JP2003146429A - Carrier passing system and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To pass a carrier storing an article to be conveyed which is conveyed by a conveying vehicle or the like between a plurality of clean rooms provided with a public environment between them between inside and outside of the clean room while keeping the environment of the carrier with simple constitution. SOLUTION: The carrier 17 storing an article to be conveyed is conveyed between the clean rooms 11 through the public environment 12 using a carrier conveying container 18 provided with a sealable door 21. A pass box 13 is arranged at the border between the clean room 11 and the public environment 12. The carrier conveying container 18 is conveyed from the public environment 12 side into the pass box 13, and the carrier conveying container 18 is given air blow. Then, a door 14a of the pass box 13 on the clean room 11 side is opened, the carrier conveying container 18 is conveyed into the clean room 11, and the carrier 17 is taken out of the carrier conveying container 18 or stored into the carrier conveying container 18 within the clean room 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier delivering method and a carrier delivering apparatus, and more particularly, for delivering a glass substrate for liquid crystal, for example, between a plurality of clean rooms provided with a general environment having low cleanliness therebetween. The present invention relates to a carrier delivery method and a carrier delivery device used for the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when manufacturing a liquid crystal device or a semiconductor device, all operations are performed in a clean room. However, when increasing the number of manufacturing processes in a factory, there are cases where the manufacturing processes have to be divided into a plurality of separate rooms. At that time, there is no problem if each room is connected by a passage having the same cleanliness as the clean room. However, if the distance between the two rooms is large, the cost of expansion increases in order to keep the entire passage at the same cleanliness as the clean room. Therefore, it is required to carry the object to be handled in a clean environment from one clean room to another clean room through the general environment.

At this time, the object to be transported is mounted in a transport vehicle in a sealed state in a transport container and transported in a general environment. Therefore, when transferring the object to be transferred between the general environment and the clean room, it is necessary to transfer the objects that have passed through the general environment and dust and the like adhering to the transfer container into the clean room as much as possible. There is.

Conventionally, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-144158 discloses that a case in which an object to be transferred is stored is transferred using a transfer vehicle (container) having a door that can be opened and closed simultaneously with a door on the clean room side. Has been done. In this case, the case is transported while being placed on the shelves provided in the transport vehicle, and the transport vehicle is introduced from the general environment into the air shower room provided in the clean room, and the air shower room is provided with the air shower for a predetermined time. Get washed. Then, after moving to a position where the door of the clean room and the door of the carrier are connected, both doors are opened to the clean room side and the case is taken out.

[0005]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 200
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-144158, it is necessary to perform an air shower cleaning on the entire transportation vehicle that transports the case in the air shower room for a predetermined time. Therefore, there is a problem that the amount of air consumption required for the air shower increases and the air shower takes a long time. Particularly in recent years, glass substrates used for manufacturing liquid crystal substrates have become large in size, and one side of a square glass substrate has a length of 1 m. Therefore, a cassette for storing glass substrates and a transportation vehicle used for transporting the cassettes have also become large. Therefore, the above problem becomes more prominent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object thereof is to store an object to be conveyed between a plurality of clean rooms provided across a general environment with low cleanliness. Provide a carrier delivery method that can deliver a carrier (for example, a cassette) that is transported by a transport vehicle between a clean room and a clean room while keeping the environment of the carrier clean with a simple configuration. To do. A second object is to provide a carrier delivery device suitable for carrying out the delivery method.

[0007]

In order to achieve the first object, the invention according to claim 1 uses a carrier carrier container having a sealable door to store a carrier. Is a method of transferring a carrier between the general environment and the clean room when the carrier is transported between the clean rooms through the general environment. A pass box is placed at the boundary between the clean room and the general environment. The carrier carrying container is carried into the pass box from the general environment side, and the carrier carrying container is blown with air. Then, the door on the clean room side of the pass box is opened, the carrier transfer container is loaded into the clean room, the carrier is taken out of the carrier transfer container in the clean room, or the carrier is stored in the carrier transfer container. Therefore, the carrier can be transferred between the inside of the clean room and the outside of the clean room with a simple structure while keeping the environment of the carrier clean.

In order to achieve the second object, the invention according to claim 2 is arranged at the boundary between the clean room and the general environment, and has a pass box provided with a mounting portion for the carrier transport container, and the mounting portion described above. And air blowing means for performing air blowing toward the. Near the pass box on the clean room side, first transfer means for transferring the carrier transfer container in the clean room is provided.
Therefore, in this invention, the method of the invention described in claim 1 can be suitably implemented.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second aspect, the carrier transfer container placed on the placing section is provided between the first transfer means provided in the clean room. The second transfer means that can be delivered and received is installed on the pass box side. Therefore, according to the present invention, it becomes easier to transfer the carrier transport container from the placing portion in the pass box to the inside of the clean room or from the clean room to the placing portion in the pass box.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second or third aspect, the pass box has a carry-in port for a carrier carrying container to the clean room, and a carrier carrying container from the clean room. Are provided respectively, and the first transfer means is provided corresponding to the carry-in port and the carry-out port, respectively.
Therefore, according to the present invention, since the carry-in port and the carry-out port of the carrier transport container are distinguished from each other, the worker can easily perform the work.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, both first transfer means provided in the clean room are connected by a conveyor, and the carrier transfer container carried in from the carry-in port is It is configured to be transferable to the first transfer means on the carry-out side. Therefore, according to the present invention, the operation of transferring the carrier transport container from the carry-in first transfer means to the carry-out first transfer means is facilitated.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in delivery of a carrier used for carrying a glass substrate for liquid crystal as an object to be carried (object to be carried) will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. To do.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a positional relationship between a carrier delivery device, a general environment and a clean room, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the same. As shown in FIG. 1, a pass box 13 is arranged at the boundary between the clean room 11 and the general environment 12. As shown in FIG. 2, pass box 13
In this case, two doorways are provided on the clean room 11 side and two doorways are provided on the general environment 12 side, and doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b as doors are provided at each doorway. Each of the doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b is a slide type, and is configured to be sealed by packings 14c, 15c in the closed position. One doorway (door 14
The side corresponding to a, 15a) is the carry-in port 13a, and the other entrance (the side corresponding to the doors 14b, 15b) is the carry-out port 1
It is set to 3b. Each door 14a, 14b, 15
The a and 15b can be opened and closed by a manual operation, and are automatically closed after a predetermined time has passed since they were opened.

In the pass box 13, two mounting portions 16a and 16b are provided inside the carry-in port 13a and the carry-out port 13 respectively.
It is formed in a size that can be arranged at a position corresponding to b. Each of the mounting portions 16a and 16b is provided with a glass substrate carrier 17 (hereinafter,
A carrier transport container 18 used for transporting a carrier (hereinafter simply referred to as a carrier) can be placed using a hand lift 19 as a manual cart. The mounting portions 16a and 16b are configured so that the front side of the handlift 19 can enter the lower side thereof. The mounting portions 16a and 16b are provided on the upper side thereof with a roller conveyor 20 as a second transfer means (only shown in FIG. 2).
Is equipped with. The hand lift 19 includes a fork 19a that can be raised and lowered while the carrier transport container 18 is placed. The fork 19a is configured to be capable of raising the carrier transport container 18 to a height facing the roller conveyor 20 of the mounting portions 16a and 16b.

The carrier carrying container 18 is formed in a rectangular box shape, and has an inlet / outlet opening 18a for the carrier 17 on one surface.
A door 21 capable of sealing the inlet / outlet port 18a is provided.
The door 21 is configured to be opened upward. The carrier transport container 18 can accommodate the carrier 17 in a state where the mounting portion 22a of the manual cart 22 used in the clean room 11 can enter and the carrier 17 can be easily transferred onto the entered mounting portion 22a. It is configured.

A pass box 1 is provided in the clean room 11.
In the vicinity of 3, the conveyor 23a as the first transfer means on the carry-in side is provided at a position corresponding to the carry-in port 13a, and the conveyor 23b as the first transfer means on the carry-out side is provided at a position corresponding to the carry-out port 13b. ing. Both conveyors 23
a and 23b are respectively plural (in this embodiment, 2
Individual carrier transport containers 18 can be placed. Both conveyors 23a and 23b are mounted on the mounting parts 16a and 16b.
In order to smoothly transfer the carrier transport container 18 to and from b, it is formed at almost the same height as the mounting portions 16a and 16b. Both conveyors 23a and 23b are driven when a conveyor switch (not shown) is operated, and can be stopped after a predetermined time has elapsed or when the carrier transfer container 18 transferred by the conveyors 23a and 23b is detected by a sensor (not shown). ing.

The pass box 13 is equipped with an injection nozzle 24 as an air blow means for blowing air toward each mounting portion 16a. The air blown is exhausted from the inside of the pass box 13 to the general environment 12 by driving a fan device (not shown). In the air blow, the carrier transport container 18 is placed on the mounting portion 16
After being placed on a, the hand lift 19 is started after a predetermined time required to get out of the pass box 13 and is ended after a predetermined time elapses. Each door 14
The a, 14b, 15a, and 15b are configured such that they cannot be opened during air blowing by the injection nozzle 24.

The clean room 11 is provided with a lamp 25 at a position corresponding to the carry-in entrance 13a and the carry-out exit 13b, and the carry-in entrance 13a and the carry-out exit 13b are provided also on the side of the general environment 12.
The lamp 26 is arranged at a position corresponding to. Each lamp 25 is configured to be turned on after the air blow is completed in a state where the doors 14a and 14b may be opened, for example, in a state where the carrier transport container 18 is placed on the placing portion 16a. In addition, the lamps 26 are installed in the door 15 respectively.
a, 15b may be opened, eg doors 14a, 1
It is configured to be turned on when 4b is not opened.

Next, a method of delivering the carrier 17 between the inside of the clean room 11 and the general environment 12 when the pass box 13 configured as described above is used will be described.

The carrier 17 is placed on the fork 19a of the handlift 19 while being accommodated in the carrier transport container 18, and the worker W1 pushes the handlift 19 to transport it in the general environment 12. Since the door 21 of the carrier transfer container 18 is closed during transfer, the carrier 1
7 is transported in the general environment 12 without being exposed to the general environment. For example, when carrying the carrier 17 into the clean room 11, as shown in FIG. 1, the carrier carrying container 18 containing the carrier 17 is carried to the pass box 13. After confirming the lighting of the lamp 26, the worker W1 opens the door 15a and operates the hand lift 19 to place the carrier transport container 18 on the mounting portion 16 in the pass box 13.
Then, the hand lift 19 is moved to the outside of the pass box 13.

After the carrier transfer container 18 is placed on the mounting portion 16a, when a predetermined time elapses, air is blown from the injection nozzle 24 toward the carrier transfer container 18 for a predetermined time. Dust and the like adhering to the surface of the carrier transport container 18 placed on the placing portion 16a is washed by the air blow under the general environment. When the operation of the injection nozzle 24 is completed, the lamp 25 is turned on.

When the worker W2 on the clean room 11 side confirms that the lamp 25 corresponding to the carry-in port 13a is turned on,
It is recognized that the carrier 17 needs to be received (carried in) from the carry-in port 13a. When the lamp 25 corresponding to the carry-out port 13b is turned on, it is recognized that the carrier 17 needs to be delivered (carried out) from the carry-out port 13b. When the receiving work (carrying-in work) is required, the worker W2 operates the conveyor switch (not shown) after opening the door 14a. Thereby, the roller conveyor 20 of the mounting portion 16a and the conveyor 23 of the clean room 11
a is driven, and the carrier transport container 18 is transferred from the mounting portion 16a onto the conveyor 23a. Since the clean room 11 has a positive pressure compared to the pass box 13, when the doors 14a and 14b are opened, air moves from the clean room 11 to the pass box 13,
Invasion of dust and the like from the pass box 13 into the clean room 11 is suppressed.

On the conveyor 23a, the carrier transport container 1
Since two 8 can be placed, the conveyor 23a has a carry-in port 13
The carrier carrying container 18 carried in from a is the carry-in port 13a.
When it reaches a predetermined position near the side, it stops. And
The door 14a is automatically closed. When it is necessary to immediately remove the carrier 17 from the carrier transport container 18, the worker W2 operates the conveyor switch again,
The conveyor 23a is driven to transfer the carrier transport container 18 to a position where the carrier 17 can easily take out the carrier 17. Then, after opening the door 21 at that position, the manual carriage 22 is operated, the carrier 17 is taken out from the carrier transport container 18, placed on the mounting portion 22a of the manual carriage 22, and then the manual carriage 22 is used. The carrier 17 is conveyed to a predetermined position in the clean room 11. The carrier transport container 18 after the carrier 17 is taken out is
Is transferred onto the conveyor 23b by using the manual carriage 22.

From the carrier transport container 18 to the carrier 1
When it is not necessary to take out 7 immediately, the carrier transport container 18 is held at a position closer to the carry-in port 13a side of the conveyor 23a. Then, the carrier transport container 18 is loaded into the pass box 13 and the carrier transport container 18 is loaded.
When the truck is loaded into the clean room 11, the manual truck 22
The carrier 17 is transferred to a position where it can be easily taken out.

When the transfer work (carry-out work) is required, the worker W2 operates the manual cart 22 on which the carrier 17 is placed.
Is operated to put the carrier 17 into the empty carrier carrying container 18 on the conveyor 23b, and then the door 21 is closed. Then, after confirming that the lamp 25 corresponding to the carry-out port 13b is turned on, the door 14b is opened, and then the conveyor switch is operated. Thereby, the roller conveyor 20 of the mounting portion 16b and the conveyor 23 of the clean room 11
b is driven, and the carrier transport container 18 moves the conveyor 23b.
The door 14b is automatically closed after being transferred from the above to the mounting portion 16b.

The worker W1 on the side of the general environment 12 is
When the lighting of the lamp 26 corresponding to 3b is confirmed, the door 1
After opening 5b, the hand lift 19 is operated to operate the placing section 1
The carrier transport container 18 is transferred from above 6b onto the fork 19a, and the carrier transport container 18 is unloaded from the pass box 13. After that, the carrier transport container 18 is transported to another clean room.

This embodiment has the following effects. (1) A pass box 13 is arranged between the clean room 11 and the general environment 12, air is blown into the carrier transport container 18 in the pass box 13, and then the carrier transport container 18 is loaded into the clean room 11. And
In the clean room 11, the carrier 17 is taken out of the carrier carrying container 18 or accommodated in the carrier 17. Therefore, the carrier 17 can be transferred between the inside of the clean room 11 and the outside of the clean room 11 with a simple structure while keeping the environment of the carrier 17 clean. As a result, the cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional technique.

(2) The door 14a on the clean room 11 side after the air blow to the carrier transport container 18 is completed
Since the opening is opened, it is possible to prevent dust and the like attached to the outer surface of the carrier transport container 18 from entering the clean room 11.

(3) The pass box 13 is for the worker W1.
Since the space for storing the carrier and the carrier (hand lift 19) is not provided, and the space for transporting the carrier carrier container 18 is formed, the amount of air blow is reduced and cleaning is required for cleaning. The injection time can be shortened. As a result, the running cost (air blow cost) can be reduced and the time required for delivery can be shortened.

(4) Doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 1
Whether or not the opening of 5b is permitted is determined by the workers W1 and W2.
Lamps 25 and 26 for notifying the user are provided. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the workers W1 and W2 from opening the door in a situation where dust-containing air enters the clean room 11 from the pass box 13.

(5) Since the carry-in port 13a and the carry-out port 13b are separately provided, the work of the workers W1 and W2 is facilitated. (6) The carry-in port 13a and the carry-out port 13b are separately provided, and a plurality of carrier transport containers 18 can be placed on the conveyors 23a and 23b. Therefore,
When the carry-in or carry-out of the carrier transfer container 18 is continuously performed in a short time, the conveyors 23a and 23b serve as a buffer for temporarily storing the carrier transfer container 18, and the work can be smoothly performed.

(7) Since the manual carriage is used to carry the carrier carrying container 18, the structure is simple and the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where an unmanned carrier is used.

(8) The carrier transport container 18 is used as the mounting portion 22 of the manual carriage 22 used in the clean room 11.
It is configured that the carrier 17 can be accommodated in a state where “a” can enter and the carrier 17 can be easily transferred onto the mounting part 22 a that has entered. Therefore, it is easy to take out and store the carrier 17 into / from the carrier transport container 18.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, in the general environment 12, the carrier transport container 18 is transported by an unmanned transport vehicle instead of the manual carriage (hand lift 19), and a mounting unit in the pass box 13 having a lifting function is provided. The point that is different from the above embodiment is greatly different. In addition,
The same parts as those in the above-mentioned embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the pass box 13, an elevating device 27 as a mounting portion having an elevating function is arranged at a position corresponding to the carry-in entrance 13a and the carry-out exit 13b. Lifting device 2
7 includes a mounting portion 27a on which the carrier transport container 18 is mounted, and the mounting portion 27a is configured to be movable up and down by a pantograph mechanism 27b. The roller conveyor 20 is provided on the mounting portion 27a. The loading unit 27a is located at a raised position facing the conveyors 23a and 23b, and the carrier 2 of the automated guided vehicle 28 (AGV) for transporting the carrier transport container 18 between the clean room 11 and another clean room.
8a and the corresponding position can be moved up and down. A large number of rollers 28b are arranged on the bed 28a of the automatic guided vehicle 28 in parallel with the front-back direction of the automatic guided vehicle 28 (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3). The automated guided vehicle 28 travels along a guide line (not shown) between the clean room 11 and another clean room, and at the loading / unloading position of the carrier transport container 18 corresponding to the elevating device 27, the side surface is moved as shown in FIG. It stops at a position corresponding to the lifting device 27. In this state, the carrier transport container 18 can be transferred between the loading section 27a and the loading platform 28a arranged in the lowered position.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the carrier transport container 18 is mounted on the carrier 28a of the automatic guided vehicle 28,
The automatic guided vehicle 28 transports the vehicle in the general environment 12. The automated guided vehicle 28 is installed in the carry-in port 13 of the pass box 13.
Stop at the position corresponding to a. In the case of carrying-in work, the worker W1 opens the door 15a, and moves the carrier transport container 18 on the loading platform 28a onto the mounting portion 27a of the elevating device 27 arranged in the lowered position. At this time, since the carrier transport container 18 moves on the rollers 28b on the loading platform 28a and the rollers on the placing section 27a, the loading platform 28a
It is easily transferred from the top onto the mounting portion 27a.

Next, the worker W1 operates a switch (not shown) and then closes the door 15a. Then, the lifting device 27
Is driven to move the placing portion 27a to the raised position, and the carrier transport container 18 is in a state of facing the conveyor 23a. Next, air is blown from the injection nozzle 24,
After the air blow is completed, the lamp 25 lights up. Then, as in the above embodiment, the worker W in the clean room 11
2 causes the carrier carrying container 18 to be in the clean room 11
It is carried in and the carrier 17 is taken out.

Clean room 1 for carrier carrier 18
The transfer from 1 to the pass box 13 is performed in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment. Then, when the carrier transport container 18 is placed on the mounting portion 27a of the lifting device 27 of the carry-out port 13b and the lamp 26 of the carry-out port 13b is turned on, the worker W1 on the general environment 12 side is Carry out work. The worker W1 removes the automated guided vehicle 28 from the exit 13
After moving to a position corresponding to b and opening the door 15b,
The elevating device 27 is driven to descend, and the mounting portion 27a is moved to the descending position. Next, the carrier carrying container 18 is placed on the mounting portion 2
After moving from 7a onto the loading platform 28a, the automatic guided vehicle 2
Operate the start switch of 8. The automated guided vehicle 28 transports the carrier transportation container 18 to another clean room.

This embodiment has the following effects in addition to the effects (1) to (6) and (8) of the above embodiment. (9) Since the carrier transport container 18 is transported in the general environment 12 by the unmanned transport vehicle 28, the worker W1 does not need to transport the carrier transport container 18 by a manual cart.

(10) Since the elevating device 27 is provided as a mounting unit mounted in the pass box 13, even if the position of the carrier transport container 18 during transport by the unmanned transport vehicle 28 is low, the worker W1 , W2 is carrier carrier 1
It becomes easy to handle 8 at a height that is easy to handle.

The embodiment is not limited to the above, but may be embodied as follows, for example. ○ Both conveyors 23 provided in the clean room 11
You may connect a and 23b with a conveyor. For example, in FIG.
As shown in, the conveyor 29 is arranged at a position corresponding to the ends of the conveyors 23a and 23b. In this configuration, the carrier transport container 18 is moved from the conveyor 23a to the conveyor 2
The work of transferring to 3b becomes easy. Also, conveyor 2
9 also functions as a buffer for temporarily storing the carrier transport container 18.

As shown in FIG. 5, the conveyor 23a,
As 23b, only one carrier transport container 18 may be placed. In this case, both conveyors 23a, 23b
If the conveyor 29 is provided between them, the conveyor 29 functions as a buffer for temporarily storing the carrier transport container 18, and the carrier transport container 1 can be held in a relatively short time from the carry-in port 13a.
8 can be continuously loaded.

The door 14a corresponding to the carry-in port 13a of the clean room 11 may not only be manually opened / closed from the clean room 11 side, but may be automatically opened after the air blow is completed. In this configuration, the sensor allows the carrier transport container 18 to be moved onto the conveyor 23a.
After confirming that the transfer of the
4a is automatically opened, and subsequently, the roller conveyor 20 of the placing portion 16a and the conveyor 2 of the clean room 11 are continuously opened.
3a is driven, the carrier transfer container 18 is automatically transferred into the clean room 11, and after the transfer is completed, the door 14a
Is preferably closed. In this case, the carrier transport container 18 can be carried into the clean room 11 without the worker W2 on the clean room 11 side.

The door 14b corresponding to the carry-out port 13b of the clean room 11 may be configured not only to be manually opened / closed from the clean room 11 side but also to be automatically opened / closed. For example, the carrier transport container 18 is the conveyor 2
When a sensor (not shown) detects that the carrier transport container 18 can be carried out onto the mounting portion 16b of the pass box 13 while being moved to the vicinity of the door 14b by driving 3b, the door 14b is opened. Is automatically opened. When the carrier transport container 18 is unloaded,
The door 14b automatically closes. In this case, when the carrier transport container 18 is unloaded from the clean room 11, when the worker W2 operates the start button of the conveyor 23b while the carrier transport container 18 is placed on the conveyor 23b, the conveyor 23b is activated. Starting, the door 14b is automatically opened and closed as described above, and the carrier transport container 18 is opened.
Are unloaded.

○ In the first embodiment, the mounting unit 1
When the carrier transport container 18 is placed on the 6a, instead of the structure in which the air blow is automatically started after a predetermined time,
The air blow may be performed by the operator W1 operating the drive switch.

When the carry-in port 13a and the carry-out port 13b are exclusively provided, the inside of the pass box 13 may be partitioned by a wall into a carry-in side and a carry-out side, and only the carry-in side may be air blown.

The carrier transport container 18 may not always be transported in the general environment 12 with the carrier 17 accommodated therein, but may be transported in an empty state. ○ Without providing the carry-in port 13a and the carry-out port 13b for exclusive use,
The carrier transport container 18 may be loaded and unloaded at the same doorway.

The carrier carrying container 18 may have one opening for loading and unloading, or three or more openings. -In the first embodiment, instead of the hand lift 19, a manual cart having no lifting function is used,
Instead of 16b, an elevating device 27 as a mounting unit having an elevating function may be used. In this case, handling of the manual cart becomes easy.

〇 Doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b
Lamp 25 that is turned on when the opening of the
In addition to 26, the clean room 11 and the general environment 12 may be provided with lamps that are turned on when the opening of the doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b is prohibited. This lamp lights up in a different color (for example, red) from the lamps 25 and 26. In this case, the workers W1 and W2 are the pass boxes 13
It becomes easier to judge the situation.

Doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b
Lamp 25 that is turned on when the opening of the
Instead of 26, lamps that are turned on only when the opening of the doors 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b is prohibited may be provided in the clean room 11 and the general environment 12, respectively.

The conveyors 23a, 23b, 29 are not limited to roller conveyors, and may have other configurations such as a belt conveyor. As the conveyor connecting the two conveyors 23a and 23b, a conveyor having a transfer path formed in an arc shape may be used.

As the transfer means provided on the mounting portions 16a and 16b side, for example, a driven roller is provided instead of the roller conveyor 20, and the carrier is conveyed by an air cylinder having an engaging portion that engages with the carrier conveying container 18. An apparatus configured to move the container 18 may be provided.

The carrier 17 may be used for carrying an object other than a glass substrate. The technical idea (invention) understood from the above embodiment will be described below.

(1) In the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the pass box is a part of a carrier vehicle for transporting a carrier transport container in a general environment and an entry space for an operator. It is formed in a state without.

(2) In the invention according to any one of claims 2 to 5, the transfer means provided on the clean room side is configured so that a plurality of carrier transfer containers can be placed thereon.

(3) In the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the carrier carrying container is carried by a manual cart.

[0057]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the object to be transferred is stored and transferred by the transfer vehicle between a plurality of clean rooms provided with the general environment sandwiched therebetween. The carrier can be transferred between the inside of the clean room and the outside of the clean room while keeping the environment of the carrier clean with a simple configuration. According to the invention described in claims 2 to 5, it is suitable for carrying out the delivery method.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a carrier delivery device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the carrier delivery device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a carrier delivery device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a carrier delivery device according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Clean room, 12 ... General environment, 13 ... Pass box, 13a ... Carrying port, 13b ... Carrying port, 14a, 1
4b, 15a, 15b ... Doors as doors, 16a, 16
b, 27a ... Placement part, 17 ... Carrier, 18 ... Carrier transport container, 20 ... Roller conveyor as second transfer means, 21 ... Door, 23a, 23b ... Conveyor as first transfer means, 29 ... Conveyor .

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A carrier transfer container having a sealable door is used to transfer a carrier for storing an object to be transferred between a clean environment and a clean room after passing through the general environment. A method, wherein a pass box is arranged at the boundary between the clean room and the general environment, the carrier transfer container is loaded into the pass box from the general environment side, and after air blowing the carrier transfer container, the path A carrier delivery method in which a door on the clean room side of the box is opened, the carrier transport container is carried into the clean room, and the carrier is taken out of the carrier transport container or housed in the carrier transport container in the clean room. 2. A pass box disposed at a boundary between a clean room and a general environment, the pass box having a mounting portion for a carrier transport container, an air blowing unit for blowing air toward the mounting portion, and the path on the clean room side. A carrier delivery device provided in the vicinity of a box and having a first transfer means for transferring the carrier transfer container in the clean room. 3. The pass box side is provided with a second transfer means capable of transferring the carrier transfer container placed on the placing part to and from the first transfer means provided in the clean room. The carrier delivery device according to claim 2, which is provided. 4. The clean room side of the pass box is provided with a carry-in port of a carrier carrying container to the clean room and a carry-out port of the carrier carrying container from the clean room. The carry-in port and the carry-out port respectively correspond to the carry-in port and the carry-out port. The carrier delivery device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a first transfer means is provided. 5. Both of the first transfer means provided in the clean room are connected by a conveyor so that a carrier transfer container carried in from the carry-in port can be transferred to the first transfer means on the carry-out side. The carrier delivery device according to claim 4, which is provided.