JP2002286065A - Stopper device of movable stage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a stopper device in which a rail member is not damaged due to collision of a stage. SOLUTION: A stone rail 31 is arranged on a frame base 30 made of casting, and the stage is slidably constituted through a hydrostatic bearing 33 along the rail, and the stopper device 10 of the stage is installed at the end of the rail. The stopper device has a stopper mechanism 41 and a support board 11 attached to the mechanism. The support board is fitted to the frame base.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a stopper device for a movable stage, and more particularly to a stopper device suitable for a relatively large movable stage which is slidably supported along a rail via a static pressure bearing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional movable stage stopper device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 are simplified views of a part of the stage device, particularly a portion close to the stopper device. 3 and 4, the gantry 30
A stone rail 31 is fixed thereon, and a slide member 32 is configured to be slidable along the rail 31. The slide member 32 itself may be used as a stage, or may function as a part of the stage when the stage is integrally movably mounted on the slide member 32. In any case, as an example, the slide member 32 is driven by a drive mechanism of a linear motor in which a coil is provided and a rail 31 is provided with a permanent magnet. Since a drive mechanism using a linear motor is well known, a description of its structure and operation will be omitted here.

The slide member 32 is provided with a hydrostatic bearing 33 on its inner surface. The hydrostatic bearing is a device that supports a movable member by floating it from the support surface by blowing compressed air to the support surface, which is also well known. Here, three (only two are shown) hydrostatic bearings 33 are provided on the inner surface side of the slide member 32 facing the upper surface of the rail 31 and both side surfaces. Compressed air is supplied to the static pressure bearing 33 via a flexible hose (not shown).

In this type of stage device, a stopper device 40 is provided at the end of the rail 31 in consideration of the case where the slide member 32 is overrun. The stopper device 40 includes a stopper mechanism 41 and a support plate 42 supporting the stopper mechanism 41. Stopper mechanism 41
There are provided various types of shock absorbers, such as a coil spring, a device using a fluid such as hydraulic pressure or air pressure, etc., which are well known and will not be described in detail.

[0005]

In any case, the stopper mechanism 41 acts so as to reduce the impact force by deforming in the contracting direction when the slide member 32 comes into overrun and collides. .

In general, in a relatively large stage device using a hydrostatic bearing, when a large load specification is required,
When the stage is changed from the running state to the stopped state by the stopper mechanism, a large impact is applied to the stopper mechanism. This is due to the fact that the stage is running with little friction due to the action of the hydrostatic bearing.

However, in the conventional stopper device 40, the support plate 42 is directly fixed to the end of the rail 31 with a bolt 43 or the like.
1, in particular, there was a case where a breakage accident such as cracking or cracking occurred at a portion near a portion fixed by the bolt 43. This is because, although the stopper mechanism 41 has a buffering action, a part of the impact force that could not be alleviated is directly applied to the rail 31 via the support plate 42.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a stopper device in which a rail member is not damaged by a collision of a stage.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a rail made of stone or ceramic is arranged on a base made of casting, and a stage is configured to slide along the rail. Is a movable stage provided with a stopper mechanism for the stage, wherein the stopper mechanism is attached to the gantry.

In this stopper device, the stage is driven by a linear motor and is slidably supported by a static pressure bearing.

In the stopper device, the stopper mechanism has a buffer mechanism using any of a spring, hydraulic pressure, and pneumatic pressure, and the stopper mechanism is mounted on a support plate fixed to the gantry. .

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 1 and 2 are simplified diagrams of a part of the stage device, particularly a portion close to the stopper device, as in FIGS. Therefore, the same parts as those in FIGS. 3 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a stone rail 31 is fixed on a cast base 30, and a slide member 32 is configured to be slidable along the rail 31. As described above, the slide member 32 functions as a part of the stage when the slide member 32 itself is used as a stage and when the stage is integrally movably mounted on the slide member 32. There are cases. In any case, the slide member 32
Is driven by a drive mechanism such as a linear motor.

The slide member 32 is provided with a hydrostatic bearing 33 on its inner surface. Also here, three (only two are shown) hydrostatic bearings 33 are provided on the upper surface of the rail 31 and on the inner surface side of the slide member 32 opposed to both side surfaces. Compressed air is supplied to the static pressure bearing 33 via a flexible hose (not shown).

The stopper device 10 according to the present embodiment includes the gantry 3
Focusing on the fact that 0 is made of casting and has sufficient mechanical strength, a feature is that the support plate 11 for supporting the same stopper mechanism 41 as the conventional one is fixed to the gantry 30 with bolts 12 or the like. Having. The support plate 11 is made of an iron-based material such as stainless steel, and has flange portions 11-1 having holes for inserting bolts into the gantry 30 on both side edges thereof, and reinforcing ribs 11-2. Have.

The support plate 11 may be in contact with the end surface of the rail 31, but it is preferable that the support plate 11 is slightly separated from the rail 31 in order to prevent the impact force from being transmitted to the rail 31. In any case, by adopting the above structure, even if the stopper mechanism 41 cannot absorb all the impact force applied thereto, the unabsorbed impact force is applied to the cast base 30 through the support plate 11, and It does not happen that the steel rail 31 is damaged.

The present invention can be similarly applied to the case where the rail 31 is made of ceramic instead of stone if there is a possibility of damage due to the collision of the stage. Further, the gantry 30 may be made of stone instead of cast. In this case, it can be dealt with by increasing the number of bolts installed on the flange 11-1. Although FIGS. 1 and 3 show a configuration in which the slide member is driven only in one axial direction for the sake of simplicity, the present invention relates to an X-axis and Y-axis such as an XY stage device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a stage device that can be driven in a direction. XY
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-332213, for example, a stage device is fixed to a pedestal having a bearing guide surface so as to extend in the X-axis or Y-axis direction on the pedestal, and faces each other. A pair of rails having a guide surface, a first slide member movably arranged between the pair of rails along the guide surface, and a first slide member moving in the direction in which the first slide member extends. Second possible combination
And first and second hydrostatic bearings are interposed between the first slide member and the guide surfaces of the pair of rails and between the first slide member and the bearing guide surface of the gantry, respectively. It is known that third and fourth hydrostatic bearings are interposed between the second slide member and the bearing guide surface of the gantry and between the first slide member, respectively. ing. Then, the stopper device as described above is applied to the ends of the pair of rails. Further, the drive mechanism of the stage is not limited to the linear motor, and may be applied to, for example, a pneumatic drive mechanism using compressed air.

[0017]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a stopper device with a simple structure in which the rail member is not damaged by the collision of the stage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stopper device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the stopper device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional stopper device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the stopper device of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 40 Stopper device 11, 42 Support plate 11-1 Flange part 11-2 Rib 12, 43 Bolt 30 Mount 31 Rail 32 Slide member 33 Hydrostatic bearing 41 Stopper mechanism

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rail made of stone or ceramic is arranged on a base made of casting, and a stage is configured to slide along the rail. A stopper mechanism of the stage is installed at an end of the rail. A movable stage stopper device, wherein the stopper mechanism is attached to the mount. 2. The stopper device according to claim 1, wherein
A movable stage stopper device, wherein the stage is driven by a linear motor and is slidably supported by a static pressure bearing. 3. The stopper device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper mechanism has a buffer mechanism using any one of a spring, a hydraulic pressure, and a pneumatic pressure.
A movable stage stopper device attached to a support plate fixed to the gantry.