JP2004238088A - Elevating and lowering platform - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the weight of a transfer device by transferring a cassette directly between a ceiling running trolley and a platform and supporting the load of the cassette by follower rollers. <P>SOLUTION: The elevating and lowering platform 12 is structured so that an elevation space 8 and a rack 10 are arranged on a stocker 2 and a transfer hole 32 is formed in the ceiling of the elevation space, and thereby each cassette 14 is transferred between the ceiling running trolley and the platform 12. The platform 12 is fitted with the transferring device 51 in the center and follower rollers on the left and right. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
Field of application of the invention
The present invention relates to an elevator with a transfer device used for a stocker or a stacker crane.
[0002]
[Prior art]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-60011 In a lifting platform such as a stacker crane, a transfer device such as a slide fork or a SCARA arm is mounted, and articles are transferred to and from a shelf (for example, Patent Document 1). And these transfer devices need considerable rigidity because they have to support the load of the article. When the rigidity of the transfer device is increased, the weight of the transfer device is increased, and the weight of the elevator is also increased.
[0003]
[Problems of the Invention]
A basic object of the present invention is to reduce the weight of a transfer device (claims 1 to 3).
An additional object of the second aspect of the present invention is to provide a compact structure of a transfer device that can surely move an article even when a load of the article is not applied to the transfer device. is there.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a specific structure for moving the engaging member forward and backward.
[0004]
Configuration of the Invention
An elevator according to the present invention is an elevator for moving up and down along a column to transfer articles to and from a shelf, wherein a transfer device is provided at a central portion of the elevator, and A row of driven rollers is provided on the left and right separately from the transfer device (claim 1). The engagement member only needs to be able to engage the bottom surface of the article and move forward and backward, and does not need an area for stably placing the article.
[0005]
Preferably, in the transfer device, a fixed guide fixed to the lifting platform, a moving guide moving forward and backward with respect to the fixed guide, moving forward and backward with respect to the moving guide, and engaging with a bottom surface of the article And an engagement member provided with an engagement means. A linear guide is preferable for the fixed guide and the moving guide. In particular, when the moving guide is arranged on the fixed guide and the engaging member is arranged on the moving guide, the load of the engaging member is received by the lower moving guide, and the moving guide Can be received by the lower fixed guide.
[0006]
Particularly preferably, an endless first transmission member is driven by a motor, and the moving guide is attached to the first transmission member, moved forward and backward with respect to the fixed guide, and one end is fixed to a lifting platform, and the middle is A second transmission member guided by a guide wheel provided at the distal end of the moving guide, the other end fixed to the engaging member, a guide wheel fixed at one end to the elevating platform, and an intermediate portion provided at the base end of the moving guide. And a third transmission member having the other end fixed to the engagement member, and the transfer device is configured to move the engagement member forward and backward with respect to the movement guide. ). Here, it is preferable that the first transmission member is disposed on the lift platform in parallel with the fixed guide. The second transmission member and the third transmission member are preferably arranged, for example, in parallel with the movement guide. Further, as the first to third transmission members, for example, a belt such as a timing belt or a chain is used.
[0007]
Function and Effect of the Invention
According to the present invention, since the load of the article is received not by the transfer device but by the driven rollers on both sides of the transfer device, the transfer device does not need to support the weight of the article, and the transfer device can be reduced in weight. Items 1-3). Therefore, the lifting platform can be reduced in weight as a whole.
[0008]
In the invention of claim 2, since the engaging means is engaged with the bottom surface of the article, even if the load of the article is not applied to the transfer apparatus, the article can be moved forward and backward accurately without slipping on the transfer apparatus. Can be transferred. Further, the transfer device includes a fixed guide, a moving guide, and an engaging member on the upper part thereof, and these guides only need to be able to move forward and backward through the engaging member. Further, since the engaging member only needs to be able to move forward and backward by engaging the article, it is not necessary to have a width or length for stably placing the article, and it is not necessary to support the weight of the article. The moving guide and the fixed guide do not need to have a width enough to stably support the article, and can be made compact. For these reasons, the transfer device can be made more compact.
[0009]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the movement guide is moved forward and backward by the first transmission member, and the second and third transmission members are driven by the movement of the movement guide back and forth so that the engagement member is moved back and forth with respect to the movement guide. Can be advanced.
[0010]
Here, it is preferable to provide a row of left and right driven rollers so as to be able to be connected to a row of driven rollers of the lifting table also on a shelf for transferring articles to and from the lifting table. In this way, the load of the article being transferred can be received by the lift table and the driven rollers of the shelf, so that an unbalanced load is not applied to the transfer apparatus. When the load is not applied to the transfer device, its rigidity can be reduced, making it easier to reduce weight. In addition, since the lift table does not tilt back and forth during transfer, it is easy to guide the lift table in the front-rear direction. .
[0011]
【Example】
1 to 5 show a stocker 2 using a lift 12 according to the embodiment. In these figures, reference numeral 3 denotes a frame of the stocker 2, and reference numerals 4, 5, and 6 denote supports, which are provided, for example, in pairs on each of right and left sides. Reference numeral 8 denotes a lifting space, 10 denotes a rack, and a plurality of shelves are vertically arranged in one row. The elevating space 8 is provided along the rack 10 and moves the elevating table 12 up and down along the rack 10. The lift 12 may be mounted not on the stocker 2 but on a stacker crane or the like.
[0012]
Reference numeral 14 denotes a cassette, which is a cassette accommodating semiconductor substrates and the like, and is an example of articles stored in the stocker 2. The stocker 2 is disposed, for example, in a clean room, and is used as a buffer for storing articles in the overhead traveling vehicle system. At four corners or three corners of the lift 12, for example, an end of a suspending material 16 such as a belt or a rope is fixed, and the suspending material 16 is guided by rollers 17, 18, and 19. By taking up the drum 20 provided, the elevator 12 is moved up and down. Among these, the roller 19 is a roller for making the winding angle of the hanging material 16 around the drum 20 equal between the hanging material 16 near the support 4 and the hanging material 16 near the support 5. Reference numeral 22 denotes a lifting motor for rotating the drum 20, which is a motor common to, for example, four hanging members (FIG. 2).
[0013]
In this specification, the left-right direction in FIG. 1 may be referred to as the front-rear direction, and the lifting space 8 side may be referred to as the front side, and the rack 10 side may be referred to as the rear side. The left-right direction in FIG. 2 is simply referred to as the left-right direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the stocker 2 in a horizontal plane. The hanging members 16 attached to the four corners of the elevating table 12 are wound up by a pair of left and right drums 20, 20, and as shown in FIG. Take up. Further, since the lifting / lowering motor 22 for driving the drums 20, 20 is a single motor, the rotation speed of the right and left drums 20, 20 is determined by the rotation speed of the common lifting / lowering motor 22, and is common. It is wound on the same drum 20 at a common winding angle. For this reason, all four suspending members 16 have the same winding length and unwinding length, and the timing at which the winding state changes from the first to the second is the same. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the elevator 12 from tilting forward, backward, left and right by a mechanical mechanism.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 4, guide rollers 24 are provided at, for example, four corners of the lift table 12, and the horizontal position of the lift table 12 is regulated by using the columns 4, 5 and the like as guide rails. When it is necessary to precisely regulate the position in the front-rear direction of the lift 12, for example, the guide rollers may be brought into contact with the other surfaces of the columns 4 and 5 by contacting the guide rollers from the lift 12. Reference numerals 26, 26 denote guide members provided on the left and right sides of the elevating table 12, and are preferably made of lubricating resin such as Duracon, polyurethane or Teflon (registered trademark). Reference numeral 28 denotes driven rollers, which are arranged in a row on the inner side surface of the guide member 26. Reference numeral 30 denotes a support on the side of the rack 10, which is supported by the columns 5 and 6, is arranged on the left and right of one shelf position, and driven rollers 29 are similarly arranged in a line on the inner side surface of each support 30.
[0015]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an opening 32 as a transfer port is provided above the lift space 8 so that articles can be transferred directly between the overhead traveling vehicle and the lift 12. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 40 denotes a chuck on the side of the overhead traveling vehicle, and reference numeral 42 denotes an elevator supporting the chuck 40. Thus, in the stocker 2, the upper part of the lifting space 8 is opened to form the opening 32, and the ceiling on the rack 10 side is, for example, covered. Further, for example, caster wheels 34 are provided at the bottom of the stocker 2 so that the stocker 2 can be moved to an appropriate position. Therefore, the stocker 2 can be appropriately moved and arranged in a place where the storage capacity of the articles is insufficient. In this case, the space of the stocker 2 is reduced as a whole, and the stocker 2 can be installed in a limited narrow space such as a lower portion of a traveling rail of an overhead traveling vehicle in a gap between the processing devices.
[0016]
FIG. 3 shows the bottom surface of the cassette 14. For example, three recesses 44 to 46 are provided on the bottom of the cassette 14, and 48 is a pair of left and right ridges, and a lid 50 that can be opened and closed is provided on the front of the cassette 14. Here, the engaging projection provided on the transfer device is engaged with the recess 44 at the center in the left-right direction of the cassette 14, and the flat portions on both outer sides of the ridges 48, 48 are fixed to the driven roller 28 of the elevating table 12 and the shelf. It is supported by the driven roller 29 on the side. Therefore, the weight of the cassette 14 is mostly supported by the driven rollers 28 on the elevating table 12 and supported by the driven rollers 29 in the rack 10. Since the transfer device on the lifting platform is provided separately from the driven roller 28, the transfer device does not need to support the weight of the cassette 14, and the transfer device can be reduced in weight.
[0017]
When loading and unloading the cassette 14 from the overhead traveling vehicle, the cassette 14 is guided in the left-right direction by the guide members 26 on both sides of the elevator 12 and provided in the recess 44 as an engaging member on the transfer device side. The left and right positioning is performed by engaging the engaging projections. The ridge 48 of the cassette 14 protrudes below the inside of the driven roller 28, the right and left ends of the cassette 14 are regulated by the guide member 26, and the ridge 48 is provided inside the driven roller 28. 28 is stably supported. This point is the same on the support 30 side of the shelf. The height of the support 30 is slightly higher than the upper surface of the driven roller 29, and the protrusion 14 of the support 30 and the cassette 14 prevents the cassette 14 from dropping off. To prevent.
[0018]
4 and 5 show the transfer device 51 provided on the lift 12. A linear guide (linear motion guide) 52 is fixed to a floor plate, a frame, or the like of the lift 12. A separate linear guide 54 is disposed on the linear guide 52 so as to overlap vertically, and the lower linear guide 52 guides the forward / backward movement of the upper linear guide 54. A transfer motor 56 drives a timing belt 58, and the upper linear guide 54 is fixed to the timing belt 58 by a mounting plate 60. When the motor 56 is driven as described above, the linear guide 54 moves forward and backward on the linear guide 52.
[0019]
Pulleys 62 and 64 are attached to both ends of the upper linear guide 54, a timing belt 66 is guided by the pulley 62, and a timing belt 68 is guided by the pulley 64. The ends of the timing belts 66 and 68 are connected to the floor plate of the elevating table 12. And fixed to the frame or the like by the fixing portions 70 and 72. The other ends of the timing belts 66 and 68 are fixed to a mounting plate 74 connected to the engaging member 80. An engagement projection 82 is provided on the upper surface of the engagement member 80 at a position vertically overlapping the two rear guides 52 and 54, and is engaged with the recess 44 on the bottom surface of the cassette 14. 5, 84 and 86 are guided portions which are guided by the linear guides 52 and 54 and move linearly. The upper linear guide 54 is guided by the guided portion 84, and the engaging member 80 is guided by the guided portion 86. invite. A chain may be used instead of the timing belts 58, 66, 68, but it is not preferable because dust generation increases.
[0020]
The engaging member 80 positions the cassette 14 unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle by the engaging protrusions 82 in the left-right direction, and moves the cassette 14 back and forth when the timing belts 58, 66, 68 are operated to transfer the cassette. It just needs to be able to advance. The load from the cassette 14 is supported by the driven rollers 28 and 29. For this reason, the motor 56 may be a low-output motor, and the linear guides 52 and 54 need not have rigidity enough to withstand the unbalanced load when the cassette 14 is transferred. Further, since the cassette 14 is not placed on the engaging member 80 so as not to be tilted, the engaging member 80 may be smaller than the bottom surface of the cassette 14. It can be 1/3 or less of the length or width. Since there is no need to consider the moment of the lateral force applied from the cassette 14 to the engaging member 80, the linear guides 52 and 54 may have narrow widths on the left and right. For these reasons, the weight of the transfer device 51 can be reduced. The timing belt 58 is parallel to the linear guides 52 and 54, and the timing belts 66 and 68 are parallel to the linear guide 54.
[0021]
When the cassette 14 is loaded and unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle on the lift 12, the guide member 26 guides the cassette 14 to regulate the position in the left-right direction, and the engagement protrusion 82 is engaged with the recess 44 on the bottom surface of the cassette 14. Position. The weight of the cassette 14 is supported by the driven roller 28. When transferring articles, the elevator 12 is moved up and down to a desired position. Here, the four suspension members 16 are wound up by the drums 20 and 20 by the common elevating motor 22 and at the same winding angle. In this way, the elevator 12 is prevented from tilting left and right or back and forth.
[0022]
When the elevating table 12 moves up and down to a desired position, the timing belt 58 is driven by the motor 56, whereby the upper linear guide 54 moves forward and backward with respect to the lower linear guide 52. The timing belts 66, 68 are fixed at one end to the elevating table 12 by fixing portions 70, 72, and are guided in the middle by pulleys 62, 64 attached to the linear guide 54. Go forward and backward. The ratio of the stroke of the linear guide 54 to the stroke of the engagement member 80 is, for example, 1: 2. Then, the engaging member 80 is advanced by the pulley 62 and the timing belt 66, and the engaging member 80 is retracted by the pulley 64 and the timing belt 68. Since the load of the cassette at the time of transfer is supported by the driven rollers 28 and 29, an unbalanced load is not applied to the transfer device 51. For this reason, the rigidity of the guides 52 and 54 of the transfer device 51 may be low, and the elevator 12 does not tilt back and forth. For this reason, it is possible to easily guide the elevating table 12 in the front-back direction. Further, since the transfer device 51 does not need to support the load of the cassette 14, the motor 56 may be a motor having a small output.
[0023]
Since the stocker 2 is provided with the caster wheels 34, it can be arranged at an appropriate position below the traveling rail of the overhead traveling vehicle to increase the storage capacity of the articles. The transfer of articles to and from the overhead traveling vehicle is performed using the opening 32 at the upper part of the lift space 8, and there is no station protruding from the stocker 2, which saves more space. Further, in the stocker 2, since the lifting table 12 and the transfer device on the lifting table are moved instead of moving the entire shelf like a circulation shelf or the like, the number of mechanical parts is small, and the size, weight and space can be reduced. Here, the single lifting motor 22 is used to wind or unwind, for example, four hanging members 16 to prevent the lifting table 12 from tilting forward, backward, left and right. For these reasons, the lifting mechanism of the lifting table 12 can be simplified.
[0024]
When unloading the cassette 14 from the overhead traveling vehicle, the article is smoothly guided by the guide member 26, and the engaging projection 82 is engaged with the recess 44 to be positioned. Since the load of the cassette 14 is supported by the driven roller 28 and is supported by the driven roller 29 in the rack 10, it is sufficient that the engaging projection 82 can transmit a force enough to move the cassette 14 forward and backward, and the transfer device can be reduced in size and size. It can be lightweight. In particular, an unbalanced load during transfer is not applied to the lift 12. For these reasons, the lifting platform 12 can be reduced in weight and can be easily raised and lowered. To further reduce the generation of dust from the transfer device 51, the timing belts 58, 66, and 68 are covered with an appropriate cover so that the connecting plates 60 and 74 move along slits provided on the side surfaces of the cover. do it.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a stocker on which an elevator of the embodiment is mounted. FIG. 2 is a front view of the stocker of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a cassette used in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing a transfer device on an elevator according to the embodiment.
2 Stocker 3 Frame 4, 5, 6 Post 8 Elevating space 10 Rack 12 Elevating table 14 Cassette 16 Hanging material 17, 18 Roller 19 Roller 20 Drum 22 Elevating motor 24 Guide roller 26 Guide member 28, 29 Follower roller 30 Support 32 Transfer port 34 Caster wheel 40 Chuck 42 Lifting table 44-46 Indentation 48 Ridge 50 Cover 51 Transfer device 52, 54 Linear guide 56 Transfer motor 58 Timing belt 60, 74 Mounting plate 62, 64 Pulley 66, 68 Timing belts 70, 72 Fixed part 80 Engaging member 82 Engaging projection 84, 86 Guided part

Claims (3)

A lifting platform for lifting and lowering along a column and transferring articles to and from a shelf,
A lift table, wherein a transfer device is provided at the center of the lift table, and a row of driven rollers is provided on the left and right of the lift table separately from the transfer device. The transfer device includes a fixed guide fixed to the lifting platform, a moving guide that moves forward and backward with respect to the fixed guide, and an engagement unit that moves forward and backward with respect to the moving guide and engages with the bottom surface of the article. An elevating table according to claim 1, further comprising: an engaging member provided with: The transfer device,
Driving an endless first transmission member with a motor, attaching the moving guide to the first transmission member, and moving forward and backward with respect to the fixed guide,
And a second transmission member having one end fixed to the lifting platform, an intermediate portion guided by a guide wheel provided at the tip of the moving guide, and the other end fixed to the engagement member;
A third transmission member having one end fixed to the lifting platform, the middle guided by a guide wheel provided at the base end of the movement guide, and the other end fixed to the engagement member,
The lifting platform according to claim 2, wherein the engaging member is configured to move forward and backward with respect to a moving guide.

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