CN111824772A

CN111824772A - Conveying device

Info

Publication number: CN111824772A
Application number: CN202010287543.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 璋锋辰瀹ｄ翰; 谷泽宣亲
Original assignee: Sharp Corp
Current assignee: Sharp Corp
Priority date: 2019-04-19
Filing date: 2020-04-13
Publication date: 2020-10-27

Abstract

The purpose is to prolong the service life of a guide roller in a conveying device. The conveying device is provided with: a conveying mechanism for conveying a substrate having a side edge; and a guide roller that abuts against the side edge of the substrate to position the substrate, wherein the guide roller includes a plurality of divided bodies stacked in a direction perpendicular to the substrate.

Description

Conveying device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a conveying device.

Background

For example, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel, as a transport device for transporting a substrate made of glass, a device is known which includes a guide roller for restricting meandering of the substrate to be transported and for stably moving the substrate. The guide rollers are arranged in plural along the conveying direction of the substrate, and guide the substrate by rotating while abutting against the side edge of the substrate.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Japanese patent laid-open No. 2010-42902

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

In the transport apparatus having the above-described configuration, the guide roller gradually wears a portion where the side edge of the substrate abuts. Since grooves are formed on the surface of the guide roller as the wear of the guide roller progresses, which hinders the stable conveyance of the substrate, it is necessary to exchange the guide roller.

In the case where the conveying distance of the substrate is long, since many guide rollers are required in the conveying device,

so that many guide rolls for exchange need to be prepared and the cost thereof is high. In addition, in some of the processes,

the guide roll is required to have properties such as chemical resistance, and in this case, the guide roll is expensive.

Thus, there is a demand for extending the life of the guide roller and reducing the cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a transport device that can prolong the life of a guide roller.

Means for solving the problems

(1) A conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a conveying mechanism for conveying a substrate having a side edge; and a guide roller that rotates while abutting against the side edge of the substrate to position the substrate, the guide roller including a plurality of divided bodies stacked in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

(2) In addition, according to a certain embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the above (1), the conveying apparatus is characterized in that the plurality of divided bodies have a uniform thickness.

(3) In addition to the configuration of the above (1) or (2), the conveying apparatus according to some embodiments of the present invention is characterized in that the number of the divided bodies provided to 1 guide roller is singular, and the divided body disposed in the middle among the plurality of divided bodies is brought into contact with the substrate.

Effects of the invention

According to the transport apparatus of the present invention, the life of the guide roller can be extended.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a transport apparatus according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a guide roller and a glass substrate according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing how the positions of a plurality of divided bodies are exchanged.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the guide roller and the glass substrate after exchanging the divided body.

Detailed Description

< embodiment >

Embodiments of the present invention are explained with reference to fig. 1 to 4. The conveying device 1 of the present embodiment is provided with a processing device for processing a glass substrate 30 used for a liquid crystal panel or the like, and conveys the glass substrate 30. Examples of the processing apparatus include a cleaning apparatus, an etching apparatus, a developing apparatus, and a resist stripping apparatus.

As shown in fig. 1, the glass substrate 30 conveyed by the conveying device 1 is rectangular plate-shaped, has a pair of

side edges

31A and 31B, and extends in the conveying direction.

As shown in fig. 1, the transport apparatus 1 includes: a plurality of conveying units 10 (corresponding to a conveying mechanism) for conveying the glass substrate 30 in a fixed direction; the plurality of guide rollers 20: the glass substrate 30 is positioned.

As shown in fig. 1, each of the plurality of conveyance sections 10 has: a conveying rod member 11 which is a round bar made of metal; and a conveying roller 12 made of synthetic resin and attached to the conveying rod member 11. Each of the plurality of conveying rollers 12 is a disc having a larger diameter than the conveying rod member 11, and is attached to the conveying rod member 11 at predetermined intervals. The feed bar member 11 is rotated around the shaft by the driving device, and the feed roller 12 is rotated together with the feed bar member 11.

As shown in fig. 2, each of the plurality of guide rollers 20 is made of synthetic resin, has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and includes three divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C. The

divided bodies

21A, 21B, and 21C are preferably formed of a resin having a certain degree of hardness, such as PEEK (polyetheretherketone).

As shown in fig. 2, the segment body 21A is a cylindrical body having a sufficient thickness with respect to the thickness of the glass substrate 30, and has a rod member hole 22 at the center. The rod member hole 22 is a through hole into which the guide rod member 24 can be inserted. The outer peripheral surface of the divided body 21A serves as an abutment surface 23. The same applies to the other divided

bodies

21B, 21C. The three divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C have the same diameter and have a uniform thickness.

As shown in fig. 2, the three divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C are pivotally supported by inserting a guide rod member 24 into the rod member hole 22. The three divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C are coaxially arranged. The guide bar member 24 extends in the vertical direction with respect to the glass substrate 30 conveyed by the conveying rollers 12, and is supported by a base 25 having a lower end disposed below the glass substrate 30. The three divided

bodies

21A, 21B, and 21C are stacked in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface of the glass substrate 30.

Half of the plurality of guide rollers 20 are arranged in a line along one side edge 31A of the glass substrate 30 conveyed by the conveying rollers 12, and the remaining half are arranged in a line along the other side edge 31B of the glass substrate 30. Fig. 1 shows 1 guide roll 20 disposed along one

side edge

31A and 1 guide roll 20 disposed along the other side edge 31B, and the other guide rolls 20 are omitted.

As shown in fig. 1, the lower surface of the glass substrate 30 is supported by the conveyance roller 12, and is conveyed in a fixed direction along with the rotation of the conveyance roller 12 while being kept horizontal. In fig. 1, the direction from the upper right to the lower left is the direction of conveyance.

At this time, each guide roller 20 abuts on any one of the two

side edges

31A, 31B of the glass substrate 30, and rotates following the conveyance of the glass substrate 30. As shown in fig. 1, the glass substrate 30 is sandwiched and conveyed between the guide roll 20 abutting against one side edge 31A and the other guide roll 20 abutting against the other side edge 31B. This suppresses meandering of the glass substrate 30. Further, the fluctuation in the thickness direction (vertical direction in fig. 1) of the glass substrate 30 is suppressed.

As shown in fig. 2, of the three divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C provided for each guide roller 20, the contact surface 23 of the divided body 21B disposed in the middle is in contact with the glass substrate 30.

The contact surface 23 of the segment body 21B is worn by contact with the glass base 30. As shown in fig. 2, as the abrasion progresses, the groove 26 is formed in the abutment surface 23 at the portion where the glass substrate 30 abuts, and a space is formed between the glass substrate 30 and the abutment surface 23 corresponding to the depth of the groove 26. This makes it impossible to suppress meandering and wobbling of the glass substrate 30. In particular, in recent years, glass substrates 30 for liquid crystal panels have been increasingly thinned and the

side edges

31A and 31B have been sharpened, so that abrasion has been easily advanced.

When the wear has progressed to some extent, the position of the intermediate segment 21B is exchanged with one of the unworn

other segments

21A and 21C (segment 21C in fig. 3). As shown in fig. 4, by the exchange, either one of the side edges 31A, 31B of the glass substrate 30 comes into contact with the newly disposed divided body 21C. When the divided body 21C after the exchange is worn to some extent, it is exchanged with the remaining divided body 21A. In this way, the life of the guide roll 20 can be extended to 3 times that of the existing guide roll which is not divided.

In view of the above, according to the present embodiment, the conveying device 1 includes: a conveying section 10 for conveying a glass substrate 30 having

side edges

31A, 31B; the guide roll 20 is in contact with the side edges 31A, 31B of the glass substrate 30 to position the glass substrate 30, and the guide roll 20 includes a plurality of

segments

21A, 21B, 21C and is laminated in a direction perpendicular to the glass substrate 30.

According to the above configuration, when one segment 21B of the plurality of

segments

21A, 21B, 21C that is in contact with the glass substrate 30 is worn, the position of the segment 21B can be exchanged with another

segment

21A, 21C that is not worn. By replacing the positions of the plurality of

split members

21A, 21B, 21C and using them in this way, the number of

split members

21A, 21B, 21C can be increased and the life can be reduced compared to the conventional guide roller without splitting.

The plurality of divided

bodies

21A, 21B, and 21C have uniform thicknesses. According to such a configuration, even when each of the plurality of divided

bodies

21A, 21B, and 21C has a constant thickness with respect to the thickness of the glass substrate 30 to be conveyed and any of the divided

bodies

21A, 21B, and 21C abuts against the glass substrate 30, a constant effect of suppressing the fluctuation in the thickness direction of the glass substrate 30 can be ensured, and the substrate can be stably conveyed.

In addition, when the thicknesses of the plurality of segments are not uniform, the height position of the glass substrate for each segment is changed every time the segments are exchanged, and it is necessary to adjust the position of the segments with respect to the glass substrate. Therefore, an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the guide roller is also required, and the structure of the conveying device becomes complicated. In contrast, in the present embodiment, even if the plurality of divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C are exchanged with each other, the height position of the divided

body

21A, 21B, 21C to be in contact with the glass substrate 30 does not change as long as the arrangement position of the divided

body

21A, 21B, 21C in contact with the glass substrate 30 is fixed (in the present embodiment, in the middle). This eliminates the need for an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the guide roller 20, and can be handled without making a significant design change to the conventional conveying device. Further, the present invention is also effective in a case where a space for disposing the adjustment mechanism around the conveying device cannot be secured.

Further, the number of the divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C provided to the 1 guide roller 20 is singular, and the divided body 21B disposed at the middle among the plurality of divided

bodies

21A, 21B, 21C abuts on the glass substrate 30.

Here, for example, when the glass substrate is brought into contact with the segment arranged at the lower end of the plurality of segments, the glass substrate is conveyed in the vicinity of a base which is arranged below the guide roller and supports the guide bar member. Therefore, the thickness of the divided body needs to be sufficiently increased so that the glass substrate does not contact the base even if it is slightly shaken. In contrast, in the case where the split body 21B disposed at the middle among the plurality of

split bodies

21A, 21B, 21C abuts on the glass substrate 30 as in the present embodiment, since the split body 21C exists between the split body 21B and the base 25, a space corresponding to the thickness thereof can be secured, and contact between the glass substrate 30 and the base 25 can be easily avoided. The same applies to the case where the glass substrate is in contact with the divided body disposed at the upper end of the plurality of divided bodies, and some other members are disposed above the guide roller.

< other embodiment >

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) The number of divided bodies provided in the guide roll is not 3, but may be 2 or 4 or more. (2) The segment that contacts the glass substrate does not necessarily have to be the segment disposed in the middle among the plurality of segments, and may be disposed on the uppermost or lowermost segment, for example.

Description of the reference numerals

1. Conveying device

10. Conveying part (conveying mechanism)

11. Conveying rod component

12. Conveying roller

20. Guide roller

21A, 21B, 21C split body

22. Rod member hole

23. Abutting surface

24. Guide bar component

25. Base station

26. Trough

30. Glass substrate

31A, 31B side edge

Claims

1. A conveyor device is characterized by comprising:

a conveying mechanism for conveying the substrate having the side edge,

a guide roller that rotates while abutting against the side edge of the substrate to position the substrate,

the guide roller includes a plurality of divided bodies stacked in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

2. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of divided bodies have thicknesses equal to each other.

3. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the number of the divided bodies provided to 1 of the guide rollers is singular, and the divided body disposed at the middle among the plurality of divided bodies abuts on the substrate.