores the article is covered with the cover portion. In order to suppress an increase in size of the article transport vehicle, a gap between the cover portion and the article accommodated in the accommodating portion is set to a minimum. In order to change the posture of the article accommodated in the accommodating portion, it is necessary to widen the gap between the article and the cover portion, and as a result, there is a problem that the article transport vehicle has to be increased in size.
Disclosure of Invention
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an article transport facility that is capable of suppressing an increase in the size of an article transport vehicle while integrally providing the article transport vehicle with a posture changing mechanism for changing the posture of an article.
An article transport facility includes an article transport vehicle that moves along a movement path between a plurality of transport target locations to transport an article, and a control device that controls the article transport vehicle, wherein the article transport vehicle includes an accommodating portion that accommodates the article, a cover portion that covers the accommodating portion, a transfer mechanism that moves the article between the accommodating portion and one of the plurality of transport target locations located outside the accommodating portion to transfer the article between the transport target location and the article transport vehicle, and a posture changing mechanism that changes a posture of the article during transport, the posture changing mechanism being capable of changing the posture of the article into a first posture and a second posture, the first posture being a posture for transferring the transport target location as a transport source, the second posture is a posture for transfer at the conveyance target site as a conveyance destination, the cover section is provided at a position such that the cover section does not interfere with the article when the article accommodated in the accommodating section is in the first posture and in the second posture when the cover section is in the position, and the cover section interferes with the article when the posture of the article is an intermediate posture which is a process of changing between the first posture and the second posture, and the control device executes posture change control which is: in the state where the article is moved outward relative to the storage unit by the transfer mechanism in the middle of the transport path, which is a path from the transport source to the transport destination, the article is changed from the first posture to the second posture by the posture changing mechanism, and then the article is stored in the storage unit by the transfer mechanism.
In this aspect, the cover portion that covers the accommodating portion is provided at a position so as not to interfere with the article in a state where the article in the first posture or the second posture is accommodated in the accommodating portion when the cover portion is located at the position. On the other hand, the cover portion is provided at a position where the cover portion interferes with the article when the article accommodated in the accommodating portion assumes an intermediate posture. That is, the gap between the cover portion covering the housing portion and the article is set comparatively small. Therefore, according to the article transport facility of this aspect, the increase in size of the article transport vehicle can be suppressed. In this aspect, the posture of the article transport vehicle is changed from the first posture to the second posture by the posture changing mechanism in a state where the article is moved to the outside with respect to the housing portion by the transfer mechanism in the middle of the transport path which is a path from the transport source to the transport destination. Therefore, according to this aspect, the posture of the article can be changed by effectively utilizing the time and space for article conveyance. Therefore, the facility can be easily reduced in size and cost, as compared with a case where the posture changing mechanism is provided in addition to the article carrier.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of exemplary and non-limiting embodiments, which is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is an overall plan view of an article handling apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a case of transferring articles.
Fig. 3 is a view of the article transport vehicle as viewed in the transport direction.
Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which the posture of the article is changed.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a control configuration.
Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow when the posture change control is executed.
Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow when the specific conveyance processing is executed.
Fig. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which the posture of an article is changed in the second embodiment.
Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow when the posture change control is executed in the second embodiment.
Detailed Description
1. First embodiment
A first embodiment of an article carrying facility will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in fig. 1, the article transport facility 1 includes an article transport vehicle 2 that transports an article W by moving the article transport vehicle 2 along a movement path R between a plurality of transport target locations 6, and a control device H that controls the control device H of the article transport vehicle 2 (see also fig. 5). The article transport facility 1 is capable of changing the posture of the article W during transport from the transport target location 6 as the transport source among the plurality of transport target locations 6 to another transport target location 6 as the transport destination.
1-1. mechanical constitution of article-handling apparatus
The article W is conveyed by the article carrier 2. Here, the article W is formed to be non-circular in a plan view. The article W is formed into a polygonal shape, more specifically, a quadrangular shape in plan view, for example (see fig. 4). The term "quadrilateral" also includes a shape that can be regarded as a quadrilateral as a whole, even if it is not strictly a quadrilateral. The polygon also includes a shape partially formed by a curved line such as a circular arc. For example, the article W may have a D-shape in plan view. Hereinafter, when a shape such as an object is described using the expression "shape", it is not intended to strictly specify the shape. Here, the three-dimensional shape of the article W is a columnar body. The article W is, for example, a container for storing contents. In this embodiment, the article W is a container for housing semiconductor substrates. Here, the article W is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped, and can be accommodated by dividing a plurality of semiconductor substrates into a plurality of layers. In the present embodiment, the upper surface and the bottom surface of the article W are always closed. Further, a flange Wa for gripping by the article carrier 2 when the article W is carried is provided on the upper surface of the article W. Further, an opening Wb for taking in and out the semiconductor substrate is provided on one of the 4 side surfaces of the article W.
The conveyance target location 6 is a location that is a conveyance source of the article W or a location that is a conveyance destination of the article W. The conveyance target places 6 are provided at a plurality of places in the article conveyance facility 1. In the conveyance target place 6, for example, the article W is processed. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the transport target site 6 includes a transmission/reception unit 6b for transmitting and receiving the article W between the processing apparatus 6a for processing the semiconductor substrate and the article transport vehicle 2. In the present embodiment, the article W in a state where the opening Wb is opposed to the processing device 6a is conveyed to the transceiver 6 b. The semiconductor substrate accommodated in the article W is taken out from the opening Wb by an arm or the like provided in the processing apparatus 6 a. Then, the semiconductor substrate is processed by the processing apparatus 6 a. In order to process the semiconductor substrate by the processing apparatus 6a in this manner, in the present embodiment, the article W is conveyed to the transceiver 6b by the article transport vehicle 2 while the opening Wb is in an appropriate posture facing the processing apparatus 6 a.
The movement path R is a path along which the article carrier 2 moves in the article transport facility 1. As shown in fig. 1, the travel route R passes through a plurality of conveyance target locations 6. The movement path R is provided on the floor surface, or at a position spaced upward from the floor surface, for example. In the present embodiment, the movement path R is defined by a rail 98 suspended and supported from a ceiling 99 (see fig. 2 and 3). As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the rail 98 is provided in a state of passing through the plurality of transmission/reception units 6 b. The rail 98 is formed of a pair of long members extending along the movement path R and provided in a state spaced apart in the lateral direction Y (see fig. 2 and 3). In the present embodiment, the movement path R includes an intra-process path Ri and an inter-process path Rc. The plurality of transmission/reception units 6b are connected by an intra-process path Ri, and the plurality of intra-process paths Ri are connected by an inter-process path Rc.
The article transport vehicle 2 moves along the movement path R between the plurality of transport target locations 6 to transport the article W. In the present embodiment, the article carrier 2 moves on the inter-process path Rc, and can move on each of the plurality of intra-process paths Ri connected by the inter-process path Rc. Therefore, the article carrier 2 can move on each of the plurality of intra-process paths Ri, and thus can move on each of the plurality of transmitting/receiving units 6b connected to the intra-process paths Ri. In the present embodiment, the article transport vehicle 2 is movable only in one direction on the movement path R and is not movable in the opposite direction. The article carrier 2 further includes a position detection sensor Se6, and the position detection sensor Se6 detects the current position of the article carrier 2 in the travel path R (see fig. 5). In the present embodiment, a plurality of position information storage units (not shown) are disposed in a distributed manner on the travel path R. The position information storage unit is allocated to each of the plurality of areas that divide the movement path R. Each of the plurality of position information storage units stores information on a position arranged in the travel route R. In the present embodiment, the position detection sensor Se6 is configured to read position information stored in each of the plurality of position information storage portions disposed in the travel path R, thereby being able to detect the current position of the article carrier 2 in the travel path R. For example, the position information storage unit may be a board or the like on which a barcode is displayed. The position detection sensor Se6 in this case may also be a barcode reader.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the article transport vehicle 2 includes a traveling unit 21 that can travel on the rail 98, and a main body 22 suspended and supported by the traveling unit 21. In the following description, "the article carrier 2 moves along the movement path R" and "the article carrier 2 travels along the movement path R" have the same meaning. In fig. 3, the support member 5 described later is omitted for convenience of explanation. The article transport vehicle 2 includes an accommodating portion 22a for accommodating the article W, and a cover portion 22b for covering the accommodating portion 22 a. In the present embodiment, the housing portion 22a and the cover portion 22b are configured as a part of the body portion 22.
The article transport vehicle 2 includes a transfer mechanism 3 for transferring the article W between the article transport vehicle 2 and the transport target site 6. The transfer mechanism 3 moves the article W between the storage portion 22a and one of the plurality of conveyance target locations 6 located outside the storage portion 22a, and transfers the article W between the conveyance target location 6 and the article carrier 2. The article transport vehicle 2 further includes a posture changing mechanism 4 for changing the posture of the article W being transported.
As shown in fig. 3, the transfer mechanism 3 includes a gripper 3Ga for gripping the article W, an elevating mechanism 3H for elevating the gripper 3Ga in the vertical direction Z, and a lateral movement mechanism 3S for laterally moving the gripper 3Ga in the lateral direction Y which intersects the conveyance direction X along the conveyance path Rt and is in the horizontal direction. In the present embodiment, a slide mechanism 3S that slides the grip portion 3Ga is exemplified as the lateral movement mechanism 3S that laterally moves the grip portion 3 Ga. In this specification, the term "in a specific direction" means a concept including a state of being slightly inclined with respect to the specific direction within a range of manufacturing errors such as installation and mounting, in addition to a case of being completely parallel to the specific direction. More specifically, a state of being inclined in a range of ± 15 ° or less with respect to the specific direction is also included. The slide mechanism 3S can slide the grip portion 3Ga in the lateral direction Y. In the present embodiment, the article W is transferred between the article transport vehicle 2 and the transceiver 6b by the gripping mechanism 3G, the lifting mechanism 3H, and the sliding mechanism 3S. The transfer of the article W is performed by moving the article between the article carrier 2 and the transceiver 6 b. That is, the transfer of the article W is performed in a process of placing the article W in the storage unit 22a in the transceiver unit 6b or in a process of storing the article W in the storage unit 22a in a state of being placed in the transceiver unit 6 b. The conveyance of the article W is to move the article W from the transceiver 6b, which is the conveyance source, among the plurality of transceivers 6b to another transceiver 6b, which is the conveyance destination. That is, the conveyance of the article W is a concept including transfer of the article W. The transport route Rt is a route from the transport target location 6 as a transport source to another transport target location 6 as a transport destination in the travel route R. That is, the transport route Rt is set in the travel route R every time the transport source and the transport destination are associated with each other.
As shown in fig. 2, when the article W placed in the transceiver 6b is stored in the storage portion 22a as the transfer of the article W, the article W is raised by the lifting mechanism 3H in a state where the article W is gripped by the gripping mechanism 3G, and the article W is slid to the storage portion 22a by the sliding mechanism 3S. When the article W accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a is placed on the transceiver 6b as the transfer of the article W, the reverse process is performed. In the following description, an upper side in the vertical direction Z is referred to as a vertical upper side Z1, and a lower side is referred to as a vertical lower side Z2. In the lateral direction Y, a side (left side in fig. 2 and 3) on which the article W protrudes from the storage section 22a to the outside of the storage section 22a is referred to as a lateral first side Y1, and a side on which the article W retreats from the outside of the storage section 22a to the storage section 22a is referred to as a lateral second side Y2. In the following description, the position of the article W accommodated in the accommodation portion 22a is referred to as an escape position P1, and the position of the article W within a limit of protruding toward the lateral first side Y1 is referred to as a protruding position P2. In the present embodiment, the lateral direction Y is a direction orthogonal to the conveyance path Rt.
As shown in fig. 3, the article transport vehicle 2 includes a traveling section 21. The traveling unit 21 is driven by a driving mechanism such as a motor and travels along the travel path R. In the present embodiment, the traveling section 21 travels on the rail 98. As shown in fig. 3, in the present embodiment, the traveling unit 21 includes traveling wheels 21a and guide wheels 21b, the traveling wheels 21a are driven by a traveling motor 21M to rotate about a horizontal axis and roll on the upper surface of the rail 98 in the conveying direction X, and the guide wheels 21b abut on a vertical surface of the rail 98 to rotate about a vertical axis and guide the traveling unit 21 along the rail 98. The traveling unit 21 further includes a speed detection sensor Se1 (see fig. 5) for detecting the traveling speed of the article carrier 2. In the present embodiment, the speed detection sensor Se1 is configured to be able to detect the speed of the article carrier 2 based on the number of revolutions of the travel wheel 21a within a predetermined time, the relative speed with the rail 98, and the like.
The article carrier 2 includes a main body 22. The main body portion 22 is connected to the traveling portion 21, and moves on the movement path R integrally with the traveling portion 21 by the traveling of the traveling portion 21. In the present embodiment, the main body 22 is suspended and supported by the traveling unit 21 through a gap formed by a pair of long members constituting the rail 98. In the present embodiment, the body portion 22 includes an accommodating portion 22a for accommodating the article W, and a cover portion 22b for covering the accommodating portion 22 a. The accommodating portion 22a is disposed inside the cover portion 22 b. In the present embodiment, cover 22b has a shape that is open on both sides and below in the lateral direction Y. More specifically, the hood portion 22b is formed in an inverted U shape with corners when viewed in the lateral direction Y. Therefore, the accommodating portion 22a communicates with the outside of the accommodating portion 22a on both sides and below in the lateral direction Y. Thus, the article W accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a can be slid in the lateral direction Y by the slide mechanism 3S, and the article W can be positioned outside the accommodating portion 22 a.
The slide mechanism 3S is extendable and retractable in the lateral direction Y. For example, the slide mechanism 3S is configured to be entirely accommodated inside the cover portion 22b in a contracted state, and to partially protrude outside the cover portion 22b in an expanded state. In the present embodiment, the slide mechanism 3S is provided in the housing portion 22 a. In the present embodiment, the sliding mechanism 3S includes a pair of sliding pulleys 3Sc driven or driven by the sliding motor 3SM, a sliding belt 3Sb wound around each of the pair of sliding pulleys 3Sc, and a sliding portion 3Sa connected to the sliding belt 3Sb and slidable in the lateral direction Y. The slide portion 3Sa can be moved outward of the accommodating portion 22a by sliding to the lateral first side Y1, and can be moved to the accommodating portion 22a by sliding to the lateral second side Y2. The slide mechanism 3S further includes a slide amount detection sensor Se2 (see also fig. 5) that detects the slide amount of the slide portion 3 Sa. In the present embodiment, the slip amount detection sensor Se2 is configured to be able to detect the amount of slip of the sliding portion 3Sa based on the number of revolutions of the sliding pulley 3Sc and the like at the time of the slip of the sliding portion 3 Sa.
The posture changing mechanism 4 changes the posture of the article W being conveyed. For example, the posture changing mechanism 4 rotates the article W about a specific axis, thereby changing the posture of the article W. More specifically, the posture changing mechanism 4 rotates the article W about the vertical axis, thereby changing the posture of the article W. In the present embodiment, the posture changing mechanism 4 is coupled to the sliding section 3Sa of the sliding mechanism 3S. Therefore, the posture changing mechanism 4 moves in the lateral direction Y integrally with the sliding section 3Sa of the sliding mechanism 3S. In the present embodiment, the posture changing mechanism 4 includes a rotating portion 4a that rotates the grip portion 3Ga about a rotating shaft 4b along the vertical direction Z. Here, inside the rotating portion 4a, the upper portion of the rotating shaft 4b is coupled to a rotating motor 4M. The rotary shaft 4b is driven by a rotation motor 4M. The posture changing mechanism 4 is also provided with a rotation amount detection sensor Se5 (see also fig. 5) that detects the amount of rotation of the grip portion 3 Ga. In the present embodiment, the rotation amount detection sensor Se5 is configured to be able to detect the amount of rotation of the grip portion 3Ga based on the rotation angle of the rotating shaft 4b, the time during which the rotating shaft 4b rotates, and the like.
The lifting mechanism 3H lifts the article W. In the present embodiment, the lifting mechanism 3H lifts and lowers the article W from the height at which the cover portion 22b is disposed to at least the height at which the transmitter/receiver portion 6b is disposed. In the present embodiment, the lifting mechanism 3H includes a lifting pulley 3Hc driven by a lifting motor 3HM, a lifting drum 3Hd, a lifting belt 3Hb wound around the lifting pulley 3Hc and the lifting drum 3Hd, and a lifting unit 3Ha holding the lifting motor 3HM, the lifting pulley 3Hc, the lifting drum 3Hd, and the lifting belt 3 Hb. The lifting mechanism 3H drives the lifting pulley 3Hc via the lifting motor 3HM, thereby winding or unwinding the lifting belt 3Hb and lifting the grip portion 3 Ga. In the present embodiment, the elevating unit 3Ha is coupled to the rotating shaft 4b of the posture changing mechanism 4. Therefore, the lifting mechanism 3H rotates about the vertical axis by the rotation of the rotating shaft 4 b. The lifting mechanism 3H is coupled to the slide mechanism 3S via the posture changing mechanism 4, and therefore moves in the lateral direction Y integrally with the slide mechanism 3S. The lifting mechanism 3H is further provided with a lifting amount detection sensor Se3 (see also fig. 5) that detects the lifting amount of the grip portion 3 Ga. In the present embodiment, the lifting amount detection sensor Se3 is configured to be able to detect the lifting amount of the grip 3Ga based on the number of rotations of the lifting pulley 3Hc, the time during which the lifting pulley 3Hc rotates, and the like, at the time of lifting the grip 3 Ga.
The gripping mechanism 3G can grip the article W. For example, the gripping mechanism 3G grips the article W from above. More specifically, the gripping mechanism 3G grips the article W from above in a state of completely overlapping the article W in a plan view. In the present embodiment, the gripping mechanism 3G includes a gripping portion 3Ga coupled to the lifting belt 3Hb, a gripping motor 3GM (see fig. 5) held inside the gripping portion 3Ga, and a pair of gripping claws 3Gb which are driven by the gripping motor 3GM to be switchable between a gripping posture and a releasing posture. The pair of gripping claws 3Gb assume a gripping posture by moving in a direction to approach each other, and assume a release posture by moving in a direction to separate from each other. In the present embodiment, the pair of gripping claws 3Gb grips the flange section Wa of the article W in the gripping posture. Then, the pair of gripping claws 3Gb changes from the state in which the flange section Wa is gripped to the release posture, thereby releasing the grip of the flange section Wa. The gripping mechanism 3G includes a grip detection sensor Se4 (see fig. 5) that detects a gripping posture and a releasing posture of the pair of gripping claws 3 Gb. In the present embodiment, the grip detection sensor Se4 is configured to be able to detect whether the pair of gripping claws 3Gb is in the gripping posture or the release posture based on whether or not the optical axis of the pair of gripping claws 3Gb is cut off. Since the grip portion 3Ga is connected to the lifting mechanism 3H via the lifting belt 3Hb, the grip mechanism 3G rotates integrally with the lifting mechanism 3H that rotates by the rotation of the rotating shaft 4 b. Further, since the gripping mechanism 3G is connected to the slide mechanism 3S via the lifting mechanism 3H and the posture changing mechanism 4, it moves integrally with the lifting mechanism 3H, the posture changing mechanism 4, and the slide mechanism 3S in the lateral direction Y. Therefore, the respective operations of lifting, rotating, and sliding the article W gripped by the gripping mechanism 3G are performed by the lifting mechanism 3H, the posture changing mechanism 4, and the sliding mechanism 3S.
The posture changing mechanism 4 is capable of changing the posture of the article W to a first posture a1 and a second posture a2, the first posture a1 being a posture for transfer to the transport target location 6 as a transport source, and the second posture a2 being a posture for transfer to the transport target location 6 as a transport destination. As described above, in the article transport facility 1, the semiconductor substrates accommodated in the articles W are processed by the plurality of processing apparatuses 6a disposed at different locations. Therefore, when the article W is conveyed to the transceiver 6b of the processing apparatus 6a, the opening Wb of the article W and the processing apparatus 6a must be opposed to each other so that the processing apparatus 6a takes out the semiconductor substrate from the article W. That is, the second posture a2 is a posture in which the opening Wb of the article W faces the processing device 6a of the conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance destination. Therefore, the second posture a2 changes depending on the orientation of the processing device 6a corresponding to the transport destination. The first posture a1 is a posture of the conveyance source article W. For example, when the article W to be conveyed is an article W in which a certain processing step is completed by one processing device 6a of the plurality of processing devices 6a, the first posture a1 is a posture in which the opening Wb is opposed to the processing device 6a that has performed the processing step of the article W. However, the present invention is not limited to this case, and the first posture a1 may be, for example, a posture at the time when the article W is carried into the article transport facility 1. In any case, the posture of the article W at the time of starting the conveyance of the article W assumes the first posture a 1.
In the present embodiment, the posture change of the article W between the first posture a1 and the second posture a2 is performed by the rotation of the article W about the rotation axis 4 b. That is, as shown in fig. 4, when the article W is viewed in the extending direction of the rotation axis 4b (in this example, the vertical direction Z), the article W is rotated so that the angle Wc of the article W draws an arc centered on the rotation axis 4b, thereby changing the posture of the article W. In the present embodiment, the article W in the state of the first posture a1 is rotated about the rotation axis 4b by the posture changing mechanism 4 so that the opening Wb is in a state facing the processing device 6a corresponding to the conveyance destination. Thereby, the article W is changed from the first posture a1 posture to the second posture a 2.
As shown in fig. 4, the hood 22b is provided at the following positions: when article W accommodated in accommodation portion 22a is in first posture a1 or second posture a2, cover portion 22b does not interfere with article W, and when the posture of article W is intermediate posture Am, which is a process of changing between first posture a1 and second posture a2, it interferes with article W. In the present embodiment, the cover portion 22b has a pair of inner side surfaces 22f facing each other in the conveying direction X. The area of the accommodating portion 22a in the conveying direction X is divided by the pair of inner side surfaces 22 f. In the present embodiment, the cover 22b is provided at the following positions: when the posture of the article W accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a is the intermediate posture Am, the article W interferes with at least one inner surface 22f of the pair of inner surfaces 22 f. More specifically, as shown in fig. 4, cover 22b is sized such that rotation locus TR drawn by a portion (angle Wc of article W in this example) farthest from the rotation center (rotation axis 4b in this example) of article W at the time of rotation of article W is larger than that of storage 22 a. As described above, since the article W is a square in plan view, the diameter of the rotational locus TR is determined by the diagonal line connecting the opposite corners of the article W in plan view. More specifically, the distance between the pair of inner side surfaces 22f in the conveying direction X is set to be shorter than the length of the diagonal line of the article W in plan view.
1-2. control device structure
Next, a control structure of the article transport facility 1 will be described with reference to fig. 5.
The control device H includes an upper control device Hu that controls the entire article transport facility 1, and a lower control device Hd that controls the article transport vehicle 2. The host control device Hu is disposed in a state of being fixed to a certain region of the article transport facility 1. The lower position control device Hd is disposed on the article transport vehicle 2 and moves on the movement path R together with the article transport vehicle 2. In the present embodiment, the lower position control device Hd is disposed for each of the plurality of article carriers 2 and moves on the movement path R together with each of the article carriers 2. The control device H includes a processor such as a microcomputer, peripheral circuits such as a memory, and the like. The functions of the control device H are realized by the cooperative operation of the hardware and programs executed on the processors such as the computer.
The control device H stores the appropriate posture of the article W for each of the plurality of conveyance target locations 6 as the appropriate posture information Ja. The appropriate posture information Ja may be stored in the upper control device Hu, or may be stored in each of the plurality of lower control devices Hd. In the present embodiment, the upper control device Hu includes a storage unit, and stores the appropriate posture of the article W for each of the plurality of conveyance target locations 6 as the appropriate posture information Ja in the storage unit. That is, the upper control device Hu stores the second posture a2 of the article W corresponding to each of the plurality of conveyance target locations 6 in the storage unit. The host control device Hu instructs the lower control device Hd to perform a simple conveyance command, which is a command for conveying the article W from the conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance source to the other conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance destination, without changing the posture, or instructs the lower control device Hd to perform a specific conveyance command, which is a command for conveying the article W from the conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance source to the other conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance destination, with changing the posture.
The lower-level control device Hd receives the simple transport command to execute the simple transport process, and receives the specific transport command to execute the specific transport process. The lower level control device Hd controls the operations of the various motors to execute these respective processes. In the present embodiment, the lower-level controller Hd acquires information on the traveling speed of the article carrier 2 detected by the speed detection sensor Se1, information on the sliding amount of the sliding portion 3Sa detected by the sliding amount detection sensor Se2, information on the lifting amount of the gripping portion 3Ga detected by the lifting amount detection sensor Se3, information on the posture of the pair of gripping claws 3Gb detected by the gripping detection sensor Se4, information on the rotation amount of the gripping portion 3Ga detected by the rotation amount detection sensor Se5, and information on the current position of the article carrier 2 detected by the position detection sensor Se 6. The lower controller Hd controls the operations of the travel motor 21M, the slide motor 3SM, the elevation motor 3HM, the grip motor 3GM, and the rotation motor 4M based on the information detected by the sensors.
The control device H executes attitude change control on the way of a conveyance route Rt as a route from a conveyance source to a conveyance destination, the attitude change control being control in which: in a state where the article W is moved outward relative to the storage section 22a by the transfer mechanism 3, the article W is changed from the first posture a1 to the second posture a2 by the posture changing mechanism 4, and then the article W is stored in the storage section 22a by the transfer mechanism 3. In the present embodiment, the lower controller Hd, which has received the specific conveyance command from the upper controller Hu, executes the posture change control during the conveyance of the article W from the conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance source to the other conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance destination. In this example, the posture change control is performed by rotating the article W around the rotation shaft 4b in a state where the gripping portion 3Ga is slid by the slide mechanism 3S so that the article W is positioned outside the housing portion 22 a. Specifically, the posture changing mechanism 4, the lifting mechanism 3H, the gripping mechanism 3G, and the article W gripped by the gripping portion 3Ga disposed in the accommodating portion 22a are disposed at the projecting position P2 by projecting the slide portion 3Sa to the lateral first side Y1 by the slide mechanism 3S. The posture of the article W placed at the projecting position P2 is changed from the first posture a1 to the second posture a2 by rotating the article W together with the gripping mechanism 3G and the lifting mechanism 3H by the posture changing mechanism 4. Thereafter, the slide portion 3Sa is retracted toward the lateral second side Y2 by the slide mechanism 3S, whereby the article W in the second posture a2 is disposed at the retracted position P1 (accommodating portion 22a) together with the gripping mechanism 3G, the lifting mechanism 3H, and the posture changing mechanism 4. In this way, the posture change control is performed. In the present embodiment, the state in which the article W is positioned outside the storage portion 22a includes a state in which a part of the article W is positioned outside the storage portion 22a, in addition to a state in which the article W is completely positioned outside the storage portion 22 a. Further, the article W may be in a state not overlapping the storage portion 22a in a plan view, and may be in a state where only a part of the article W does not overlap the storage portion 22a in a plan view.
In the present embodiment, the lower-level control device Hd executes the posture change control during the stop of the article transport vehicle 2 on the way of the transport path Rt. In the transport path Rt, a plurality of article carriers 2 are present, and each article carrier 2 transports an article W toward the transceiver 6b of the transport target site 6 in order to cause the processing device 6a to process a semiconductor substrate. Therefore, when the article carrier 2 stops in the conveying path Rt for transferring the article W to the transceiver 6b, the other article carriers 2 that follow also stop. That is, when the article transport vehicle 2 travels on the transport route Rt, the vehicle may stop due to a traffic jam. Therefore, for example, the lower-level control device Hd executes the posture change control during the congestion stop of the article transport vehicle 2 on the way of the transport route Rt. This enables the posture change control to be executed by using the time when the article transport vehicle 2 is unintentionally stopped. That is, since it is not necessary to stop the article carrier 2 in order to execute the posture change control, the conveyance time can be shortened as compared with a case where the article carrier 2 is stopped every time the posture change control is executed.
In the present embodiment, in a state where the article W is slid outward with respect to the housing portion 22a by the transfer mechanism 3, the transfer mechanism 3 and a region of the conveyance path Rt where the article W does not interfere with other members present around the conveyance path Rt are set as the posture-change allowing region Tp (see fig. 1). More specifically, a region of the conveyance path Rt having a sufficient space for sliding the article W to the projecting position P2 by the slide mechanism 3S is set as the posture-change allowing region Tp. When the article transport vehicle 2 is located within the posture-change permission region Tp, the lower-level controller Hd executes the posture change control. In the present embodiment, the posture-change allowing region Tp has a sufficient space for sliding the article W to the projecting position P2, and therefore, by executing the posture-change control in the posture-change allowing region Tp, it is possible to suppress the transfer mechanism 3 and the article W from interfering with other members present on the conveying path Rt during execution of the posture-change control. The other members present around the conveying path Rt are, for example, a storage rack and a storage box (not shown) for temporarily storing the processing device 6a and the articles W.
In the present embodiment, the posture-change permission region Tp is set to a connection region Tc of the intra-process path Ri and the inter-process path Rc of the movement path R. In the present embodiment, the connection area Tc is an area corresponding to a circulation path for circulating the article carrier 2 on the intra-process path Ri in the vicinity of an area where the intra-process path Ri and the inter-process path Rc are connected (see fig. 1). In the article transport facility 1, a relatively large number of article carriers 2 travel in order to transport the semiconductor substrates processed by the processing devices 6a on each of the intra-process path Ri and the inter-process path Rc. In contrast, the number of the article carriers 2 traveling on the connection region Tc between the intra-process path Ri and the inter-process path Rc is small. Therefore, by setting the connection region Tc as the posture-change allowing region Tp and executing the posture change control of the article carrier 2 in the connection region Tc, the influence of the stop of the article carrier 2 used for the posture change control on the travel of the other article carrier 2 can be suppressed. That is, occurrence of congestion on the conveyance route Rt can be suppressed, and reduction in the conveyance efficiency of the entire article conveyance facility 1 can be suppressed.
As shown in fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the transfer mechanism 3 further includes a support member 5 supported by the rail 98 or the ceiling 99 and positioned adjacent to the movement path R. In the illustrated example, the support member 5 is supported by both the rail 98 and the ceiling 99. The support member 5 is provided to support the slide mechanism 3S in the vertical direction Z in a state where the gripping portion 3Ga is slid so that the article W is positioned outside the housing portion 22 a. The support member 5 includes a ceiling coupling portion 5a, a rail coupling portion 5b, a support portion 5d, and a frame portion 5c, the ceiling coupling portion 5a is coupled to the ceiling on a first lateral side Y1 with respect to the rail 98, the rail coupling portion 5b is coupled to a lower end portion of the ceiling coupling portion 5a and is coupled to the rail 98 from a first lateral side Y1, the support portion 5d supports the slide mechanism 3S from a lower side Z2 in the vertical direction, and the frame portion 5c couples the rail coupling portion 5b to the support portion 5 d. In a state where the holding portion 3Ga is slid to the projecting position P2 so that the article W is positioned outward with respect to the housing portion 22a, the support portion 5d supports the posture changing mechanism 4 connected to the sliding mechanism 3S from the lower side Z2 in the vertical direction. That is, the support portion 5d indirectly supports the slide mechanism 3S via the posture changing mechanism 4. Thus, the support portion 5d can support the gripping portion 3Ga and the article W gripped thereby. As a result, the load on the article carrier 2, the rail 98, and the like due to the moment about the article carrier 2 having the portion of the slide mechanism 3S on which the article W and the like are supported as the point of force can be reduced. Further, since the support member 5 is supported by both the rail 98 and the ceiling 99, the load of the article W or the like received by the support member 5 can be dispersed to both the rail 98 and the ceiling 99, and the load applied to the support member 5 itself can be reduced.
In the present embodiment, the support portions 5d are configured in a state in which a pair of plate-like members extending in the lateral direction Y are arranged apart in the conveying direction X. The support portion 5d supports the posture changing mechanism 4 from below via a pair of plate-like members. More specifically, the rotating portion 4a of the posture changing mechanism 4 is provided with a sliding guide wheel 4c guided by a support portion 5d, and the support portion 5d supports the sliding guide wheel 4c from the lower side Z2 in the vertical direction. Further, at an end portion of the lateral second side Y2 of the support portion 5d, an inclined portion 5e inclined toward the lateral second side Y2 toward the lower side Z2 in the vertical direction is formed so that the sliding portion 3Sa is easily guided by the support member 5 when the sliding portion 3Sa slides toward the support member 5 toward the lateral first side Y1. While the sliding portion 3Sa slides to the lateral first side Y1 and the sliding guide wheel 4c is supported by the support portion 5d, the sliding guide wheel 4c rolls on the inclined portion 5 e. In the present embodiment, the support member 5 is provided in the posture-change allowing region Tp. That is, in the present embodiment, the support member 5 is caused to support the slide mechanism 3S during the execution of the posture change control. This reduces the load on the article transport vehicle 2, the rails 98, and the like due to the moment during the execution of the posture change control.
Next, a flow of executing the posture change control will be described with reference to fig. 6.
The lower-level control device Hd executes the posture change control by the following flow. That is, the sliding motor 3SM is controlled to start sliding the article W toward the lateral first side Y1 (step # 10). Then, based on the information detected by the slip amount detection sensor Se2, it is determined whether or not the article W has reached the protruding position P2 (step # 11). When it is determined that the article W has not reached the protruding position P2 within the predetermined time (no at step # 11, yes at step # 19), the control of the various motors is suspended (step # 20), an error notification is performed (step # 21), and the posture change control is terminated. When it is determined that the article W has reached the protruding position P2 (yes in step # 11), the slide motor 3SM is controlled to stop the sliding of the article W (step # 12). Thereafter, the rotation motor 4M is controlled to start the rotation of the article W (step # 13). Then, it is determined whether or not the article W is in the second posture a2 based on the information detected by the rotation amount detection sensor Se5 (step # 14). When it is determined that the article W does not assume the second posture a2 within the predetermined time period (no at step # 14, yes at step # 22), the control of the various motors is suspended (step # 20), an error notification is performed (step # 21), and the posture change control is terminated. When it is determined that the article W is in the second posture a2 (yes in step # 14), the rotation of the article W is stopped by controlling the rotation motor 4M (step # 15). Thereafter, the sliding motor 3SM is controlled to start sliding the article W to the lateral second side Y2 (step # 16). Then, based on the information detected by the slip amount detection sensor Se2, it is determined whether or not the article W has reached the evacuation position P1 (step # 17). When it is determined that the article W has not reached the evacuation position P1 within the predetermined time (no at step # 17, yes at step # 23), the control of the various motors is suspended (step # 20), an error notification is performed (step # 21), and the posture change control is terminated. When it is determined that the article W has reached the evacuation position P1 (yes in step # 17), the slide motor 3SM is controlled to stop the sliding of the article W (step # 18). By performing the above flow, the lower level control device Hd performs posture change control.
When receiving the specific conveyance command from the upper control device Hu (see fig. 5), the lower control device Hd executes specific conveyance processing, which is conveyance processing of the article W in accordance with the posture change control. The posture change control is performed during the conveyance of the article W. Hereinafter, a flow of executing the specific conveyance processing will be described with reference to fig. 7.
The lower-level controller Hd executes the specific conveyance processing according to the following flow. That is, upon receiving the specific transport command, the travel motor 21M is controlled to cause the article transport vehicle 2 to travel to the transport target location 6 as the transport source (step # 30). Thereafter, the sliding motor 3SM, the lifting motor 3HM, and the gripping motor 3GM are controlled to transfer the article W placed on the transceiver 6b of the conveyance target location 6. That is, the loaded article W is accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a (step # 31). Then, the travel motor 21M is controlled to cause the article carrier 2 to travel to the conveyance target location 6 as the conveyance destination (step # 32). Then, it is determined whether or not the article carrier 2 is stopped due to a traffic jam or the like based on the information detected by the speed detection sensor Se1 (step # 33). When it is determined that the article transport vehicle 2 is stopped (yes in step # 33), it is determined whether or not the current position of the article transport vehicle 2 is in the posture-change allowing region Tp based on the information detected by the position detection sensor Se6 (step # 34). When it is determined that the current position of the article carrier 2 is not within the posture change permission region Tp (no in step # 34), the congestion is resolved, and the process of step # 33 is performed for the article carrier 2 that has restarted to travel. When it is determined that the current position of the article carrier 2 is within the posture-change permission region Tp (yes in step # 34), the posture change control is executed (step # 35). After the posture change control is executed, the travel motor 21M is controlled to again travel the article transport vehicle 2 to the transport target location 6 as the transport destination (step # 36).
If it is determined that the article transport vehicle 2 is not stopped in the process of step # 33 (no in step # 33), it is determined whether or not the position detection sensor Se6 has read position information indicating that the current position of the article transport vehicle 2 is within the posture change allowable region Tp while the article transport vehicle 2 is traveling (step # 37). As described above, the conveyance path Rt is divided into a plurality of regions by the plurality of position information storage units. The position information storage unit disposed in the posture-change permitting region Tp of the plurality of position information storage units stores position information indicating that the disposition position of the position information storage unit is within the posture-change permitting region Tp. Therefore, when the article carrier 2 is located in the posture-change permission region Tp, the position detection sensor Se6 reads the position information of the position information storage unit disposed in the posture-change permission region Tp, and the lower controller Hd can determine that the current position of the article carrier 2 is located in the posture-change permission region Tp. When it is determined that the position detection sensor Se6 does not read the position information indicating that the current position of the article carrier 2 is within the posture change permission region Tp while the article carrier 2 is traveling (no in step # 37), the lower-level control device Hd performs the process of step # 33. When it is determined that the position detection sensor Se6 has read information indicating that the current position of the article carrier 2 is within the posture-change permission region Tp (step # 37: yes), it is determined whether or not the posture-change permission region Tp, which is the current position of the article carrier 2, is the last posture-change permission region Tp among the plurality of posture-change permission regions Tp present in the conveyance target location 6, which is the conveyance destination (step # 38). When it is determined that the posture-change permission region Tp, which is the current position of the article carrier 2, is not the last posture-change permission region Tp (no in step # 38), the process of step # 33 is performed. When it is determined that the posture-change permission region Tp, which is the current position of the article carrier 2, is the last posture-change permission region Tp (yes in step # 38), the travel motor 21M is controlled to stop the article carrier 2 (step # 39). Thereafter, posture change control is executed (step # 35). After the posture change control is executed, the travel motor 21M is controlled to cause the article transport vehicle 2 to travel to the transport target location 6 as the transport destination again (step # 36).
After the article transport vehicle 2 is moved again, it is determined whether or not the article transport vehicle 2 has reached the transport target location 6 as the transport destination based on the information detected by the position detection sensor Se6 (step # 40). When it is determined that the article transport vehicle 2 has not reached the transport target location 6 as the transport destination (no at step # 40), the process of step # 40 is repeated. When it is determined that the article transport vehicle 2 has reached the transport target location 6 as the transport destination (yes in step # 40), the travel motor 21M is controlled to stop the travel of the article transport vehicle 2 (step # 41). Thereafter, the sliding motor 3SM, the lifting motor 3HM, and the gripping motor 3GM are controlled to transfer the article W accommodated in the accommodating portion 22 a. That is, the accommodated article W is placed on the transceiver 6b of the conveyance target location 6 (step # 42). By performing the above flow, the lower level control device Hd executes the specific conveyance processing.
In the above description, the case where the lower controller Hd receives the specific conveyance command from the upper controller Hu and executes the specific conveyance processing has been described. However, when receiving the simple conveyance command from the upper control device Hu (see fig. 5), the lower control device Hd executes the simple conveyance processing as the conveyance processing without the posture change control. When the simple conveyance process is executed, the subordinate control device Hd executes the process from step # 30 to step # 32 in the flowchart of fig. 7, and then executes the process from step # 40 to step # 42. Thus, the lower-level control device Hd executes the simple conveyance process.
2. Second embodiment
Next, the article carrier 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, only the flow of the posture change control is different from that of the first embodiment. In the following description, the point different from the first embodiment will be mainly described. The points not specifically described are the same as those in the first embodiment.
As shown in fig. 8, the lower-level controller Hd performs posture change control in a range where the article W is located outside the storage unit 22a and does not interfere with the cover unit 22b, and during movement of the article W by the transfer mechanism 3. In the second embodiment, the lower-level controller Hd executes the posture change control in a range where the article W is located outside the accommodation portion 22a and does not interfere with the inner surface 22f of the cover portion 22b and during the movement of the article W in the lateral direction Y by the slide mechanism 3S. More specifically, as shown in fig. 8, from the state in which the article W is accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a, the article W is slid to the lateral first side Y1 by the slide mechanism 3S, and before the article W is disposed at the protruding position P2, the rotation of the article W is started by the posture changing mechanism 4 in a range in which the angle Wc of the article W does not interfere with the inner side surface 22 f. When the rotation of the article W by the posture changing mechanism 4 is continued, the article W placed at the projecting position P2 is slid toward the lateral second side Y2 by the sliding mechanism 3S, and the article W is placed at the retracted position P1 (the accommodating portion 22 a). At least, the posture change of the article W to the second posture a2 is completed while the article W is slid to the lateral second side Y2 by the slide mechanism 3S. This can shorten the time required for the posture change control. Here, the shorter the time of the posture change control is, the more preferable. In the second embodiment, the lower-level controller Hd controls the posture changing mechanism 4 (the rotation motor 4M) and the slide mechanism 3S (the slide motor 3SM) so that the difference between the time for changing the posture of the article W from the first posture a1 to the second posture a2 by the posture changing mechanism 4 to rotate the article W and the time for protruding the article W from the storage section 22a by the slide mechanism 3S to be stored in the storage section 22a again becomes short. Specifically, in the process of sliding the article W to the lateral first side Y1, the article W cannot start rotating until the article W is located at the non-interference position where the article W does not interfere with the hood portion 22 b. Therefore, the lower-level controller Hd controls the posture changing mechanism 4 (rotating motor 4M) and the sliding mechanism 3S (sliding motor 3SM) such that the time during which the article W is positioned in the range where it does not interfere with the cover 22b until the article W is again accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a by protruding from the accommodating portion 22a is approximately the same as the time during which the article W is rotated. This can further shorten the time required for the posture change control.
Next, a flow of posture change control according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 9. In the following description, a series of operations of sliding the article W from the state of being accommodated in the accommodating portion 22a to the lateral first side Y1 and then sliding the article W to the lateral second side Y2 to accommodate the article W in the accommodating portion 22a will be referred to as reciprocating sliding. In the posture change control of the second embodiment, the posture of article W is changed from first posture a1 to second posture a2 while article W is located within a range not interfering with cup section 22b from the start to the end of reciprocating sliding.
The lower-level control device Hd performs the posture change control of the second embodiment according to the following flow. That is, the position of the article W in the lateral direction Y is grasped based on the information of the slippage detection sensor Se2, and the reciprocating slippage of the article W is started by controlling the slippage motor 3SM (step # 50). Then, it is determined whether or not the article W in the intermediate posture Am is located at the non-interference position based on the information detected by the slippage detecting sensor Se2 (step # 51). Here, the non-interference position is variously combined according to the size and shape of the article W, the rotation amount of the article W, and the sliding amount of the article W. In the second embodiment, the lower level controller Hd stores information of a plurality of non-interference positions in various patterns in advance. In the second embodiment, the lower level controller Hd determines whether or not the article W is located at the non-interference position based on the information stored in advance. When it is determined that the article W is not at the non-interference position within the predetermined time, that is, when it is determined that the article W in the intermediate posture Am is at the position interfering with the cover 22b (no at step # 51, yes at step # 56), the control of the various motors is suspended (step # 57), an error notification is performed (step # 58), and the posture change control is ended. When it is determined that the article W is located at the non-interference position (yes in step # 51), the rotation motor 4M is controlled to start the rotation of the article W (step # 52). Then, it is determined whether or not the article W is in the second posture a2 based on the information detected by the rotation amount detection sensor Se5 (step # 53). When it is determined that the article W does not assume the second posture a2 within the predetermined time period (no at step # 53, yes at step # 59), the control of the various motors is suspended (step # 57), an error notification is performed (step # 58), and the posture change control is terminated. When it is determined that the article W is in the second posture a2 (yes in step # 53), the rotation motor 4M is controlled to stop the rotation of the article W (step # 54). Thereafter, the reciprocating sliding of the article W is terminated (step # 55). According to the above flow, the lower level control device Hd performs the posture change control of the second embodiment.
3. Other embodiments
Next, another embodiment of the article transport facility will be described.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given taking as an example the case where the posture-change permission region Tp is set to the connection region Tc of the intra-process path Ri and the inter-process path Rc in the movement path R. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, as shown in fig. 1, a retreat path Re for retreating the article transport vehicle 2 may be separately provided in the travel path R, and the posture change permission region Tp may be set as the retreat path Re. As a result, when the article carrier 2 executes the posture change control, it is possible to greatly suppress the influence on the travel of another article carrier 2 traveling on a path other than the escape path Re in the travel path R.
(2) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the support member 5 is provided in the posture-change permission region Tp and the lower controller Hd causes the support member 5 to support the slide mechanism 3S during the execution of the posture-change control is described. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the support member 5 may not be provided in the posture-change allowing region Tp, and the lower-level controller Hd may execute the posture change control in a region where the support member 5 is not provided.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the lower-level control device Hd performs the attitude change control during the congestion stop of the article transport vehicle 2 on the way of the transport route Rt. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the upper control device Hu or the lower control device Hd may be configured to recognize the congestion of the transport route Rt, and when it is determined that the transport route Rt is congested, the article transport vehicle 2 may be moved to the adjacent posture-change permission region Tp and then posture-change control may be executed.
(4) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the lower level control device Hd performs the posture change control while the article transport vehicle 2 is stopped on the way of the transport route Rt. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the lower-level controller Hd may execute the posture change control while the article transport vehicle 2 travels within the posture change permission region Tp. In this case, the article carrier 2 may be moved at a low speed in order to safely execute the posture change control.
(5) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the posture of the article W is changed from the first posture a1 to the second posture a2 by the rotation of the rotation shaft 4b along the vertical direction Z is described. That is, in the above-described embodiment, the posture of the article W is changed two-dimensionally in the horizontal plane. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the posture of the article W may be three-dimensionally changed according to the mode of the transportation destination. For example, in the case where the opening Wb of the article W needs to be oriented in the vertical direction Z or in the vertical inclined direction in the conveyance destination with respect to the state where the opening Wb of the article W is oriented in the horizontal direction in the conveyance source, the posture of the article W may be changed by rotating the article W about the vertical axis and the horizontal axis.
(6) In the above-described embodiment, the slide mechanism 3S that slides the grip portion 3Ga is exemplified as the lateral movement mechanism that laterally moves the grip portion 3 Ga. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the lateral movement mechanism 3S may be a link mechanism or the like having an arm by which the grip portion 3Ga is laterally moved.
(7) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the gripping mechanism 3G gripping the flange section Wa of the article W is configured as a part of the transfer mechanism 3 has been described. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the fork mechanism for supporting the article W from below may constitute a part of the transfer mechanism. In this case, the fork mechanism may be rotated by the posture changing mechanism in a state where the fork mechanism supports the article W from below.
(8) In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of an example in which, in order to change the posture of the article W from the first posture a1 to the second posture a2, the article W is moved outward of the accommodating section 22a via the slide mechanism 3S during the posture change control. However, the article transport facility 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, the article W may be moved outward of the storage portion 22a by lowering the article W by the lifting mechanism 3H. In this state, the posture of the article W is changed by rotating the article W by the posture changing mechanism 4. In this case, the slide mechanism 3S may not be provided, and the support member 5 for supporting the slide mechanism 3S may not be provided. That is, the transfer mechanism 3 includes a grip portion 3Ga that grips the article W, and an elevation mechanism 3H that elevates the grip portion 3Ga in the vertical direction Z, the posture changing mechanism 4 includes a rotation portion 4a that rotates the grip portion 3Ga about a rotation axis in the vertical direction Z, and posture change between the first posture a1 and the second posture a2 is performed by rotation of the article W about the rotation axis, and posture change control may be performed by rotating the article W about the rotation axis in a state where the grip portion 3Ga is lowered by the elevation mechanism 3H so that the article W is positioned outside the housing portion 22 a.
(9) The structure disclosed in each of the above embodiments can be applied in combination with the structure disclosed in the other embodiments as long as no contradiction occurs. With respect to other structures, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification are merely illustrative in all respects. Therefore, various changes can be made as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
4. Summary of the above embodiments
Hereinafter, the outline of the article carrying facility described in the above description will be described.
An article transport facility includes an article transport vehicle that moves along a movement path between a plurality of transport target locations to transport an article, and a control device that controls the article transport vehicle, wherein the article transport vehicle includes an accommodating portion that accommodates the article, a cover portion that covers the accommodating portion, a transfer mechanism that moves the article between the accommodating portion and one of the plurality of transport target locations located outside the accommodating portion to transfer the article between the transport target location and the article transport vehicle, and a posture changing mechanism that changes a posture of the article during transport, the posture changing mechanism being capable of changing the posture of the article into a first posture and a second posture, the first posture being a posture for transferring the transport target location as a transport source, the second posture is a posture for transfer at the conveyance target site as a conveyance destination, the cover section is provided at a position such that the cover section does not interfere with the article when the article accommodated in the accommodating section is in the first posture and in the second posture when the cover section is in the position, and the cover section interferes with the article when the posture of the article is an intermediate posture which is a process of changing between the first posture and the second posture, and the control device executes posture change control which is: in the state where the article is moved outward relative to the storage unit by the transfer mechanism in the middle of the transport path, which is a path from the transport source to the transport destination, the article is changed from the first posture to the second posture by the posture changing mechanism, and then the article is stored in the storage unit by the transfer mechanism.
In this aspect, the cover portion that covers the accommodating portion is provided at a position so as not to interfere with the article in a state where the article in the first posture or the second posture is accommodated in the accommodating portion when the cover portion is located at the position. On the other hand, the cover portion is provided at a position where the cover portion interferes with the article when the article accommodated in the accommodating portion assumes an intermediate posture. That is, the gap between the cover portion covering the housing portion and the article is set comparatively small. Therefore, according to the article transport facility of this aspect, the increase in size of the article transport vehicle can be suppressed. In this aspect, the posture of the article transport vehicle is changed from the first posture to the second posture by the posture changing mechanism in a state where the article is moved to the outside with respect to the housing portion by the transfer mechanism in the middle of the transport path which is a path from the transport source to the transport destination. Therefore, according to this aspect, the posture of the article can be changed by effectively utilizing the time and space for article conveyance. Therefore, the facility can be easily reduced in size and cost, as compared with a case where the posture changing mechanism is provided in addition to the article carrier.
Further, it is preferable that the transfer mechanism includes a grip portion that grips the article, an elevating mechanism that elevates the grip portion in a vertical direction, a lateral movement mechanism that laterally moves the grip portion in a lateral direction that intersects the conveyance path and is in a horizontal direction, and a rotation portion that rotates the grip portion about a rotation axis in the vertical direction, the attitude change between the first attitude and the second attitude is performed by rotation of the article around the rotation axis, and the attitude change control is performed by rotation of the article around the rotation axis in a state where the holding part is moved laterally so that the article is positioned outside the housing part by the lateral movement mechanism.
According to this aspect, the article can be transferred to the transport destination with the vertical and horizontal positions and the angle around the rotation axis adjusted. Further, the mechanism for such adjustment can change the posture of the article from the first posture to the second posture in a state where the article is moved outward relative to the housing portion in the middle of the conveyance path so as not to interfere with the cover portion.
In addition to the above, it is preferable that the transfer mechanism further includes a support member supported by the rail or the ceiling and disposed adjacent to the movement path, and the support member is provided to support the lateral movement mechanism in the vertical direction in a state where the holding portion is laterally moved so that the article is located outside the housing portion.
When the holding portion holding the article is moved laterally by the transfer mechanism so that the holding portion is positioned outside the accommodating portion, the moment about the article transport vehicle increases in proportion to the distance by which the holding portion is moved laterally, and a load is applied to the article transport vehicle, the track, and the like. In this aspect, the support member supports the lateral movement mechanism in the vertical direction in a state where the grip portion is moved laterally so that the article is positioned outside the accommodation portion. That is, the support member can indirectly support the gripping portion and the article gripped by the gripping portion via the lateral movement mechanism, and as a result, the load applied to the article transport vehicle, the rail, and the like can be reduced.
Preferably, the control device executes the posture change control during a stop of the article transport vehicle on the way of the transport path.
According to this aspect, the posture change control can be executed in a stable state while the article carrier is stopped. Further, since the article is not moved outward relative to the housing portion during the movement of the article transport vehicle, the article positioned outward relative to the housing portion can be prevented from interfering with other members present around the movement path.
Further, it is preferable that the control device performs the posture change control in a range where the article is located outside the housing portion and does not interfere with the cover portion and in the movement of the article by the transfer mechanism.
According to this aspect, since the posture change control can be executed during the movement of the article between the inside and the outside of the storage unit by the transfer mechanism, the time required for the posture change control can be shortened as compared with the case where the movement of the article and the posture change by the transfer mechanism are performed separately. Further, since such posture change control is performed within a range in which the article does not interfere with the cover portion on the outer side of the housing portion, interference between the article and the cover portion can be suppressed.
Further, it is preferable that, in a state where the article is moved laterally outward relative to the housing portion by the transfer mechanism, a region of the conveyance path where the transfer mechanism and the article do not interfere with other members present around the conveyance path is set as an attitude change allowable region, and the control device executes the attitude change control when the article carrier is located within the attitude change allowable region.
According to this aspect, since the posture change control is executed when the article transport vehicle is located in the posture change permission region, which is a region where the transfer mechanism and the article do not interfere with other members present around the transport path, the transfer mechanism and the article can be prevented from interfering with other members present around the transport path during execution of the posture change control.
Preferably, the article is a container for storing a semiconductor substrate, and the transport target location includes a transmission/reception unit for transmitting/receiving the article between the processing apparatus for processing the semiconductor substrate and the article transport vehicle, the transmission/reception units are connected by an intra-process path, the intra-process paths are connected by an inter-process path, and the posture change permission region is set to a connection region between the intra-process path and the inter-process path of the movement path.
In the apparatus including the intra-process path and the inter-process path, the semiconductor substrates processed by the respective processing devices are carried on the intra-process path and the inter-process path, respectively, and therefore, a relatively large number of article carriers travel. In contrast, the number of article carriers is relatively small in the connecting region between the intra-process path and the inter-process path. In this aspect, since the connection area is set as the posture-change allowing area, the posture-change control of a specific article carrier can suppress influence on the travel of another article carrier. Therefore, the reduction in the overall conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility can be suppressed.
Industrial applicability
The technology according to the present invention can be used for an article transport facility including an article transport vehicle that moves along a movement path between a plurality of transport target locations to transport an article.
Description of the reference numerals
1: article carrying apparatus
2: article carrier
3: transfer mechanism
3G: holding mechanism
3 Ga: gripping part
3H: lifting mechanism
3S: transverse moving mechanism (sliding mechanism)
4: posture changing mechanism
4 a: rotating part
4 b: rotating shaft
5: support member
6: location for transporting objects
6 a: processing apparatus
6 b: transceiver unit
22 a: accommodating part
22 b: cover part
98: track
99: ceiling
A1: first posture
A2: second posture
Am, and (2): intermediate posture
H: control device
Hd: lower control device
Hu: host control device
R: moving path
Rc: inter-process path
Re: avoidance path
Ri: in-process path
Rt: conveying path
Tc: connection area
Tp: posture change allowable area
W: article with a cover
Y: transverse direction
Z: the vertical direction.

Claims (9)

1. An article carrying facility comprising an article carrying vehicle and a control device,
the article transport vehicle moves along a moving path between a plurality of transport target locations to transport an article,
the control device controls the article transport vehicle,
the article transport vehicle has a housing part, a cover part, and a transfer mechanism,
the accommodating part accommodates the article,
the cover part covers the accommodating part,
the article carrying apparatus as described above is characterized in that,
the transfer means moves the article between the storage portion and one of the plurality of conveyance target locations located outside the storage portion to transfer the article between the conveyance target location and the article conveyance vehicle,
the article carrier further comprises a posture changing mechanism,
the posture changing mechanism changes the posture of the article during transportation,
the attitude changing means is capable of changing the attitude of the article to a first attitude for transfer to the conveyance target site as a conveyance source and a second attitude for transfer to the conveyance target site as a conveyance destination,
the cover portion is provided at a position so as not to interfere with the article when the article accommodated in the accommodating portion is in the first posture and in the second posture and so as to interfere with the article when the posture of the article is an intermediate posture which is a process of changing between the first posture and the second posture,
the aforementioned control means executes attitude change control, which is control of: in the state where the article is moved outward relative to the storage unit by the transfer mechanism in the middle of the transport path, which is a path from the transport source to the transport destination, the article is changed from the first posture to the second posture by the posture changing mechanism, and then the article is stored in the storage unit by the transfer mechanism.
2. The article handling apparatus of claim 1,
the transfer mechanism comprises a holding part, a lifting mechanism and a transverse moving mechanism,
the gripping portion grips the article, the lifting mechanism lifts the gripping portion in a vertical direction, the lateral movement mechanism laterally moves the gripping portion in a lateral direction intersecting the conveyance path and extending in a horizontal direction,
the posture changing mechanism includes a rotating portion that rotates the gripping portion about a rotating shaft along the vertical direction, and posture change between the first posture and the second posture is performed by rotation of the article about the rotating shaft,
the attitude change control is performed by rotating the article around the rotation axis in a state where the holding part is moved laterally so that the article is positioned outside the housing part by the lateral movement mechanism.
3. The article handling apparatus of claim 2,
the aforementioned path of movement is determined by rails supported from the ceiling suspension,
the transfer mechanism further includes a support member supported by the rail or the ceiling and disposed adjacent to the movement path,
the support member is provided to support the lateral movement mechanism in the vertical direction in a state where the holding portion is moved laterally so that the article is positioned outside the housing portion.
4. The article handling apparatus of claim 1,
the control device executes the posture change control during a stop of the article transport vehicle on the way of the transport path.
5. The article handling apparatus of claim 2,
the control device executes the posture change control during a stop of the article transport vehicle on the way of the transport path.
6. The article handling apparatus of claim 3,
the control device executes the posture change control during a stop of the article transport vehicle on the way of the transport path.
7. The article handling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
the control device executes the posture change control when the article is located in a range outside the housing portion and not interfering with the cover portion and the article is moving by the transfer mechanism.
8. The article handling apparatus of claim 2 or 3,
a region of the conveying path where the transfer mechanism and the article do not interfere with other members existing around the conveying path is set as a posture change allowable region in a state where the article is moved laterally outward with respect to the housing part by the transfer mechanism,
the control device executes the posture change control when the article carrier is located in the posture change allowable area.
9. The article handling apparatus of claim 8,
the article is a container for accommodating a semiconductor substrate,
the transport target site includes a transmitting/receiving unit for transmitting/receiving the article between the processing apparatus for processing the semiconductor substrate and the article transport vehicle,
the plurality of transmitting/receiving sections are connected by intra-process paths, and the plurality of intra-process paths are connected by inter-process paths,
the posture-change allowing region is set to a connection region between the intra-process path and the inter-process path in the movement path.
CN201710859693.3A 2016-09-21 2017-09-21 Article carrying apparatus Active CN107857064B (en)

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TWI717535B (en) 2021-02-01
CN107857064A (en) 2018-03-30

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