JP2001093965A - Floating body in floating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a floating body in a floating apparatus which is adaptable to cassettes of different sizes, and easily, and compactly structured. SOLUTION: A floating body 5A comprises a cassette support 10 and a cassette clamp 20 in a main frame 7. The cassette support 10 has a floating pad 11 supporting a cassette 4, a slide base 13 slidable on a roll member 12, a shaft 14 piercing a ring member 6, and a tiltable member 15 tiltably supported below the shaft 14, and the shaft 14 is supported with shaft holders 18 from three directions. The cassette clamp 20 has a clamp lever 21 for clamping the cassette 4, a shaft 23 for oscillating the clamp lever 21, and a motor 25 for rotating the shaft 23, and two rollers 22 are attached to the clamp lever.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floating body in a floating device for independently supporting four corners of a lower surface of a cassette for accommodating thin substrates such as glass substrates and wafers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a thin substrate such as a glass substrate or a wafer is transported to each processing stage, a plurality of substrates are housed in a cassette having a plurality of supporting portions, and each cassette is arranged on a predetermined cassette stage. . The substrate placed at a predetermined position is transported from the cassette stage to each processing stage by the transport robot, processed and then stored again in the original cassette or a new cassette and transported to the next process. Since the transfer robot is operated by the control device,
The position where the robot removes the substrate from the cassette must be at a set position input to the control device. For this reason, the position where the cassette is installed is inevitably determined.

On the other hand, when the cassette is transported and placed on the base, the cassette is not always positioned at the set position. In order to position the cassette at the set position, the cassette is positioned and fixed by clamping the cassette with a clamper mounted on the base. However, when the cassette mounted on the base is clamped by the clamper, friction is generated between the cassette and the base due to the forced movement of the cassette, so that dust is easily generated. In order to prevent this, a floating device that moves a cassette on a base without generating friction has conventionally been mounted.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 8, a floating device 60 includes a base 63 supported on a base 61 via a plurality of rollers 62, and a cassette base 65 supported on a base 63 via a support column 64. And a clamp unit 67 that is supported by the base 61 via a support post 66 and that positions and clamps the cassette C by air or a hydraulic device. The cassette table 65 has two support tables 68 projecting from the base 63 to support the lower surface of the cassette C from both sides, and the two support tables 68 are formed so as to be juxtaposed in the front-rear direction of the cassette C. ing. Each of the clamp units 67 is disposed at one position on the diagonal line of the cassette C and has a positioning portion set with respect to the base 61.

Therefore, the cassette C placed on the cassette table 65 is set at a predetermined position when it is positioned by the clamp unit 67, so that the base 63 is
2 and move slightly along the horizontal direction. Therefore, the cassette C is fixed to the base 61 via the floating device 60, so that no friction occurs between the cassette C and the support base 68, and no dust is generated due to slippage.

[0006]

However, the cassette C
Is set according to the size of the substrate to be stored. In the conventional floating device 60, since the cassette table 65 having two support tables 68 is formed integrally with the base 63 via the support columns 64, cassettes having different sizes cannot be set on the cassette stage. . Therefore, when installing cassettes having different sizes, various floating devices have to be manufactured according to the size of each cassette. Therefore, the cost has increased and the management of various types of floating devices has been complicated. In addition, if a transfer line installed to transfer a predetermined substrate becomes unusable due to a change to a substrate of a different size (change of cassette), or if the transfer line is idle or destroyed, the floating The apparatus could not be installed on another transport line, and had been idle or destroyed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has a compact structure, which makes it easy to manage parts, and which is compatible with cassettes of various sizes and is recyclable. The purpose is to provide the body.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems A floating body in a floating device according to the present invention is configured as follows in order to solve the above problems. That is, a floating body of a floating device configured to independently support the four corners of the lower surface of the cassette, a base mounted on the cassette stage, and a cassette supporting means supported by the base. Wherein the cassette supporting means comprises a floating pad for supporting one corner of the lower surface of the cassette, a sliding member movable horizontally on the base, and a tiltable means capable of tilting with respect to the base. And holding means for holding the tiltable means.

Preferably, a cassette clamp portion for clamping the cassette is provided on the base.

[0010] More preferably, the cassette clamp section is configured to have a clamp lever driven by a motor.

Further, a cassette presence / absence detection sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the cassette is provided on the base.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the floating device 3 of this embodiment includes a cassette stage 2
A housing-like base 7, 37 disposed thereon;
A cassette supporting portion 10 that is supported by the
40, and four independent floating bodies 5 arranged below the four corners of the cassette 4 respectively. Of the four floating bodies 5, two floating bodies 5A and 5B located on diagonal lines have cassette clamp parts 20 and 20 for clamping the cassette 4 itself to the bases 7 and 7, and the other two floating bodies 5A and 5B. Floating body 5C,
5D is a cassette presence / absence detection sensor 5 on the bases 37, 37.
0 and 50 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the floating bodies 5A and 5B having the cassette clamp section 20 are composed of a base 7 composed of a housing-like frame section 8 and a cover body 9 surrounding the frame section 8, and a machine base. Cassette support 10 and cassette clamp 20 inserted into frame 8 from above
, And is configured.

The frame portion 8a is formed in a hollow shape having an upper frame portion 8a and a lower frame portion 8b. The upper frame portion 8a into which the cassette support portion 10 is inserted has a space between the upper frame portion 8a and the cassette support portion 10. A ring member 6 having a hollow portion 6a is mounted.

The cassette support 10 is provided with a floating pad 11 on which the lower surface of the cassette 4 is placed.
A disk-shaped sliding base 13 supported by a plurality of roller members 12 buried in the ring member 6 in the circumferential direction; a shaft portion 14 passing through the hollow portion 6a of the ring member 6; Tiltable member 15 that is axially locked to locking portion 14a at the lower end
And the lower frame 8b of the base 7 at the lower end of the tiltable member 15.
And a shaft holding member 18 for returning the cassette support portion 10 that has been finely moved to a fixed position at the time of unclamping, on the shaft portion 14. It is arranged so as to be towed and supported from three directions below 6.

The upper surface of the floating pad 11 protrudes above the upper surface of the upper cover 9a of the base 7, and the sliding base 13 is located between the upper cover 9a and the ring member 6.

In this embodiment, a screw member is used as the roller member 12 mounted on the ring member 6 so as to enable movement adjustment in the height direction. A hemispherical roller surface is formed, and is configured to slidably support the sliding base 13 at four points around the shaft portion 14 of the cassette supporting portion 10.

The shaft portion 14 is moved horizontally in the hollow portion 6a of the ring member 6 to be inserted.
Is formed between them.

Further, in the present embodiment, the tiltable member 15 uses a flexible coil spring, and forms a relief for the shaft portion 14 from falling when the shaft portion 14 moves horizontally.
Accordingly, the tiltable member 15 is not limited to the coil spring, and may be connected by a universal joint at the lower end of the shaft portion, or may be connected by a flexible member other than the coil spring.

The locking member 16 arranged at the lower end of the tiltable member 15 is supported by a bracket 17 fixed to the lower frame portion 8b so as to be adjustable in height. Further, the shaft 1
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in this embodiment, the shaft holding members 18 that hold the shaft 4 in a fixed position are formed of a flexible coil spring, and one end of each shaft holding member 18 is attached to the shaft portion 14. The locking ring 19a is locked to each locking blade 19b, and the other end is fixed to the upper frame 8a by a locking bracket 19a.
c.

The cassette clamp unit 20 has two rollers 22 for clamping over the corners of the cassette 4.
A clamp lever 21 having a U-shape, a shaft portion 23 to which one end of the clamp lever 21 is fixedly fitted, and the upper frame portion 8a of the base 7 is inserted, and a coupling 2 at a lower end portion of the shaft portion 23.
And a shaft drive motor 25 connected through the shaft 4. The intermediate portion of the shaft 23 restricts the tilting of the cassette support 10 when the clamp lever 21 is unclamped with respect to the cassette 4. The locking device 26 is rotatably disposed together with the shaft portion 23.

The clamp lever 21 has two rollers 22 disposed below the corner portion bent in an L-shape, and the two rollers 22 are connected to the floating pad 11 described above.
It is arranged to be pivotable about the shaft portion 23 so as to be located slightly above.

The shaft portion 23 is rotatably supported by the upper frame portion 8a via a bearing 28. The coupling 24 attached to the shaft portion 23 is configured such that the clamp lever 21 rotates and the two rollers 22 form a cassette. In contact with the motor 4, the motor 25 is formed so as to have flexibility in the rotation direction in order to maintain an inertial force until the drive shaft of the motor 25 stops rotating.

The locking device 26 includes a base 26a fixed to the shaft 23 and rotating together with the shaft 23, and a lock member 26b extending from the base 26a to one side. The cassette 4 is formed so as to contact the shaft 14 of the cassette support 10 in an unclamped state in which the cassette 4 is not clamped, thereby restricting the unstable movement of the cassette support 10. When the clamp lever 21 is swung to clamp the cassette 4, the lock member 26 b moves away from the cassette support 10 and
The lock on the cassette support 10 is released.

In addition, in the floating bodies 5A and 5B, the reverse detection sensor 30 pressed by the lower surface of the cassette 4 in a state where the cassette 4 is not arranged in the normal direction.
(See FIG. 1) is attached, and it is detected that the cassette 40 is not at a proper position. Therefore, when the cassette 4 is in the correct orientation, a space is formed on the lower surface of the cassette 4 at a position facing the reverse detection sensor 30 so that the reverse detection sensor 30 is not pressed. .

The floating bodies 5C and 5D to which the clamp lever 21 is not attached are, as shown in FIGS.
A base 37 including a housing-like frame portion 38 and a cover body 39 surrounding the frame portion 38, and the base 3 from above the base 37.
7 and a cassette support section 40 and a cassette presence / absence detection sensor 50 to be inserted into the apparatus.

The frame portion 38a includes an upper frame portion 38.
a and a lower frame part 38b, which is formed in a hollow shape, and into which the cassette support part 40 is inserted.
A ring member 36 having a hollow portion 36a between the cassette supporting portion 40 and the cassette supporting portion 40 is attached to the portion a.

The cassette supporting portion 40 is constructed in the same manner as described above, and includes a floating pad 41 on which the lower surface of the cassette 4 is placed, a disk-shaped sliding base 43 sliding on a roller member 42, and a base 37. A shaft portion 44 penetrating through the hollow portion 36a of the ring member 36, a tiltable member 45 locked on a shaft center by a locking portion 44a at the lower end of the shaft portion 44, and a base 37 at the lower end of the tiltable member 45. And a locking member 46 fixed to the lower frame portion 38b.
It is supported by the shaft holding member 48 from the direction.

On the upper surface of the base 37, when the cassette 4 is placed at a predetermined position of the cassette support portion 40, the cassette 4
Is located outside the corner of the cassette 55. The cassette separation portion 55 is supported by an L-shaped base plate 56, a cassette mounting portion 57 mounted on the base plate 56 at two locations across the bent corners of the base plate 56, and an upper frame portion 38 a. And a plurality of supporting columns 58 attached to the lower surface of the base plate 56. A large chamfered portion 57 a is formed at a cassette side corner of the cassette mounting portion 57.

That is, when the cassette 4 is placed in the floating device 3, if the cassette 4 is placed on each floating body 5 at a position that is greatly shifted, the cassette 4
Is not mounted on the cassette supporting portion 40 of the floating bodies 5C and 5D, but is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 57 of the cassette separating portion 55 via the chamfered portion 57a. Become. When one corner of the cassette 4 rides on the cassette mounting portion 57, the cassette presence / absence detection sensor 50 arranged near the cassette support portion 40
Is not pressed, the cassette presence / absence detection sensor 50 detects “absence” of the cassette 4.

The cassette presence / absence detection sensor 50 includes a base 37
The base portion 51 is embedded in the upper frame portion 38a, and the detection switch portion 52 is disposed so as to protrude from the upper surface of the base 37. In this embodiment, the detection switch unit 52 is provided with a push button type switch, and the lower surface of the cassette 4 is connected to the detection switch unit 52.
To detect the presence of the cassette 4 by pressing
As described above, "absence" is detected unless the lower surface of the cassette 4 presses the detection switch section 52. Of course, the detection switch unit 52 may be a lever type instead of the push button type shown in the figure, or may be a proximity switch.

Therefore, when the cassette 4 is conveyed to the cassette stage 2 and installed, if the cassette 4 is placed in the normal direction and near the normal position, the floating device 3 configured as described above The four corners of the lower surface are supported by the cassette support portions 10 and 40 of each floating body 5. When the cassette 4 is placed on the cassette supports 10 and 40, the cassette supports 10 and 40
It is not fixed to 7 and is supported by the bases 7 and 37 in an unstable state. However, when the cassette 4 is not clamped, in the floating bodies 5A and 5B, the shaft 14 of the cassette support 10 is
And the lock member 26b disposed on the cassette clamp 20 restricts the movement of the shaft 14 of the cassette support 10, so that
The cassette support 10 is temporarily fixed. In the floating bodies 5C and 5D, the cassette support 40
The shaft support 44 is held in a fixed position by the shaft holding member 48 from three directions, so that the cassette support 40 is restricted from moving largely.

On the other hand, the lower surface of the cassette 4 placed near the normal position of the floating device 3 presses the detection switch section 52 mounted on the two floating bodies 5C and 5D. “Presence” of the cassette 4 is detected by the presence / absence detection sensor 50. When the “presence” of the cassette 4 is confirmed, the clamp levers 21 of the two floating bodies 5A and 5B arranged diagonally are operated by the motor 25.

The clamp lever 21 rotates about the shaft portion 23 of the cassette clamp portion 20 to clamp the cassette 4 across the corners of the cassette 4, and at the same time, tilts the cassette support portion 10 in the floating bodies 5A and 5B. The coil spring as the member 15 tilts and extends around the lower locking portion, and the sliding base 13
To slide on the top, the shaft portion 14 is moved in any direction in the hollow portion 6a formed in the ring member 6, and the floating pad 11 of the cassette supporting portion 10 can be moved to a predetermined position. Floating body 5C, 5
In D, since the floating pad 41 of the cassette supporting portion 40 follows the cassette 4 and moves to a predetermined position, the cassette 4 is fixed at a predetermined position set on a program.

When the cassette 4 is placed on each of the floating bodies 5 at a greatly shifted position, as described above, a part of the cassette 4 rides on the cassette separation portion 55 of the floating body 5C or 5D. The detection sensor 50 detects "absence" of the cassette 4, and the cassette 4 is connected to the cassette supporting portion 1 of each floating body 5.
The cassette 4 itself is moved so as to be placed on 0, 40. When the cassette 4 is not positioned in the normal direction, as described above, the floating
Since the reverse detection sensors 30 of A and 5B are operated, the cassette 4 is installed in the floating device 3 again.

In the floating device of the present invention, the configuration of each floating body is not limited to the above as long as each floating body supporting the cassette is formed independently as a single module. For example, although the clamp levers of the floating bodies 5A and 5B of the present embodiment are driven by a motor, they may be driven by air or hydraulic pressure.

Further, the above-mentioned floating body 5A (or 5B) may be formed in a form as shown in FIGS. In the floating body 5E of this embodiment, a new cassette support 10A is formed by using a thrust bearing 112 (in a state where an outer ring and an inner ring are removed) for the roller member 12 of the cassette support 10 shown in FIG. are doing.

That is, the sliding base 113 has the floating pad 11 attached to the upper surface thereof, and a concave portion 114 having a sliding surface 114a formed at the lower portion so that the sliding base 113 can contact the ball 112a of the thrust bearing 112. Then, a concave portion 115 is formed in the upper frame portion 8a facing the sliding base 113, and a sliding surface 116 capable of contacting the ball 112a of the thrust bearing 112 is formed on the upper surface.
a into the sliding base 1
Thrust bearing 1 between ring 13 and ring member 116
12 is interposed.

Further, on the ring member 116, a positioning ring 117 is mounted between the outer peripheral surface of the thrust bearing 112 and the upper frame portion 8a to position the thrust bearing 112.

Therefore, when the cassette 4 is mounted on the floating body 5E, the cassette supporting member 10A is moved by the sliding base 113 of the ball 11 of the thrust bearing 112.
By moving on the sliding base 2a, the sliding base 113 is tilted in the moving direction. In this mode, since a commercially available thrust bearing is used, a durable floating body having a simple configuration can be provided.

Further, in this embodiment, the clamp lever 21
, A rotary actuator 125 is attached instead of the motor 25 of the above embodiment. The rotary actuator 125 may be of an electric type,
Also, a hydraulic or pneumatic fluid type may be used.

The rotary actuator 125 is attached to the upper frame portion 8a, and the drive shaft 125 is provided on the upper and lower parts.
a and 125b are projected. The drive shaft 125a protruding upward is fixed by being fitted inside a shaft portion 123 having an upper end attached to the clamp lever 21, and the drive shaft 1 protruding downward.
25b is provided with one end of a stop lever 126 for restricting rotation of the rotary actuator 125.

As shown in FIG. 16, the stop lever 12
6, stopper portions 127A, 1
27B is attached to the lower frame portion 8b. Stoppers 128A and 128B with urethane are mounted on the stopper portions 127A and 127B so as to be position-adjustable, and a stop lever 126 that rotates by driving of a rotary actuator 125 has a side surface formed by a stopper 128.
The rotation of the stop lever 126 is restricted by abutting on the distal ends of the A and 128B.

When the stop lever 126 is stopped at the stopper portions 127A and 127B, the confirmation sensors 129A and 129B for confirming the position of the stop lever 126 are provided by the stop lever 126.
Is disposed at a position facing the front end of the.

The floating body may be configured as shown in FIGS. This floating body 70A is particularly adapted to one having a clamp portion, and includes a base 71, a cassette supporting portion 80 supported by the base 71, and a cassette 4 supported by the base 71.
And a cassette clamp unit 90 for clamping the pressure. The base 71 is formed to have a lower frame portion 72 on which the cassette support portion 80 is mounted, and a housing portion 73 which is formed in a hollow shape with the cassette support portion 80 side opened and supports the cassette clamp portion 90. , Mounted on a frame of a cassette stage (not shown).

The cassette support section 80 has a cassette 4
Plate 8 having a floating pad 81 that supports
3 and a fixed base 84, and a centripetal rod 86 as a tiltable member between the movable base 82 and the fixed base 84.
And a coil spring 89 surrounding the centripetal rod 86.

The movable base 82 comprises a flange portion 82a and a cylindrical body portion 82b, and a hole 82c into which the upper end of the centripetal rod 86 is inserted is formed on the side opposite to the flange portion of the body portion 82b. Further, a tapered surface 82 is formed at the tip of the hole 82c.
d is formed.

The fixed base 84 has a cylindrical body 84a and a round projection 84b formed at the lower end of the body 84a, and a hole into which the other end of the centering rod 86 is inserted at the upper end of the body 84a. A portion 84c is formed. Further, a tapered surface 84d is formed at the tip of the hole 84c.

The centering rod 86 has a female screw 87a at one end and a hemispherical portion 87b at the other end.
A male screw 88a is formed at one end and a hemispherical portion 88 is formed at the other end.
b, comprising a male rod 88 having
Is screwed into the female screw 87a of the female side rod 87 to be integrally formed so as to be adjustable in height. Each of the hemispherical portions 87b and 88b arranged at both ends of the integrally formed centripetal rod 86 slides between a tapered surface 82d formed on the movable base 82 and a tapered surface 84d formed on the fixed base 84. Each is mounted with a retaining ring in a movably abutting state.

The round projection 84 of the fixed base 84
b is inserted into a hole 83a formed in the plate 83 and fixed to the plate 83, and the flange surface 8 of the movable base 82
When both ends are supported by the lower surface 2a and the upper surface of the plate 83, and the coil spring 89 is engaged so as to surround the outer peripheral surface of the body of the movable base 82 and the fixed base 84, the centripetal rod 86 becomes the tapered surface 84d of the fixed base 84. Hemispherical surface portion 88 in contact with
b, and the coil spring 8
9 urged vertically.

The cassette clamp 90 includes a cylinder 91 mounted in the housing 73 of the floating body 70,
A shaft 92 that vertically passes through the housing 73, a clamp lever 95 with two rollers 94 that rotates with the shaft 92 at the upper end of the shaft 92, and a drive connection portion 96 that connects the cylinder 91 and the shaft 92. The shaft 92 is rotated in one of the directions by the operation of the cylinder 91 via the drive connecting portion 96, and the clamp lever 95 is rotated with the rotation of the shaft 92, so that the roller 94 is cassette-mounted. Clamp to 4.

Two floating bodies 70A having the above-described structure and two floating bodies 70B of the above-mentioned floating bodies 70A, in which the cassette clamp section 90 is not mounted and only the cassette supporting section 80 is mounted, are prepared. When it is arranged above, a floating device 70 is formed. When the cassette 4 is placed on the floating device 70, as shown in FIG.
The floating device 70 constitutes a four-bar linkage, and the cassette 4 moves in parallel without generating friction between the floating members 70A and 70B by the operation of the cassette clamp 90 of the floating device 70A. It is installed at a predetermined position.

The cylinder mounted on the cassette clamp may be a motor.
, A cassette separation portion may be formed as in the above-described embodiment.

Further, the cassette supporting portion mounted on the floating body 70A may be configured to be tiltable by incorporating a spherical bearing as shown in FIGS. The cassette support 100 is replaced with the cassette support 80 of the above-described embodiment shown in FIG.
A lower rod 102 is supported on the fixed base 101 via a lower support shaft 103 so as to be tiltable. The lower rod 102 is formed in a housing shape with an open lower part, and has a lower support shaft 103 near the lower part.
Is mounted. The spherical bearing 104 is connected to the housing (in this case, the lower rod 1).
02), and an inner ring 104b fitted to the shaft (in this case, the lower support shaft 103) and slidably engaged with the outer ring 104a on a spherical surface. Therefore, the housing part and the shaft part can be tilted in a free direction.

The upper part of the lower rod 102 has a female screw 102
a is formed, and the male screw portion 10 screwed into the female screw 102a is formed.
An upper rod 105 having 5a is connected to the lower rod 102.

The upper rod 105 is formed in the shape of a housing having an upper opening, and a spherical bearing 106 is mounted near the upper portion. The spherical bearing 106 is the lower rod 10
The same as the spherical bearing 104 attached to the second bearing is used.

An upper support shaft 107 is engaged with the spherical bearing 106, and the movable base 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the upper support shaft 107.
08 is mounted, and the floating pad 109 is supported on the movable base 108. A coil spring 110 supported by the fixed base 101 and the movable base 108 is provided around the connected lower rod 102 and upper rod 105. The coil spring 110 is urged in a direction to return to the original position when the connected lower rod 102 and upper rod 105 are tilted.

When the four lower corners of the cassette are placed on the cassette supporting portion 100 of the floating body 70A (and 70B) arranged on the cassette stage, the cassette is moved to its set position as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the connected lower rod 102 and upper rod 10
5 are integrally tilted in either direction while being supported by the spherical bearings 104 and 106.

[0059]

According to the present invention as described above, claim 1 is as follows.
The floating body in the floating apparatus according to the present invention is configured to independently support four corners of the lower surface of the cassette, and comprises a base mounted on the cassette stage, and a cassette support supported by the base. Means, wherein the cassette supporting means comprises a floating pad for supporting one corner of the lower surface of the cassette, a sliding member movable in a horizontal direction on the base, and a tiltable body with respect to the base. And a holding means for holding the tilting means. Said cassette,
When the cassette supporting means is placed on each of the arranged cassette supporting means, the cassette supporting means can move the floating pad in the horizontal direction by the tilting means. Therefore, no friction is generated between the cassette and the floating pad, so that no dust is generated. Moreover, the configuration is extremely simple as compared with the related art, and the independently formed floating body can be mounted on the cassette stage as a single module. Therefore, if various sizes are set in advance, it is possible to easily cope with cassettes having different sizes, and it is possible to easily manage components.

In the floating body of the floating apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, a cassette clamp portion for clamping the cassette is provided on the base. Therefore, since the clamp means for clamping the cassette can be installed as a single floating body, for example, when performing maintenance on the clamp means, the work can be performed by itself and extremely easy work can be performed. In addition, it can be easily replaced by itself.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the floating device, the cassette clamp portion may be a floating body.
It has a clamp lever driven by a motor. Therefore, it is extremely compact without using complicated air or hydraulic piping as in the related art.

In the floating device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the cassette presence / absence detection sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the cassette is provided on the base, the cassette can be moved even if the cassette is largely displaced. "Presence" can be prevented from operating by the sensor, and the substrate can be transported without error.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view illustrating a floating device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a floating body having a clamp lever.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the floating body of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a locked state of a shaft holding member of the floating body of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a floating body having a cassette presence / absence detection sensor.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the floating body of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a partial front sectional view showing a conventional floating device.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the floating body of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a cassette supporting portion of the floating body of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing the cassette clamp unit.

12 is a simplified operation diagram of a floating device using the floating body of FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the cassette support section in FIG. 9;

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a tilted state of the floating body in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the floating body of FIG. 2;

16 is a sectional view taken along line YY in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Stand 2 ... Cassette stage 3 ... Floating device 4 ... Cassette 5 ... Floating body 6, 36 ... Ring member 7, 37 ... Base 10, 40 ... Cassette support part (cassette support means) 11, 41 ... Floating pad 12, 42 roller member 13, 43 sliding base (sliding member) 14, 44 shaft part 15, 45 tiltable member (tilting means) 18, 48 shaft holding member (holding means) 20 cassette cassette part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Clamp lever 22 ... Roller 23 ... Shaft part 25 ... Motor 26 ... Locking device 30 ... Reverse detection sensor 50 ... Cassette presence / absence detection sensor 55 ... Cassette separation part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A floating body in a floating device configured to independently support four corners of a lower surface of a cassette, a base mounted on a cassette stage, and cassette supporting means supported by the base. The cassette supporting means is configured to have a floating pad that supports one corner of the lower surface of the cassette, a sliding member that can move in a horizontal direction on the base, and a tiltable body with respect to the base. A floating body in a floating device, comprising: tiltable means; and holding means for returning the tiltable means to a fixed position. 2. The floating body according to claim 1, wherein a cassette clamp portion for clamping the cassette is provided on the base. 3. The floating body according to claim 2, wherein the cassette clamp section includes a clamp lever driven by a motor. 4. The floating body according to claim 1, wherein a cassette presence / absence detection sensor for detecting presence / absence of the cassette is provided on the base.