JP2006049530A - Lot organizing apparatus of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lot organizing apparatus of a substrate reduced in an area required for installation because of its small size, and improved in working efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: A base end has two sets of arms 21a, 21b supported rotatably and movably up and down on a body 23 and capable of conveying the substrate 5. The body 23 includes: a substrate conveyance loader 2 rotatable substantially around the midpoint of base ends of the two sets of the robot arms 21a, 21b; and an organizing platform 3 formed annularly and disposed around the substrate conveyance loader 2, placing a plurality of cassettes 4 housing a plurality of the substrates by arranging the cassettes circumferentially substantially at an equal distance from the substrate conveying loader 2, and rotatable around the rotation center of the substrate conveying loader 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate lot organizing device, and more particularly, for example, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display panel, a plurality of liquid crystal substrates are handled in order to handle a plurality of liquid crystal substrates in units of lots and advance each manufacturing process and other processes. The present invention relates to a substrate lot forming apparatus that is applied to a work for collecting and reorganizing lots of substrates.

  In general, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display panel, a plurality of liquid crystal substrates (for example, 25 sheets) are stored in one cassette and one lot is knitted, and each manufacturing process and other processes are performed in units of the knitted lot. I am letting.

  The liquid crystal substrate in the production line is inspected after passing through the TFT process and before being delivered to the liquid crystal process. If the inspection finds a liquid crystal substrate that needs to be corrected because it has defects, etc., or a liquid crystal substrate that cannot be corrected, remove such liquid crystal substrates from the lot before delivering them to the liquid crystal process. There is a need to reorganize lots consisting only of liquid crystal substrates that do not have. In addition, in order to pay out a liquid crystal substrate that requires correction to the correction line, a lot that organizes the liquid crystal substrates that require correction is organized, or a liquid crystal substrate that cannot be corrected is disposed of, so that correction is impossible. It also becomes necessary to organize a lot in which liquid crystal substrates are combined.

  In addition, when a defect or the like occurs in each process of the production line, it may be necessary to sequentially rearrange the lots of liquid crystal substrates. As described above, in a liquid crystal substrate production line, it may be necessary to organize or reorganize a lot of liquid crystal substrates.

  FIG. 6 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional facility used for such a lot organization or reorganization operation of a liquid crystal substrate. In the conventional equipment shown in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal substrates are transferred between the knitting table 91 provided with a plurality of knitting ports 911 on which the cassette 94 is placed and the cassette 94 placed on the knitting port 911. And a substrate transfer loader 93. Various known substrate transfer loaders having a robot arm 931 capable of transferring a substrate are applied to the substrate transfer loader 93. A rail 92 is laid along the knitting table 91, and the substrate transport loader 93 is configured to be capable of reciprocating along the front surface of the knitting table 91 in the direction of the arrow d by traveling along the rail 92. The

  The lot organization operation of the liquid crystal substrate using the conventional equipment 9 as shown in FIG. 6 is performed according to the following procedure. Here, a liquid crystal substrate requiring correction (hereinafter referred to as “required liquid crystal substrate”) is extracted from a plurality of existing lots, and a new lot is organized as an example using these extracted liquid crystal substrates. I will explain. In this description, in order to identify each cassette, each cassette is supplementarily used with reference numerals 94a to 94e.

  Here, the cassettes of the lot including the liquid crystal substrates requiring correction are referred to as cassettes 94b to 94e. Before the work, these cassettes 94b to 94e are placed in a standby port (not shown) provided separately from the knitting table 91. Then, the cassettes 94b to 94e of the lot including the liquid crystal substrates requiring correction are placed on a predetermined knitting port 911 of the knitting table 91 using a stacker crane or the like. In addition, an empty cassette (here, referred to as cassette 94a) in which no liquid crystal substrate is stored is placed on a predetermined knitting port. This empty cassette 94a is a cassette that is a lot in which the liquid crystal substrates requiring correction are collected.

  Then, the substrate transfer loader 93 is moved to the front of the cassette containing the correction liquid crystal substrate (that is, any one of the cassettes 94b to 94e), and the robot arm 931 is extended and retracted to move up and down, so that the target correction liquid crystal substrate is required. Is extracted from the cassette (any one of the cassettes 94b to 94e). Thereafter, the substrate transfer loader 93 is moved in front of the empty cassette 94a, and the liquid crystal substrate requiring correction is stored in the empty cassette 94a.

  Thereafter, by repeating this operation, the liquid crystal substrates requiring correction are collected in the empty cassette 94a and are organized into lots composed of the liquid crystal substrates requiring correction. On the other hand, the cassettes 94b to 94e from which correction-required liquid crystal substrates have been extracted are lots consisting only of liquid crystal substrates that do not require correction. The cassettes 94b to 94e are paid out to the subsequent processes as a lot made of liquid crystal substrates that do not need to be corrected. Further, the cassette 94a is paid out to the correction process as a lot consisting of a liquid crystal substrate requiring correction.

However, in such a conventional facility, the length of the knitting table 91 is increased because the cassette 94 in which the substrates are stored or in which the stored cassettes 94 are arranged in series is placed. Therefore, in order to install such equipment, a wide and unified space is required. Further, in the lot knitting work, since the substrate transport loader 93 needs to reciprocate along the longitudinal direction of the knitting table, the lot knitting work takes a long time accordingly.
JP 2000-195920 A

  In view of the above situation, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a substrate lot knitting device that is small in size and can reduce the area required for installation, or for the work of lot knitting or reorganization of substrates. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate lot organizing apparatus that can shorten the time required and improve the working efficiency.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a substrate lot forming apparatus for transferring substrates accommodated in each of a plurality of cassettes, wherein the robot arm is rotatable in a horizontal direction. And a knitting table that can be arranged in an annular shape so as to surround each of the cassettes.

  Here, as in the invention described in claim 2, it is preferable that the substrate transport loader has a rotating part that can rotate in a horizontal plane, and the robot arm is supported by the rotating part.

  Further, as described in claim 3, the substrate transport loader may be disposed so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane.

  As in the invention described in claim 4, it is preferable that the knitting table is rotatably arranged around the substrate transport loader.

  Further, as in the invention described in claim 5, it is preferable that the substrate transfer loader has a plurality of the robot arms.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cassette in which the substrate is stored is placed on the knitting table so as to surround the substrate transfer loader. And in the state mounted in this way, a board | substrate can be transferred between the mounted cassettes by operation | movement of a robot arm. Therefore, compared to the conventional configuration in which the substrate transport loader is moved and positioned along the knitting table and then the substrate is delivered, the substrate transport loader is not required to be moved and the time required for delivering the substrate is shortened. it can. For this reason, the time required for lot organization work can be shortened and work efficiency can be improved.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the robot arm is supported by the rotating part that can rotate in the horizontal plane, even if there are a plurality of robot arms, the robot arm can be positioned without interfering with each other. Therefore, when a plurality of robot arms are operated simultaneously, the operations can be performed smoothly.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since the substrate transfer loader itself can rotate in the horizontal plane, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 can be obtained.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operation of placing or removing the cassette can be performed over the entire circumference of the knitting table without moving from a specific place. For this reason, the efficiency of the placement or removal of the cassette is good, and there are few accidents. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a space for performing the work of placing or removing the cassette over the entire circumference of the knitting table, the installation space can be reduced.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since there are a plurality of robot arms, the operation of taking out the substrate from the cassette and the operation of storing the substrate in the cassette can be performed simultaneously. Specifically, while one robot arm stores a substrate in the cassette, the other robot arm can take out the substrate from the cassette. That is, the efficiency of the substrate biasing operation is improved.

  In any of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, the knitting table is formed in a substantially circular shape so as to surround the substrate transfer loader. Therefore, as compared with the conventional knitting table formed linearly, a collective space for installation becomes unnecessary. Furthermore, since the substrate transfer loader is installed at the approximate center of the knitting table and does not need to move, a space for moving the substrate transfer loader is also unnecessary. For this reason, it can reduce in size compared with the conventional equipment, and can aim at reduction of installation space.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the structure of the main part of a lot knitting apparatus for substrates according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the substrate lot organization apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention may be abbreviated as “present apparatus”.

  First, the outline of the structure of the substrate lot organization device 1 according to the first embodiment will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus 1 includes a substrate transport loader 2 having a main body 23 that can rotate in the direction of an arrow b, and two sets of arms 21a and 21b that can operate independently from each other, and the substrate transport loader. 2 and a knitting table 3 which is formed in an annular shape so as to surround 2 and is configured to be rotatable in the direction of arrow a. The knitting table 3 is configured such that a plurality of cassettes 4 capable of storing a plurality of substrates can be placed side by side on the upper surface thereof. The substrate 5 can be transferred between the plurality of cassettes 4 placed on the upper surface of the knitting table 3 by the rotation of the main body 23 and the movements of the arms 21a and 21b. .

  Next, the configuration of the apparatus 1 will be described in detail. The substrate transfer loader 2 is a two-arm substrate transfer loader having two sets of arms. This two-arm substrate transport loader has substantially the same structure as that conventionally used for transporting liquid crystal substrates and semiconductor substrates. Here, the configuration will be briefly described. The substrate transport loader 2 includes two sets of arms, that is, a first arm 21 a and a second arm 21 b with respect to a single main body 23. The first arm 21a and the second arm 21b have substantially the same structure and can operate independently.

  Each of the arms 21a and 21b includes front-stage arms 211a and 211b and rear-stage arms 212a and 212b, respectively. The base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b are supported by the main body 23, and the supported portions are configured to be rotatable in a horizontal plane and movable up and down slidably with respect to the main body 23. The For this reason, each front side arm 211a, 211b can rotate in a horizontal plane of a predetermined height. Each rear stage arm 212a, 212b is rotatably supported in the horizontal plane at the tip of each front stage arm 211a, 211b. The hands 22a and 22b holding the substrate 5 are supported at the front ends of the rear-stage arms 212a and 212b so as to be rotatable in the horizontal plane. Each of the arms 21a and 21b and the hands 22a and 22b may be a known robot arm or hand drive mechanism, such as being driven by a servo motor.

  As the hands 22a and 22b, work support hands used in conventional general substrate transfer robots can be applied. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, each hand 22 a, 22 b is formed in a substantially “U” shape having a tip shape on which the substrate 5 can be placed. Substrate adsorption means (not shown in the drawing) is provided on the upper surface side (that is, the surface on which the substrate is placed) in the vicinity of the distal end, the center portion, and the proximal end portion of the hands 22a and 22b. It is comprised so that 5 can hold | maintain, without shifting | deviating or falling. Various known substrate suction means can be applied to the substrate suction means. As an example, an air pressure in a space formed inside a sucker-like member after the substrate is placed on the sucker-like member, which is provided with an easily deformable sucker-like member made of synthetic resin or the like. The structure which adsorb | sucks and fixes a board | substrate by reducing is mentioned.

  Each of the arms 21a and 21b and the hands 22a and 22b may be a known robot arm or hand drive mechanism, such as being driven by a servo motor.

  The operation of extracting the substrate 5 of the substrate transport loader 2 from the cassette 4 is as follows. First, the arms 21a and 21b are rotated and moved up and down to position in front of a predetermined cassette 4, and the hand is inserted under the target substrate 5. Thereafter, the arms 21 a and 21 b are raised to lift the substrate 5, and the arms 21 a and 21 b are contracted and removed from the cassette 4. The operation of storing the substrate 5 in the cassette 4 can be performed in the reverse of this operation.

  The substrate transport loader 2 is installed on the rotary table 6. The turntable 6 is configured to be rotatable by rotational power (not shown). Then, by the rotation operation of the turntable 6, the substrate transport loader 2 itself can be rotated in the direction shown by the arrow b, and the arms 21a and 21b can be positioned in any direction. The rotation center of the substrate transport loader 2 is preferably exactly in the middle of the rotation centers of the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b. According to such a configuration, the arms 21a and 21b can be positioned in any direction without interfering with each other. Various known rotary tables and rotary power mechanisms can be applied to the rotary table 6 and the rotary power mechanism of the rotary table 6.

  The knitting table 3 is formed in a substantially annular shape, and a plurality of knitting ports 31 which are sections on which the cassette 4 is placed are provided on the upper surface thereof at substantially equal intervals (FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram and is therefore equally spaced). Not) Therefore, when the cassettes 4 are placed on all the knitting ports 31, the cassettes 4 are arranged circumferentially at substantially equal intervals so as to surround the substrate transport loader 2.

  The knitting port 31 is provided with a fixing mechanism (not shown in FIG. 1) for positioning and fixing the cassette 4. The fixing mechanism may be any mechanism as long as it has a structure in which the cassette 4 can be positioned and placed on the knitting port 31 and does not easily move from the position positioned by an external force or the like in the placed state. It is not limited.

The knitting table 3 includes a power source (not shown) and a control means (not shown) for controlling the power source, and is configured to be rotatable in the direction indicated by the arrow a by the power source and the control means. The Thereby, each knitting port 31 or each cassette 4 placed on the knitting port 31 is rotated around the substrate transport loader 2 (in other words, revolved around the substrate transport loader 2) and positioned at a predetermined position. Can do. The rotation center of the knitting table 3 may coincide with the rotation center of the substrate transfer loader 2 (that is, exactly in the middle of the rotation centers of the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b of the substrate transfer loader 2). preferable. Thereby, even if the substrate transport loader 2 or the knitting table 3 is rotated, the distance from the rotation center of each of the preceding stage arms 211a and 211b to the knitting table 3 does not change, so that the control of the arms 21a and 21b of the substrate transport loader 2 is performed. Etc. will not be complicated.

  The rotation mechanism, the power source, and the control means thereof for the knitting table 3 may adopt a conventional general configuration. For example, a circumferential guide rail is laid on the floor centering on the rotation center of the substrate transport loader 2, and a wheel driven by a motor as a power source is provided on the turntable 3, and this wheel is provided along the rail. Examples include a configuration that rotates around the substrate transport loader.

  In addition, a stacker crane (not shown) is installed near the outside of the ring of the knitting table 3. The stacker crane transports the cassette 4 placed at another location away from the apparatus 1 and places it on a predetermined knitting port 31 of the knitting table 3 or a predetermined knitting port 31 of the knitting table 3. For example, the cassette 4 placed on the machine 1 is transported to another place away from the apparatus 1. For this reason, this stacker crane is installed so that the cassette 4 can be delivered to and from the knitting port positioned at a predetermined position by the rotation of the knitting table 3. For the sake of convenience, the position of the knitting port where the cassette can be delivered to and from the stacker crane may be referred to as “delivery position”. A conventional general stacker crane is also applied to this stacker crane.

  The operation of the substrate lot forming apparatus 1 having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus 1 as viewed from above. Ten ports 31a to 31j are provided on the upper surface of the knitting table 3, and the cassettes 4a to 4j are mounted on the respective knitting ports 31a to 31j. In addition, a stacker crane 7 is installed outside the knitting table 3, and the cassette is positioned between the knitting port positioned at the delivery position (in the state shown in the figure, the knitting port 31j is positioned at the delivery position). Can be delivered.

  As a first operation, an operation of reorganizing an existing lot into a new lot by transferring substrates between a plurality of lot-organized cassettes will be described. Specifically, a substrate is transferred between a plurality of lots including a substrate having a defect that cannot be corrected (hereinafter referred to as an “uncorrectable substrate”), and a lot consisting of an uncorrectable substrate and the others. An operation of reorganizing a lot consisting of a plurality of substrates is used as an example. As a premise for performing the reorganization work, a plurality of cassettes (that is, lots) including substrates that have already been inspected and that include uncorrectable substrates are placed in a standby port (where the apparatus 1 is provided). (Not shown).

  First, the knitting table 3 is rotated to position a predetermined knitting port (any one of the knitting ports 31a to 31j) at the delivery position. Then, the cassette placed in the standby port is placed on a predetermined knitting port positioned at the delivery position using the stacker crane 7. Next, the knitting table 3 is rotated by a predetermined angle, another knitting port on which the cassette is not yet placed is positioned at the delivery position, and another cassette taken out from the standby port is placed on the newly positioned knitting port. To do. Thereafter, this operation is repeated, and the cassettes sequentially taken out from the standby ports are placed on the respective knitting ports 31a to 31j.

  Here, among the cassettes 4a to 4j placed on the respective knitting ports 31a to 31j, a cassette to be a lot in which uncorrectable substrates are collected is determined. In the description here, the cassette 4a is the determined cassette. Then, the substrate transfer loader 2 is operated, and a substrate that is not an uncorrectable substrate is extracted from the determined cassette 4a by using one of the two arms 21a and 21b. Further, using the other arm, the uncorrectable substrate is extracted from the cassettes 4b to 4j other than the determined cassette 4a.

  Then, the uncorrectable substrate extracted from any of the cassettes 4b to 4j other than the determined cassette 4a is extracted from the non-correctable substrate of the determined cassette 4a and stored in an empty slot. On the other hand, substrates that are not uncorrectable substrates extracted from the determined cassette 4a are extracted from the uncorrectable substrates of the cassettes 4b to 4j other than the determined cassette 4a and stored in empty slots. In this way, the substrates are transferred between the cassettes 4a to 4j mounted on the knitting ports 31a to 31j using two sets of arms. If there are empty slots in each of the cassettes 4a to 4j, it is not always necessary to transfer between the slots from which the substrates have been removed.

  Thereafter, this operation is repeated. As a result, the uncorrectable substrates are collected in the determined cassette 4a, and the cassette 4a is reorganized into a lot made of uncorrectable substrates. On the other hand, all the cassettes 4b to 4j other than the determined cassette 4a are reorganized into lots that do not include uncorrectable substrates.

  As described above, the transfer of the substrate between the cassettes 4a to 4j placed on the respective knitting ports 31a to 31j includes the expansion and contraction and vertical movement of the arms 21a and 21b of the substrate transfer loader 2, and the substrate transfer loader. It can be performed only by a combination of the two rotational operations. Therefore, the time required for the transfer of the substrate 5 can be shortened compared to the conventional operation of moving the substrate transport loader body. Further, since the two-arm type substrate transport loader is applied as the substrate transport loader 2, the mutual transfer of the substrates between the cassettes 4a to 4j can be easily performed. For this reason, the efficiency of lot organization work can be improved.

  When the total number of uncorrectable substrates included in all the cassettes 4a to 4j placed on the knitting ports 31a to 31j is less than the maximum number (for example, 25) that can be stored in one cassette. In this case, the cassettes (cassettes 4b to 4j in the above example) other than the determined cassette (in the above example, the cassette 4a) are sequentially replaced to proceed with the work. Specifically, a cassette that does not contain an uncorrectable substrate due to substrate transfer (that is, any one of cassettes 4b to 4j) is returned to the standby port as a cassette in which lot reorganization work has been completed. Then, in the knitting port that has been emptied after the cassette is returned, the lot that is placed in the standby port has not yet been reorganized, and the cassette including the uncorrectable substrate is taken out and placed. The lot organization work is resumed.

  On the contrary, it is determined when the total number of uncorrectable substrates included in all the cassettes 4a to 4j placed on the respective knitting ports 31a to 31j exceeds the maximum number that can be stored in one cassette. The new cassette (cassette 4a in the above example) is replaced and the operation proceeds. That is, a cassette that is full of uncorrectable substrates is returned to the standby port as a cassette that has completed lot reorganization work. Then, in the knitting port that has been emptied after the cassette is returned, the lot that is placed in the standby port has not yet been reorganized, and the cassette including the uncorrectable substrate is taken out and placed. Then, the lot knitting operation proceeds with this cassette as the determined cassette (that is, a new cassette 4a). The replaced cassette is not necessarily determined as the determined cassette, and may be determined as appropriate from among the cassettes 4b to 4j already placed on the knitting ports 31b to 31j.

  Secondly, the operation of extracting a substrate from an existing lot and organizing a new new lot by collecting the extracted substrates will be described. Here, an example is used in which a substrate that needs to be corrected because it has a defect from an existing lot (hereinafter referred to as “required substrate”) is extracted and collected to form a new lot. As a premise, it is assumed that the substrate has already been inspected, and a plurality of cassettes including correction-required substrates are collected in a standby port (not shown).

  First, the knitting table 3 is rotated to position a predetermined knitting port (any one of the knitting ports 31a to 31j) at the delivery position. Then, the cassette placed in the standby port is placed on a predetermined knitting port positioned at the delivery position using the stacker crane 7. Next, the knitting table 3 is rotated by a predetermined angle, another knitting port on which the cassette is not yet placed is positioned at the delivery position, and another cassette taken out from the standby port is placed on the newly positioned knitting port. Put. Thereafter, this operation is repeated, and the cassettes sequentially taken out from the standby ports are placed on the respective knitting ports.

  In addition to the cassettes replaced from the standby port, an empty cassette that does not contain a substrate is placed on a predetermined knitting port. This empty cassette is a cassette that becomes a new lot in which correction substrates are collected.

  Here, the cassette exchanged from the standby port will be referred to as cassettes 4b to 4j, and the empty cassette in which no substrate is stored will be described as cassette 4a.

  And the board | substrate conveyance loader 2 is operated, a correction required board | substrate is extracted from cassette 4b-4j replaced from the standby port, and it transfers to the said empty cassette 4a. Thereafter, by repeating this operation, the correction required substrates are collected in the empty cassette 4a, and a lot composed of the correction required substrates is formed. On the other hand, the cassettes 4b to 4j from which the correction substrates are extracted are all reorganized into lots that do not include the correction substrates.

  This operation is a so-called one-way transfer operation instead of transferring the substrates between the cassettes 4a to 4j as in the first operation. Therefore, the substrate transfer operation can be performed independently of the two sets of arms 21a and 21b at the same time, thereby reducing the working time. In the conventional equipment, even if a substrate transfer loader having two sets of arms is applied, the two sets of arms are independent because the substrate transfer loader is moved in front of each cassette and then the substrate is extracted and stored. Therefore, it is difficult to transfer the substrate.

  As described above, similarly to the first operation, the transfer of the substrate between the cassettes 4a to 4j placed on the respective knitting ports 31a to 31j is performed by the expansion and contraction of the arms 21a and 21b of the substrate transfer loader 2. Further, it can be performed only by the vertical movement and the rotation operation of the substrate transfer loader 2. Therefore, as compared with the conventional operation of moving the substrate transport loader, the time required for delivery of the substrate can be shortened, and the efficiency of the lot organization work can be improved.

  It should be noted that the total number of substrates requiring correction included in all the cassettes 4b to 4j transferred from the standby port to the respective knitting ports 31b to 31j satisfies the maximum number of cassettes 4a that can be stored in a new lot. If not, the cassettes 4b to 4j other than the cassette 4a to be a new lot are sequentially replaced to proceed with the work. Specifically, the cassette (in this case, one of the cassettes 4b to 4j) from which the correction-required substrate has been extracted is returned to the standby port as a lot for which the reorganization work has been completed. Then, the cassette including the correction-required substrate is taken out and placed in the knitting port which has been emptied by returning the cassette, and the reorganization work of the lot placed in the standby port has not yet been performed. Then resume work.

  On the contrary, the total number of substrates requiring correction included in all the cassettes 4b to 4j switched from the standby port to the respective knitting ports 31b to 31j exceeds the maximum number of cassettes 4a that can be stored in a new lot. In such a case, the operation is first performed until the cassette 4a to be a new lot is filled with the correction required substrates. At this time, since the lot knitting operation has been completed for the new cassette 4a, the cassette 4a in which the new lot is knitted is positioned at the delivery position and transferred to the standby port by the stacker crane. Then, a separate empty cassette is placed on the empty knitting port, and the work proceeds.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate lot forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. Here, only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described, and the parts having the same configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  The substrate transfer loader 2 ′ of the substrate lot forming apparatus 1 ′ according to the second embodiment is a two-arm substrate conventionally used for transferring a liquid crystal substrate or a semiconductor substrate, as in the first embodiment. A transport loader is applied. However, unlike the substrate transfer loader applied to the first embodiment, the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b are rotatably supported by the rotating member 25, and the rotating member 25 is a main body. 23 has a configuration that can be rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow c and can be moved up and down. The main body 23 of the substrate transport loader 2 'is installed so as not to rotate.

  According to such a configuration, the arms 21a and 21b can be positioned in an arbitrary direction without interfering with each other by the rotation of the rotating body 25. For this reason, although the main body of the substrate transport loader 2 ′ does not rotate in this embodiment, the same operation as in the first embodiment in which the main body of the substrate transport loader rotates can be performed.

  Here, it is preferable that the rotation center of the rotating body 25 with respect to the main body 23 is located exactly in the middle of the rotation centers of the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b. In other words, the rotation centers of the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b are preferably disposed so as to be point-symmetrical with respect to the rotation center of the rotation member 25 with respect to the main body 23. . This is due to the same reason that in the first embodiment, the rotation center of the substrate transport loader 2 is preferably exactly in the middle of the rotation centers of the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b. . The rotation center of the knitting table 3 preferably coincides with the rotation center of the rotation member 25 with respect to the main body 23. This is due to the same reason that the rotation center of the knitting table 3 and the rotation center of the rotation table 6 preferably coincide with each other in the first embodiment.

  Since the operation of the substrate lot organizing apparatus 1 'according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted. Specifically, when the arms 21a and 21b are positioned in a predetermined direction, the rotary table is rotated in the second embodiment, whereas the rotary member 25 is rotated in the second embodiment. Are only different.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the structure of a lot forming apparatus for substrates according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate lot knitting apparatus 1 ″ according to the third embodiment is different from the substrate lot knitting devices 1 and 1 ′ only in the configuration of the substrate transfer loader. Therefore, parts having the same configuration as those in the first embodiment or the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. Omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate transfer loader 2 ″ applied to the substrate lot forming apparatus 1 ″ according to the third embodiment includes two arms 21a ′ and 21b ′ and two other groups. 4 arms in total, including arms 21c and 21d. Of these, two sets of arms 21a 'and 21b' are provided on the lower stage side, and the remaining two sets of arms 21c and 21d are provided on the upper stage side and stacked in two upper and lower stages.

  Each of the front arms 211a ′ and 211b ′ of the two lower arms 21a ′ and 21b ′ has a base end portion (not visible and hidden in the drawing) that is rotatable on the main body 23 and moved up and down. Supported as possible. As described above, the two lower arms 21a 'and 21b' have the same configuration as the support structure of the two arms 21a and 21b shown in the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, the two upper arms 21c and 21d are supported by the support member 24 so that the base end portions 213c and 213d of the front arms 211c and 211d can rotate and move up and down. The support member 24 is provided above the main body 23, and has a predetermined interval above the main body 23 so as not to hinder the vertical and rotational movements of the two lower arms 21a 'and 21b'. Provided. Specifically, a columnar member (not shown) having a predetermined length is provided in the middle of the center of rotation of each of the lower-stage front-side arms 211a ′ and 211b ′, and this columnar member The support member 24 is fixed to the upper end of the.

  The rear arms 212c and 212d of the upper arms 21c and 21d and the hands 22c and 22d are the same as the rear arms 212a ′ and 212b ′ and the hands 22a ′ and 22b ′ of the lower stage. It has a configuration. The point is that two upper arms 21c, 21d and two lower arms 21a ', 21b' are the base end portions of the front arms 211a ', 211b', 211c, 211d on the main body 23, respectively. The only difference is whether it is supported or supported by the support member 24. Other than that, it has the same configuration as each arm in the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted. Note that the procedure of lot knitting using this substrate lot knitting apparatus 1 ″ is also substantially the same as each of the above-described procedures, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the structure of a lot forming apparatus for substrates according to the fourth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate lot knitting apparatus 1 ″ ′ according to the fourth embodiment is different from the substrate lot knitting apparatus according to each of the embodiments only in the configuration of the substrate transfer loader. For this reason, parts having the same configuration as those of the above-described embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The substrate transfer loader 2 ″ ′ applied to the present embodiment includes a plurality of arms (in FIG. 5, an example including four sets of arms 21e to 21h is shown), and the front-stage arms 211e to 211h of each arm are provided. In a stacked manner, the main body 23 ″ ′ is rotatably supported around the base end 213 ″ ′. That is, each of the front-side arms 211 e to 211 h has a common base end 213 ″ around the center of rotation. The center is configured to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. Similarly to the above-described embodiments, hands 22e to 22h capable of holding the substrate 5 are supported rotatably at the front ends of the rear-stage arms 212e to 212h, respectively, in a horizontal plane. In addition, the structure itself of each arm 21e-21h and each hand 22e-22h is the same as the thing of each said embodiment.

  The main body of the substrate transfer loader 2 ″ ′ is supported by a support leg 231 that can be expanded and contracted in the vertical direction. The arms 21e to 21h are configured to move up and down together with the main body 23 ″ ′ by the expansion and contraction of the support leg 231. Is done. The support leg 231 has a general articulated robot arm structure and is configured to be driven by a power source such as a servo motor. The main body 23 ″ ′ can be moved up and down by the operation of the support legs 231, but is fixed so as not to rotate.

  And it is preferable that the rotation center of the knitting stand 3 coincides with the common rotation center of each of the front side arms 211e to 211h. This is because, in the first embodiment, it is preferable that the rotation center of the substrate transport loader 2 is exactly in the middle of the rotation centers of the base end portions 213a and 213b of the front-side arms 211a and 211b, and the knitting table 3 The reason for this is the same as the reason why it is preferable that the center of rotation and the center of rotation of the turntable 6 coincide.

  The operation of pulling out the substrate 5 from the cassette 4 using such a substrate transport loader 2 ″ ′ is as follows. First, any one of the arms 21e to 21h is rotated and positioned in front of the predetermined cassette 4, The height of the hands 22e to 22h is adjusted by extending and contracting the support legs 231, and the hands are inserted under the target substrate, and then the substrate is lifted by operating the support legs 231, and the arms are contracted and removed from the cassette. The operation of storing the substrate 5 in the cassette 4 can be performed in the reverse of this operation.

  The lot knitting operation by the apparatus 1 ″ ′ having such a configuration is substantially the same as the operation described in each of the above embodiments, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. The substrate transport loader 2 ″ ′ has each arm. 21e-21h can rotate freely without interfering with each other. For this reason, in order to position each of the arms 21e to 21h, the rotary table 6 (see FIG. 1 or 4) as in the first or third embodiment, or the rotary member 25 (see FIG. 1 or 4). Even without using FIG. 3, it is possible to perform the same operations as those of these embodiments. On the other hand, since each arm 21e-21h moves up and down integrally with the operation of the support leg 231, the substrate 5 cannot be removed from the cassette 4 and stored in the cassette 4 at the same time. . For this reason, while a certain arm (any of the arms 21e to 21h) is performing the extraction or storage operation of the substrate 5, the other arms are maintained in the standby state.

  Note that the number of arms in the present embodiment is not limited to four, but may be one or more. In this case, an even set is convenient because, for example, the operation of taking out a substrate from a specific slot of the cassette and storing the substrate extracted from another cassette in the empty slot can be performed as a series of operations. is there.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, as a configuration for positioning each arm in a predetermined direction, a configuration in which a substrate transfer loader is installed on a rotary table and a configuration in which the arm is supported by a rotating member are shown. In short, the first and second arms However, the configuration is not limited to the above configuration as long as the configurations can be positioned in all directions without interfering with each other.

1 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate lot knitting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the plane schematic diagram which showed schematic structure of the lot knitting apparatus of the board | substrate which concerns on the said embodiment. It is the external appearance perspective view which showed schematic structure of the lot knitting apparatus of the board | substrate which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view which showed schematic structure of the lot knitting apparatus of the board | substrate which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view which showed schematic structure of the lot knitting apparatus of the board | substrate concerning the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view which showed the outline of the structure of the conventional facility with which the organization operation | work of a board | substrate is provided.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Board | substrate lot organization apparatus 2 Board | substrate conveyance loader 21a, 21b Arm 211a, 211b Front side arm 212a, 212b Rear stage arm 213a, 213b Base end part 22a, 22b of front stage side arm 23 Main body of substrate conveyance loader 3 Knitting stand 31 Knitting port 4 Cassette 5 Substrate 6 Turntable a Arrow b showing the direction of rotation of the knitting table 3 Arrow showing the direction of rotation of the substrate transport loader 2

Claims (5)

  A substrate lot knitting apparatus for transferring a substrate stored in each of a plurality of cassettes, wherein the substrate transfer loader has a robot arm that can rotate in a horizontal direction, and each of the cassettes is connected to the substrate transfer loader. A substrate lot knitting device comprising: a knitting table that can be arranged in an annular shape so as to surround the substrate.   The substrate lot loader according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport loader includes a rotating unit that can rotate in a horizontal plane, and the robot arm is supported by the rotating unit.   The substrate lot loader according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport loader is rotatably disposed in a horizontal plane.   4. The substrate lot knitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the knitting table is rotatably arranged around the substrate transport loader. The substrate lot knitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport loader includes a plurality of the robot arms.

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