CN211957607U - Cassette arrangement unit and conveyance system - Google Patents

Cassette arrangement unit and conveyance system Download PDF

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Publication number
CN211957607U
CN211957607U CN201890001243.9U CN201890001243U CN211957607U CN 211957607 U CN211957607 U CN 211957607U CN 201890001243 U CN201890001243 U CN 201890001243U CN 211957607 U CN211957607 U CN 211957607U
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CN
China
Prior art keywords
cartridge
holding portion
panel
disposed
cartridge holding
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Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CN201890001243.9U
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Chinese (zh)
Inventor
久保田昌辉
佐藤史朗
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Nidec Sankyo Corp
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Nidec Sankyo Corp
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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
    • B65G49/00—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for
    • B65G49/05—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for fragile or damageable materials or articles
    • B65G49/06—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for fragile or damageable materials or articles for fragile sheets, e.g. glass
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • 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

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Nonlinear Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
  • Packaging Frangible Articles (AREA)

Abstract

The utility model provides a box configuration portion and possess this box configuration portion's handling system. The box arrangement part of the utility model, a box holding part (42) for holding the box (5) is provided with a bottom surface part (44) contacted by a box bottom surface (5a) and a back surface part (45) contacted by a box back surface (5c), and can rotate by taking a fixed shaft (56) as a center between the upright position of a panel access surface (5d) towards the front side and the inclined position of the panel access surface (5d) towards the inclined upper side. In addition, the cartridge holding section (42) is provided with an anti-tipping mechanism (53) that prevents the cartridge (5) from tipping forward when the cartridge holding section (42) is disposed in the upright position. The fall prevention mechanism (53) is provided with: a contact member that contacts the cartridge (5) in a state in which the cartridge bottom surface (5a) is in contact with the bottom surface member (44) and the cartridge back surface (5c) is in contact with the back surface member (45); and a spring member that urges the contact member toward the cartridge (5).

Description

Cassette arrangement unit and conveyance system
Technical Field
The utility model relates to a box configuration portion, its configuration accomodates multi-disc display panel's box. The present invention also relates to a conveyance system including the cassette placement unit.
Background
Conventionally, an inspection apparatus for lighting and inspecting a liquid crystal panel is known (for example, see patent document 1). The inspection apparatus described in patent document 1 is incorporated in a manufacturing system of a liquid crystal display. The inspection apparatus includes a detection unit for performing lighting inspection of the liquid crystal panel, a carrying-in side conveyor for conveying the liquid crystal panel before inspection toward the detection unit, a carrying-in mechanism for carrying the liquid crystal panel conveyed by the carrying-in side conveyor into the detection unit, a carrying-out mechanism for carrying the liquid crystal panel after inspection out of the detection unit, and a conveying side conveyor for conveying the liquid crystal panel carried out by the carrying-out mechanism.
Documents of the prior art
Patent document
Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2007-107973
SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
Technical problem to be solved by the utility model
In the inspection apparatus described in patent document 1, for example, a liquid crystal panel before inspection stored in a cassette disposed at a predetermined position is carried into the inspection apparatus by a robot or the like, and the liquid crystal panel after inspection is carried out from the inspection apparatus to the cassette disposed at the predetermined position by the robot or the like. The present inventors have studied the arrangement of a cell arrangement portion for arranging cells for storing a plurality of liquid crystal panels before inspection and a plurality of liquid crystal panels after inspection. However, a specific structure of such a cartridge arrangement portion has not been proposed at present.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a specific structure of a cassette arrangement portion for accommodating a cassette arrangement of a plurality of display panels. Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyance system including the cassette placement unit.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a cartridge arrangement portion for arranging a cartridge for storing a plurality of display panels, comprising a cartridge holding portion for holding the cartridge and a support frame for rotatably supporting a lower end portion of the cartridge holding portion, wherein a bottom surface of the cartridge when the plurality of display panels stored in the cartridge are arranged to be overlapped with a space in an up-down direction is a cartridge bottom surface, and a back surface of the cartridge at this time is a cartridge back surface, a surface of the cartridge opposite to the cartridge back surface is a panel entrance surface for entering and exiting the display panels, the cartridge holding portion comprises a bottom surface member for contacting the cartridge bottom surface and a back surface member for contacting the cartridge back surface, and the cartridge arrangement portion is rotatable with respect to the support frame between a position where the panel entrance surface faces a lower side and a front side and the cartridge bottom surface faces a standing position and a position where the panel entrance surface faces an obliquely upper side or an upper side, the cartridge holding portion further includes an anti-toppling mechanism that prevents the cartridge from toppling forward when the cartridge holding portion is disposed in the upright position, the anti-toppling mechanism including a contact member that comes into contact with the cartridge in a state where the bottom surface of the cartridge is in contact with the bottom surface member and the back surface of the cartridge is in contact with the back surface member, and a spring member that urges the contact member toward the cartridge.
In the present invention, the cartridge is attached to, for example, a cartridge holding portion disposed at the pouring position.
The cassette arrangement unit of the present invention is configured such that the cassette holding unit holding the cassette can be rotated relative to the frame between the upright position where the panel access surface of the cassette for accessing the display panel faces the front side and the box bottom surface faces the lower side and the inclined position where the panel access surface faces the upper side or the upper side. Therefore, in the present invention, the cartridge in a state in which the panel access surface faces obliquely upper side or upper side can be attached to the cartridge holding portion disposed at the pouring position, or the cartridge in a state in which the panel access surface faces obliquely upper side or upper side can be detached from the cartridge holding portion disposed at the pouring position. Therefore, in the present invention, when the cartridge is attached to or detached from the cartridge holding portion, the display panel can be prevented from dropping from the panel entrance/exit surface and damaging the display panel.
In the present invention, when the cartridge holding section is disposed at the standing position, the panel entrance surface faces the front side and the cartridge bottom surface faces the lower side, and the thickness direction and the vertical direction of the display panel are substantially aligned. Therefore, in the present invention, when the cartridge holding portion is disposed at the upright position, the state of the display panel housed in the cartridge can be stabilized by the influence of gravity acting on the display panel. Therefore, in the present invention, for example, the display panel can be carried out from the box by reliably holding a predetermined portion of the display panel stored in the box by the robot that carries the panel.
Further, in the present invention, the cartridge holding portion includes an anti-toppling mechanism for preventing the cartridge from toppling toward the front side when the cartridge holding portion is disposed at the standing position, and the anti-toppling mechanism includes a contact member that is in contact with the cartridge in a state where the cartridge bottom surface is in contact with the bottom surface member and the cartridge back surface is in contact with the back surface member, and a spring member that urges the contact member toward the cartridge. Therefore, in the present invention, when the cartridge is mounted on the cartridge holding portion in such a manner that the cartridge bottom surface is in contact with the bottom surface member and the cartridge back surface is in contact with the back surface member, the contact member automatically comes into contact with the cartridge.
That is, the present invention does not cause the contact member of the anti-toppling mechanism to be out of contact with the cartridge attached to the cartridge holding portion due to an operator's operation error or the like. Therefore, in the present invention, when the cartridge holding portion is rotated from the inclined position to the standing position, the cartridge can be prevented from being inclined from the cartridge holding portion toward the front side, and as a result, the display panel can be prevented from being damaged by dropping from the panel entrance/exit surface. Further, in the present invention, since the contact member is urged by the spring member, even if the cartridge holding portion is provided with the falling prevention mechanism, the cartridge can be relatively easily detached from the cartridge holding portion by pressing the contact member in a direction in which the contact member is away from the cartridge.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the falling prevention mechanism is disposed on the upper end side of the cartridge holding portion when disposed at the upright position. In addition, in the present invention, it is preferable that the falling prevention mechanism is disposed on both left and right end sides of the cartridge holding portion. With this configuration, the cartridge is less likely to fall down when the cartridge holding portion is disposed in the upright position.
The utility model discloses in, anti-toppling mechanism possesses for example: a ball plunger having a ball as a contact member and a compression spring as a spring member; and a plunger holding member that holds the ball plunger. In this case, the structure of the anti-toppling mechanism can be simplified, and the anti-toppling mechanism can be miniaturized.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the cartridge holding portion is provided with a clamping mechanism for fixing the cartridge in a state where the cartridge bottom surface is in contact with the bottom surface member and the cartridge back surface is in contact with the back surface member to the cartridge holding portion. With this configuration, the cartridge can be more reliably prevented from falling forward when the cartridge holding portion is rotated from the falling position to the upright position.
Further, for example, in the case where the chucking mechanism is a manual type, there is a possibility that the cartridge holding portion may be rotated from the inclined position to the upright position in a state where the cartridge is not fixed to the cartridge holding portion by the chucking mechanism due to an operation error of an operator. Further, for example, even in the case where the chucking mechanism is an automatic mechanism having an actuator, if the actuator is not driven or the actuator fails due to an operational error of the operator, the cartridge holding portion may be rotated from the inclined position to the upright position in a state where the cartridge is not fixed to the cartridge holding portion by the chucking mechanism. However, since the cartridge holding portion of the present invention includes the above-described falling prevention mechanism, even if the cartridge holding portion is rotated from the falling position to the standing position in a state where the cartridge is not fixed to the cartridge holding portion by the clamp mechanism, the cartridge can be prevented from falling from the cartridge holding portion to the front side. In addition, in the present invention, since the contact member is urged by the spring member, the falling prevention mechanism is less likely to fail.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the cartridge placement portion includes a buffer mechanism for buffering an impact of the cartridge holding portion when the cartridge is raised from the inclined position to the raised position. With this configuration, the display panel can be prevented from falling off the panel entrance/exit surface due to an impact of the cartridge holding portion when the display panel is erected. Therefore, the display panel can be prevented from being damaged by the impact of the cartridge holding portion when standing up.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the cartridge placement unit includes: a second clamping mechanism for fixing the cartridge holding section arranged at the upright position to the support frame; and a second falling prevention mechanism that prevents the cartridge holding portion disposed at the upright position from falling toward the falling position side, the second falling prevention mechanism including: a second contact member that contacts either the cartridge holding section or the support frame disposed in the upright position; and a second spring member that biases the second contact member toward either one of the cartridge holding section and the support frame disposed in the upright position. With this configuration, when the cartridge holding section is disposed at the upright position, the second contact member automatically comes into contact with the cartridge holding section or the support frame, thereby preventing the cartridge holding section from falling toward the falling position. Therefore, even if the cartridge arrangement portion includes the buffer mechanism, the state of the cartridge holding portion before being fixed to the support frame by the second clamp mechanism can be automatically stabilized. Therefore, even if the cartridge arrangement portion includes the buffer mechanism, the fixing operation of the cartridge holding portion can be easily performed by the second clamp mechanism. Further, even when the cartridge holding section is not fixed to the support frame by the second clamp mechanism due to an operation error of the operator or the like, the cartridge holding section can be prevented from falling toward the falling position side.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the display panel housed in the cassette is slightly inclined so as to be oriented upward as it is oriented toward the front side when the cassette holding portion is disposed at the upright position. With this configuration, for example, even if vibration of the conveying mechanism for conveying the display panel out of the cassette or the conveying mechanism for conveying the display panel into the cassette is transmitted to the cassette holding portion, the display panel can be prevented from falling from the panel entrance/exit surface and damaging the display panel.
The utility model discloses a box configuration portion can be used for carrying out the display panel to the carrying-in of the inspection device of inspection display panel and the handling system of display panel from the carrying-out of inspection device. The transport system includes, for example, a panel transport robot that performs at least one of transport of the display panel from the cassette arrangement portion to the inspection apparatus and transport of the display panel from the inspection apparatus to the cassette arrangement portion. In this conveyance system, when the cassette is attached to or detached from the cassette holding section, the display panel can be prevented from falling from the panel entrance/exit surface and damaging the display panel. In this conveying system, the panel conveying robot can reliably hold a predetermined portion of the display panel stored in the cassette and can carry out the display panel from the cassette. Further, in this transport system, the cartridge can be prevented from falling from the cartridge holding section to the front side when the cartridge holding section is rotated from the falling position to the standing position, and as a result, the display panel can be prevented from falling from the panel entrance/exit surface and damaging the display panel.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the panel transfer robot includes a panel holding portion for holding the display panel, and the panel holding portion is formed in a flat plate shape having a thickness smaller than a distance between the display panels accommodated in the cassette. With this configuration, the panel holding portion can enter between the display panels housed in the case, and the panel holding portion can suck and hold a wide range of the upper surface and the lower surface of the display panel. Therefore, the holding state of the display panel by the panel holding portion can be stabilized.
Effect of the utility model
As described above, according to the present invention, when the cartridge is attached to or detached from the cartridge holding portion, the display panel can be prevented from dropping from the panel entrance/exit surface and damaging the display panel. In addition, according to the present invention, the display panel can be carried out from the box by reliably holding the predetermined position of the display panel stored in the box by the robot for carrying the panel. Further, in the present invention, when the cartridge holding portion is rotated from the inclined position to the standing position, the cartridge can be prevented from being inclined from the cartridge holding portion toward the front side, and as a result, the display panel can be prevented from being damaged by dropping from the panel entrance/exit surface.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conveyance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the carrying system shown in fig. 1 from above.
Fig. 3 (a) is a front view for explaining the structure of the cartridge shown in fig. 2, and fig. 3 (B) is a side view for explaining the structure of the cartridge shown in fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cartridge arrangement portion shown in fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cartridge arrangement portion shown in fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a front view of the cartridge arrangement portion shown in fig. 4.
Fig. 7 is a side view for explaining a state in which the cartridge holding section shown in fig. 4 is in the upright position.
Fig. 8 is a side view for explaining a state where the cartridge holder shown in fig. 4 is in the tilted position.
Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion E of fig. 5.
Fig. 10 is a view for explaining the structure of the second toppling prevention mechanism and the like from the direction F-F of fig. 6.
Detailed Description
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(integral Structure of carrying System)
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conveying system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the conveying system 1 shown in fig. 1 from above.
The conveying system 1 of the present embodiment is incorporated into a production line of a relatively small liquid crystal display used in a portable device or the like. The transport system 1 transports a liquid crystal panel 2 as a display panel. Specifically, the transport system 1 carries the liquid crystal panel 2 into the inspection apparatus 3 for inspecting the liquid crystal panel 2 and carries the liquid crystal panel 2 out of the inspection apparatus 3. The liquid crystal panel 2 is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape.
In the present embodiment, the liquid crystal panel 2 before inspection by the inspection device 3 is stored in the tray 4 or the cassette 5 according to the size of the liquid crystal panel 2 to be inspected. Specifically, the large liquid crystal panel 2 is housed in the tray 4, and the small liquid crystal panel 2 is housed in the box 5. The liquid crystal panel 2 inspected by the inspection device 3 is stored in the tray 4. The tray 4 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape, and a concave portion for accommodating the liquid crystal panel 2 is formed on the upper surface of the tray 4. In fig. 1, the tray 4 and the cassette 5 are not shown.
The conveyance system 1 includes: a tray arrangement unit 6 in which trays 4 for storing liquid crystal panels 2 before inspection are arranged in a state of being stacked in multiple stages; a tray arrangement unit 7 for arranging trays 4 containing liquid crystal panels 2 determined to be normal by the inspection of the inspection device 3 in a state of being stacked in multiple stages; a tray arrangement unit 8 for arranging trays 4 containing liquid crystal panels 2 determined to be abnormal by the inspection of the inspection device 3 in a state of being stacked in multiple stages; and a tray arrangement unit 9 for arranging the empty trays 4 in a stacked state.
The tray arrangement parts 6 to 9 are provided with tray lifting mechanisms for lifting the tray 4. The tray arrangement portion 6, the tray arrangement portion 7, the tray arrangement portion 8, and the tray arrangement portion 9 are arranged in a row. In the present embodiment, the tray arrangement portion 9, the tray arrangement portion 6, the tray arrangement portion 7, and the tray arrangement portion 8 are arranged in this order. The tray arrangement parts 6 to 9 are provided on the stand 10. The transport system 1 includes a robot 11 as a panel transport robot that transports the liquid crystal panels 2, a robot 12 that transports the trays 4, and a cassette placement unit 13 that places the cassettes 5 that store a plurality of liquid crystal panels 2.
The inspection device 3 of the present embodiment is a lighting inspection device that lights and inspects the liquid crystal panel 2. The inspection device 3 includes, for example: a panel holding unit having panel mounting units 15 for mounting the liquid crystal panel 2 at two locations; a rotation mechanism that rotates the panel holding portion in an axial direction in which the vertical direction is rotational; and a housing, the interior of which becomes a dark room when performing lighting inspection of the liquid crystal panel 2. A backlight and a camera for performing lighting inspection of the liquid crystal panel 2 are provided inside the housing. The rotation mechanism rotates the panel holding portion between a position where one of the two panel mount portions 15 is disposed outside the housing and the other panel mount portion 15 is disposed inside the housing, and a position where the one panel mount portion 15 is disposed inside the housing and the other panel mount portion 15 is disposed outside the housing.
The robot 11 is a six-axis vertical articulated robot. The robot 11 includes: a support member 19 constituting a lower end portion of the robot 11, a joint portion 20 relatively rotatably connected to the support member 19, a joint portion 21 relatively rotatably connected to the joint portion 20, a linear arm 22 having a base end fixed to the joint portion 21, a joint portion 23 fixed to a distal end of the arm 22, a joint portion 24 relatively rotatably connected to the joint portion 23, a linear arm 25 having a base end relatively rotatably connected to the joint portion 24, a joint portion 26 at a distal end of the fixing arm 25, a joint portion 27 relatively rotatably connected to the joint portion 26, and a panel holding mechanism 28 rotatably connected to the joint portion 27 and holding the liquid crystal panel 2.
The joint units 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, and 27 include motors and speed reducers for reducing and transmitting the power of the motors. The joint section 20 is connected to the support member 19 so as to be rotatable in the axial direction in which the vertical direction is rotatable. The joint portion 21 is connected to the joint portion 20 so as to be rotatable in an axial direction in which the joint portion is rotatable in a horizontal direction. The joint portion 24 is connected to the joint portion 23 so as to be rotatable in an axial direction in which the joint portion is rotatable in a horizontal direction. The joint portion 27 is connected to the joint portion 26 so as to be rotatable in an axial direction in which the joint portion is rotatable in a horizontal direction.
The axial direction of the rotation of the joint 21 with respect to the joint 20 and the axial direction of the rotation of the joint 24 with respect to the joint 23 are orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the arm 22. The axial direction of the rotation of the joint portion 24 with respect to the joint portion 23 and the axial direction of the rotation of the joint portion 27 with respect to the joint portion 26 are orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the arm 25. The axial direction of rotation of the joint 24 with respect to the joint 23 is orthogonal to the axial direction of rotation of the arm 25 with respect to the joint 24. The axial direction of rotation of the joint portion 27 with respect to the joint portion 26 is orthogonal to the axial direction of rotation of the panel holding mechanism 28 with respect to the joint portion 27.
The panel holding mechanism 28 includes a panel holding portion 28a that holds the liquid crystal panel 2. The panel holding portion 28a is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape. A plurality of suction holes are formed in the panel holding portion 28 a. A suction mechanism for air such as a vacuum pump is connected to the plurality of suction holes via a predetermined pipe. The panel holding portion 28a attracts and holds the liquid crystal panel 2. The panel holding portion 28a holds one liquid crystal panel 2.
When the liquid crystal panel 2 before inspection stored in the tray 4 is supplied to the inspection device 3, the robot 11 conveys the liquid crystal panel 2 in the tray 4 disposed at the uppermost layer of the tray arrangement portion 6 to the inspection device 3. On the other hand, when the liquid crystal panel 2 before inspection stored in the cassette 5 is supplied to the inspection apparatus 3, the robot 11 carries the liquid crystal panel 2 in the cassette 5 to the inspection apparatus 3. That is, the robot 11 carries the liquid crystal panel 2 from the cassette arrangement unit 13 to the inspection apparatus 3.
The robot 11 conveys and stores the liquid crystal panel 2 after inspection from the inspection apparatus 3 into the tray 4 disposed at the uppermost layer of the tray arrangement portion 7 or the tray 4 disposed at the uppermost layer of the tray arrangement portion 8. Specifically, the robot 11 transports and stores the liquid crystal panel 2 determined to be normal by the inspection of the inspection device 3 into the tray 4 disposed at the uppermost layer of the tray disposition portion 7, and transports and stores the liquid crystal panel 2 determined to be abnormal by the inspection of the inspection device 3 into the tray 4 disposed at the uppermost layer of the tray disposition portion 8.
The robot 12 is a so-called biaxial orthogonal robot. The robot 12 is disposed above the tray arrangement parts 6 to 9. The robot 12 includes a fixed frame 31 fixed to the gantry 10, a movable frame 32 held by the fixed frame 31 so as to be slidable in the arrangement direction of the tray arrangement portions 6 to 9 with respect to the fixed frame 31, a movable frame 33 held by the movable frame 32 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction with respect to the movable frame 32, and a tray holding portion 34 attached to the movable frame 33.
The tray holding portion 34 includes a plurality of suction portions that suck and hold the tray 4. A suction mechanism of air such as a vacuum pump is connected to the suction portion via a predetermined pipe, and the suction portion is in contact with the upper surface of the tray 4 to vacuum-suck the tray 4. The robot 12 includes a drive mechanism for sliding the movable frame 32, a drive mechanism for sliding the movable frame 33, and the like.
When the tray 4 at the uppermost layer of the tray arrangement portion 6 of the liquid crystal panel 2 is unloaded by the robot 11 and becomes empty, the tray 4 that has become empty is transported from the tray arrangement portion 6 by the robot 12 and arranged to the tray arrangement portion 9. When a predetermined number of liquid crystal panels 2 are stored in the uppermost tray 4 of the tray arrangement portion 7 into which the liquid crystal panels 2 are carried by the robot 11, the robot 12 carries an empty tray 4 from the tray arrangement portion 9 to the tray arrangement portion 7, and superimposes the empty tray 4 on the uppermost tray 4 of the tray arrangement portion 7. When a predetermined number of liquid crystal panels 2 are stored in the uppermost tray 4 of the tray arrangement portion 8 into which the liquid crystal panels 2 are carried by the robot 11, the robot 12 carries an empty tray 4 from the tray arrangement portion 9 to the tray arrangement portion 8, and superimposes the empty tray 4 on the uppermost tray 4 of the tray arrangement portion 8.
(Structure of the Box)
Fig. 3 (a) is a front view for explaining the structure of the cartridge 5 shown in fig. 2, and fig. 3 (B) is a side view for explaining the structure of the cartridge 5 shown in fig. 2.
When the liquid crystal panels 2 in the cassette 5 are transported to the inspection apparatus 3 by the robot 11, the plurality of liquid crystal panels 2 stored in the cassette 5 are arranged to be overlapped with a gap in the vertical direction. Specifically, when the liquid crystal panel 2 in the cassette 5 is transported by the robot 11, the liquid crystal panels 2 stored in the cassette 5 are arranged such that the thickness direction of the liquid crystal panels 2 substantially coincides with the vertical direction, and a plurality of the liquid crystal panels 2 in a state of being spaced apart at a constant interval in the vertical direction are stacked in the vertical direction. As shown in fig. 3 (a), in the case 5, a plurality of liquid crystal panels 2 arranged with a vertical interval therebetween are arranged in a plurality of rows with a predetermined interval therebetween in the horizontal direction.
The box 5 is rectangular parallelepiped in shape. When the plurality of liquid crystal panels 2 are arranged so as to overlap with a space in the vertical direction, the bottom surface of the case 5 is a case bottom surface 5a, the upper surface of the case 5 at this time is a case upper surface 5b, and the back surface of the case 5 at this time is a case back surface 5c, the surface of the case 5 opposite to the case back surface 5c becomes a panel entrance/exit surface 5d that enters/exits the liquid crystal panel 2 with respect to the case 5 c. The panel entrance and exit surface 5d is opened to allow the liquid crystal panel 2 to enter and exit.
In the following description, a state in which a plurality of liquid crystal panels 2 housed in a cassette 5 are arranged so as to overlap with a gap in the vertical direction is set to an "upright state". In the upright-standing cassette 5 disposed in the cassette disposition portion 13, the side on which the panel entrance and exit surface 5d is disposed with respect to the cassette rear surface 5c (the side in the X1 direction in fig. 1 and the like) is referred to as the "front" side, and the opposite side, that is, the side in the X2 direction in fig. 1 and the like, is referred to as the "rear" side. In addition, the Y direction in fig. 1 and the like orthogonal to the up-down direction and the front-rear direction is referred to as the "left-right direction". In the present embodiment, the robot 11 is disposed on the front side of the cassette disposing section 13. The panel mounting portion 15 of the inspection apparatus 3 is disposed at a position forward of the cassette disposing portion 13.
The cassette 5 includes a flat-plate-shaped cassette bottom panel 36 constituting the cassette bottom surface 5a, a flat-plate-shaped cassette top panel 37 constituting the cassette top surface 5b, two flat-plate-shaped cassette back panels 38 constituting a part of the cassette back surface 5c, and two support columns 39 connecting the cassette bottom panel 36 and the cassette top panel 37. The case 5 includes a plurality of panel support columns 40 for supporting the liquid crystal panel 2. Note that, in fig. 3 (B), the panel stay 40 is not shown.
In the upright cassette 5, the cassette bottom panel 36 is disposed so that the thickness direction of the cassette bottom panel 36 coincides with the vertical direction, the cassette upper panel 37 is disposed so that the thickness direction of the cassette upper panel 37 coincides with the vertical direction, and the two cassette back panels 38 are disposed so that the thickness direction of the cassette back panels 38 coincides with the front-rear direction. In the upright-standing box 5, the support posts 39 are disposed so that the axial direction of the support posts 39 coincides with the vertical direction, and the panel support posts 40 are disposed so that the axial direction of the panel support posts 40 coincides with the vertical direction.
The two box back panels 38 are disposed on both ends of the box 5 in the left-right direction. In the upright-state cassette 5, the lower end face of the cassette back panel 38 is fixed to the upper face of the cassette bottom panel 36, the upper end face of the cassette back panel 38 is fixed to the lower face of the cassette upper face panel 37, and the cassette back panel 38 connects the cassette bottom panel 36 and the cassette upper face panel 37. In the upright cartridge 5 disposed in the cartridge disposing section 13, the two support posts 39 are disposed on the front end side of the cartridge 5. The two support columns 39 are disposed on both ends of the cassette 5 in the left-right direction. In the upright-standing box 5, the lower end surface of the stay 39 is fixed to the upper surface of the box bottom panel 36, and the upper end surface of the stay 39 is fixed to the lower surface of the box upper surface panel 37.
In the upright-standing box 5 disposed in the box disposition portion 13, the plurality of panel support columns 40 are disposed with a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction and with a predetermined interval in the left-right direction. In the upright-standing box 5, the lower end surface of the panel stay 40 is fixed to the upper surface of the box bottom panel 36, the upper end surface of the panel stay 40 is fixed to the lower surface of the box upper panel 37, and the panel stay 40 connects the box bottom panel 36 and the box upper panel 37.
As shown in fig. 3 (a), the liquid crystal panel 2 is disposed between the panel supports 40 in the left-right direction. A convex portion is formed on the panel support post 40, and in the upright case 5, the convex portion supports the lower surface of the end portion of the liquid crystal panel 2. In the case 5 in the upright state, the vertical interval P (see fig. 3 a) of the liquid crystal panel 2 stored in the case 5 is wider than the thickness of the panel holding portion 28 a. That is, the thickness of the panel holding portion 28a is thinner than the interval P of the liquid crystal panel 2 stored in the cassette 5.
(Structure of the Box arrangement part)
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cartridge arrangement portion 13 shown in fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cartridge arrangement portion 13 shown in fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front view of the cartridge arrangement portion 13 shown in fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a side view for explaining a state where the cartridge holding portion 42 shown in fig. 4 is in the upright position 42A. Fig. 8 is a side view for explaining a state where the cartridge holding portion 42 shown in fig. 4 is located at the pouring position 42B. Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion E of fig. 5. Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the toppling prevention mechanism 49 and the like from the direction F-F of fig. 6.
The cartridge arranging unit 13 includes a cartridge holding unit 42 that holds the cartridge 5, and a support frame 43 that rotatably supports a lower end portion of the cartridge holding unit 42. The cartridge holding portion 42 is supported by the support frame 43 so as to be rotatable in the axial direction in which the cartridge is rotatable in the left-right direction. The cartridge holding portion 42 includes a bottom surface member 44 with which the cartridge bottom surface 5a of the cartridge 5 contacts and a back surface member 45 with which the cartridge back surface 5c of the cartridge 5 contacts.
The cartridge holding portion 42 is rotatable with respect to the support frame 43 between an upright position 42A at which the panel entrance and exit surface 5d of the cartridge 5 held by the cartridge holding portion 42 faces the front side and the cartridge bottom surface 5a faces the lower side, and a tilt position 42B (see fig. 8) at which the panel entrance and exit surface 5d of the cartridge 5 held by the cartridge holding portion 42 faces the obliquely upper side (more specifically, the obliquely upper front side). In the present embodiment, the operator manually rotates the cartridge holding portion 42 between the upright position 42A and the tilted position 42B.
When the cassette holding section 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the cassette 5 is in an upright state, and the liquid crystal panel 2 is carried out from the cassette 5 held by the cassette holding section 42 disposed at the upright position 42A by the robot 11. In the present embodiment, the cartridge 5 is attached to the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the tilted position 42B. Specifically, the cartridge 5 containing the plurality of liquid crystal panels 2 before inspection is attached to the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the tilted position 42B by manual operation by the operator. Further, the cassette 5 in which all the liquid crystal panels 2 in the cassette 5 are carried out and become empty is detached from the cassette holding portion 42 disposed at the tilt position 42B by a manual operation of the operator.
The cartridge arrangement portion 13 includes a buffer mechanism 46 and a buffer mechanism 47, the buffer mechanism 46 is for buffering the impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 when rising from the tilt position 42B to the upright position 42A, and the buffer mechanism 47 is for buffering the impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 when tilting from the upright position 42A to the tilt position 42B. The damper mechanisms 46 and 47 of the present embodiment are dampers. Therefore, in the following description, the damper mechanism 46 is referred to as a "damper 46", and the damper mechanism 47 is referred to as a "damper 47".
The cartridge placement unit 13 further includes a clamp mechanism 48 for fixing the cartridge holding unit 42 placed at the upright position 42A to the support frame 43, an anti-toppling mechanism 49 for preventing the cartridge holding unit 42 placed at the upright position 42A from toppling toward the toppling position 42B, and a sensor 50 for detecting that the cartridge 5 is attached to the cartridge holding unit 42 placed at the upright position 42A. The clamping mechanism 48 of the present embodiment is a second clamping mechanism, and the toppling prevention mechanism 49 is a second toppling prevention mechanism.
The cartridge holding portion 42 includes, in addition to the bottom surface member 44 and the back surface member 45, a clamp mechanism 52 for fixing the cartridge 5 to the cartridge holding portion 42 and an anti-toppling mechanism 53 for preventing the cartridge 5 from toppling forward when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A.
The bottom member 44 includes a flat plate-shaped bottom plate 54 constituting the bottom surface of the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the upright position 42A, a flat plate-shaped contact plate 55 placed on the bottom plate 54 and brought into contact with the cartridge bottom surface 5a, a fixing member 57 fixing a fixed shaft 56 as the rotation center of the cartridge holding portion 42, and a receiving member 58 brought into contact with the head 46a of the damper 46. The bottom panel 54 and the contact panel 55 are formed in a rectangular flat plate shape elongated in the left-right direction. The fixing member 57 and the receiving member 58 are formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape.
The contact plate 55 is fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the cartridge bottom surface 5a contacts the upper surface of the contact plate 55. The length of bottom panel 54 in the left-right direction is longer than the length of contact plate 55 in the left-right direction, and both left and right ends of bottom panel 54 are disposed outside both left and right ends of contact plate 55 in the left-right direction. A notch 54a for disposing the sensor 50 is formed on the front end side of the bottom panel 54. The cutout 54a is formed to be cut from the front end of the bottom panel 54 toward the rear side. Contact plate 55 has through hole 55a communicating with notch 54 a. The through hole 55a penetrates the contact plate 55. The optical axis of the sensor 50 passes through the through hole 55 a.
The fixing member 57 is fixed to the rear end portion of the lower surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The fixing members 57 are fixed to two portions on both left and right end sides of the bottom panel 54. The fixed shaft 56 is fixed to the fixed member 57, and the axial direction of the fixed shaft 56 is aligned with the left-right direction. The right end of the fixed shaft 56 fixed to the fixed member 57 disposed on the right projects from the fixed member 57 to the right, and the left end of the fixed shaft 56 fixed to the fixed member 57 disposed on the left projects from the fixed member 57 to the left.
The receiving member 58 is fixed to the front end of the lower surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The receiving members 58 are fixed to two portions on both left and right end sides of the lower surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. In a state where the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the lower surface of the receiving member 58 is an inclined surface that is slightly inclined so as to face upward as it faces rearward.
The back member 45 includes: a flat-plate-shaped back plate 61 that constitutes the rear surface of the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the upright position 42A; a flat contact plate 62 fixed to the front surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A and in contact with the cartridge back surface 5 c; and a receiving member 63 that is contacted by the head 47a of the damper 47. The back member 45 is provided with a grip 64 to be gripped by an operator when the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated by a manual operation.
Back surface plate 61 and contact plate 62 are formed in a substantially H-shaped flat plate shape, and concave portions recessed inward in the left-right direction are formed at both left and right end portions of back surface plate 61 and contact plate 62. The length of rear plate 61 in the left-right direction is longer than the length of contact plate 62 in the left-right direction, and both left and right ends of rear plate 61 are disposed outside both left and right ends of contact plate 62 in the left-right direction.
The back plate 61 is fixed to the rear end of the upper surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The back panel 61 is fixed to the bottom panel 54 so as to be orthogonal to the bottom panel 54, and the back panel 61 and the bottom panel 54 form a member having an L-shape when viewed from the left-right direction. The length of the back panel 61 in the left-right direction is equal to the length of the bottom panel 54 in the left-right direction. The back plate 61 is fixed to the bottom plate 54 such that both left and right ends of the back plate 61 coincide with both left and right ends of the bottom plate 54.
The contact plate 62 is fixed to the rear end portion of the upper surface of the contact plate 55 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. Contact plate 62 is fixed to contact plate 55 so as to be orthogonal to contact plate 55, and contact plate 62 and contact plate 55 form a member having an L-shape when viewed in the left-right direction. The length of contact plate 62 in the left-right direction is substantially equal to the length of contact plate 55 in the left-right direction. Contact plate 62 is fixed to contact plate 55 such that both left and right ends of contact plate 62 substantially coincide with both left and right ends of contact plate 55. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the front surface of the contact plate 55 is disposed substantially directly above the axial center of the fixed shaft 56.
Receiving member 63 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape. The receiving member 63 is fixed to the lower end side of the rear surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The receiving members 63 are fixed to two portions on both left and right end sides of the back plate 61. In a state where the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the lower half portion of the rear surface of the receiving member 63 is an inclined surface inclined toward the front side as it goes toward the lower side. The handle 64 is fixed to an upper end portion of the rear surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A.
The clamping mechanism 52 is a manual toggle clamp. Therefore, in the following description, the clamping mechanism 52 is referred to as a "toggle clamp 52". The toggle clamps 52 are fixed to the upper end side of the front surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The toggle clamps 52 are disposed at two locations on the left and right outer sides of the upper end of the contact plate 62.
The toggle jig 52 fixes the cartridge 5 in a state where the cartridge bottom surface 5a is in contact with the contact plate 55 of the bottom surface member 44 and the cartridge back surface 5c is in contact with the contact plate 62 of the back surface member 45 to the cartridge holding portion 42. When the cartridge 5 is fixed by the toggle clamps 52, as shown in fig. 9, the head portions of the bolts 65 of the toggle clamps 52 are brought into contact with the front surface of the cartridge back panel 38 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A with a predetermined contact pressure.
The anti-toppling mechanism 53 is provided with two ball plungers 67 and a plunger holding member 68 that holds the two ball plungers 67. As shown in fig. 9, the ball plunger 67 includes a ball 69 as a contact member, a housing 70 for holding the ball 69, and a compression coil spring 71 as a spring member for biasing the ball 69. The plunger holding member 68 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape.
The falling prevention mechanism 53 is fixed to an upper end portion of the front surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. Specifically, the plunger holding member 68 is fixed to the upper end portion of the front surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The falling prevention mechanism 53 is disposed at two locations on both left and right outer sides of the upper end portion of the contact plate 62. That is, the falling prevention mechanism 53 is disposed on the upper end side of the cartridge holding portion 42 when disposed at the upright position 42A, and is disposed on both left and right end sides of the cartridge holding portion 42. The anti-toppling mechanism 53 is disposed above the toggle clamps 52 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The interval between the two plunger holding members 68 in the left-right direction is slightly larger than the width of the cartridge 5 in the left-right direction.
The two ball plungers 67 are held by the plunger holding member 68 so as to be overlapped in the vertical direction with a predetermined interval in the vertical direction when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The ball plunger 67 is held by the plunger holding member 68 such that the ball 69 projects inward in the left-right direction. The ball 69 is biased inward in the left-right direction by a compression coil spring 71. The ball 69 is disposed at a position further to the front side than the contact plate 62 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A.
When the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, that is, when the cartridge bottom surface 5a contacts the contact plate 55 and the cartridge back surface 5c contacts the contact plate 62, as shown in fig. 9, the balls 69 contact the front corners of the left and right end surfaces of the cartridge back panel 38, and a part of the balls 69 is disposed in front of the cartridge back panel 38. At this time, the ball 69 is biased toward the cartridge back panel 38 by the compression coil spring 71. That is, ball 69 urged by compression coil spring 71 contacts cartridge 5 in a state where cartridge bottom surface 5a of cartridge 5 contacts contact plate 55 and cartridge back surface 5c contacts contact plate 62.
When the cartridge 5 is mounted on the cartridge holding portion 42, the cartridge back panel 38 passes between the balls 69 disposed on both sides in the left-right direction. In the process in which the cartridge back panel 38 passes between the balls 69 disposed on both sides in the left-right direction, the balls 69 move to the outside in the left-right direction temporarily against the elastic force of the compression coil spring 71, and then return to the inside in the left-right direction by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 71. That is, when the cartridge back panel 38 passes between the balls 69 disposed on both sides in the left-right direction and the cartridge 5 is mounted on the cartridge holding portion 42, the balls 69 automatically come into contact with the cartridge back panel 38 by compressing the elastic force of the coil spring 71.
Further, when the cartridge 5 is mounted to the cartridge holding portion 42, the cartridge 5 is mounted to the cartridge holding portion 42 while the ball 69 of the falling prevention mechanism 53 is pressed outward in the left-right direction by the outer end surface in the left-right direction of one of the two cartridge back panels 38 in the left-right direction in a state where the cartridge 5 is slightly inclined with respect to the contact plate 62 so that the cartridge back panel 38 passes between the balls 69 disposed on both sides in the left-right direction.
When the cartridge 5 is removed from the cartridge holding portion 42, the balls 69 of the falling prevention mechanism 53 are pressed outward in the left-right direction by the outer end surface in the left-right direction of one of the two cartridge back panels 38, and the cartridge 5 is slightly tilted with respect to the contact plate 62 so that the cartridge back panel 38 passes between the balls 69 disposed on both sides in the left-right direction, whereby the cartridge 5 is removed from the cartridge holding portion 42.
The support frame 43 includes a flat plate-shaped base plate 73 constituting the bottom surface of the cartridge placement section 13, a bearing holding member 75 holding a bearing 74 rotatably supporting the fixed shaft 56, and a contact member 76 constituting a part of the falling prevention mechanism 49 and coming into contact with a ball 82 described later. The substrate 73 is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape. The length of the base plate 73 in the left-right direction is longer than the length of the bottom plate 54 in the left-right direction. The width of the base plate 73 in the front-rear direction is wider than the width of the bottom plate 54 in the front-rear direction when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The substrate 73 is fixed to the stage 10.
The bearing holding member 75 is fixed to the upper surface of the substrate 73. The bearing holding members 75 are disposed at two locations on both lateral ends of the upper surface of the substrate 73. The two bearing holding members 75 are disposed on the outer sides of the two fixing members 57 in the left-right direction. The bearing 74 held by the right bearing holding member 75 supports the right end portion of the fixed shaft 56 protruding rightward from the right fixing member 57, and the bearing 74 held by the left bearing holding member 75 supports the left end portion of the fixed shaft 56 protruding leftward from the left fixing member 57.
The contact member 76 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape. The contact member 76 is disposed at a position shifted to one side in the left-right direction from the center in the left-right direction of the substrate 73. The contact member 76 is fixed to the front end of the substrate 73 via a fixing plate 77, and is disposed above the front end of the substrate 73. As shown in fig. 10, the upper end side of the rear surface of the contact member 76 is a planar inclined surface 76a that is inclined downward as it goes rearward. The lower end side of the rear surface of the contact member 76 is a planar inclined surface 76b inclined downward toward the front side. Further, a plane orthogonal to the front-rear direction is formed between the inclined surface 76a and the inclined surface 76 b.
The damper 46 is fixed to the front end of the base plate 73. The dampers 46 are fixed to two positions on both left and right ends of the base plate 73. The damper 46 is disposed such that the head 46a of the damper 46 protrudes upward. The head 46a is disposed above the upper surface of the base plate 73. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is raised from the inclined position 42B to the raised position 42A, the head 46a contacts the lower surface of the receiving member 58, and the impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 is alleviated.
The damper 47 is fixed to the rear end portion of the base plate 73. The dampers 47 are fixed to two positions on both left and right ends of the base plate 73. The damper 47 is disposed such that the head 47a of the damper 47 protrudes upward. The head 47a is disposed above the upper surface of the base plate 73. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is tilted from the upright position 42A to the tilted position 42B, the head 47a contacts the inclined surface of the receiving member 63, and the impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 is alleviated.
The clamping mechanism 48 is a manual toggle clamp. Therefore, in the following description, the clamping mechanism 48 is referred to as a "toggle clamp 48". The toggle clamp 48 is fixed to the base plate 73 via a fixing member 78. The toggle clamps 48 are disposed at two positions on the left and right outer sides of the base plate 73. The toggle clamps 48 are disposed above the upper surface of the base plate 73.
As described above, the toggle clamp 48 fixes the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the upright position 42A to the support frame 43. When the cartridge holder 42 is fixed by the toggle clamps 48, the heads of the bolts 79 of the toggle clamps 48 are brought into contact with the left and right end portions of the upper surface of the bottom panel 54 at a predetermined contact pressure. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is fixed by the toggle jig 48, the head 46a of the damper 46 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the receiving member 58 with a predetermined contact pressure.
The anti-toppling mechanism 49 is provided with three ball plungers 80 and a plunger holding member 81 that holds the three ball plungers 80. As shown in fig. 10 (B), the ball plunger 80 includes a ball 82 as a second contact member, a housing 83 for holding the ball 82, and a compression coil spring 84 as a second spring member for biasing the ball 82. The plunger holding member 81 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape.
The falling prevention mechanism 49 is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. Specifically, the plunger holding member 81 is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom plate 54 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. The falling prevention mechanism 53 is disposed at a position shifted to one side in the left-right direction from the center of the bottom panel 54.
The three ball plungers 80 are held by plunger holding members 81 in a state of being spaced apart by a predetermined interval in the left-right direction. Further, the ball plunger 80 is held by the plunger holding member 81 such that the ball 82 protrudes forward when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the ball 82 is biased toward the front side by the compression coil spring 84. As shown in fig. 10 (B), when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the ball 82 contacts the inclined surface 76B of the contact member 76 at a predetermined contact pressure. At this time, the ball 82 is biased toward the contact member 76 by the compression coil spring 84. That is, the ball 82 urged by the compression coil spring 84 contacts the support frame 43.
When the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the inclined position 42B is rotated and disposed at the upright position 42A, the ball 82 sequentially contacts the inclined surface 76a of the contact member 76, the flat surface between the inclined surface 76a and the inclined surface 76B, and the inclined surface 76B. At this time, the ball 82 moves to the rear side temporarily against the elastic force of the compression coil spring 84, and then returns to the front side by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 84. That is, when the cartridge holding section 42 disposed at the inclined position 42B is rotated and disposed at the upright position 42A, the ball 82 automatically comes into contact with the inclined surface 76B by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 84.
Further, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated from the upright position 42A toward the dumping position 42B, the ball 82 comes into contact with the inclined surface 76B, the flat surface between the inclined surface 76a and the inclined surface 76B, and the inclined surface 76a in this order, and then moves away from the contact member 76. At this time, the ball 82 moves to the rear side temporarily against the elastic force of the compression coil spring 84, and then returns to the front side by the urging force of the compression coil spring 84.
The sensor 50 is a reflective optical sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The sensor 50 is fixed to the front end of the substrate 73 via a fixing member 87, and is disposed above the front end of the substrate 73. The sensor 50 is disposed in the notch 54a of the bottom panel 54. The optical axis of the sensor 50 passes through the through hole 55a of the contact plate 55. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, light emitted from the light emitting element of the sensor 50 is reflected by the cartridge bottom surface 5a of the cartridge 5 and enters the light receiving element of the sensor 50. In fig. 5 and 6, the fixing member 87 is not shown.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the cartridge 5 is attached to the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the pouring position 42B and the cartridge 5 is detached from the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the pouring position 42B by the manual operation of the operator. Further, the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated between the upright position 42A and the inclined position 42B by manual operation of the operator. In the present embodiment, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the cartridge bottom surface 5a is orthogonal to the vertical direction, and the cartridge back surface 5c is orthogonal to the front-rear direction. When the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the inclined position 42B, the cartridge back surface 5c is inclined by, for example, about 10 ° with respect to the horizontal direction.
(main effect of the present embodiment)
As described above, in the present embodiment, the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotatable with respect to the support frame 43 between the upright position 42A in which the panel entrance/exit surface 5d of the cartridge 5 held by the cartridge holding portion 42 faces the front side and the inclined position 42B in which the panel entrance/exit surface 5d of the cartridge 5 held by the cartridge holding portion 42 faces the obliquely front upper side. In the present embodiment, the cassette 5 containing the plurality of liquid crystal panels 2 before inspection is attached to the cassette holding portion 42 disposed at the tilted position 42B. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the cartridge 5 is mounted to the cartridge holding portion 42, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from dropping from the panel entrance and exit surface 5d and damaging the liquid crystal panel 2.
In the present embodiment, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A and the panel entrance and exit surface 5d faces the front side, the liquid crystal panel 2 in the cartridge 5 is transported by the robot 11. That is, the liquid crystal panel 2 stored in the cassette 5 so that the thickness direction and the vertical direction of the liquid crystal panel 2 substantially coincide with each other and arranged with a gap in the vertical direction is transported by the robot 11. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the liquid crystal panel 2 housed in the box 5 is held by the robot 11, the state of the liquid crystal panel 2 housed in the box 5 can be stabilized due to the influence of gravity acting on the liquid crystal panel 2. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the robot 11 can reliably hold a predetermined portion of the liquid crystal panel 2 stored in the cassette 5 and carry out the liquid crystal panel 2 from the cassette 5.
In the present embodiment, the cartridge holding portion 42 is provided with the falling prevention mechanism 53 which prevents the cartridge 5 from falling forward when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, and when the cartridge 5 is mounted on the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the falling position 42B, the ball 69 automatically comes into contact with the cartridge back panel 38 by compressing the elastic force of the coil spring 71. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the ball 69 does not come into contact with the cassette back panel 38 of the cassette 5 attached to the cassette holding portion 42 due to an operator's operation error or the like. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated from the inclined position 42B to the upright position 42A, the cartridge 5 can be prevented from being inclined forward from the cartridge holding portion 42, and as a result, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from falling from the panel entrance/exit surface 5d and damaging the liquid crystal panel 2.
In the present embodiment, since the cartridge holding portion 42 includes the toggle clamps 52, the cartridge 5 can be more reliably prevented from falling forward when the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated from the falling position 42B to the rising position 42A. In the present embodiment, since the cartridge holding portion 42 is provided with the falling prevention mechanism 53, even if the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated from the falling position 42B to the standing position 42A in a state where the cartridge 5 is not fixed to the cartridge holding portion 42 by the toggle clamps 52 due to an operation mistake of the operator, the cartridge 5 can be prevented from falling forward from the cartridge holding portion 42.
In the present embodiment, the falling prevention mechanism 53 is disposed on the upper end side of the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the upright position 42A, and is disposed on both left and right end sides of the cartridge holding portion 42. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the cartridge 5 becomes less likely to fall down. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the anti-toppling mechanism 53 uses the ball plunger 67, the structure of the anti-toppling mechanism 53 can be simplified, and the anti-toppling mechanism 53 can be miniaturized.
In the present embodiment, the cartridge placement portion 13 includes a damper 46 for damping an impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 when rising from the inclined position 42B to the rising position 42A. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from falling from the panel entrance/exit surface 5d by the impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 when standing up. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from being damaged by the impact of the cartridge holding portion 42 when standing up.
In the present embodiment, the cartridge placement portion 13 is provided with the fall prevention mechanism 49 for preventing the cartridge holding portion 42 placed in the upright position 42A from falling toward the falling position 42B, and when the cartridge holding portion 42 is placed in the upright position 42A, the ball 82 automatically comes into contact with the inclined surface 76B by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 84. Therefore, in the present embodiment, even if the cartridge placement section 13 includes the damper 46, the state of the cartridge holding section 42 before being fixed to the support frame 43 by the toggle clamps 48 can be automatically stabilized. Therefore, in the present embodiment, even if the cartridge placement portion 13 includes the damper 46, the fixing operation of the cartridge holding portion 42 can be easily performed by the toggle clamp 48. Even when the cartridge holder 42 is not fixed to the support frame 43 by the toggle clamps 48 due to an operator's operation error, the cartridge holder 42 can be prevented from falling toward the falling position 42B when the liquid crystal panel 2 is conveyed by the robot 11.
In the present embodiment, the robot 11 includes the panel holding portion 28a having a thickness smaller than the interval P between the liquid crystal panels 2 stored in the cassette 5. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the panel holding portion 28a can be inserted between the liquid crystal panels 2 stored in the cassette 5, and the panel holding portion 28a can suck and hold a wide range of the upper surface and the lower surface of the liquid crystal panel 2. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the holding state of the liquid crystal panel 2 by the panel holding portion 28a can be stabilized.
(other embodiments)
The above embodiment is an example of the best mode of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.
In the above-described embodiment, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the liquid crystal panel 2 housed in the cartridge 5 is disposed such that the thickness direction and the vertical direction of the liquid crystal panel 2 substantially coincide with each other, but when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the liquid crystal panel 2 housed in the cartridge 5 may be slightly inclined so as to be oriented upward toward the front side. For example, when the cartridge holding section 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the liquid crystal panel 2 stored in the cartridge 5 may be inclined at an angle of 1 ° or less with respect to the horizontal direction. In this case, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the mounting position of the bolt 79 of the toggle clamp 48 in the vertical direction and the mounting position of the damper 46 in the vertical direction may be adjusted.
In this case, even if vibration of the robot 11 or the like during operation is transmitted to the cartridge holding portion 42 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from falling from the panel entrance/exit surface 4d and damaging the liquid crystal panel 2. Further, a vibration-proof rubber may be disposed between the mount 10 to which the substrate 73 is fixed and the substrate 73. In this case, since the vibration of the robot 11 and the like during operation is not transmitted to the cartridge placement portion 13, even if the robot 11 and the like during operation vibrates when the cartridge holding portion 42 is placed at the upright position 42A, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from falling off the panel entrance/exit surface 4d and damaging the liquid crystal panel 2.
In the above-described embodiment, the clamp mechanisms 48 and 52 are manual toggle clamps, but the clamp mechanisms 48 and 52 may be automatic mechanisms having actuators. Further, in the case where the chucking mechanism 52 is an automatic mechanism having an actuator, when the actuator is not driven or the actuator fails due to an operational error of the operator, the cartridge holding portion 42 may be rotated from the inclined position 42B to the upright position 42A in a state where the cartridge 5 is not fixed to the cartridge holding portion 42 by the chucking mechanism 52, and even in this case, as in the above-described embodiment, the cartridge 5 can be prevented from being inclined forward from the cartridge holding portion 42, and as a result, the liquid crystal panel 2 can be prevented from being dropped from the panel entrance/exit surface 5d and damaging the liquid crystal panel 2. In the above-described embodiment, the panel holding portion 42 may not include the clamp mechanism 52.
In the above embodiment, the damper mechanisms 46 and 47 may be rotary dampers attached to the fixed shaft 56. In the above-described embodiment, the cartridge holding portion 42 is rotated between the upright position 42A and the tilt position 42B by manual operation of the operator, but the cartridge disposing portion 13 may be provided with a rotating mechanism such as an air cylinder that rotates the cartridge holding portion 42 between the upright position 42A and the tilt position 42B. In the above-described embodiment, the cartridge 5 may be automatically mounted to the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the pouring position 42B by using a robot or the like. In the above-described embodiment, when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the pouring position 42B, the panel entrance and exit surface 5d of the cartridge 5 held by the cartridge holding portion 42 may face upward (straight upward) or obliquely upward and rearward.
In the above embodiment, the contact member 76 may be fixed to the lower surface of the bottom panel 54, and the fall prevention member 49 may be fixed to the base plate 73 via a predetermined fixing member. In this case, the ball 82 contacts the contact member 76 of the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the upright position 42A, and the compression coil spring 84 biases the ball 82 toward the contact member 76 of the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the upright position 42A. In the above embodiment, the cartridge arrangement portion 13 may not include the fall prevention mechanism 49. In this case, the contact member 76 is not required.
In the above-described embodiment, the balls 69 of the ball plungers 67 are in contact with the front corners of the left and right end surfaces of the case back panel 38, but a recess into which the balls 69 are fitted may be formed in the case 5. In the above-described embodiment, the falling prevention mechanism 53 may be fixed to a lower end portion or a vertically central portion of the front surface of the back plate 61 when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the upright position 42A. In the above embodiment, the anti-toppling mechanism 53 may not include the ball plunger 67. In this case, the anti-toppling mechanism 53 includes a contact member that contacts the cartridge 5 and a spring member that biases the contact member toward the cartridge 5, instead of the ball plunger 67.
In the above-described embodiment, the liquid crystal panel 2 before inspection is carried from the cassette 5 to the inspection apparatus 3, but the liquid crystal panel 2 after inspection may be carried from the inspection apparatus 3 to the cassette 5. Alternatively, the liquid crystal panel 2 before inspection may be carried from the cassette 5 to the inspection apparatus 3, and the liquid crystal panel 2 after inspection may be carried from the inspection apparatus 3 to the cassette 5. In this case, the cartridge 5 containing the liquid crystal panel 2 after the inspection is removed from the cartridge holding portion 42 disposed at the tilt position 42B, but since the panel entrance and exit surface 5d is directed obliquely forward and upward when the cartridge holding portion 42 is disposed at the tilt position 42B, it is possible to prevent the liquid crystal panel 2 from dropping from the panel entrance and exit surface 5d and damaging the liquid crystal panel 2 when the cartridge 5 is removed from the cartridge holding portion 42.
In the above-described embodiment, the inspection device 3 may be an inspection device other than a lighting inspection device. In the above-described embodiment, the transport system 1 transports the liquid crystal panel 2 to the inspection device 3, but the transport system 1 may transport the liquid crystal panel 2 to a processing device other than the inspection device 3, which performs a predetermined process on the liquid crystal panel 2. That is, the liquid crystal panel 2 may be stored in the cassette 5 before being processed by the processing device. In the above-described embodiment, the robot 11 may be a vertical articulated robot other than six axes, may be a horizontal articulated robot, may be a three-axis orthogonal robot, or may be a so-called parallel link robot.
In the above embodiment, the carrying system 1 may not include the tray arrangement units 6 to 9 and the robot 12. In the above-described embodiment, the display panel conveyed by the conveying system 1 is the liquid crystal panel 2, but the display panel conveyed by the conveying system 1 may be a display panel other than the liquid crystal panel 2. For example, the display panel conveyed by the conveying system 1 may be an organic EL panel.
Description of the reference numerals
1 conveyance system
2 liquid crystal panel
3 inspection device
5 boxes
5a bottom surface of box
5c Box Back side
5d Panel Access surface
11 robot
13 cassette arrangement part
28a panel holding part
42 cassette holding part
42A cocked position
42B dump position
43 support frame
44 bottom surface part
45 back component
46 shock absorber
48 toggle clamp
49 anti-toppling mechanism
52 toggle clamp
53 anti-toppling mechanism
67 bulb plunger
68 plunger holding Member
69 ball
71 compression coil spring
82 ball
84 compression coil spring
P is the interval of the display panel housed in the case.

Claims (11)

1. A cassette arrangement unit for arranging a cassette for housing a plurality of display panels, comprising:
a cartridge holding portion that holds the cartridge; and
a support frame rotatably supporting a lower end portion of the cartridge holding portion,
when a plurality of the display panels housed in the case are arranged so that the bottom surface of the case is set as a case bottom surface when the display panels are stacked with a space in the vertical direction, and the back surface of the case at this time is set as a case back surface, a surface of the case opposite to the case back surface is a panel entrance surface for entering and exiting the display panels,
the cartridge holding unit includes: a bottom surface member for contacting the bottom surface of the cartridge; and a back member with which the cartridge back surface is brought into contact, wherein the cartridge holding portion is rotatable with respect to the support frame between a standing position at which the panel entrance/exit surface faces forward and the cartridge bottom surface faces downward and a tilted position at which the panel entrance/exit surface faces obliquely upward or upward,
the cartridge holding portion further includes an anti-toppling mechanism that prevents the cartridge from toppling to the front side when the cartridge holding portion is disposed in the upright position,
the anti-toppling mechanism is provided with: a contact member that contacts the cartridge in a state where the cartridge bottom surface contacts the bottom surface member and the cartridge back surface contacts the back surface member; and a spring member that urges the contact member toward the cartridge.
2. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 1,
the cartridge is attached to the cartridge holding portion arranged at the pouring position.
3. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 1,
the anti-toppling mechanism is disposed on an upper end side of the cartridge holding portion when disposed in the upright position.
4. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 1,
the fall prevention mechanism is disposed on both left and right end sides of the cartridge holding portion.
5. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 1, comprising:
a ball plunger having a ball as the contact member and a compression spring as the spring member; and
a plunger holding member that holds the ball plunger.
6. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 1,
the cartridge holding portion is provided with a clamping mechanism that fixes the cartridge in a state where the cartridge bottom surface is in contact with the bottom surface member and the cartridge back surface is in contact with the back surface member to the cartridge holding portion.
7. The cartridge arrangement section according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
the cartridge holder includes a buffer mechanism for buffering an impact of the cartridge holder when the cartridge holder is raised from the inclined position to the raised position.
8. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 7, comprising:
a second clamping mechanism for fixing the cartridge holding section arranged at the erected position to the support frame; and
a second falling prevention mechanism that prevents the cartridge holding portion disposed at the upright position from falling toward the falling position side,
the second anti-toppling mechanism includes: a second contact member that contacts either the cartridge holding portion or the support frame disposed in the upright position; and a second spring member that biases the second contact member toward either one of the cartridge holding portion and the support frame disposed in the upright position.
9. The cartridge arrangement section according to claim 1,
when the cartridge holding section is disposed at the upright position, the display panel housed in the cartridge is slightly inclined so as to face upward as it faces forward.
10. A transport system including the cassette arrangement unit according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and configured to carry the display panel into and out of an inspection apparatus for inspecting the display panel, wherein the transport system is configured to transport the display panel to and from the inspection apparatus,
the inspection apparatus includes a panel transfer robot that performs at least one of transfer of the display panel from the cassette arrangement portion to the inspection apparatus and transfer of the display panel from the inspection apparatus to the cassette arrangement portion.
11. Handling system according to claim 10,
the panel transfer robot includes a panel holding unit for holding the display panel,
the panel holding portion is formed in a flat plate shape having a thickness thinner than a gap between the display panels housed in the case.
CN201890001243.9U 2017-09-29 2018-09-11 Cassette arrangement unit and conveyance system Expired - Fee Related CN211957607U (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2017189846A JP2019067851A (en) 2017-09-29 2017-09-29 Cassette arrangement part and conveyance system
JP2017-189846 2017-09-29
PCT/JP2018/033541 WO2019065203A1 (en) 2017-09-29 2018-09-11 Cassette placement unit, and conveyance system

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN211957607U true CN211957607U (en) 2020-11-17

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CN (1) CN211957607U (en)
WO (1) WO2019065203A1 (en)

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CN110482219A (en) * 2019-07-08 2019-11-22 齐鲁工业大学 A kind of medicine glass slide transmission system and method based on machine vision

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH088329A (en) * 1994-06-22 1996-01-12 Fujitsu Ltd Carrier holder and wafer detection method
JPH0897273A (en) * 1994-09-26 1996-04-12 Kokusai Electric Co Ltd Cassette fixing device
JP3729903B2 (en) * 1995-11-02 2005-12-21 石川島播磨重工業株式会社 Cassette station
JP2002305229A (en) * 2001-04-06 2002-10-18 Micronics Japan Co Ltd Delivery device for wafer for display
JP4724334B2 (en) * 2001-09-18 2011-07-13 東京エレクトロン株式会社 Automated guided vehicle

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