JP2003159686A - Gripping apparatus and conveying equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a gripping apparatus and conveying equipment which are each simple in structure and capable of carrying out high-speed operation. <P>SOLUTION: According to the gripping apparatus, a sliding block 21 is borne by a bearing main body 11 in a vertically movable manner. Whenever an engaged member 42 is pressed to an engaging member 41, both the members are repeatedly engaged with and disengaged from each other. Then, by lowering the bearing main body 11 to abut an abutting portion 21b on a pallet W, and lowering the bearing main body 11 further downward, a cam follower 22b is pressed to a guide portion 12 and rotated, whereby the pallet W is pinched by the abutting portion 21b and a claw portion 22c. At the same time, the engaged member 42 is engaged with the engaging member 41 to maintain the pallet W in a gripped state. Then, the pallet W is moved while being gripped, and a bearing member 10 is lowered, which presses the engaged member 42 to the engaging member 41, to thereby cancel the engagement. Further, by raising the bearing member 10, the guide portion 12 abuts on a stopper portion 21a, and then is raised together with the bearing member 10, to thereby leave the pallet W alone. Thus, only by pressing the bearing member 10 in one direction, gripping of the pallet W and cancellation of the gripping can be achieved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gripping device for gripping an object to be transferred placed at a predetermined position, for example, a pallet, and an object to be transferred placed at a predetermined position and transferring the object to another predetermined position. The present invention relates to an improvement of a transport device to be placed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional carrying device for carrying a carrying operation including an opening / closing operation of a chuck hand with a single drive source, there is, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-61873. This is to open and close the chuck hand through a transmission mechanism including a cam follower and a cam surface by moving the first and second frames relative to each other in the vertical direction. In this way, by making it possible to perform the transfer operation including the opening / closing operation of the chuck hand with a single drive source, the structure, especially the chuck hand, can be simplified, the control can be simplified, the operation speed can be increased, and the accuracy can be improved. Is what you are trying to do.

[0003]

Since the conventional transfer device is constructed as described above, the chuck hand must be accurately and three-dimensionally aligned with the position of the transferred object when gripping the transferred object. There wasn't. In particular, if the objects to be transferred are placed one on top of the other in the vertical direction, it is necessary to align the objects in the vertical direction correctly. Need to do. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation speed is naturally limited. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and obtain a gripping device and a conveying device that have a simple structure and can be operated at high speed.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the gripping device of the present invention comprises a supporting means, a gripping means, a returning means, and an engaging / disengaging means,
The gripping means includes a contact member having a contact portion that contacts the transported object, a first grip member having a first grip portion, and a second grip member having a second grip portion. , First and second
The gripping member is provided on the abutting member and at least one of them can move.
The locking member and the locked member are provided, and each time the locked member is pressed by the locking member, engagement and disengagement of the locked member and the locking member are repeated alternately. Is movably supported by the support means in a predetermined direction and the opposite direction, and the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance. The grip and the second
Is in an open state with a predetermined gap, the contact member moves with respect to the support means, and the contact portion of the contact member and the support means are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. At least one of the first gripping member and the second gripping member, which are movable when the contact member is supported by the support means in the state of having the first member in association with the movement of the contact member, The gripping part and the second gripping part approach each other to be in a closed state capable of gripping the transported object, and the locking member and the locked member of the engaging / disengaging means are one of the supporting means and the abutting member. On the other hand, the supporting means, which are provided so as to face each other in the predetermined direction and support the contact member in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance, are driven in the predetermined direction. After contacting the contact portion with the object to be conveyed, the supporting means is further moved to support the contact portion of the contact member. The abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state where the step and the step have a predetermined distance, and the first and second grips are closed to be transported by the first grip and the second grip. By holding the object and engaging the engaged member with the engaging portion, the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means are restrained in a state of having another predetermined distance to convey the conveyed object. While maintaining the gripped state, the supporting means is driven in the predetermined direction to press the engaged member against the engaging member to release the engagement with the engaging member, and then the supporting means is driven in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction. The returning means returns the contacting member to the state in which the contacting member is supported by the supporting means with the contacting portion of the contacting member and the supporting means having a predetermined distance, and the first and second gripping portions are opened. The gripping of the conveyed object by the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion is released. After the contact member is brought into contact with the object to be conveyed, the supporting means is further moved to relatively move the contact member with respect to the supporting means, and the first and second gripping members are interlocked with this movement. Since the object to be conveyed is grasped, that is, the object to be conveyed is grasped by interlocking at least one of the first and second grasping members by moving the supporting means in one direction, so that the grasping operation can be performed at high speed. . Further, every time the contact portion is brought into contact with the transported object and the locked member is pressed against the locking member, locking and unlocking of the locked member by the locking member is repeated, and the first gripping portion Since the conveyed object is grasped and released by the second grasping portion and the second grasping portion, the position of the contact portion, that is, the grasping means in the predetermined direction is determined in accordance with the position of the conveyed object, and the grasping means is aligned in the predetermined direction. Is unnecessary, and it is easy to grasp and open. These enable high speed operation.

In the gripping means, the contact member serves as the first grip member, the contact portion also serves as the first grip portion, and the second grip member is rotatably supported by the contact member.
When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance, the contact portion and the second grip portion have an open state with a predetermined distance. In
The second grip when the contact member moves with respect to the support means and the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance. The member rotates in conjunction with the movement of the abutting member, the second gripping portion approaches the abutting portion, and the second gripping portion is brought into a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped in a predetermined direction with the abutting portion. It is characterized by being. Since the contact member also serves as the first gripping member, the structure is simplified.

Further, the second gripping member has a crossing direction contact portion, and the contacting member has an auxiliary gripping member, and the crossing direction contact portion has the contact member with respect to the supporting means. When the contact member is supported by the support means while moving so that the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance, the movement of the contact member interlocks with the predetermined direction. The auxiliary gripping member has a predetermined distance between the contact portion of the abutting member and the supporting means when the abutting member moves with respect to the supporting means. In this state, when the contact member is supported by the supporting means, it contacts the object to be conveyed from a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction and grips the object to be conveyed from the direction intersecting the predetermined direction with the intersecting direction contact portion. It is characterized by being a thing. Since the second gripping member is provided with the intersecting direction contact portion and the contacting member is provided with the auxiliary gripping member, the transported object is additionally gripped also in the direction intersecting the predetermined direction. Can be gripped and transported more reliably.

Further, the abutting member is characterized by having a movement preventing member for preventing the conveyed object from moving in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction during gripping. It is possible to prevent the transported object from moving and falling off in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction during gripping by the movement blocking member.

Further, the supporting means has a guide portion, and the grasping means has a state in which the second grasping member has a contact portion and the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means, the contact portion comes into contact with the guide portion of the supporting means so that the first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the member moves with respect to the support means and the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance, the second gripping member is The contact part is guided by the guide part of the support means in conjunction with the movement of the contact member, the second gripping member rotates, and the second gripping part approaches the first gripping part to determine the transported object. It is characterized in that it is in a closed state in which it can be grasped in any direction. Since the transported object can be gripped in the predetermined direction by the configuration in which the contact portion of the second gripping member is guided by the guide portion of the supporting means, high speed operation can be realized with a simple structure.

The contact portion of the second grip member is a rotatably provided rotating body, and is in contact with the guide portion of the supporting means via the rotating body. By interposing the rotating body, the contact resistance between the second gripping member and the guide portion is reduced, which makes it suitable for higher speed operation.

Further, the gripping means is supported in a state where the first and second gripping members are rotatably supported by the abutting member and the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance. When the contact member is supported by the support means, the first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap,
When the contact member moves with respect to the support means and the contact member of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance, the contact member is supported by the support means. The second gripping member rotates in conjunction with the movement of the abutting member, and the first gripping part and the second gripping part approach each other to bring the object to be conveyed into a closed state in which the object can be gripped in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. It is characterized by being After the contact member is brought into contact with the object to be conveyed, the supporting means is further moved to relatively move the contact member with respect to the supporting means, and the first and second gripping members are interlocked with this movement. Since the conveyed object is grasped from the intersecting direction, that is, the first and second grasping members are rotated by grasping the conveyed object from the intersecting direction by moving the supporting means in one direction, so that high speed operation is possible. Is.

The supporting means has a guide portion, and the gripping means has the first and second gripping members each having a contact portion and is rotatably provided on the abutting member. When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion and the support means have a predetermined distance, each contact portion of the first and second gripping members comes into contact with the guide portion of the support means to make the first contact. The first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, and the abutting member moves with respect to the supporting means so that the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means are different from each other. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state of having a distance, the first
And the second gripping member is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member so that each contact portion is guided by the guide portion of the supporting means, and the first and second gripping members rotate to rotate the first gripping portion and the second gripping member. It is characterized in that it comes into a closed state in which the gripping portion approaches to grip the transported object in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. Since the object to be conveyed can be gripped in the direction intersecting with the predetermined direction by the structure in which the respective contact portions of the first and second gripping members are guided by the guide portion of the supporting means, high speed operation can be realized with a simple structure.

The gripping means is provided on the abutting member and contacts the transported object before the contact portion contacts the transported object so that the position of the transported object with respect to the gripping means can be determined. It is characterized by having a member. By determining the positional relationship between the gripping means and the transported object by the positioning member, gripping can be performed easily and reliably.

Further, in the gripping means, at least one of the first and second gripping members has an elastic member, and the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion predeterminedly convey the object to be conveyed via the elastic member. It is characterized in that it is elastically gripped in a direction intersecting the direction. Since the transported object is elastically gripped via the elastic member, it is possible to absorb the positional deviation between the gripping means and the transported object and perform the gripping operation at high speed.

Further, the elastic member is an elastic body which doubles as a gripping member. Since the elastic body also serves as the grip member, the structure is simplified.

The elastic member is a rubber molded body formed of rubber provided in the grip portion and having a predetermined elasticity, and grips the object to be conveyed in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction via the rubber molded body. It is characterized by being a thing. With the rubber molded body, the transported object can be elastically gripped,
A high-speed gripping operation is possible.

Further, the returning means is a coil spring and is provided between the supporting means and the gripping means in a compressed or tensioned state. By using a coil spring, a simpler structure can be obtained.

The gripping device is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and the object to be conveyed is a pallet accommodating the semiconductor device or a semiconductor device. If such a gripping device is used for gripping a pallet containing a semiconductor device or a semiconductor device in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,
High-speed grip is possible.

The carrying device of the present invention comprises a driving device, a supporting means, a gripping means, a returning means, and an engaging / disengaging means, and the driving device comprises the first driving means and the first driving means. The gripping means includes a contact member having a contact portion for contacting an object to be conveyed, a first grip member having a first grip portion, and a second grip portion. And a second gripping member having a first gripping member and a second gripping member, the first and second gripping members being provided on the contact member, and at least one of which is movable. A locked member, and the engagement and disengagement of the locked member and the locking member are alternately repeated each time the locked member is pressed by the locking member. It is reciprocally driven by a driving means in a predetermined direction and its opposite direction, and intersects with the predetermined direction by a second driving means. The contact member is movably supported in a predetermined direction and in the opposite direction by the support means, and the contact member is supported in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance. When being supported by the means, the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, and the contact member moves with respect to the supporting means to contact the contact portion of the contact member. Of the first gripping member and the second gripping member, the first gripping member and the second gripping member that are movable when the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact means has a predetermined distance different from the predetermined distance. At least one of which is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member to bring the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion close to each other to be in a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped, and the locking member and the locked member of the engaging / disengaging means. The locking member is provided on one and the other of the support means and the contact member so as to face each other in a predetermined direction. The support means, which is provided and supports the contact member with the contact portion of the contact member and the support means having a predetermined distance, is driven in the predetermined direction by the first drive means to cover the contact portion. After abutting against the conveyed object, the supporting means is further moved so that the abutting member is supported by the supporting means while the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have another predetermined distance. The grips of the
The gripping part and the second gripping part hold the conveyed object and the engaged member engages with the engaging part so that the abutting part of the abutting member and the supporting means are different from each other. A state in which the object to be conveyed is held by being held in a state of having a distance of, and the first driving means drives the supporting means in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction and the second driving means intersects the predetermined direction. Also moves to a position where the transported object should be placed, and the first driving means drives the supporting means in a predetermined direction to press the engaged member against the engaging member to engage with the engaging member. After the release, the supporting means is driven in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction, and the returning means brings the contacting member into the state in which the contacting member is supported by the supporting means with the contacting portion of the contacting member and the supporting means having a predetermined distance. Returning the first and second grips to the open state, and the first grip and the second grip. It is intended to release the grip of the transport object by the. After the contact member is brought into contact with the object to be conveyed, the supporting means is further moved to relatively move the contact member with respect to the supporting means, and the first and second gripping members are interlocked with this movement. Since the object to be conveyed is grasped, that is, the object to be conveyed is grasped by interlocking at least one of the first and second grasping members by moving the supporting means in one direction, so that the grasping operation can be performed at high speed. . Further, every time the contact portion is brought into contact with the transported object and the locked member is pressed against the locking member, locking and unlocking of the locked member by the locking member is repeated, and the first gripping portion Since the conveyed object is grasped and released by the second grasping portion and the second grasping portion, the position of the contact portion, that is, the grasping means in the predetermined direction is determined in accordance with the position of the conveyed object, and the grasping means is aligned in the predetermined direction. Is unnecessary, and it is easy to grasp and open. These enable high-speed transportation.

Further, the driving device is characterized in that the supporting means is reciprocally driven in the vertical direction by the first driving means and is driven in the direction intersecting the vertical direction by the second driving means. The first driving unit can grip the sheet at high speed and the first and second driving units can convey the sheet to an arbitrary position.

A plurality of sets of the gripping means, the returning means and the engagement / disengagement means are provided, and the plurality of sets of gripping means are supported by the support means so as to overlap with each other when seen from a direction intersecting the predetermined direction. It is characterized by being By gripping the transported object with the two sets of gripping means, it is possible to easily grip the transported object having a longer length in the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction,
Can be transported.

The transfer device is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and the object to be transferred is a pallet containing the semiconductor device or a semiconductor device. If such a carrier device is used for carrying a pallet or a semiconductor device accommodating a semiconductor device in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, high speed carrying becomes possible.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1. Hereinafter, FIGS.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a carrier device, and FIGS. 2 to 7 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the carrier device. In FIG. 1, the supporting means 10
Has a support body 11 and a guide 12 fixed to the support body 11. The support main body 11 has a rectangular cross section, and is a hollow rectangular tube that is long in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1 (hereinafter, referred to as directions such as up, down, left, and right based on the drawing unless otherwise specified). It is a thing.

The guide portion 12 includes a first flat surface portion 12a, a second flat surface portion 12b on the left side of FIG. 1 with respect to the first flat surface portion 12a, a first flat surface portion 12a and a second flat surface portion 12a. A flat surface portion 12b and an inclined surface portion 12c that connects the flat portion 12b in a substantially straight line,
It is fixed to the support body 11. The supporting body 10 of the supporting means 10 is reciprocally driven in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction), that is, the vertical direction by an electric motor (not shown) serving as a driving means. Further, the supporting means 10 is also driven in the X and Y axis directions by two electric motors as driving means other than the electric motor driven in the Z axis direction, and the X, Y and Z in the rectangular coordinate system.
It is configured so that it can freely move in the three axis directions.

In this embodiment, the transported object W is a pallet of EIAJ (Electronic Industries Association of Japan) standard. This pallet W is used for carrying the semiconductor device in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device. The chuck 20 as a gripping means includes a slide block 21 and a chuck claw 2.
2 and a support pin 23. The slide block 21 as the first holding member has a stopper portion 21a and an abutting portion 21b as the first holding portion. Stopper part 21
The a is provided on the upper end side of the slide block 21 so as to project rightward, and the lower part thereof abuts the guide portion 12. The abutting portion 21b is also provided on the lower end side of the slide block 21 so as to project rightward, and the lower surface abuts the upper surface of the pallet W.

Chuck claw 22 as a second grip member
Is a main body 22a and a cam follower 22 as a rotating body.
b and a claw portion 22c as a second grip portion. The main body portion 22a is attached to the slide block 2 by the support pin 23.
1 is rotatably supported. Cam follower 22b
Is rotatably provided on the upper end of the main body 22a, and the claw 22c is provided on the lower end of the main body 22a so as to project rightward. Further, the chuck pawl 22 is constantly given a rotational force to rotate clockwise in FIG. 1 by a spring (not shown), and the cam follower 22b thereof is in contact with the guide portion 12. Although not shown, the slide block 21 is supported by the support main body 11 so as to be vertically reciprocable via a circulating rolling guide.

The coil spring 30 as a returning means is inserted in a compressed state between the lower surface side of the guide portion 12 and the upper surface side of the contact portion 21b, and constantly presses the contact portion 21b downward. The pressing force is received by the stopper portion 21 a coming into contact with the guide portion 12. The engagement / disengagement means 40 is
It has a locking member 41 and a locked member 42. Locking member 4
1 is fixed to the lower surface of the support body 11 with its opening facing downward. The locked member 42 is fixed to the upper surface of the contact portion 21b so as to face the opening of the locking member 41 in the vertical direction.

When the locked member 42 is pressed against the locking member 41, it is locked, and when the locked member 42 is pressed again against the locking member 41 in this locked state, the locking member 41 locks. Is released. That is, the engagement / disengagement means 40 alternately locks and unlocks the locked member 42 each time the locking member 41 presses the locked member 42 repeatedly. Such engagement / disengagement means 40 is sold, for example, by Takigen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Location: Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo).

When the locked member 42 is not locked to the locking member 41, the guide portion 12, that is, the support main body portion 11 and the contact portion 21b are separated by the elastic force of the coil spring 30, and the stopper portion. 21a is a guide portion 1 of the supporting means 10.
2, the lower surface of the contact portion 21b and the lower surface of the support main body 11 are apart from each other by a predetermined distance D1 as shown in FIG. That is, the slide block 21 is at the position of POS 1 with respect to the support main body. At this time, the contact portion 21b
The claw portion 22c and the claw portion 22c have a predetermined distance, and the chuck 20 is in an open state.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. When the pallet W is not being conveyed, as shown in FIG. 1, the chuck 20 moves the slide block 21 to the support body portion with the lower surface of the contact portion 21b and the lower surface of the support body portion 11 separated by a predetermined distance D1. The contact portion 21 is supported by 11.
b and the claw portion 22c are in an open state with a predetermined gap.
In this state, the cam follower 22b has the first flat portion 12
It is in contact with a, the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 22c have a predetermined distance, and the claw portion 22c is in the open position.

From this state, the contact portion 21b is aligned with the position of the pallet W on the X and Y axis coordinates, and the supporting means 10 is moved.
Is driven by an electric motor (not shown) to be lowered, and the contact portion 21b is brought into contact with the upper surface side of the pallet W as shown in FIG. At this time, since the claw portion 22c is in the open position, the claw portion 22c does not come into contact with the pallet W even if the contact portion 21b is lowered.

After the contact portion 21b contacts the pallet W,
When the supporting means 10 is further driven downward, the contact portion 21b, that is, the slide block 21 cannot move further downward, so the supporting means 10 compresses the coil spring 30 against the elastic force of the coil spring 30 and moves downward. Moving. The state in the middle of this movement is shown in FIG. Along with the downward movement of the support means 10, the sloped portion 12c becomes the cam follower 2.
Since a component force for rotating the chuck claw 22 in the counterclockwise direction is applied against the elastic force of the spring that urges the chuck claw 22 to rotate in the clockwise direction while contacting the 2b,
The chuck claw 22 starts rotating clockwise. As a result, the claw portion 22c also starts rotating in the counterclockwise direction.

When the supporting means 10 is further lowered, the cam follower 22b moves from the inclined surface portion 12c to the second flat surface portion 12c.
Change the contact position to b. The state when the contact position is changed is shown in FIG. 4, and the claw portion 22c rotates counterclockwise so that the claw portion 22c approaches the contact portion 21b and is positioned at the closed position.
The pallet W is held vertically with the contact portion 21b. That is, the slide block 21 is located at the second predetermined position POS2 with respect to the support body 11.

When the supporting means 10 is further lowered, the cam follower 22b continues to contact the second flat surface portion 12b, so that the claw portion 22c maintains the state in which the pallet W is vertically held between the pawl portion 22c and the contact portion 21b. At the same time, the locked member 42 is fitted and locked in the locking member 41. When the locked member 42 is locked by the locking member 41, the supporting means 10 and the chuck 20 are fixed and restrained from each other so as not to move relative to each other, so that the gripped state of the pallet W is maintained.

This state is shown in FIG. 5, in which the lower surface of the contact portion 21b and the lower surface of the support body 11 are closer to each other than the predetermined distance D1 in FIG. 2 by a predetermined distance D2. That is, the slide block 21 is at the position of POS 3 with respect to the support main body 11, and the locked member 4
When 2 is locked by the locking member 41, it is restrained in this state.

While holding the pallet W, the supporting means 10 is driven upward to lift the pallet W as shown in FIG. 6, and the pallet W is moved in the X-axis and Y-axis directions by an electric motor (not shown) to obtain XY coordinates. Move it to the designated position above. After that, the supporting means 10 is lowered and placed on the position where the pallet W should be placed as shown in FIG. 7, and the supporting means 10 is driven downward to press the locked member 42 against the locking member 41. Then, the locked member 4 by the locking member 41
The lock of 2 is released.

After that, the supporting means 10 is driven upward. The support means 10 moves upward, but the slide block 21 is pushed downward by the coil spring 30, so that the contact portion 21b continues to be in contact with the pallet W. Therefore, since the guide portion 12 moves upward with respect to the cam follower 22b, the cam follower 22b moves the contact position from the second flat surface portion 12b to the sloped surface portion 12c while rotating, and further contacts the first flat surface portion 12a. It becomes a state.

Along with this, the chuck claw 22 is rotated clockwise by the elastic force of a spring (not shown), and the claw portion 22c is formed.
Also rotates in the clockwise direction to release the gripped state with the contact portion 21b, and the claw portion 22c is in a state of being positioned at the open position separated from the contact portion 21b by a predetermined distance. Further, when the supporting means 10 continues to move upward, the guide portion 12 finally moves to the stopper portion 21.
Then, the chuck 20 ascends together with the supporting means 10 after coming into contact with a. Therefore, the contact portion 21b is separated from the pallet W, and the pallet W is placed at a predetermined position. Support means 10
Returns to the state of FIG. 1 for the next transport operation. After that,
Similarly, the operations shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 are repeated to sequentially convey the pallets W to a predetermined position and stack them.

As described above, according to the present invention, the contact portion 2
Since the supporting means 10 is further lowered after the 1b is brought into contact with the pallet W and the chuck claw 21 is moved to be gripped by the claw portion 22c, the following effects are obtained. Since the vertical position of the contact portion 21b, that is, the chuck 20 is automatically determined in accordance with the position of the pallet W, the vertical alignment with the pallet W is unnecessary.

Further, since the pallet can be gripped in one direction and in one operation of moving the supporting means 10 downward, the gripping operation can be performed at high speed. Further, since the contact portion 21b is brought into contact with the pallet when the pallet is released, there is no possibility that the pallet will drop and generate an impact. Further, since the control device for controlling the vertical alignment is unnecessary, the structure is simple and the cost is low.

The support means 10 is provided with two chucks 20, two coil springs 30 and two engagement / disengagement means 40.
0s are arranged at predetermined intervals in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing and the chucks 20 are overlapped in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper, and the pallets W are provided at two positions in the depth direction with the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 22c. You may make it hold | grip at.
In this way, if the pallet W is gripped at two positions in the depth direction, a pallet having a longer depth can be easily gripped and transported.

The coil spring 30 may be provided in a tensioned state between the support means 10 and the slide block 21, and the return means is not limited to the coil spring 30 and may be an air spring or the like. Further, the supporting means 10 is composed of X, Y,
Even if the polar coordinate system is moved instead of moving the Cartesian coordinate system of the Z axis, the same effect is obtained. In the above embodiment, the supporting means is vertically reciprocally driven to stack the pallets W, but the pallets W may be inclined, arranged side by side, or placed alone. Good. The same can be applied to Embodiments 2 to 7 described later.

Embodiment 2. 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a pallet is gripped. In these figures, the chuck 50 as a gripping means has a gripping arm 51 as a second gripping member. The gripping arm 51 has a rotating member 52, a cam follower 53 as a rotating body, and a plate-like elastic member 54.
The rotating member 52 has a projecting portion 52 a as shown in the drawing, and is rotatably supported by the slide block 21 via a support pin 23.

The plate-like elastic member 54 is formed of a spring steel plate into a hook shape as shown in the drawing, and the base portion 54a thereof is the rotating member 5.
It is fixed to No. 2 and has an end portion serving as a claw portion 54b serving as a second grip portion. The claw portion 54b has the same shape as the claw portion 22c of the chuck claw 22 in FIG.
It should be noted that the grip arm 51 is always given a rotational force to rotate clockwise in FIG. 7 by a spring (not shown), and its cam follower 53 is in contact with the guide portion 12.

When the locked member 42 is not locked to the locking member 41, the support body 11 and the slide block 21 are
The contact portion 21b is separated from the contact portion 21b by the elastic force of the coil spring 30, and the stopper portion 21a abuts on the guide portion 12 of the supporting means 10. As shown in FIG. The lower surface of the is separated by a predetermined distance D1. That is, the slide block 21 is at the position of POS 1 with respect to the support main body. At this time, the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 54b have a predetermined space, and the chuck 5
0 is open. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, corresponding components are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. In a normal state, as shown in FIG. 8, the slide block 21 is supported by the support body portion 11 with the lower surface of the contact portion 21b and the lower surface of the support body portion 11 having a predetermined distance D1. 21b and the claw portion 54b are in an open state with a predetermined gap. In this state, the contact portion 21b is aligned with the position of the pallet W on the X and Y axis coordinates, and the supporting means 10 is lowered to bring the contact portion 21b into contact with the pallet W. This operation is similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

After the contact portion 21b contacts the pallet W,
When the supporting means 10 is further driven downward, the slide block 21 moves relative to the supporting means 10, the cam follower 53 is pushed by the inclined surface portion 12c, and the rotating member 52 rotates counterclockwise. When the rotating member 52 rotates counterclockwise, the claw portion 54b comes into contact with the lower surface side of the pallet W, and the plate-like elastic member 54 elastically deforms with the rotating member due to the rotation of the rotating member 52. Then, the claw portion 54b is attached to the contact portion 21b as shown in FIG.
The claw portion 54b closer to the predetermined distance than when the claw portion 54b is open.
And the contact portion 21b, the pallet W is elastically gripped in the vertical direction, and the chuck 50 is closed.

When the rotating member 52 rotates along with the movement of the slide block 21 and the pallet W is largely displaced to the left in FIG. 8, the pallet W is pushed by the protruding portion 52a of the rotating member 52 to the right. It moves toward one side and is gripped between the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 54b at a predetermined position. The projecting portion 54b has the above-described function and effect, but is not essential.

After this, the supporting means 10 is further lowered,
The locked member 42 is locked to the locking member 41 to maintain the closed state. This state is shown in FIG. 9, and the lower surface of the contact portion 21b and the lower surface of the support body 11 are closer to each other than the predetermined distance D1 in FIG. 8 by a predetermined distance and have another predetermined distance D2. That is, the slide block 21 is at the position of POS 3 with respect to the support main body 11, and the locked member 4
When 2 is locked by the locking member 41, it is restrained in this state. Thereafter, carrying the pallet W and placing it at a predetermined position is the same as that shown in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, since the pallet W is elastically gripped by the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 54b of the plate-like elastic member 54, even if the dimensions of the pallet W vary. Can be reliably gripped.

Embodiment 3. 10 to 12 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a carrier device, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the carrier device. . In FIG. 10, the chuck 60 includes an elastic grip plate 61 as an auxiliary grip member. The elastic grip plate 61 is formed of a spring steel plate in a deformed L shape as shown in the figure, and its fixing portion 61a has a supporting body portion 11a.
And the end portion is an auxiliary grip portion 61b. The protruding portion 52a of the rotating member 52 is the intersecting direction contact portion in the present invention. Since other configurations are the same as those of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, corresponding components are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. Contact part 21
b is aligned with the position of the work W2 on the X and Y axis coordinates, and the supporting means 10 is lowered. After the abutting portion 21b abuts the work W2, when the supporting means 10 is further driven downward, the slide block 21 moves relative to the supporting means 10, and the cam follower 53 is pressed and guided by the inclined surface portion 12c to rotate the rotating member. 52 rotates counterclockwise.

When the rotating member 52 rotates counterclockwise,
The claw portion 54b comes into contact with the lower surface side of the work W2, and further, the plate-shaped elastic member 54 is elastically deformed by the rotation member along with the rotation of 52. Then, the claw portion 54b comes closer to the contact portion 21b by a predetermined distance than when the claw portion 54b is in the open state of FIG. 10, and elastically grips the pallet W between the claw portion 54b and the contact portion 21b in the vertical direction to 60 is closed.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the slide block 21 is moved to the supporting means 10 at the second predetermined position P.
In OS2, the projecting portion 52a of the rotating member 52 is the work W.
2 is in contact with the left side surface or has a slight gap. In addition, the auxiliary grip portion 61a of the elastic grip plate 61
Has not yet contacted the work W2.

Thereafter, the supporting means 10 is further lowered,
The locked member 42 is locked to the locking member 41. As the supporting means 10 descends, the auxiliary gripping portion 61b of the elastic gripping plate 61 starts contacting the right side surface of the work W2. Along with this, the elastic grip plate 61 is pushed by the work W2 and elastically deforms, and when there is a gap between the protruding portion 52a of the rotating member 52 and the left side surface of the work W2, the work W2 is elastic. It is pushed by the elastic force of the grip plate 61 and moves to the left, abuts on the protruding portion 52a of the rotating member 52, and the protruding portion 5
It is gripped in a state of being sandwiched in the left-right direction by the 2a and the elastic grip plate 61.

This state is shown in FIG. 12, in which the lower surface of the contact portion 21b and the lower surface of the support body 11 are closer to each other by a predetermined distance than in FIG. 8 and have another predetermined distance D2.
That is, the slide block 21 is at the position of POS 3 with respect to the support main body 11, and the locked member 42 is locked to the locking member 41 to be held in this state. After that, the work W2 is transported and placed at a predetermined position, as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 54b of the plate-like elastic member 54 elastically grip the work W2 in the vertical direction, and the elastic grip plate 61 and the rotating member 52 project. Since the work W2 is gripped auxiliary by the installation portion 52a in the left-right direction, the work W2 can be gripped and transported more reliably.

Although the elastic gripping plate 61 is shown as an example of the auxiliary gripping member, a gripping plate or a block having no elasticity, that is, having high rigidity can be used. In this case, the grip plate, the block or the like having high rigidity functions as the auxiliary grip member and the movement preventing member. That is, even if the work W2 elastically gripped in the vertical direction by the contact portion 21b and the claw portion 54b shifts to the right during gripping and tries to fall off, the movement is blocked by the movement blocking member as described above. Therefore, there is no risk of falling off during gripping. Further, when the grip plate, the block, or the like having high rigidity functions only as the movement preventing member, the protruding portion 52a may not be provided.

Fourth Embodiment 13 to 15 show still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a carrier device, and FIGS. 14 and 15 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the carrier device. . In these figures,
The chuck 70 as a gripping unit has a gripping arm 71 as a second gripping member. The grip arm 71 has a rotating member 72, a cam follower 73 as a rotating body, and an elastic friction member 74. The rotation member 72 is the support pin 23.
It is rotatably supported by the slide block 21 via.

The elastic friction member 74 is formed of rubber having elasticity in a block shape. The elastic friction member 74 is
It is embedded and fixed to the rotating member 72 as shown in the figure. It should be noted that the gripping arm 71 is always shown in FIG.
A rotating force for rotating clockwise in 3 is given, and the cam follower 73 is in contact with the guide portion 12. For other configurations, see FIG.
Since they are the same as those shown in (1), the corresponding parts are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. Contact part 21
The position of the workpiece W2 is aligned on the X and Y axis coordinates of b, and the supporting means 10 is lowered. After the abutting portion 21b abuts on the work W2, when the supporting means 10 is further driven downward, the slide block 21 moves relative to the supporting means 10, and the cam follower 73 is pressed and guided by the inclined surface portion 12c to rotate the rotating member. 72 rotates counterclockwise, and the elastic friction member 74 contacts the left side surface of the work W2 or has a slight gap. This state is shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the supporting means 10 is further lowered,
The locked member 42 is locked to the locking member 41. As the supporting means 10 descends, the auxiliary gripping portion 61b of the elastic gripping plate 61 starts contacting the right side surface of the work W2. Along with this, the elastic grip plate 61 is pushed by the work W2 and elastically deforms, and when there is a gap between the elastic friction member 74 and the left side surface of the work W2, the work W2 is elastic. It is pushed by the force, moves to the left, contacts the elastic friction member 74, and is elastically gripped in the left-right direction by the elastic friction member 74 and the elastic grip plate 61. At this time,
A predetermined frictional force is generated between the elastic friction member 74 and the work W2, and the work W2 is gripped without slipping.

This state is shown in FIG. 15, and the lower surface of the abutting portion 21b and the lower surface of the supporting main body portion 11 are closer to each other by a predetermined distance D1 in FIG. 13 and have another predetermined distance D2. That is, the slide block 21 is at the position of POS 3 with respect to the support main body 11, and the locked member 42 is locked to the locking member 41 to be held in this state. After that, the work W2 is transported and placed at a predetermined position, as in the second or third embodiment.

According to this embodiment, when the contact portion 21b is brought into contact with the work W2, the work W2 is elastically moved in the left-right direction which is a direction intersecting the up-down direction by the elastic friction member 74 and the elastic grip plate 61. Since the workpiece W2 is gripped, the workpiece W2 can be easily gripped and transported.

Embodiment 5. 16 to 21 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device, and FIGS. 17 to 21 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation. In FIG. 16, the support arm 81
Is a long rectangular tube that is long in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and a hollow cylindrical holding cylinder 82 is fixed to the front side of the paper surface, which is the end portion, with its central axis in the vertical direction.

The support arm 81 is reciprocally driven in the Z-axis direction, that is, in the vertical direction, by an electric motor (not shown) as a driving means. Further, the support arm 81 is different from the electric motor driven in the Z-axis direction in the same manner as the support arm 81 of FIG.
It is configured to be driven in the X- and Y-axis directions by an electric motor as a drive unit of the table so that it can freely move in the X-, Y-, and Z-axis directions of the rectangular coordinate system.

The chuck 83 is constructed as follows, and is supported by the support arm 81 via a holding cylinder 82, which will be described in detail later. The holder cylinder 85 has a hollow housing portion 86.
It has a cylindrical portion 86 forming a, a disc-shaped brim portion 87 integrally provided below the cylindrical portion 86, and a plate-shaped support plate portion 88 fixed to the brim portion 87. Slide shaft 91
The upper end is stepped to form a stepped portion 91a, and the lower end is processed to a contact portion 91b having a slightly narrow cross section through a tapered portion.

The slide shaft 91 is slidably supported by the cylindrical portion 86 in the vertical direction via a cylindrical metal 93 provided in the accommodating portion 86a of the cylindrical portion 86 and is fitted on the upper portion of the cylindrical portion 86. It is accommodated in the accommodating portion 86a in a state of penetrating the combined flange-shaped lid 94. Further, the slide shaft 91 is constantly subjected to a downward force by a coil spring 95 mounted in a compressed state between the stepped portion 91a and the lid 94, but a predetermined position (Fig. It does not move downward from the position (16).

The holder cylinder 85 is fixed to the support arm 81 via a flange-shaped lid 94 and a holding cylinder 82. The pair of left and right scissors-shaped chuck claws 96 as the first and second gripping members have a U-shaped notch 96a and a scissors 96b as illustrated. The chuck claw 96 is rotatably supported by the support plate portion 88 of the holder cylinder 85. The notch portion 96a of the chuck claw 96 is supported by the support plate portion 88 in a state of being engaged with the cam follower 97. The cam follower 97 is the slide shaft 9
It is fixed to 1.

Further, each scissors portion 96b is formed of a hard rubber and has a first elasticity and a predetermined coefficient of friction.
Also, a pad 99 as a second grip portion is embedded and fixed. In addition, the engaging / disengaging means 4 is provided on the lower surface side of the support arm 81.
No. 0 locking member 41 is fixed with its opening facing downward, and the engaging / disengaging means 40 is attached to the upper end of the slide shaft 91 so as to face the opening of this locking member 41 in the vertical direction.
The locked member 42 is fixed.

The chuck 83 configured as described above is
Normally, the locked member 42 is not locked to the locking member 41, the slide shaft 91 is pushed downward by the elastic force of the coil spring 30, and the slide shaft 91 is in contact with a stopper (not shown). At this time, as shown in FIG. 15, with the lower surface of the support arm 81 and the lower surface of the contact portion 91b having a predetermined distance D11, the pads 99, which are the first and second gripping portions, have a predetermined distance. Provided and opposed, the chuck 80 is in an open state.

Next, the operation will be described. In a normal state, as shown in FIG. 17, the chuck 83 has the contact portion 91b.
And the lower surface of the support arm 81 have a predetermined distance D11. In this state, the contact portion 91b is moved to X, Y
In accordance with the position of the work W3 on the axial coordinates, the support arm 81 is lowered to bring the contact portion 91b into contact with the work W3 as shown in FIG. This operation is similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

After the contact portion 91b contacts the work W3,
When the support arm 81 is further driven downward, the support arm 8
1 moves downward with respect to the slide shaft 91, and the cam follower 97 fixed to the slide shaft 91 moves upward with respect to the support feed 88 that supports the chuck claw 96. Along with the relative upward movement of the cam follower 97, the cam follower 9 moves through the notch 96a.
The pair of left and right chuck claws 96 engaging with 7 are support pins 98.
Rotate counterclockwise and clockwise about respectively.

With the rotation of the chuck claw 96, FIG.
20 through both pads 9 as shown in FIG.
After 9 approaches and abuts on the work W3, it further approaches slightly and elastically deforms the pad 99 to elastically grip the work W3 from the left and right directions. At this time, a predetermined frictional force is generated between the pad 99 and the work W3, and the work W3 is gripped without slipping.

Then, the lower surface of the support arm 81 and the contact portion 9
The lower surface of 1b is closer to the lower surface than the predetermined distance D11 in FIG. 16 by a predetermined distance D12,
The pads 99, which are the first and second grips, are opposed to each other with another predetermined interval, and are in a closed state. At the same time, the locked member 42 is locked by the locking member 41 and is restrained in the closed state. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 21, the work W3 is lifted up and conveyed to a predetermined position, as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, since the vertical position of the contact portion 91b, that is, the chuck 84 is automatically determined in accordance with the position of the work W3, the vertical alignment with the work W3 is unnecessary. Further, since the work W3 is also released by bringing the contact portion 91b into contact with the work W3, there is no risk of the work W3 dropping and generating an impact. Therefore, the work W3 can be gripped and released at high speed. Further, since the control device for controlling the vertical alignment is unnecessary, the structure is simple and the cost is low.

Sixth Embodiment 22 to 24 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram of a carrier device, and FIGS. 23 and 24 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the carrier device. . In these figures,
The chuck 110 has a positioning pin 111 as shown in the figure, which is fixed to the contact portion 21b of the slide block 21. The positioning pin 111 has a circular cross section and has a tapered portion 11 whose tip (downward in the figure) is tapered.
1a. Since other configurations are similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, corresponding components are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

The chuck 110 having such a positioning pin 111 is provided with a recessed portion 200a having a hole or a recessed portion formed in a predetermined portion, for example, a circular hole is formed in the predetermined portion as shown in FIG. It is suitable for transporting the work 200 that the user has. That is, when the slide block 21 is lowered as shown in FIG. 23, first, the tapered portion 111a of the positioning pin 111 engages with the recessed portion 200a of the work 200 to determine the position, and then the contact portion 21b moves the work 21b. Abut 200. Then, as in the case shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece 200 is vertically held by the claw portions 22c as shown in FIG.

Incidentally, for the sake of clarity, the positioning pin 111 is illustrated as having a corner portion on the surface between the cylindrical main body portion and the tapered portion 111a, but in reality, it is smoothly inserted into the recessed portion 200a. Body part and taper part 1 so that it can be removed
The surface between 1c and 1c is smoothed. Further, the positioning pin may be a tapered pin which is entirely tapered.

According to this embodiment, the chuck 110
Even if the position of the workpiece 200 is deviated, the workpiece 200
The position on the X and Y coordinates is corrected by the tapered portion 111a of the positioning pin 111. Therefore, the workpiece 200 can be more reliably gripped by the claw portion 22c and the contact portion 21b. Further, even if the work 200 gripped by the chuck 110 shifts to the right during gripping and tries to fall off, the positioning pin 111 acts as a movement blocking member to prevent movement, so there is no risk of falling off during gripping.

Embodiment 7. 25 to 27 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a carrier device, and FIGS. 26 and 27 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the carrier device. . In this embodiment, instead of the elastic gripping plate 61 as the second gripping member in FIG. 10, a positioning pin 111 serving as a positioning member and a movement blocking member is provided on the contact portion 21b of the slide block 21.
The positioning pin 111 also serves as the second gripping means in the present invention.

In these figures, the chuck 120 is
The slide block 21 has a positioning pin 111 fixed to the abutting portion 21b as illustrated. The positioning pin 111 has a circular cross section, and has a tapered portion 111a whose tip is tapered. Since other configurations are similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, corresponding components are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

The operation is the same as that shown in FIG. 10, but when the slide block 21 is lowered as shown in FIG. 26, first, the taper portion 11 of the positioning pin 111 is first obtained.
1a fits into the recessed portion 200a of the work 200 to determine the position, and then the contact portion 21b contacts the work 200.
Then, as in the case shown in FIG. 10, the work 200 is gripped in the left-right direction by the rotating member 72 and the positioning pin 111a via the elastic friction member 74 as shown in FIG.

According to this embodiment, the positioning pin 1
Since 11 also serves as the second grip member, the number of parts can be reduced and the configuration is simplified. Further, since the position of the work 200 can be determined by the positioning pin 111, the contact portion 21
The grip by b becomes more reliable.

[0084]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

The gripping device of the present invention has a supporting means, a gripping means, a returning means, and an engaging / disengaging means, and the gripping means has an abutting portion for abutting an object to be conveyed. A contact member, a first grip member having a first grip portion, and a second grip member having a second grip portion, and the first and second grip members are provided on the contact member. And at least one of them is movable, and the engaging / disengaging means has a locking member and a locked member, and the locked member is pressed each time the locked member is pressed by the locking member. The engagement and disengagement of the contact member and the locking member are alternately repeated, the contact member is supported by the support means so as to be movable in a predetermined direction and the opposite direction, and the contact portion of the contact member and the support means are separated by a predetermined distance. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in the state of having the first holding portion and the second holding portion Is in an open state with a predetermined distance, and the contact member moves with respect to the support means so that the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance different from the predetermined distance. At least one of the first gripping member and the second gripping member, which is movable when the abutting member is supported by the supporting means, interlocks with the movement of the abutting member to form the first gripping portion. The second gripping portion comes close to enter a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped, and the locking member and the locked member of the engagement / disengagement means are directed to one and the other of the supporting means and the abutting member in a predetermined direction. The support means, which are provided so as to face each other and support the contact member with the contact portion of the contact member and the support means having a predetermined distance, are driven in the predetermined direction to move the contact portion. After abutting against the transported object, the supporting means is further moved so that the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means are The abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state of having a predetermined distance, and the first and second grips are closed to grip the transported object by the first grip and the second grip. And a state in which the object to be conveyed is gripped by restraining the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means to have another predetermined distance by engaging the engaged member with the engaging portion. While maintaining and driving the supporting means in a predetermined direction to press the engaged member against the engaging member to release the engagement with the engaging member, the supporting means is driven in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction and is brought into contact with the returning means. With the contact portion of the contact member and the support means having a predetermined distance, the contact member is returned to the state of being supported by the support means, and the first and second grip portions are opened, and the first grip portion is opened. After the contact member is brought into contact with the object to be conveyed, the grasping of the object to be conveyed is released by the first and second grasping portions. Further, the supporting means is moved to move the contact member relatively to the supporting means, and the first and second gripping members are interlocked with this movement to grip the transported object, that is, the supporting means is moved in one direction. Since the object to be conveyed is grasped by interlocking at least one of the first and second grasping members by moving to, the grasping operation can be performed at high speed. Further, every time the contact portion is brought into contact with the transported object and the locked member is pressed against the locking member, locking and unlocking of the locked member by the locking member is repeated, and the first gripping portion Since the conveyed object is grasped and released by the second grasping portion and the second grasping portion, the position of the contact portion, that is, the grasping means in the predetermined direction is determined in accordance with the position of the conveyed object, and the grasping means is aligned in the predetermined direction. Is unnecessary, and it is easy to grasp and open. These enable high speed operation.

In the gripping means, the contact member also serves as the first grip member, the contact portion also serves as the first grip portion, and the second grip member is rotatably supported by the contact member.
When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance, the contact portion and the second grip portion have an open state with a predetermined distance. In
The second grip when the contact member moves with respect to the support means and the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance. The member rotates in conjunction with the movement of the abutting member, the second gripping portion approaches the abutting portion, and the second gripping portion is brought into a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped in a predetermined direction with the abutting portion. Since the contact member also serves as the first gripping member, the structure is simplified.

Further, the second gripping member has an intersecting direction contact portion, and the contacting member has an auxiliary gripping member. In the intersecting direction contact portion, the contacting member is against the supporting means. When the contact member is supported by the support means while moving so that the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance, the movement of the contact member interlocks with the predetermined direction. The auxiliary gripping member has a predetermined distance between the contact portion of the abutting member and the supporting means when the abutting member moves with respect to the supporting means. In this state, when the contact member is supported by the supporting means, it contacts the object to be conveyed from a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction and grips the object to be conveyed from the direction intersecting the predetermined direction with the intersecting direction contact portion. Since the second gripping member is provided with an intersecting direction contact portion, Since the transported object from a direction intersecting the predetermined direction an auxiliary gripping member to the contact member and so as to assist gripped, can be conveyed to grip the transported object more reliably.

Further, the abutting member is characterized in that it has a movement preventing member for preventing the conveyed object from moving in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction during grasping. It is possible to prevent the movement blocking member from moving and dropping in a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction, and it is possible to reliably grip and convey.

Further, the supporting means has a guide portion, and the grasping means has a state in which the second grasping member has a contact portion and the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means, the contact portion comes into contact with the guide portion of the supporting means so that the first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the member moves with respect to the support means and the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance, the second gripping member is The contact part is guided by the guide part of the support means in conjunction with the movement of the contact member, the second gripping member rotates, and the second gripping part approaches the first gripping part to determine the transported object. The contact portion of the second grip member is guided by the guide portion of the support means. Since it grip the object to be transported object in a predetermined direction of arrangement that can operate at high speed with a simple configuration.

The contact portion of the second gripping member is a rotatable member that is rotatably provided, and is in contact with the guide portion of the supporting means through this rotatable member. The contact resistance between the second gripping member and the guide portion is reduced by interposing the rotating body, which is suitable for higher speed operation.

Further, the gripping means is supported in a state where the first and second gripping members are rotatably supported by the contact member, and the contact portion of the contact member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance. When the contact member is supported by the support means, the first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap,
When the contact member moves with respect to the support means and the contact member of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance, the contact member is supported by the support means. The second gripping member rotates in conjunction with the movement of the abutting member, and the first gripping part and the second gripping part approach each other to bring the object to be conveyed into a closed state in which the object can be gripped in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. Since the abutting member is brought into contact with the transported object, the supporting means is further moved to move the abutting member relative to the supporting means. And the second gripping member is interlocked to grip the transported object from the intersecting direction, that is, by moving the supporting means in one direction, the first and second gripping members are rotated to intersect the transported object. Since it is gripped from the direction in which it moves, high speed operation is possible.

Further, the supporting means has a guide portion, and the gripping means has the first and second gripping members each having a contact portion and is rotatably provided on the abutting member. When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion and the support means have a predetermined distance, each contact portion of the first and second gripping members comes into contact with the guide portion of the support means to make the first contact. The first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, and the abutting member moves with respect to the supporting means so that the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means are different from each other. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state of having a distance, the first
And the second gripping member is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member so that each contact portion is guided by the guide portion of the supporting means, and the first and second gripping members rotate to rotate the first gripping portion and the second gripping member. It is characterized in that it is in a closed state where it can approach the conveyed object in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction by approaching the grasping portion, so that the contacting portions of the first and second grasping members are provided with supporting means. Since the object to be conveyed can be gripped in the direction intersecting with the predetermined direction by the guide portion, the high speed operation can be realized with a simple structure.

The gripping means is provided on the abutting member, and the abutting portion abuts the transported object before the abutting portion contacts the transported object so that the position of the transported object with respect to the gripping means can be determined. Since it has a member, the positioning can determine the positional relationship between the gripping means and the transported object, so that the gripping can be performed easily and reliably.

Further, in the gripping means, at least one of the first and second gripping members has an elastic member, and the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion predeterminedly convey the object to be conveyed via the elastic member. Since the object to be conveyed is elastically gripped in the direction intersecting the direction, the transferred object is elastically gripped via the elastic member, so that the positional deviation between the gripping means and the transferred object is absorbed. Thus, the gripping operation can be performed at high speed.

Further, since the elastic member is an elastic body which also serves as a gripping member, the elastic body also serves as a gripping member, so that the structure is simplified.

The elastic member is a rubber molded body formed of rubber provided in the grip portion and having a predetermined elasticity, and grips the object to be conveyed in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction via the rubber molded body. Since it is characterized by being a thing, the conveyed object can be elastically gripped by the rubber molding, and the gripping operation can be performed at high speed.

Further, the return means is a coil spring, and is characterized in that it is provided between the support means and the gripping means in a compressed or tensioned state. It is possible to have a simple configuration.

Further, the gripping device is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and the object to be conveyed is a pallet containing the semiconductor device or the semiconductor device.
If such a gripping device is used for gripping a pallet or a semiconductor device accommodating a semiconductor device in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, high speed gripping becomes possible.

The carrying device of the present invention comprises a driving device, a supporting means, a gripping means, a returning means, and an engaging / disengaging means, and the driving device is the first driving means and the first driving means. The gripping means includes a contact member having a contact portion for contacting an object to be conveyed, a first grip member having a first grip portion, and a second grip portion. And a second gripping member having a first gripping member and a second gripping member, the first and second gripping members being provided on the contact member, and at least one of which is movable. A locked member, and the engagement and disengagement of the locked member and the locking member are alternately repeated each time the locked member is pressed by the locking member. It is reciprocally driven by a driving means in a predetermined direction and its opposite direction, and intersects with the predetermined direction by a second driving means. The contact member is movably supported in a predetermined direction and in the opposite direction by the support means, and the contact member is supported in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance. When being supported by the means, the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, and the contact member moves with respect to the supporting means to contact the contact portion of the contact member. Of the first gripping member and the second gripping member, the first gripping member and the second gripping member that are movable when the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact means has a predetermined distance different from the predetermined distance. At least one of which is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member to bring the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion close to each other to be in a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped, and the locking member and the locked member of the engaging / disengaging means. The locking member is provided on one and the other of the support means and the contact member so as to face each other in a predetermined direction. The support means, which is provided and supports the contact member with the contact portion of the contact member and the support means having a predetermined distance, is driven in the predetermined direction by the first drive means to cover the contact portion. After abutting against the conveyed object, the supporting means is further moved so that the abutting member is supported by the supporting means while the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have another predetermined distance. The grips of the
The gripping part and the second gripping part hold the conveyed object and the engaged member engages with the engaging part so that the abutting part of the abutting member and the supporting means are different from each other. A state in which the object to be conveyed is held by being held in a state of having a distance of, and the first driving means drives the supporting means in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction and the second driving means intersects the predetermined direction. Also moves to a position where the transported object should be placed, and the first driving means drives the supporting means in a predetermined direction to press the engaged member against the engaging member to engage with the engaging member. After the release, the supporting means is driven in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction, and the returning means brings the contacting member into the state in which the contacting member is supported by the supporting means with the contacting portion of the contacting member and the supporting means having a predetermined distance. Returning the first and second grips to the open state, and the first grip and the second grip. Since the gripping of the conveyed object by means of is released, after the contact member is brought into contact with the transferred object, the supporting means is further moved to relatively move the contact member with respect to the supporting means. Since the object to be conveyed is grasped by interlocking the first and second grasping members, that is, by moving the supporting means in one direction, at least one of the first and second grasping members is interlocked to grasp the object to be conveyed. Therefore, the gripping operation can be performed at high speed. Further, every time the contact portion is brought into contact with the transported object and the locked member is pressed against the locking member, locking and unlocking of the locked member by the locking member is repeated, and the first gripping portion Since the conveyed object is grasped and released by the second grasping portion and the second grasping portion, the position of the contact portion, that is, the grasping means in the predetermined direction is determined according to the position of the conveyed object, and the grasping means is aligned in the predetermined direction. Is unnecessary, and it is easy to grasp and open. These enable high-speed transportation.

Further, the drive device is characterized in that the support means is reciprocally driven in the vertical direction by the first drive means and is driven in the direction intersecting the vertical direction by the second drive means. It can be grasped at high speed by the first driving means, and can be conveyed to an arbitrary position by the first and second driving means.

A plurality of sets of the gripping means, the returning means and the engaging / disengaging means are provided, and the plurality of sets of gripping means are supported by the supporting means so as to overlap with each other when seen from the direction intersecting the predetermined direction. Since it is characterized by being
When the conveyed object is grasped by the two sets of grasping means, the conveyed object having a longer length in the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction can be easily grasped and conveyed.

Since the transfer device is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device and the object to be transferred is a pallet containing the semiconductor device or a semiconductor device, such a transfer device is used as a semiconductor device. High-speed transportation becomes possible when used for transportation of a pallet containing semiconductor devices or semiconductor devices in a manufacturing apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device in FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a pallet is gripped.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 25 is a configuration diagram of a carrying device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 support means, 12 guide section, 20 chuck, 21
Slide block, 21b contact part, 22 chuck claw, 22a main body part, 22b cam follower, 22c
Claws, 23 support pins, 30 coil springs, 40 engaging / disengaging means, 41 locking members, 42 locked members, 50 chucks, 51 gripping arms, 52 rotating members, 52a protruding portions, 53 cam followers, 54 plate-shaped Elastic member, 54
b claw portion, 60 chuck, 61 elastic gripping plate, 61a
Fixed part, 61b Auxiliary grip part, 70 Chuck, 71
Gripping arm, 72 rotating member, 73 cam follower,
74 elastic friction member, 81 support arm, 83 holding cylinder, 83 chuck, 85 holder cylinder, 88 support plate part, 91 slide shaft, 91b contact part, 94
Lid, 95 Coil Spring, 96 Chuck Claw, 96a Notch, 96b Scissors, 97 Cam Follower, 98
Support pin, 99 pad, 110 chuck, 111
Positioning pin, 111a taper part, 120 chuck.

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3C007 AS01 DS01 ES02 ES03 ET03                       EU00 EU08 EU13 EV05 EV13                       EV14 EV22 EV23 EW03 EW07

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. Supporting means, gripping means, returning means,
An engaging / disengaging means, wherein the grasping means includes an abutting member having an abutting portion that abuts an object to be conveyed, a first grasping member having a first grasping portion, and a second grasping member. A second gripping member having a portion, and the first
And the second gripping member is provided on the abutting member and at least one of which can move. The engaging / disengaging means includes a locking member and a locked member, and Each time the stop member is pressed by the locking member, engagement and disengagement of the locked member and the locking member are alternately repeated, and the abutting member moves in the predetermined direction and the opposite direction to the supporting means. When the abutting member is movably supported and the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state where the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance, the first gripping portion and the aforesaid The second grip portion is in an open state with a predetermined distance, the contact member moves with respect to the support means, and the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have the predetermined distance. The abutting member to the supporting means with another predetermined distance. At least one of the first gripping member and the second gripping member that is movable when held is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member, and the first gripping portion and the second gripping member. And the locked member and the locked member of the engaging / disengaging means are attached to one and the other of the supporting means and the abutting member. The supporting means, which are provided so as to face each other in a predetermined direction and support the abutting member in a state where the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance, in the predetermined direction. After being driven to bring the abutting portion into contact with the transported object, the supporting means is further moved so that the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have the other predetermined distance. The abutting member is supported by the supporting means, and the first and second The gripping portion is closed and the conveyed object is gripped by the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion, and the engaged member is engaged with the engaging portion. The abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means are restrained in a state of having the other predetermined distance to maintain the state of gripping the transported object, and the supporting means is driven in the predetermined direction to move the object. After the engaged member is pressed against the engaging member to release the engagement with the engaging member, the supporting means is driven in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction and the returning means causes the abutting portion of the abutting member. And the supporting means have a predetermined distance, the contact member is returned to the state of being supported by the supporting means, and the first and second gripping portions are opened, and the first gripping portion and A gripping device that releases the grip of the conveyed object by the second grip portion. 2. The gripping means, in which the contact member serves as the first grip member, the contact portion also serves as the first grip portion, and the second grip member is rotatably supported by the contact member, When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance, the contact portion and the second grip portion have an open state with a predetermined distance. In
The second grip when the contact member moves with respect to the support means and the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance. The member rotates in conjunction with the movement of the abutting member, the second gripping portion approaches the abutting portion, and the second gripping portion is brought into a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped in a predetermined direction with the abutting portion. Claim 1 characterized by the above.
The gripping device according to. 3. The second grip member has an intersecting direction contact portion, and the contact member has an auxiliary grip member. In the intersecting direction contact portion, the contact member is in contact with the support means. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state where the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have another predetermined distance, the predetermined direction is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member. The auxiliary gripping member is adapted to come into contact with the transported object from the intersecting direction, and the contact member of the auxiliary gripping member moves with respect to the supporting means so that the contact portion of the contact member and the supporting means have different predetermined distances. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state of having the above-mentioned state, the abutting member comes into contact with the object to be conveyed from a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction, and the object to be conveyed from a direction intersecting the predetermined direction with the intersecting direction abutting portion. The gripping device according to claim 2, wherein the gripping device is for gripping. 4. The gripping device according to claim 2, wherein the contact member has a movement preventing member that prevents the transported object from moving in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction during gripping. 5. The support means has a guide portion, and the grip means has a state in which the second grip member has a contact portion, and the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance. When the abutting member is supported by the support means, the contact portion contacts the guide portion of the support means, and the first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state having a predetermined gap, The second grip when the contact member moves with respect to the support means and the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have another predetermined distance. The member is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member, the contact portion is guided by the guide portion of the supporting means, the second gripping member rotates, and the second gripping portion approaches the first gripping portion to be covered. 3. A closed state in which a conveyed object can be gripped in a predetermined direction.
The gripping device according to claim 4. 6. The contact portion of the second grip member is a rotatable body that is rotatably provided, and contacts the guide portion of the support means through the rotatable body. Item 5. The gripping device according to Item 5. 7. The grip means is a member in which the first and second grip members are rotatably supported by the abutting member, and the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance. When the contact member is supported by the support means, the first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state having a predetermined gap, and the contact member moves with respect to the support means to move the contact member. When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion and the support means have another predetermined distance, the first and second gripping members rotate in association with the movement of the contact member. The first gripping portion and the second gripping portion approach each other to be in a closed state in which the transported object can be gripped in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. Gripping device. 8. The support means has a guide portion, and the gripping means has the first and second gripping members each having a contact portion and is rotatably provided on the contact member. When the contact member is supported by the support means in a state where the contact portion and the support means have a predetermined distance, the contact portions of the first and second gripping members contact the guide portion of the support means. The first grip portion and the second grip portion are in an open state with a predetermined gap, and the contact member moves with respect to the support means to separate the contact portion of the contact member from the support means. When the contact member is supported by the support means while maintaining a predetermined distance, the first and second gripping members are interlocked with the movement of the contact member so that the contact portions serve as the guide portions of the support means. The first and second gripping members rotate by being guided to rotate the first gripping part and the second gripping part.
The gripping device according to claim 7, wherein the gripping device comes into a closed state in which the gripping portion approaches to grip a transported object in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. 9. The positioning means is provided on the abutting member, and the abutting portion abuts the transported object before the abutting part abuts the transported object so that the position of the transported object with respect to the gripping means can be determined. The holding device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, which has a member. 10. The gripping means has at least one of a first and a second gripping member having an elastic member, and the first gripping part and the second gripping part are configured to transfer an object to be conveyed via the elastic member. The gripping device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, which grips elastically in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. 11. The gripping device according to claim 10, wherein the elastic member is an elastic body that also serves as a gripping member. 12. The elastic member is a rubber molded body formed of rubber provided in a grip portion and having a predetermined elasticity, and grips a transported object through the rubber molded body in a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. The gripping device according to claim 10, which is a thing. 13. The return means is a coil spring, and is provided between the support means and the gripping means in a compressed or tensioned state.
The gripping device according to any one of 1. 14. The gripping device is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and the transported object is a pallet or a semiconductor device accommodating the semiconductor device.
~ The gripping device according to any one of claims 13 to 14. 15. A drive device, a support means, a gripping means, a return means, and an engagement / disengagement means, wherein the drive device comprises a first drive means and a second drive means. The gripping means has an abutting member having a contacting part that comes into contact with the transported object, a first gripping member having a first gripping part, and a second gripping part having a second gripping part. A holding member, and the first
And the second gripping member is provided on the abutting member and at least one of which can move. The engaging / disengaging means includes a locking member and a locked member, and Each time the stop member is pressed by the locking member, engagement and disengagement of the locked member and the locking member are alternately repeated, and the supporting means is configured to move in a predetermined direction by the first driving means. The contact member is reciprocally driven in the opposite direction and driven in a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction by the second drive means, and the contact member is supported by the support means so as to be movable in the predetermined direction and the opposite direction. When the abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state where the abutting portion of the member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance, the first grip portion and the second grip portion have a predetermined distance. The contact member is supported by The abutting member is supported by the supporting means in a state where the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have a predetermined distance different from the predetermined distance by moving with respect to the holding means. At least one of the first gripping member and the second gripping member, which are movable when operating, is interlocked with the movement of the abutting member, and the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion. And a closed state in which the object to be conveyed can be grasped, and the locking member and the locked member of the engaging / disengaging means are provided in one or the other of the supporting means and the abutting member in the predetermined direction. The support means, which are provided so as to face each other and support the contact member in a state where the contact portion of the contact member and the support means have a predetermined distance, are driven by the first drive means. Drive in the specified direction to bring the contacting part into contact with the transported object. After that, the supporting means is further moved to support the abutting member on the supporting means in a state where the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means have another predetermined distance. The second gripping portion is closed and the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion grip the transported object, and the engaged member is engaged with the engaging portion. As a result, the abutting portion of the abutting member and the supporting means are restrained in a state of having the other predetermined distance to maintain the state of gripping the conveyed object, and the first driving means supports the supporting means. The means is driven in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction, and is also driven by the second driving means in a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction to move the object to be transported to the position where it should be placed, and by the first driving means. The support means is driven in the predetermined direction to move the engaged member. After pressing the member against the engaging member to release the engagement with the engaging member, the supporting means is driven in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, and the returning means causes the contacting portion of the abutting member and the supporting portion. The abutting member is returned to the state of being supported by the supporting means in a state in which the first holding portion and the second holding portion are in an open state with a predetermined distance from the means. A carrier device that releases the grip of the carried object by the gripping part of the carrier. 16. The driving device is characterized in that the supporting means is reciprocally driven in the vertical direction by the first driving means, and is driven by the second driving means in a direction intersecting the vertical direction. 15. The transport device according to item 15. 17. The gripping means, the returning means, and the engaging / disengaging means,
16. A plurality of sets are provided, and the plurality of sets of gripping means are supported by the supporting means so as to overlap with each other when seen from a direction intersecting a predetermined direction. Transport device. 18. The carrying device is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and the object to be carried is a pallet containing the semiconductor device or the semiconductor device.
The transport device according to any one of claims 5 to 17.