JP2002307362A - Chuck head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chuck head for carriage with a work positioning function, to make it carry out pick-up motion and work positioning, to reduce the space of transfer and place device, to increase cycle time and to simplify structure and control. SOLUTION: A pair of connecting plates 11, 12 to revolve in the circumference of a support shaft, two pairs of chucks 6-9 facing against each other and linked to each of these connecting plates 11, 12 and springs 16, 17 mounted on these chucks 6-9 are provided, two pairs of the chucks 6-9 open as the connecting plates 11, 12 revolve in one direction, the chucks 6-9 are closed by tensile loads of the springs 16, 17 as the connecting plates 11, 12 become free, and a work is positioned and held.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a chuck head, and more particularly to a chuck head used for a transfer device for transporting a work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, a transfer device has been used in order to change a transport mode between each process. This transfer apparatus generally uses a form in which a work is picked up by a suction head from a loader unit, transferred to an intermediate stage, the work is positioned, and then picked up again by the suction head and transferred to an unloader unit. ing. Further, as the configuration of the device, a work supply unit, a work positioning unit, a work discharge unit,
Further, it is general that it is constituted by a transport section between each unit.

However, in the above-described transfer device, since a positioning operation on the intermediate stage is required, a corresponding time loss occurs. Further, since the work transfer operation, the suction operation, and the positioning operation are individually controlled, the control system becomes complicated, and there is a possibility that the work may be damaged due to a positional shift or a timing shift at the time of transferring the work. Further, it is necessary to change the position of the intermediate stage positioning unit in accordance with the type conversion, and this has a great effect on the number of products to be produced in a factory that performs high-mix low-volume production. In addition, there is a tendency that the outer shape of the device is enlarged due to the space of the positioning portion, and the manufacturing cost is increased due to an increase in the number of actuators and the like.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to improve a transfer chuck head of a transfer device. In this way, by combining the function of the conventional work positioning unit and performing the work positioning at the same time as the pickup operation, it is possible to reduce the space of the transfer device, increase the tact time, and further simplify the structure and control. It is in.

As described above, the conventional transfer apparatus picks up a work from the loader section by the suction head, transfers the work to the intermediate stage, positions the work, picks up the work again by the suction head, and transfers the work to the unloader section. Because of the adoption of such a format, there is a lot of time loss, the control system is complicated, the setup of the positioning unit needs to be changed during type conversion, and the outer shape of the device tends to be large.
There was a problem that the production cost was high. The present invention solves this problem relatively easily and allows the transfer chuck head to perform the work positioning at the same time as the pick-up operation, thereby reducing the space of the transfer device, increasing the tact time, and improving the structure of the device. It is an object of the present invention to realize a transport chuck head that achieves simplification of control.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a chuck head for holding a work, which is used in a transfer apparatus for transferring a rectangular work such as a semiconductor substrate, around a support shaft. A pair of connecting plates rotating, a pair of opposed chucks linked to each of the connecting plates, and a spring means attached to the chuck, wherein the connecting plate is pressurized to rotate in one direction. By moving, the two pairs of chucks are opened, and the pressure applied to the connection plate is released to be free, whereby the chuck is closed by the tensile load of the spring means, and the work is positioned and gripped. Features. This makes it possible for the transport chuck head to perform work positioning simultaneously with the pick-up operation.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a chuck head according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

An embodiment of the chuck head according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall view of the positioning chuck head of the present invention. In FIG.
Is a base, 2 to 5 are linear guides, 6 to 9 are chucks, 10 is a shaft, 11 and 12 are connection plates, 13 is a rotary actuator, 14 is an arm, 15 is a top plate, 16 is a top plate. And 17
Denotes a spring, and reference numeral 18 denotes a stopper.

The linear guides 2 to 5 are attached to the base 1 and the chucks 6 to 9 are fixed thereon. Base 1
There is a hole for opening and closing the chuck in the center of
Four chucks 6 to 9 protrude downward from the base 1 from there, and the claw portions at the tips of the chucks 6 to 9 just below the center of the base 1 are structured to chuck the work. A shaft 10 is attached to the center of the base, and connection plates 11 and 12 are fitted into the shaft 10 and connected to the chucks 6 to 9.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the connection plates 11 and 12. As shown in FIG. 2, a bearing for reducing rotational resistance is attached to the rotating shaft, and the upper and lower two connecting plates 11 and 12 can be individually rotated. Also, one cam follower is attached above and two cam followers are attached below. The cam followers attached below are fitted in slots provided in the chucks 6 to 9 to open and close two opposing chucks in conjunction with each other. On the other hand, the cam follower attached above receives the rotation of the rotary actuator 13 as a drive source from the arm 14.

Next, the opening and closing mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. First, the state when the chuck is closed is shown in FIG. When the chuck is closed, the rotary actuator 13
It becomes FF, and the arm 14 is stopped at the position shown in the figure. At this time, the connecting plates 11 and 12 rotate counterclockwise due to the tensile force of the springs 16 and 17, so that the four chucks 6 to 9 slide by the linear guides 2 to 5, and the chucks 6 to 9 It is structured to be pulled toward the center.

FIG. 3B shows a state in which the chuck is opened. As shown in FIG.
N, the arm 14 rotates clockwise, and the cam followers attached above the connection plates 11 and 12 receive the rotation to open the chucks 6 to 9. At this time, the opening is adjusted by the stopper 18 and the stopper bolt.

FIG. 4 shows the details of the positions of the chucks 6 to 9 when the chuck is opened and closed. As can be seen from the figure, chucks 6-
Reference numeral 9 slides in four holes provided in the center of the base 1. FIG. 4A shows the chuck position when the chuck is opened, and this position can be adjusted within the range of the punched hole by adjusting the stopper bolt. FIG.
(B) shows a chuck position at the time of work chucking. At this time, since the chucks 6 to 9 perform chucking by receiving only the force of the springs 16 and 17, even if the workpieces have different sizes, the chucks 6 to 9 follow the workpieces by the springs 16 and 17, It is possible to correspond to many kinds without changing the setup. FIG. 4C shows a case where there is no work, and the chucks 6 to 9 are in a state of being pulled to the end of the hole by the spring force.

As described above, as an embodiment of the present invention, a mechanism for simultaneously opening and closing four chucks as a positioning and opening mechanism for a four-jaw chuck using a rotary actuator has been described. It is considered that the opening amount of the pair of chucks can be adjusted, and the chucks can be opened and closed with a time difference for each pair. The situation in this case is shown in FIG. 5, following FIG. In FIG. 5, since the arm angle is set to 100 °, FIG.
Even when the cam follower above one connecting plate is separated from the arm as in The pair is not in contact with the work, so that the chuck can be opened and closed with a time difference, and can be opened and closed suitable for a rectangular work.

[0015]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chuck head for gripping a work used in a transfer apparatus for transferring a rectangular work such as a semiconductor substrate, which rotates around a support shaft. A pair of moving connecting plates, two pairs of opposed chucks linked to each of the connecting plates, and spring means attached to the chuck, wherein the connecting plate is pressurized and rotates in one direction. As a result, the two pairs of chucks are opened, and the pressure applied to the connecting plate is released to be free, whereby the chucks are closed by the tensile load of the spring means, and the work is positioned and gripped. As described above, by providing the chuck opening / closing mechanism using the two connection plates that independently perform the rotary motion and the chuck gripping mechanism using the spring, any work of any size can be performed within the operating range of the chuck. By using the present invention for the transfer head of the transfer device, the workpiece can be positioned at the same time as the pickup, and saving can be achieved by omitting the positioning portion in the conventional transfer device. It is expected that space and tact time will be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary actuator and an arm attached to a rotary shaft of the rotary actuator, the rotary actuator is closed, and the arm rotates with the rotation of the rotary shaft. By this, the connecting plate is pressurized, the circumference of the support shaft is rotated in one direction, the chuck is opened, and when the rotary actuator is closed, the arm separates from the connecting plate, the connecting plate becomes free, and the chuck is closed. It is characterized by the following. As a result, the pick-up operation and the positioning can be performed by only the rotary actuator which is one driving source, so that the simplification of the control and the simplification of the structure are achieved, thereby reducing the number of manufacturing steps and the cost. You can expect.

The invention according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized by having a stopper for adjusting the opening amount of the chuck and a stopper bolt. Thus, the opening and closing of the chuck according to the size of the work can be performed.

According to the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, the arm changes the timing of contact with each of the connecting plates depending on the opening angle thereof, and balances the opening amounts of two pairs of opposing chucks linked to the connecting plate and controls the opening and closing. The timing is adjustable. This allows
The two pairs of chucks can be opened and closed with a time difference, and can be opened and closed suitable for a rectangular work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a positioning chuck head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a structure of a connecting plate of the positioning chuck head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an opening / closing mechanism of the positioning chuck head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a chuck position when opening and closing the chuck.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a joint state of an arm and a connecting plate and a chuck position when a chuck is opened and closed in another embodiment of the positioning chuck head of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base, 2-5 ... Linear guide, 6-9 ... Chuck, 10 ... Shaft, 11, 12 ... Connection plate, 13
... Rotary actuator, 14 ... Arm, 15 ... Top plate, 16, 17 ... Spring, 18 ... Stopper.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3C007 AS01 AS24 DS02 ES05 ES15 ET08 EU14 EU19 EV02 EW03 HS04 5F031 CA01 CA04 FA02 FA07 GA14 GA15 GA38 KA11 KA12 LA06 PA16

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A chuck head that is used in a transfer device that transports a rectangular work such as a semiconductor substrate and grips the work, a pair of connecting plates that rotate around a support shaft, and each of the connecting plates. And two springs attached to the chuck. The connection plate is pressurized and rotated in one direction to open the two pairs of chucks, and the connection plate The chuck head is characterized in that the chuck is closed by the tensile load of the spring means and the workpiece is positioned and gripped by releasing the pressure applied to the workpiece to be free. 2. The coupling plate, comprising: a rotary actuator; and an arm attached to a rotary shaft of the rotary actuator, wherein the rotary actuator is closed, and the arm rotates with the rotation of the rotary shaft. When the rotary actuator is closed, the arm is separated from the connection plate, the connection plate becomes free, and the chuck is released. The chuck head according to claim 1, wherein the chuck head is closed. 3. The chuck head according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper for adjusting an opening amount of the chuck and a stopper bolt. 4. The arm changes the timing of contact with each of the connecting plates depending on the opening angle thereof, and adjusts the opening balance and opening / closing timing of two pairs of opposed chucks linked to the connecting plate. The chuck head according to claim 2, wherein