CN210503799U - Carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a carrying device, which is suitable for accommodating at least one article. The carrying device comprises a box body and at least one clamping piece. At least one side wall of the box body is provided with at least one first groove for accommodating at least one edge of the object, and the first groove is provided with at least one supporting part for supporting at least one edge of the object. The clamping piece is movably arranged on the box body and is provided with at least one clamping part, wherein the clamping piece is suitable for moving between a first position and a second position. When the clamping piece is at the first position, the distance between the clamping part of the clamping piece and the corresponding supporting part of the first groove is smaller than the distance between the clamping part of the clamping piece and the corresponding supporting part of the first groove when the clamping piece is at the second position. The utility model discloses carrying device can avoid the article to receive the striking because excessively rock or vibrations in carrying device, drop by placing the position to consequently and impaired.

Description

Carrying device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a carrying device, and more particularly to a carrying device for carrying a sheet or plate-like object requiring high stability.

Background

With the rapid development of the semiconductor industry and the optoelectronic industry, more and more semiconductor devices or optoelectronic devices require a carrier device to transport the semiconductor devices or optoelectronic devices in a factory. Since the objects such as the wafer, the chip, the mask or the glass substrate are all fragile objects in sheet or plate shape, they must be stable during the carrying process to avoid the objects from being collided and broken or damaged due to large swing. In particular, Integrated Circuit (IC) chips are typically placed in an array on trays (trays), which are then placed in an IC tray Cassette or magazine and transferred between stations in the factory floor. Since the chips are not usually held in the carrier, the transport system is inevitably shaken or vibrated during the transport of the carrier cassette or magazine. These jolts or vibrations may not have a significant effect on the carrier cassettes or magazines having a large mass, but for chips which are carried therein with a much smaller mass than the carrier cassettes or magazines, only slight jolts or vibrations may cause the individual chips to jump off or even fall off the place of placement and thus be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a buffer for the force generated by shaking or vibration during the transportation process to prevent the chip and other objects from being damaged.

On the other hand, since it is necessary to prevent dust from adhering to the wafer or the mask during transportation, which is an article whose quality is easily affected by particle contamination, paper or foam, which is a material that easily generates fine particles, cannot be used as a cushion.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model provides a carrying device, which is suitable for accommodating at least one article. The carrying device comprises a box body and at least one clamping piece. At least one side wall of the box body is provided with at least one first groove for accommodating at least one edge of the object, and each first groove is provided with at least one supporting part for supporting at least one edge of the object. The clamping piece is movably arranged on the box body and is provided with at least one clamping part, wherein the clamping piece is suitable for moving between a first position and a second position. When the clamping piece is at the first position, the distance between the clamping part of the clamping piece and the corresponding supporting part of the first groove is smaller than the distance between the clamping part of the clamping piece and the corresponding supporting part of the first groove when the clamping piece is at the second position.

In an embodiment of the invention, a distance that the clamping member moves from the first position to the second position is exactly equal to a thickness of an edge of the object.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the side wall of the box body has at least one slot. The clamping piece is slidably arranged in the groove.

In an embodiment of the invention, the clamping member is adapted to move from the second position to the first position by gravity.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the device further comprises at least one reset member, wherein the reset member is connected to the clamping member, and the clamping member is adapted to move from the second position to the first position by a reset force of the reset member.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the reset member is at least one elastic member, and the elastic member is connected between the box body and the clamping member.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the clamping member has an extending portion, the extending portion extends to a bottom wall of the box body, and the elastic member is connected between the extending portion and the bottom wall of the box body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the clamping member is adapted to be pushed by a pushing structure to move from the first position to the second position.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the holding member has an extending portion, the extending portion extends to a bottom wall of the box body, and the extending portion is adapted to be pushed by the pushing structure.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the clamping member and the extending portion are exposed from the box body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the clamping member has at least one second groove, and the clamping portion is located in the second groove.

In an embodiment of the invention, when the clamping member is located at the second position, the bottom edge of the second groove and the bottom edge of the corresponding first groove are located at the same height.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first groove extends along a first direction, and the clamping member is adapted to move along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

Based on the above, in the carrying device of the present invention, the movable clamping member is disposed on the box body, so that when the edge of the article to be carried is supported by the supporting portion in the first groove, and the carrying device is in the state of being conveyed, the clamping member is movable to clamp the edge of the article between the clamping portion of the clamping member and the supporting portion in the first groove, so as to achieve the effect of stabilizing the article. Therefore, in the carrying and conveying process of the carrying device, the object can be clamped and fixed by the clamping part of the clamping piece and the supporting part of the first groove together, so that the influence of external force such as shaking and vibration and the like on the carried object of the carrying device is reduced, and the object is prevented from being impacted, falling off from a placing position and damaged due to excessive shaking or vibration in the carrying device.

In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a carrier device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the carrier of fig. 2 with the article held by the clamp.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the carrier of fig. 2 with the holders thereof not holding an article.

Description of the reference numerals

2: pushing structure

3: base seat

4: positioning convex part

6: engaging part

10: carrying device

20: article

21: edge of a container

100: box body

110: side wall

111: first trench

111 a: supporting part

112: slotting

120: roof wall

130: bottom wall

200: clamping piece

210: second trench

210 a: clamping part

220: extension part

222: guide groove

30: reset piece

A: accommodation space

N1: a first direction

N2: second direction

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a carrier device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier of fig. 1. Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, the carrier 10 of the present embodiment is suitable for accommodating the object 20, and the carrier 10 includes a box 100 and at least one clamping member 200. The number of the clamping members 200 illustrated in the embodiment is two, but not limited thereto, and the two clamping members 200 are movably disposed at the left and right sides of the box 100.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the number of the objects 20 is shown as one, but in other embodiments, the number of the objects 20 may be multiple and overlapped with each other. The object 20 may be a fragile object such as a wafer, a mask, a glass substrate, or a carrier such as a carrier tray or a wafer frame for holding a plurality of ic chips, which is not limited by the present invention.

The box 100 includes a top wall 120, two sidewalls 110 connected to the top wall 120 and opposite to each other, and a bottom wall 130 connected to the two sidewalls 110 and opposite to the top wall 120. The top wall 120, the two sidewalls 110 and the bottom wall 130 together define a receiving space a for receiving the object 20.

The two sidewalls 110 of the box 100 each have a plurality of first grooves 111 for receiving the edge 21 of the object 20, the first grooves 111 on the two sidewalls 110 correspond to each other and the first grooves 111 are parallel to the bottom wall 130. That is, the edges 21 of the left and right sides of the object 20 are adapted to respectively extend into two corresponding first grooves 111 of the plurality of first grooves 111.

Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the carrier of fig. 2 with the article held by the clamp. Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the carrier of fig. 2 with the holders thereof not holding an article.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the clamping member 200 is movable between a first position shown in fig. 3 and a second position shown in fig. 4. Each clamping member 200 has at least one clamping portion 210 a. When the clamping member 200 is at the first position, the distance between the clamping portion 210a of the clamping member 200 and a supporting portion 111a of the corresponding first groove 111 is smaller than the distance between the clamping portion 210a of the clamping member 200 and the supporting portion 111a of the corresponding first groove 111 when the clamping member 200 is at the second position.

Further, in the present embodiment, the clamping member 200 is adapted to move to the first position as shown in fig. 3, such that the edge 21 of the object 20 is clamped between the clamping portion 210a of the clamping member 200 and the corresponding supporting portion 111a of the first groove 111; when clamp 200 is moved to the second position as shown in fig. 4, clamping portion 210a of clamp 200 is separated from edge 21 of article 20.

Generally, the material of the clamping member 200 can be selected from various materials, such as metal, engineering plastic, etc., which can stably clamp the object 20 and is not easily deformed to prevent the object 20 from sliding. In consideration of the requirement for cleanliness in semiconductor and photovoltaic industries, the material is more resistant to abrasion and dust.

Under the above configuration, the movable clamping member 200 is disposed in the extension range of the first groove 111 of the box 100, so that when the edge 21 of the carried object 20 is located in the first groove 111, the clamping member 200 can move to clamp the edge 21 of the object 20 between the clamping portion 210a of the clamping member 200 and the supporting portion 111a of the first groove 111, so as to achieve the effect of stably positioning the object 20.

Thus, during the carrying process of the carrying device 10, the clamping portion 210a of the clamping member 200 and the supporting portion 111a of the first groove 111 can be used to clamp and fix the object 20 together, so as to reduce the external force applied to the carrying device 10, thereby preventing the object 20 itself or the object placed thereon from generating excessive shaking or vibration in the carrying device 10 and being impacted or falling off from the placing position.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, each first groove 111 extends along a first direction N1 inside the sidewall 110 of the box 100. The article 20 is adapted to enter and exit the receiving space a of the cartridge 100 in the first direction N1. The two clamps 200 are adapted to move in a second direction N2 perpendicular to the first direction N1 to abut the edge 21 of the article 20. Wherein the second direction N2 is parallel to the sidewall 110.

The side wall 110 has at least one slot 112 corresponding to the clip member 200, and in the present embodiment, each of the left and right side walls 110 is taken as an example. Each of the clamping members 200 is slidably disposed in the corresponding slot 112, and each of the two slots 112 and each of the two clamping members 200 are symmetrically disposed on two sides of the box 100. Thus, each clip 200 can be positioned evenly on both symmetrical side edges 21 of the article 20. In other embodiments, the slot 112 may be designed in other suitable forms, which is not limited by the present invention.

In detail, each of the clamping members 200 further has a plurality of second grooves 210. Each second trench 210 corresponds to a first trench 111 and also extends along the first direction N1. The two edges 21 of the article 20 are adapted to extend into the corresponding second grooves 210 respectively through the first grooves 111. Each of the second grooves 210 has a clamping portion 210 a. In this embodiment, the clamping portion 210a is a surface of the second groove 210 facing downward from the top.

When the clamping member 200 is located at the first position shown in fig. 3, the distance between the supporting portion 111a and the clamping portion 210a is smaller than that when the clamping member 200 is located at the second position shown in fig. 4. Based on this design, when the clamping member 200 is located at the first position as shown in fig. 3, the edge 21 of the article 20 is clamped between the supporting portion 111a of the corresponding first groove 111 and the clamping portion 210a of the second groove 210.

When the clamping member 200 is located at the second position as shown in fig. 4, the distance between the supporting portion 111a and the clamping portion 210a is greater than the distance between the supporting portion 111a and the clamping portion 210a when the clamping member 200 is located at the first position as shown in fig. 3. The edge 21 can now pass in the first groove 111 and the second groove 210 so that the article 20 can be accessed. When the object 20 is put into the carrier 10, the edge 21 is supported on the supporting portion 111a of the first groove 111 and separated from the clamping portion 210a of the second groove 210.

It should be noted that when no article 20 is received in the carrier 10, the range of up and down movement of the clamp 200 may be greater than or equal to the thickness of the edge 21 of the article 20. However, when the first and second grooves 111 and 210 contain the object 20, the distance that the holding member 200 moves from the first position shown in fig. 3 to the second position shown in fig. 4 is just equal to the thickness of the edge 21 of the object 20.

In addition, when the clamping member 200 is located at the second position shown in fig. 4, the bottom edge of the second groove 210 is not higher than the bottom edge of the corresponding first groove 111, i.e. the bottom edge of the second groove 210 is located at the same height as or slightly lower than the bottom edge of the corresponding first groove 111 (fig. 4 shows a situation where the bottom edge of the second groove 210 is slightly lower than the bottom edge of the corresponding first groove 111). So that the edge 21 of the object 20 can pass through the first groove 111 and the second groove 210 smoothly during the process of being taken and placed.

In addition, the number of the second grooves 210 of the present embodiment is the same as the number of the first grooves 111. Of course, in other embodiments, the form and number of the first grooves 111 and the second grooves 210 may be determined according to the requirement, and the invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the box 100 further has positioning protrusions 4 symmetrically disposed on both sides of the top wall 120, and the top end of the clip 200 has an engaging portion 6 corresponding to the positioning protrusions 4. When the clip 200 is slidably disposed in the slot 112, the engaging portion 6 of the clip 200 will catch the positioning protrusion 4 of the box 100, so that the moving range of the clip 200 is correctly limited between the first position and the second position.

Of course, the number of the positioning protrusions 4 and the engaging portions 6 is not limited to that exemplified in the present embodiment. In other embodiments, the positioning protrusion 4 of the box 100 and the engaging portion 6 of the clamping member 200 may be designed in other suitable forms, and the invention is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 2 to 4, in the present embodiment, each of the clamping members 200 further has an extending portion 220 at the bottom end thereof. The extension portion 220 extends inward from the bottom end of the clip member 200 along the lower surface of the bottom wall 130 of the box 100 and is exposed to the bottom surface of the box 100. When the box 100 is placed on a base 3 having the pushing structure 2, the extending portion 220 is pushed by the pushing structure 2, so that the clamping member 200 moves from the first position to the second position.

Since the portion of the clip 200 adjacent to the sidewall 110 is exposed outside the lateral side of the box 100, and the extension portion 220 extends from the outside of the bottom end of the lateral side of the box 100 to the outside of the bottom surface of the bottom wall 130, the bottom wall 130 of the box 100 does not need to be additionally perforated to allow the bottom end of the clip 200 to pass through to connect with the extension portion 220. The design not only has simple structure, but also can improve the integrity and rigidity of the whole structure.

In detail, a highly automated apparatus is generally used in a production line of a semiconductor or photoelectric industry. Therefore, many machines are provided with loading/unloading ports for placing the carrying device to pick and place the objects contained therein. The load/unload port corresponds to the base 3.

In order to correctly position the carrier device when placing the carrier device and trigger the subsequent operations of picking and placing the sheet, a set of components called dynamic positioning Pins (KCP) is usually disposed on the loading/unloading port, and these components are equivalent to the pushing structure 2. The bottom of the carrying device is provided with a set of supporting structures corresponding to the dynamic positioning pins.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the extension portion 220 further has a guiding groove 222, and the guiding groove 222 is a part of the receiving structure. Each guiding groove 222 guides and receives a pushing structure 2.

When the carrier 10 is not yet placed on the base 3 and is suspended, the clamping member 200 is located at the first position at the bottom of the moving range thereof due to the gravity. The top of the extension 220 at the bottom of the clip 200 is spaced from the bottom of the bottom wall 130 above the top.

And when the carrier 10 starts to be placed on the base 3, the push structure 2 starts to enter the guide groove 222. After the pushing structure 2 contacts the surface of the guiding groove 222 and reaches the positioning, the box 100 of the carrying device 10 will continue to move downwards. At this time, the extending portion 220 of the clip member 200 is pushed upward by the pushing structure 2, thereby pushing the clip member 200 to move to a second position above the first position relative to the box 100.

When the carrier 10 is lowered to the resting position on the base 3 and is fully supported jointly by the abutting structures 2, the gripping member 200 also reaches the second position shown in figure 4. As mentioned above, the edge 21 of the object 20 is no longer clamped and fixed by the support portion 111a and the clamping portion 210 a. Thus, the articles 20 in the carrier 10 can be picked and placed.

Also, when the carrier 10 is loaded with an object 20 on the base 3 and is to be transported to the next station, the transport device first moves it upwards away from the abutting structure 2 to assume a suspended state. During the upward movement of the carrier 10, the holding member 200 is no longer pushed by the pushing structure 2 because the extension 220 at the bottom end thereof, and thus moves downward from the second position to the first position relative to the box 100 due to the gravity.

After the clamping member 200 is lowered to the first position relative to the box 100, the edge 21 of the object 20 carried in the carrier 10 is clamped and fixed by the clamping portion 210a of the clamping member 200 and the supporting portion 111a of the first groove 111 as shown in fig. 3, so that the edge can be kept stable in the subsequent transferring process.

In addition to the clamping member 200 being movable from the second position to the first position by gravity, in the present embodiment, the carrying device 10 may further be provided with at least one restoring member 30. Restoring member 30 is connected to clamping member 200 such that when extending portion 220 of clamping member 200 is separated from pushing structure 2, clamping member 200 is adapted to move from the second position shown in fig. 4 to the first position shown in fig. 3 by the restoring force provided by restoring member 30.

Restoring member 30 can take many different forms, such as a simple attachment of a weight or weight attached to holding member 200 to increase the effect of gravity on holding member 200. Alternatively, an elastic member may be used, and the holder 200 may be driven by the elastic force of the elastic member. In the present embodiment, a spring is connected between the case 100 and the extension portion 220 of the clip 200 as an example.

In other words, when the abutting structure 2 abuts against the extending portion 220 of the clamping member 200, the extending portion 220 upwardly presses the spring serving as the restoring member 30, so that the spring serving as the restoring member 30 generates an elastic force returning to both ends thereof. At the same time, clamp 200 also moves from the first position shown in FIG. 3 to the second position shown in FIG. 4.

When the carrier 10 is moved away from the base 3 so that the extension portion 220 of the clip member 200 is no longer pushed by the pushing structure 2, the original elastic force of the spring serving as the restoring member 30 generated by being compressed becomes a restoring force for pushing the clip member 200 to return from the second position shown in fig. 4 to the first position shown in fig. 3. Meanwhile, the clamping member 200 is pushed by the spring, so that the clamping effect on the object 20 can be improved.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the number of the at least one restoring member 30 is the same as that of the clamping members 200, but in other embodiments, the carrying device 10 may also have a plurality of restoring members 30, and the invention is not limited thereto.

To sum up, in the carrying device of the present invention, the movable clamping member is disposed on the box body, so that when the edge of the article to be carried is supported on the supporting portion of the first groove, and the carrying device is in the state of being conveyed, the clamping member is movable to clamp the edge of the article between the clamping portion of the clamping member and the supporting portion of the first groove, so as to achieve the effect of stabilizing the article. Therefore, in the carrying and conveying process of the carrying device, the object can be clamped and fixed by the clamping part of the clamping piece and the supporting part of the first groove together, so that the influence of external force such as shaking and vibration and the like on the carried object of the carrying device is reduced, and the object is prevented from being impacted, falling off from a placing position and damaged due to excessive shaking or vibration in the carrying device.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (13)

1. A carrier adapted to receive at least one article, comprising:

the box body, wherein at least one side wall of the box body is provided with at least one first groove for accommodating at least one edge of at least one object, and each first groove is provided with at least one supporting part for supporting the at least one edge; and

the clamping member is movably arranged on the box body and provided with at least one clamping part, wherein the at least one clamping member is suitable for moving between a first position and a second position, and when the at least one clamping member is at the first position, the distance between the clamping part of the at least one clamping member and the corresponding supporting part of the at least one first groove is smaller than the distance between the clamping part of the at least one clamping member and the corresponding supporting part of the at least one first groove when the at least one clamping member is at the second position.

2. A carrier device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said at least one gripper moves from said first position to said second position a distance that is exactly equal to a thickness of said at least one edge of said object.

3. A carrier device in accordance with claim 1 or 2, wherein said at least one side wall of said box has at least one slot, and said at least one clamping member is slidably disposed in said at least one slot.

4. A carrier device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said at least one clamp is adapted to be moved from said second position to said first position by gravity.

5. A carrier device in accordance with claim 1 or 2, comprising at least one restoring member, wherein said at least one restoring member is connected to said at least one holding member, said at least one holding member being adapted to be moved from said second position to said first position by a restoring force of said at least one restoring member.

6. A carrier device in accordance with claim 5, wherein said at least one restoring element is at least one elastic element, and said at least one elastic element is connected between said case and said at least one clamping element.

7. A carrier device in accordance with claim 6, wherein said at least one clamp member has an extension extending to a bottom wall of said cassette, said at least one resilient member connected between said extension and said bottom wall of said cassette.

8. A carrier device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said at least one holding element is adapted to be moved from said first position to said second position by being pushed against by a pushing structure.

9. A carrier device in accordance with claim 8, wherein said at least one clamp member has an extension extending to a bottom wall of said cassette, said extension adapted to be urged against by said urging arrangement.

10. The carrier device of claim 9, wherein the at least one clamp and the extension are exposed from the box.

11. A carrier device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the at least one clamping member has at least one second groove, in which the at least one clamping section is located.

12. A carrier device in accordance with claim 11, wherein a bottom edge of said at least one second channel is at the same height as a corresponding bottom edge of said at least one first channel when said at least one retaining member is in said second position.

13. A carrier device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the first channel extends in a first direction and the at least one clamp is adapted to move in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

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