JP2005096027A - Robot hand - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot hand capable of stably holding a substrate such as an enlarged glass substrate easy to bend, on the hand without flexure and forming a film in uniform thickness on the glass substrate in the same condition of an applied solution on the whole surface of the glass substrate. <P>SOLUTION: The hand 2 of a robot 1 has air holes 6 disposed in forks 22 for supplying air toward the glass substrate 3 to lift the glass substrate 3; claws 19 arranged at right and left forks 23 for positioning the glass substrate 3; non-slip parts 5 and/or suction pads 4 arranged at the right and left forks 23 to fix the glass substrate 3 on the hand 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot hand that holds and transports a glass substrate.

The robot hand is connected to a robot arm to hold a substrate such as a glass substrate or wafer housed in a cassette or a substrate placed on a processing stage and transport it to the next process. It is driven. As shown in FIG. 7, the hand 2 is connected to and driven by the arm 11 connected to the main body 12 of the robot 1. The hand 2 has a bracket 21 attached to the arm 11 of the robot 1 and a fork 22 that holds the glass substrate 3. As shown in FIG. 8, the hand 2 is configured to adsorb the glass substrate 3 by providing a plurality of suction pads 4 arranged on the upper surface of the fork connected through the air pipe 8 inside the fork 22. . Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the hand having another configuration is configured so that the glass substrate 3 can be gripped by providing the anti-slip portion 5 on the upper surface of the fork 22 and bringing the glass substrate 3 and the anti-slip portion 5 into contact with each other. Things are known. (Patent Document 1 etc.)
JP 2001-223252 A

  However, since the glass substrate is processed and transported in various processing steps, the glass substrate after the coating step is particularly in a state where the coating liquid applied on the substrate is easily affected by heat. As shown in FIG. 10, the non-slip portion that holds the glass substrate is in contact with the glass substrate. There is a problem that heat conduction occurs from the substrate to the anti-slip portion or from the anti-slip portion to the glass substrate, and the coating solution cannot be uniformly dried, and the film cannot be formed to a uniform thickness. In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, in the substrate gripping method of gripping only both ends in which the anti-slip portion in contact with the glass substrate is reduced and the heat transfer locations of the anti-slip portion and the glass substrate are reduced, a particularly large glass substrate is used. For example, due to the weight of the glass substrate, the glass substrate is greatly bent downward with the gripping point as a fulcrum, and the coating solution collects at the lowest deflection point, and the film cannot be formed to a uniform thickness due to the deflection. .

  In addition, in the method of gripping the glass substrate by suction, heat conduction occurs in the suction pad portion, so that an area that begins to dry on the coating solution and a region that remains as a liquid are generated, and the same glass substrate is coated on the entire surface of the coating solution. There was a problem that drying could not be performed under conditions, resulting in uneven drying, and a glass substrate having a uniform thickness could not be formed.

  In the robot hand of the present invention, air holes arranged in a fork for supplying air toward the glass substrate to float the glass substrate, claws arranged in the left and right forks for positioning the glass substrate, and the glass substrate And a non-slip portion and / or a suction pad disposed on the left and right forks for fixing on the hand.

  The claw is preferably arranged at the front end of each of the left and right forks and the opposite part on the diagonal line, and the portion where the claw contacts the glass substrate is preferably tapered.

  By placing the air supply hole in the central fork that holds the glass substrate, air can be supplied to the air supply hole and blown to the center of the glass substrate, so that the glass substrate can be levitated and enlarged. In addition, a flexible substrate such as a glass substrate can be stably held on the hand without bending, and a coating film having a uniform thickness can be formed. In addition, the central part of the applied glass substrate and the glass substrate gripping part do not have a contact part with the robot hand, and the heat conduction of the glass substrate and the air to be blown is controlled by adjusting the temperature of the air blown to the central part of the glass substrate. Disappears. Therefore, uniform film formation can be performed without any uneven drying of the coating solution on the glass substrate.

  Since the claw for positioning the glass substrate is tapered, the coating liquid applied to the glass substrate and the claw can be positioned on the hand without contacting.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the previous step, the glass substrate 3 is uniformly coated with a coating solution by a coating apparatus 10. The coated glass substrate 3 is placed on the stage 14 of the coating apparatus 10. A plurality of glass substrate push-up pins 15 are embedded in the surface of the stage 14. Next to the coating device 10, the robot 1 is installed. The robot 1 includes an arm 11, a main body 12, and a hand 2 as shown in FIG. The main body 12 is configured to be capable of turning up and down, the arm 11 is configured to be articulated so that the hand 12 can be moved horizontally, and the hand 2 is connected to the arm 11 via a bracket 21. The fork 22 attached to the hand 2 includes an outer fork 23 positioned below the end of the glass substrate and an inner fork 24 positioned below the central portion of the glass substrate. There are a plurality of inner forks 24 depending on the size of the glass substrate. In the inner fork 24, the air hole 6 is disposed below the glass substrate. A load sensor 16 for detecting the glass substrate 3 is attached to the inner fork 24 on the upper surface of the central portion. The outer fork is provided with a suction pad 4 and / or a non-slip portion 5 for gripping the glass substrate 3. Further, the outer fork 23 is provided with a claw 19 whose surface contacting the glass substrate 3 is tapered as shown in FIGS.

  A drying device 13 is installed in the vicinity of the robot 1. In the drying device 13, the coating liquid applied to the glass substrate 3 is evaporated by vacuum to dry.

  Next, a series of steps in which the glass substrate 3 that has been applied by the coating apparatus 10 is transported to the drying apparatus 13 by the robot 1 will be described with reference to the operation flow of FIG.

  First, the glass substrate 3 is raised by the pin 15 embedded at an optimum position on the stage surface of the stage 14 of the coating apparatus 10. (Step 1) A plurality of pins 15 are arranged on the stage, and the glass substrate 3 is lifted by the pins 15 without being bent. The glass substrate 3 rises to a predetermined height from the stage 14 and enters a standby state.

  Next, the fork 22 of the hand 2 is inserted between the glass substrate 3 and the stage 14 so as to avoid the pins 15. (Step 2) Although the length of the fork 22 depends on the size of the glass substrate 3, it becomes about 2.5 m, and a material of which the fork 22 does not bend by its own weight is used. For example, a lightweight and strong material such as carbon fiber is preferable.

  Next, when the main body 12 is raised, the fork 22 of the hand 2 is raised, the claws 19 of the outer fork 23 come into contact with the corners of the glass substrate 3, and the glass substrate 3 is positioned on the fork 22. (Step 3) Since the contact surface of the nail 19 with the glass substrate 3 is processed into a tapered shape, the nail 19 does not come into contact with the coating liquid 9 applied to the upper surface of the glass substrate 3.

Next, the end portion of the glass substrate 3 contacts the anti-slip portion 5 and / or the suction pad 4 of the outer fork 23, and the glass substrate 3 is gripped on the fork 22 of the hand 2. (Step 4)
Next, the in-stock sensor 16 installed in the center of the inner fork 24 detects the glass substrate 3 and is turned on. When the signal of the in-stock sensor 16 is turned ON, air is blown toward the glass substrate 3 from the air hole of the inner fork 24, and the glass substrate 3 rises. (Step 5)
As shown in FIG. 2, the air pipe 8 laid inside the inner fork 24 is connected to the air hole 6 formed in the upper surface of the inner fork 24, and air is supplied from the air pipe 8. The supplied air blows out from the air hole 6 and causes the glass substrate 3 to float.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the glass substrate 3 is gripped at the edge of the substrate by the suction pad 4 and / or the anti-slip portion 5, and the central portion of the glass substrate 3 is floated by air. Thereby, the glass substrate 3 is conveyed without bending, and drying unevenness of the coating liquid 9 is eliminated.

Next, the robot 1 turns the hand 2 up and down to convey the glass substrate 3 onto the pallet 17 of the drying device 13 and enters a standby state. (Step 6)
Next, the pin 18 rises from the pallet 17 of the drying device 13 and pushes up the glass substrate 3 on the hand 2 of the robot 1. (Step 7) As the glass substrate 3 is pushed up, the signal from the load sensor 16 is turned OFF, and the blowing of air from the air hole of the inner fork 24 is stopped. (Step 8) The pin 18 is disposed at the same position as the pin 15 embedded in the stage 14 of the coating apparatus 10. Thereby, the glass substrate 3 is transferred from the hand 2 of the robot 1 to the pallet 17 of the drying device 13 without being bent. Thereafter, the hand 2 of the robot 1 is returned to the standby position. (Step 9)
The glass substrate 3 that has been dried is discharged from the drying device 13 by a conveyor or the like and is transported to the next step.

  Further, the fork 22 can be arranged as follows. As shown in FIG. 12, if the glass substrate 3 is cut in the subsequent step, for example, near the portion to be cut, for example, the central portion of the glass substrate 3, the inner suction located at the central portion of the glass substrate 3 is used. The anti-slip portion 5 and / or the suction pad 4 are disposed on the fork 26, and thereby the glass substrate 3 is gripped by the inner suction fork 26 and the outer fork 23. In particular, in the case of a large glass substrate, the gripping portion of the fork 22 is increased and the glass substrate 3 can be stably gripped. A plurality of inner forks 24 in which the air holes 6 are disposed are disposed between the outer fork 23 and the inner suction fork 26, and the glass substrate 3 is floated by the air holes 6.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a filter 7 may be attached to the air hole 6 so that particles such as particles do not fly in the room where the coating device 10, the robot 1, and the drying device 13 are installed.

  Moreover, it is desirable to arrange the positions of the suction pad 4 and the anti-slip portion 5 of the outer fork 23 not in the region that will be the final product of the glass substrate 3, but in the region that will be cut out in a later step.

  The claw 19 may be a structure that can be positioned without contact between the coating liquid 9 applied to the glass substrate 3 and the claw 19, and may be a stopper having a structure in which two tapered blocks are arranged at 90 degrees. .

  The structure of the air hole 6 may be as shown in FIG. First, the air hole 6 and the groove 25 are processed on the upper surface of the inner fork 24. Air is sent into the inner fork from the bracket 21 side of the inner fork 24, and air is blown up through the air holes 6 and the grooves 25. The glass substrate 3 is floated by the air blown up from the air hole 6 of the inner fork 24.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the apparatus of this invention Sectional drawing which shows the floating state of the glass substrate by the air supply hole of this invention The figure which shows the glass substrate positioning by the nail | claw of this invention The figure which shows the glass substrate positioning by the nail | claw of this invention The figure which shows the holding | grip state of the glass substrate of this invention Operation flow diagram explaining the glass substrate transfer method Figure showing a conventional hand Sectional view showing glass substrate gripping by conventional suction pad Sectional view showing glass substrate gripping by conventional anti-slip part The figure which shows the relationship between the conventional glass substrate and the hand The figure which shows the relationship between the conventional glass substrate and the hand The figure which shows the holding | grip state of the glass substrate of this invention Illustration showing a fork with air holes and grooves

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot 2 Hand 3 Glass substrate 4 Adsorption pad 5 Non-slip part 6 Air hole 7 Filter 8 Air pipe 9 Coating liquid 10 Coating device 11 Arm 12 Main body 13 Drying device 14 Stage 15 Pin 16 Stock sensor 17 Pallet 18 Pin 19 Claw 21 Bracket 22 Fork 23 Outer fork 24 Inner fork 25 Groove 26 Inner suction fork

Claims (2)

  Air holes arranged in the fork that supplies air toward the glass substrate and floats the glass substrate, claws arranged on the left and right forks that position the glass substrate, and left and right for fixing the glass substrate on the hand A robot hand comprising a non-slip portion and / or a suction pad disposed on a fork of the robot.   2. The robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the claw is disposed at a tip portion of each of the left and right forks and opposite portions on the diagonal line, and a portion where the claw contacts the glass substrate is tapered.

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