JP2000095306A - Carrying system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the carrying efficiency of articles in a whole system, especially in an article storage device. SOLUTION: In a carrying system 1 which consists of a linear carriage 3 running along a looped running rail 2 and a plurality of stockers 6 having cranes, the stockers 6 are arranged inside the running rail 2 for the linear carriage 3 so as to oppose both ends of a running passage 64 for the crane to a forwarding passage 21 and a backwarding passage 22, of the running rail 2 for the linear carriage 3, respectively, and warehousing-delivery stations 62a, 62b, 63a, 63b are provided at both ends of the stockers 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport system provided with a transport device that travels along a loop-shaped travel route and a plurality of article storage devices having a loading / unloading device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a semiconductor manufacturing line,
A transfer system 101 as shown in FIG. 6 is used, and in order to absorb a difference in lead time in a plurality of processing steps such as baking and etching, a cassette 102 in which a plurality of works having been completed in each processing step is stored. Many stockers 103 for storing are provided. Within each processing step,
A large number of processing units are arranged, and between the processing units and between the processing units and the stocker 103, a cassette 102 is mounted by an unmanned transport vehicle 104 running on a floor equipped with a robot hand.
The cassette 102 is transported between the stockers 103 by a linear transport vehicle 105 that circulates in one direction along a traveling rail 106 laid near the ceiling.

The stocker 103 has a crane for loading and unloading the cassette 102.
The loading / unloading station is disposed so as to be parallel to the forward path 108 and the return path 109 of the traveling rail 106 of the linear transport vehicle 106 and at one end of the traveling path 107 of the crane so as to face the forward path 108 and the return path 109 of the traveling rail 106. 110 are provided. Entry and exit station 11
At 0, a transfer device 111 that transfers the cassette 102 to and from the linear transport vehicle 105 is provided. In the transport system 101, the cassettes 10 are stored between the stockers 103 and the like.
When the cassette 102 is transported, the linear transport vehicle 105 is selected by selecting whether the cassette 102 is to be moved in / out to the entrance / exit station 110 on the outward path 108 or to the entrance / exit station 110 in the return path 109. , And the cycle time of cassette conveyance can be shortened.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional transport system 101, the cycle time of the cassette transport by the linear transport vehicle 105 is shortened. In particular, the cycle time in the stocker 103 is reduced. There was room for improvement. That is, since the loading / unloading station 108 is provided at one end of the traveling path 107, it takes time to store the cassette 102 at the end where the loading / unloading station 108 is not provided. In addition, since the traveling route 107 of the crane and the traveling route (traveling rail 106) of the linear transport vehicle 106 are parallel (overlap), the crane is driven by the linear transport vehicle 1
There is a case where the cassette 102 is run in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of 06, in other words, goes back and stores the cassette 102, and in such a case, the transport efficiency of the entire system is deteriorated.
Further, the distance between the loading / unloading stations 108 of the adjacent stockers 103 becomes long, which limits the reduction of the cycle time.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such problems existing in the prior art. The challenge is
An object of the present invention is to improve the transport efficiency of articles in the entire system, particularly, in an article storage device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of article storage devices each having a transport device that travels along a loop-like travel route and a loading / unloading device. In a transfer system including a device,
The article storage device is arranged inside the traveling route of the transport device so that both ends of the traveling route of the loading / unloading device are opposed to the forward route and the return route of the traveling route of the transport device, respectively, and the article is stored at both ends of the article storage device. A station is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, one end of the article storage device is a transfer device dedicated to receiving and transferring articles to the transport device, and a transfer device dedicated to unloading. Are provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the transfer device is arranged such that the article has the same orientation in the horizontal plane with respect to the traveling direction of the transport device. In addition, an article is placed on the transport device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
By providing entry / exit stations at both ends of the article storage device, it is possible to select the entry / exit position in the article storage device where entry / exit work can be performed efficiently, and to improve the work efficiency during entry / exit. Can be improved. Also,
By arranging the article storage device inside the traveling route of the transport device such that both ends of the traveling route of the loading / unloading device face the forward and backward routes of the traveling route of the transport device, respectively, the traveling route of the loading / unloading device and the transport device The traveling path is not parallel, and the article conveyed by the conveying device can be prevented from being moved backward by the retrieving and retrieving device and stored. Further, the distance between the entry / exit stations of the adjacent article storage devices can be shortened, and the traveling distance of the transport device can be shortened. As a result, the transportation efficiency in the article storage warehouse can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, furthermore, by providing a transfer device exclusively for storage and a transfer device exclusively for discharge at one end of the article storage device, the storage and retrieval work can be performed more efficiently. In addition, the transport efficiency of the article storage device can be further improved. Furthermore, the transfer device on which the articles to be loaded arrive arrives at the transfer device on which the articles to be unloaded are set,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of a problem that the delivery and storage cannot be performed, and to prevent the transport system from stopping due to the problem.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, further, the articles are placed on the transporting device such that the articles are oriented in the same direction as the traveling direction of the transporting device, so that the articles received from the outward path can be returned. Even when the goods are unloaded to the side, the direction of the articles on the transport device can be aligned, and the side receiving the articles from the transport device can always process the articles in the same manner. In other words, if the article has directionality, there is no need to check the orientation of the article in the next step, and the orientation of the article placed by the transfer device can be processed without changing the orientation in the next step. By doing so, the operation of changing the orientation in the next process can be omitted.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A transport system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the entire transfer system 1 of the present embodiment. The transport system 1 of the present embodiment is used, for example, in a semiconductor manufacturing line in a clean room, and has a loop-shaped travel rail 2 (travel path) laid near the ceiling and a clockwise direction along the travel rail 2. Linear transport vehicle 3 (transport device)
And a cassette 4 (article) storing a plurality of works
And a stocker 6 (article storage device) for storing the information. The loop-shaped traveling rail 2 is laid so as to have an elongated substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, and its long side is defined as the outward path 21 and the return path 22, and the short side is connected to connect both ends of the outward path 21 and the return path 22. Department. In each processing step, a large number of processing devices are installed, and an unmanned transport vehicle 5 equipped with a robot hand transports the cassette 4 between the processing devices. The cassette 4 that has completed each processing step is transported to the stocker 6 by the automatic guided vehicle 5, and after adjusting the lead time by the stocker 6, the stocker near the processing device where the next processing step is performed by the linear transport vehicle 3. 6 and is conveyed to the target processing apparatus by the automatic guided vehicle 5 via the stocker 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the traveling rail 2 is a cylindrical rail having an opening on the upper surface, and is suspended near the ceiling. The linear carrier 3 exposes only a mounting table 31 for mounting the cassette 4 above the traveling rail 2, and a main body 32 having wheels (not shown) moves in the traveling rail 2. . Therefore, traveling rail 2
Dust generated by friction between the vehicle and the wheels is prevented from leaking out of the traveling rail 2. The mounting table 31 is provided with a stopper (not shown) for restricting the movement of the cassette 4 so that two cassettes 4 can be mounted in the traveling direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stocker 6 has a pair of shelves 61 for accommodating the cassettes 4 and loading / unloading stations 62a, 62b, and 62 for transferring the cassettes 4 between the stocker 6 and the linear transport vehicle 3. 63a and 63b, and a crane 7 (in / out device) for taking the cassette 4 in and out between the shelf 61 and the in / out stations 62a, 62b, 63a and 63b to absorb the difference in the lead time in each processing step. This is for temporarily storing the cassette 4 in the storage area. The stocker 6 is located inside the loop-shaped traveling rail 2,
It is arranged in a plurality of rows so that its longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the outward path 21 and the return path 22, and the distance between the loading / unloading stations 62a, 62b, 63a, 63b of the adjacent stocker 6 is the longitudinal direction and the forward path 21 and the return path. 22 is shorter than when it is arranged to be parallel to 22. The pair of shelves 61 are arranged at predetermined intervals so as to be orthogonal to the outward path 21 and the return path 22, respectively. Between the shelves 61, rails 64 (running paths) of the crane 7 are connected at both ends to the outward path 21 and the return path 22. It is arranged so that it may face. For this reason, the traveling path of the crane 7 does not overlap with the forward path 21 and the return path 22 of the linear transport vehicle 3, and the crane returns the cassette 4 transported by the linear transport vehicle 3 in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the linear transport vehicle 3. There is no need to enter the warehouse. The upper and lower sides of the side surface 65 of the stocker 6 facing the outbound path 21 are provided with entry / exit stations 62a and 62b.
3a and 63b are provided respectively. The transfer stations 8 dedicated to storage are provided in the storage stations 62a and 63a, and the transfer apparatuses 9 dedicated to storage are provided in the storage stations 62b and 63b, respectively. Reference numeral 66 denotes a station for transferring the cassette 4 to the automatic guided vehicle 5.

At one end of the stocker 6, two transfer devices 8,
The reason that the storage 9 is provided and one of the cassettes is dedicated to entry and the other is dedicated to exit is not only to improve the efficiency of the entry and exit operations, but also that the cassette 4 to be exited is crane 7 prevents the linear transport vehicle 3 on which the cassettes 4 to be loaded are loaded from arriving at the transfer devices 8 and 9 which have already been set, and the transport system 1 cannot be stopped because neither the loading nor the loading can be performed. That's why. In the present embodiment, the loading / unloading stations 62a, 62b, 63a, 63b and the transfer devices 8,
The transport efficiency is further improved by placing the cassettes 4 on the upper side 9 and preparing for loading and unloading. One transfer device 8 and one transfer device 8 are provided so that loading and unloading operations can be performed on the two cassette 4 mounting positions on the mounting table 31, respectively.
9 (each entry / exit station 62a, 62b, 63a, 6
The stop position of the linear transport vehicle 3 is set at two positions with respect to 3b).

Even in the same stocker 6, the traveling direction of the linear carrier 3 is different by 180 degrees between the entrance / exit stations 62a, 62b on the outbound path 21 side and the entrance / exit stations 63a, 63b on the return path 22 side. Loading device 8,
9 changes the attitude of the cassette 5 to the same direction in the horizontal plane with respect to the traveling direction of the linear transport vehicle 3 (for example,
When the cassette 4 entered from the outbound path 21 is to be unloaded to the return path 22 side, the orientation of the cassette 4 should be 1 in the horizontal plane.
(Rotated by 80 degrees).

As the transfer devices 8 and 9, a scalar type arm is used as shown in FIG. 4, and a first arm 83 whose one end is rotatably supported on a rotating shaft 82 of a motor 81.
The second arm 8, one end of which is supported by a rotation shaft 84 at the free end of the first arm 83, and which rotates in the opposite direction to the first arm 83.
5 and a receiving table 87 supported on a rotating shaft 86 at a free end of the second arm 85.
1 is provided with pulleys p2 and p3 on the rotating shaft 84 and the rotating shaft 8
6 are provided with pulleys p4, respectively.
Endless belts 88, 89 between 1 and p2 and between p3 and p4
Is stretched.

By setting the speed ratio between the pulleys p1 and p2 to 1: 2 and the speed ratio between the pulleys p3 and p4 to 3: 2, the loading table 31 of the linear transport vehicle 3 and the loading / unloading station 62a,
When transferring the cassette 4 between the first arm 83 and the first arm 83 by 180 degrees,
7 is rotated 90 degrees.

When the cassette 4 is stored from the storage station 62a on the outward path 21 side, the first arm 8 of the transfer device 8 is used.
3 is rotated 180 degrees counterclockwise to transfer the cassette 4 on the linear transport vehicle 3 to the stocker 6 side, and the cassette 4 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. When unloading the cassette 4 from the unloading station 62b on the outward path 21, the cassette 4 rotated by 180 degrees by the crane 7 is moved counterclockwise by the first arm 83 of the transfer device 9.
The cassette 4 on the side of the stocker 6 is transferred onto the linear carrier 3 by rotating the cassette 4 by 80 degrees, and the cassette 4 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. By doing so, the cassette 4 is placed on the linear transport vehicle 3 in the same posture as when entering the warehouse (the posture in which the opening faces the stocker 6). When unloading the cassette 4 from the unloading station 63b on the return path 22 side, the first arm 83 of the transfer device 9 is turned 180 degrees counterclockwise to move the cassette 4 on the stocker 6 side into a linear transport vehicle. 3 and the cassette 4 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. By doing so, the cassette 4 is rotated by 180 degrees and is placed on the linear carrier 3 with the opening facing the stocker 6.
Therefore, the cassette 4 on the linear transport vehicle 3 is always transported in a posture in which the opening faces the stocker 6 side.
(Finally, the processing device) can always be supplied with the cassette 4 in the same posture.

It should be noted that the cassette 4 with respect to the linear transport vehicle 3 and the loading / unloading stations 62a, 62b, 63a, 63b.
The entire scalar arm is raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism (not shown) below the motor 81,
7 by raising and lowering.

The crane 7 includes a movable carriage 71 moving on a rail 64 laid on the floor inside the stocker 6, a mast 72 erected on the movable carriage 71, and an elevating platform moving up and down along the mast 72. 73. Further, the lifting table 73 is provided with a gripping device 74 for gripping the side surface of the cassette 4 at the tip of a telescopic arm as a transfer means. Further, in the present embodiment, a mast 72 is erected on a turntable 75 provided on a movable cart 71 so that the cassette 4 can be transferred to the left and right shelves 61 sandwiching the rail 64, and the mast 72 It turns.

In this embodiment, the stocker 6B shown in FIG.
From when the cassette 4 is transported to the stocker 6A. First, the ground controller that controls the entire transport system 1 selects, from an internal table, a combination of an entry / exit station that minimizes the transport route of the linear transport vehicle 3. In this example, the shortest route is the route that is transported from the unloading station 62b on the outbound path 21 side of the stocker 6B to the inbound station 62a on the outbound path 21 side of the stocker 6A.
Then, the ground controller transfers the cassette 4 to the crane 7 of the stocker 6B by the delivery station 62b on the outward path 21 side.
And give a command to leave. In this case, when there are a plurality of cassettes 4 to be delivered in the stocker 6B,
By unloading the cassette 4 stored in the shelf 61 closest to the unloading station 62b, the unloading operation can be performed efficiently. Also, the ground controller
The linear transport vehicle 3 on which the cassette 4 can be placed is selected upstream of the stocker 6B, and the corresponding linear transport vehicle 3 is moved to the stocker 6B.
It is made to run to the delivery station 62b of B.

The linear transport vehicle 3 is moved out of the delivery station 62b.
, The transfer device 9 is operated to transfer the cassette 4 from the delivery station 62b to the linear transport vehicle 3.
When the transfer is completed, the ground controller operates the stocker 6A.
Of the linear transport vehicle 3 to the storage station 62a. While the linear carrier 3 is moving to the storage station 62a of the stocker 6A, the crane 7 of the stocker 6A is moved to the outward path 21 side. When the linear transport vehicle 3 arrives at the storage station 62a of the stocker 6A, the transfer device 8 operates to transfer the cassette 4 from the linear transport vehicle 3 to the storage station 62a. Then, the cassette 4 carried into the storage station 62a is stored by the crane 7 on the shelf 61 in the stocker 6A. In this case, when there are a plurality of empty shelves in the stocker 6A, the storage operation can be performed efficiently by storing the cassette 4 in the shelf 61 closest to the storage station 62a.

In the present embodiment, the transfer device 8 dedicated to storage is used.
And the transfer device 9 dedicated to retrieval and retrieval are arranged at a distance from each other, and the retrieval / reception stations 62a, 62b, 63a and 6
Although 3b is provided, the entrance / exit stations on the outward path 21 side and the return path 22 side may be combined into one. Transfer device 8,
By associating the interval of 9 with the mounting position of the two cassettes 4 of the linear transport vehicle 3, it is possible to perform the warehousing operation and the warehousing operation at the same time, and it is possible to further shorten the cycle time.

In this embodiment, the cassettes 4 are rotated 90 degrees by the transfer devices 8 and 9 on the forward path 21 and the transfer devices 8 and 9 on the return path 22 respectively, so that the cassettes 4 are rotated 180 degrees in total. The cassette 4 has the same orientation with respect to the traveling direction of the linear transport vehicle 3, but does not change the orientation of the cassette 4 before and after delivery of the unloading transfer devices 9a and 9b as shown in FIG. And the transfer devices 8a, 8
b, the attitude of the cassette 4 may be changed by approximately 180 degrees before and after the delivery. In this case, the transfer devices 9a, 9
b is the speed ratio of the pulleys p1 and p2 in FIG.
2. The speed ratio between the pulleys p3 and p4 may be set to 2: 1, and the transfer devices 8a and 8b may be configured so that the pulley p4 is eliminated and the receiving table 87 is fixed to the free end of the second arm 85. .

Further, in this embodiment, scalar arm type transfer devices 8 and 9 are employed as transfer devices, but one arm having support members for cassette 4 at both ends is provided at the center position. , The cassette 4 may be transferred between the linear transport vehicle 3 and the loading / unloading stations 62a, 62b, 63a, 63b.

In the transport system 1 of the present embodiment, the loading / unloading stations 62a, 62b, 63a, 63
Although the cassettes 4 are transferred between the stocker 6 and the linear transport vehicle 3 by using the transfer devices 8 and 9 provided in b, the linear transport vehicle may be provided with a transfer means.

Further, the transport system 1 of the present embodiment
It is used to transport the cassettes 4 between the stockers 6 in the semiconductor manufacturing process, but is not limited to this, and the loop-shaped travel path may be other than that formed by laying the travel rail 2. For example, a guide line formed by a traveling guide line used for an optical guided type or a magnetic guided type automatic guided vehicle, or a traveling route on a map of a laser guided type automatic guided vehicle may be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the entire transfer system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the transport system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a stocker according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a main part of the transfer device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a stocker according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the entire conventional transport system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transport system 2 Travel rail (loop-shaped travel route) 3 Linear transport vehicle (transport device) 4 Cassette (article) 6 Stocker (article storage device) 7 Crane (entrance / exit device) 21 Outbound route (travel route of transport device) 22 Return path (travel path of transport device) 62a, b Entry / exit station (outbound path) 63a, b Entry / exit station (return path side) 64 Rail (travel path of entry / exit apparatus)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F022 AA08 BB09 CC02 EE05 FF01 JJ09 KK05 KK11 KK18 KK20 LL12 LL19 MM13 MM26 MM35 MM44 NN31 NN32

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a transport system including a transport device that travels along a loop-shaped travel route and a plurality of article storage devices that have a loading / unloading device, both ends of a travel route of the loading / unloading device are respectively connected to the transport device. A transport system wherein an article storage device is arranged inside a travel route of a transport device so as to face a forward route and a return route of a travel route, and a loading / unloading station is provided at both ends of the article storage device. 2. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a transfer device exclusively used for storing and transferring the goods to the transfer device is provided at one end of the article storage device. system. 3. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer device places the article on the transport device such that the posture of the article is the same in a horizontal plane with respect to the traveling direction of the transport device. 3. The transport system according to claim 1.