JP2004238089A - Stocker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stocker capable of transferring a cassette directly between a ceiling running trolley and an elevating platform and also suppressing the space. <P>SOLUTION: The stocker 2 is structured so that an elevation space 8 and a storage space 10 are arranged and an opening 32 is formed in the ceiling of the elevation space, and thereby the cassette 14 is made transferrable to/from the ceiling running trolley. The elevating platform 12 fitted with a transferring means and a cassette guide member is elevated and lowered inside the space 8, and the cassette is placed in the storage space 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
Field of application of the invention
The present invention relates to a stocker for temporarily storing articles in a clean room or the like, and more particularly to a stocker that can transfer articles to and from an overhead traveling vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
[0003]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-31216
2. Description of the Related Art A stocker is known in which a plurality of shelves are connected by a chain or the like and circulated and moved (for example, Patent Document 1). In such a stocker, a transfer port for an overhead traveling vehicle or the like is provided on a side surface of the stocker, and articles are loaded and unloaded through the transfer port. However, in this case, there is a problem that the space immediately below the overhead traveling vehicle cannot be effectively used when viewed from the overhead traveling vehicle side. In addition, when viewed from the stocker side, when a large number of shelves are circulated, a large mechanism is required for the circulating movement, which is disadvantageous in terms of space and also causes dust generation.
[0005]
[Problems of the Invention]
It is a basic object of the present invention to provide a stocker which generates little dust, is space-saving, and can be positioned even when an article is directly transferred from an overhead traveling vehicle to a lift (claims 1 to 3).
An additional object of the second aspect of the present invention is to further facilitate positioning of articles to be unloaded from an overhead traveling vehicle.
An additional object of the invention according to claim 3 is to eliminate an unbalanced load when transferring articles by the transfer means of the lift table, reduce the weight of the transfer means, and easily guide the lift table in the front-rear direction. It is to be.
[0006]
Configuration of the Invention
The stocker according to the present invention is provided with a lift space for an elevator so as to be in contact with a storage space for articles. Is provided on the elevator, and transfer means for transferring articles to and from the storage space is provided. The transfer means is engaged with a bottom surface of the articles to be unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle and positioned. And an engaging means for performing the operation (claim 1).
[0007]
Preferably, guide members for guiding both side surfaces of the articles to be loaded and unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle are provided on the left and right as viewed from the transfer means of the elevator (claim 2).
[0008]
Particularly preferably, a roller for supporting the load of the article is provided on the side surface of the guide member, and a driven roller for supporting the load of the article is also provided in the storage space (claim 3).
[0009]
Function and Effect of the Invention
According to the present invention, an opening is provided in the upper part of the elevating space of the stocker so that articles can be directly transferred between the overhead traveling vehicle and the elevating platform. Then, the position of the articles loaded and unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle is determined by the engaging means provided on the transfer means of the elevator. In addition, the lifting table is moved up and down in the lifting space provided along the storage space, and the transfer to the storage space is performed by the transfer means. In the present invention, since an article is transferred between the overhead traveling vehicle and the opening by providing an opening at the upper portion of the lifting space, the lifting space can be arranged directly below the traveling route of the overhead traveling vehicle, and a station protruding from the stocker is unnecessary. , Space saving. In addition, since only the elevating table is moved up and down instead of circulating the entire shelf, a smaller and lighter driving unit is required and dust generation is reduced as compared with the case of circulating the entire shelf. Further, the shelves can be arranged vertically in the storage space, and the shelves can be arranged more densely than when the entire shelf is circulated (claim 1).
[0010]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the left and right guides of the lifting platform regulate the left and right positions of the articles, and the articles to be loaded and unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle can be positioned more reliably. Therefore, even if the accuracy of attaching the stocker to the traveling rail of the overhead traveling vehicle or the positional accuracy of the elevator is insufficient, articles can be reliably transferred to and from the overhead traveling vehicle.
[0011]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the transfer means does not need to substantially support the load of the article, an unbalanced load does not occur at the time of transfer. That is, the load of the article can be supported by the rollers provided on the guide member on the elevating table, and the article can be supported by both the driven roller on the storage space side and the roller of the guide member during transfer. For this reason, the rigidity of the transfer means may be low, the drive mechanism of the transfer device can be simplified, and the lifting platform can be reduced in weight. In addition, since an unbalanced load is not applied to the lifting platform during transfer, the lifting platform does not tilt back and forth, and the lifting platform can be easily guided in the front-rear direction.
[0012]
【Example】
1 to 5 show a stocker 2 according to an embodiment. In these figures, reference numeral 3 denotes a frame thereof, and reference numerals 4, 5, and 6 denote posts, for example, a pair of right and left sides. Reference numeral 8 denotes a lifting space, 10 denotes a storage space, and a plurality of shelves are vertically arranged in one row. The elevating space 8 is provided along the storage space 10 and moves the elevating table 12 up and down along the storage space 10. Reference numeral 14 denotes a cassette, which is a cassette accommodating a semiconductor substrate or 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 them, 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 a front-rear direction, and in particular, the lifting space 8 may be referred to as a front side, and the storage space 10 may be referred to as a 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. The lifting motor 22 for driving the drums 20, 20 is a single motor. The rotation speed of the left and right drums 20, 20 is determined by the rotation speed of the common lifting motor 22, and is common. 16 are wound on the same drum 20 at a common winding angle. For this reason, all four hanging 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 a guide roller, which is a driven roller here, but may be a power roller, and is arranged in a row on the inner side surface of the guide member 26. Reference numeral 30 denotes a support on the storage space 10 side, which is supported by the columns 5 and 6, is disposed 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. As described above, in the stocker 2, the upper part of the elevating space 8 is opened to form the opening 32, and the ceiling of the storage space 10 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. In the embodiment, the engaging projection provided on the transfer means is engaged with the hollow 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 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 rollers 28 on the elevating table 12, and is supported by the driven rollers 29 in the storage space 10. Since the transfer means on the lifting platform is provided separately from the roller 28, the transfer means does not need to support the weight of the cassette 14, and the weight of the transfer means can be reduced.
[0017]
When loading and unloading the cassette 14 from the overhead traveling vehicle, the guide member 26 on both sides of the elevator 12 guides the cassette 14 in the left-right direction and engages the recess 44 with the engaging projection on the transfer means side. By doing so, left and right positioning is performed. The ridge 48 of the cassette 14 projects below the inside of the roller 28, the left and right ends of the cassette 14 are regulated by the guide member 26, and the ridge 48 is provided inside the roller 28. It is supported stably. 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 means 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 transfer unit 80. An engagement protrusion 82 is provided on the upper surface of the transfer unit 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 transfer portion 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 transfer unit 80 positions the cassette 14 unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle in the left-right direction with the engagement protrusion 82 and moves the cassette 14 back and forth when the timing belts 58, 66, 68 are operated to transfer the cassette 14. It just needs to be able to advance. The load from the cassette 14 is supported by the 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 transfer unit 80 so as not to be tilted, the transfer unit 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 it is not necessary to consider the moment of the lateral force applied from the cassette 14 to the transfer unit 80, the linear guides 52 and 54 may also have narrow left and right widths. For these reasons, the weight of the transfer means 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 rollers 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. One end of each of the timing belts 66 and 68 is fixed to the elevating platform 12 by the fixing portions 70 and 72, and the intermediate portion is guided by pulleys 62 and 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 transfer unit 80 is, for example, 1: 2. Then, the transfer unit 80 is advanced by the pulley 62 and the timing belt 66, and the transfer unit 80 is retracted by the pulley 64 and the timing belt 68. Since the load at the time of transfer is supported by the rollers 28 and 29, an unbalanced load is applied to the transfer means, and the elevator 12 does not tilt back and forth, so that the guide of the elevator 12 in the front-rear direction can be easily performed. . Instead of the transfer means 51 of the embodiment, a normal slide fork or the like may be driven by a timing belt or a chain.
[0023]
The operation of the embodiment will be described. 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 means 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 roller 28 and is supported by the driven roller 29 in the storage space 10, it is sufficient that the engaging projection 82 can transmit a force enough to move the cassette 14 forward and backward. 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. In order to further reduce the generation of dust from the transfer means 51, the timing belts 58, 66, 68 are covered with an appropriate cover so that the connecting plates 60, 74 move along slits provided on the side surfaces of the cover. do it. Further, the linear guide 54 and the transfer unit 80 may be moved forward and backward by a ball screw or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a stocker according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a front view of the stocker according to the embodiment; FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a cassette used in the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing a transfer means in the stocker according to the embodiment.
2 Stocker 3 Frame 4, 5, 6 Post 8 Elevating space 10 Storage space 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 Roller 29 Follower roller 30 Support 32 opening 34 caster wheel 40 chuck 42 elevating table 44-46 recess 48 ridge 50 lid 51 transfer means 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 Transfer part 82 Engagement projection 84, 86 Guided part

Claims (3)

An elevator space for an elevator is provided so as to be in contact with a storage space for articles; an opening for directly transferring articles between an overhead traveling vehicle and the elevator is provided at an upper portion of the elevator space; Is provided with a transfer means for transferring an article to and from a storage space, and an engaging means for engaging and positioning the bottom face of the article to be unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle with the transfer means. A stocker characterized by having means. 2. The stocker according to claim 1, wherein guide members for guiding both side surfaces of the articles to be loaded and unloaded from the overhead traveling vehicle are provided on the left and right sides of the lifting platform as viewed from the transfer means. The stocker according to claim 2, wherein a roller for supporting the load of the article is provided on a side surface of the guide member, and a driven roller for supporting the load of the article is also provided in the storage space.

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