JP2006160434A - Non-contact transport apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-contact transport apparatus, suspending and holding a comparatively small work in the non-contact state. <P>SOLUTION: This non-contact transport apparatus includes: a nozzle 1 having a number of through holes 4 and a center hole 5; a case 2 provided to surround the whole nozzle 1 to form an air chamber 3 around the nozzle; and an auxiliary case 7 provided on the upside of the case 2. The auxiliary case 7 has a chamber 7. The through holes 4 of the nozzle 1 communicate with the air chamber 3 and the space above the work W, and the center hole 5 of the nozzle 1 communicates with the space above the work W and the chamber 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact conveying apparatus that suspends and conveys a relatively small work in a non-contact state in a manufacturing process of a crystal product or the like, for example.

  During the transportation or handling of workpieces during the manufacture of quartz wafers or the assembly / inspection of quartz crystal products such as quartz resonators, foreign matter adheres to the wafers and workpieces, and it takes time to remove the workpieces. Sometimes. This is because, for example, when the workpiece is transported, the workpiece and the suction means for picking up the workpiece are in direct contact with each other, so that foreign matter adhering to the suction means moves to the workpiece, or the suction means becomes stronger when the workpiece is detached. Occurs when the surface is damaged by contact with the workpiece.

  For example, even if an operator tries to pay sufficient attention while transporting a workpiece, the workpiece and the suction means are in direct contact with each other. Is difficult. Attempts have been made to change the suction means to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the workpiece and to prevent damage, but no countermeasure has been found so far, although some effects have been found.

  By the way, in the semiconductor manufacturing process, a non-contact transfer device is used in order to protect the wafer from contamination by foreign matters by transferring or handling an extremely thin wafer and to eliminate the possibility of deformation or damage. This makes it possible to suspend and hold a very thin wafer of 50 μm, for example, in a suspended state in the air for transportation without causing any deformation or damage to the surface, as shown in FIG. This is accomplished by means called a simple float chuck (see Non-Patent Document 1).

  That is, the float chuck has an operating surface F that faces the wafer Wa to be transferred. The air flows from the central hole 51, is deflected at a right angle by the deflector 52, and flows toward the outer peripheral area of the apparatus. When the distance from the wafer Wa is large, the cushion chamber 53 functions as a vacuum chamber, and the inside is maintained in a negative pressure state, and the wafer Wa is sucked. When the distance from the wafer Wa is reduced by this suction, the pressure in the cushion chamber 53 rapidly rises due to the air cushion effect and moves the wafer Wa away. It becomes possible to suspend and hold the wafer Wa in a floating and non-contact state at a distance where this equilibrium is maintained. This apparatus includes a mechanism 54 that collects the air that has flowed through the working surface F.

Incidentally, when configuring as a non-contact conveying apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, four of the float chucks are mounted on the same plane and used.
"Handbook of practical application of production technology" first edition, Industrial Research Co., Ltd., December 25, 2000, p. 758-765

  In recent years, the demand for miniaturization of crystal products such as crystal units has become very strong, and the transport means used in the manufacturing process must also have an advantageous form for handling relatively small workpieces. I must.

  Float chucks often used in the semiconductor manufacturing process described above can blow air directly to the wafer by blowing the air directly onto the extremely thin wafer, by locally bending the wafer with the pressure acting in the vertical direction. However, the deflector deflects the airflow so that it is almost parallel to the wafer surface. For this reason, the high-speed airflow does not go to the wafer but flows to the adjacent absorbing means.

  However, when a deflector is incorporated together with a plurality of absorbing means for airflow control, it is inevitable that the apparatus becomes complicated due to these means, resulting in a large conveying apparatus. A large apparatus is disadvantageous in order to carry or handle a relatively small conveying apparatus as the workpiece is miniaturized, and a small conveying apparatus is required.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact conveying apparatus that can suspend and hold a relatively small work in a non-contact manner.

  A non-contact conveyance device according to the present invention includes a nozzle having a large number of through holes and a center hole, a case that surrounds the entire nozzle and forms an air chamber around the nozzle, and an upper surface of the case. The nozzle through hole communicates with the space between the air chamber and the workpiece upper surface, and the nozzle central hole communicates with the chamber on the workpiece upper surface and the chamber.

  In the non-contact conveying apparatus having the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, air flowing into an air chamber (not shown) is blown out to the work W through each through hole 4 of the nozzle 1 as a high-speed air current. As a result, the workpiece W floats and the distance d from the workpiece W decreases. At the same time, part of the air flows through the central hole 5 in a negative pressure state to the chamber (not shown), so that the workpiece W keeps floating. Part of the air flows through the space between the working surface F and the workpiece W and flows toward the outer peripheral area of the apparatus.

  When the workpiece W is sucked by the flow toward the center hole 5 and the distance d between the working surface F and the workpiece W becomes small, the pressure inside the working surface F rapidly increases to move the workpiece W away from the working surface F. . The workpiece W can be suspended and held in a non-contact state floating in the air at a distance where this equilibrium is maintained.

  As described above, according to the non-contact conveyance device, it is possible to suspend and hold a relatively small work in a non-contact state, and to suspend and hold the work without using a means for directly holding the work such as a suction means. Can do. Thereby, it is possible to prevent foreign matters from adhering to the workpiece during conveyance or handling, and to avoid mistakes that damage the workpiece during the attachment / detachment operation.

  An embodiment of a non-contact conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, the non-contact conveying apparatus of the present invention has a nozzle 1 that holds a workpiece W suspended. The nozzle 1 is housed in a cylindrical case 2 that surrounds the entire nozzle, and the upper and lower ends of the nozzle that are fitted to the case 2 are kept highly airtight. The inside of the case 2 is formed as an air chamber 3 that is filled with air during use.

  The nozzle 1 has a large number of through-holes 4 with extremely small diameters at locations close to the outer periphery. Each through hole 4 communicates the air chamber 3 and the space on the upper surface of the workpiece W. A central hole 5 having a relatively large diameter is formed along the axis of the nozzle 1. The case 2 of the present embodiment has a pressure chamber 6 formed along the working surface F facing the workpiece.

  The case 2 includes a cylindrical auxiliary case 7 on the upper surface. The inside of the auxiliary case 7 is formed as a chamber 8 that maintains high airtightness so as to maintain a negative pressure state during use. On the contact surface between the auxiliary case 7 and the case 2, a packing 9 for maintaining the airtightness of the chamber 8 is interposed. The auxiliary case 7 is fixed to the case 2 with a plurality of screws (not shown). The center hole 5 of the nozzle 1 communicates the space above the workpiece W with the chamber 8.

  A taper screw 10 is engraved on the side surface of the case 2. A taper screw 11 is engraved on the side surface of the auxiliary case 7.

  The non-contact conveying device is connected to an air supply device 12 including an air compressor for supplying air to the air chamber 3 when in use. In addition, an air extraction device 13 having a vacuum pump for extracting the air in the chamber 8 is connected to lower the internal pressure of the chamber 8. The air supply device 12 and the air extraction device 13 are connected to the non-contact conveying device by connecting respective connectors to the taper screw 10 and the taper screw 11, respectively.

    As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle 1 has a large number of through holes 4 that are bored at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Each through hole 4 is formed perpendicular to the working surface F in order to direct the airflow straight to the workpiece W. The through-hole 4 is exaggerated in the figure, but has a small diameter of 0.05 mm. The nozzle 1 has a center hole 5 bored along the axis. The central hole 5 is formed perpendicular to the working surface F. The diameter of the center hole 5 is 0.27 mm.

  In the non-contact transfer apparatus having the above-described configuration, the air that has flowed into the air chamber 3 passes through the through holes 4 of the nozzle 1 and is blown out to the workpiece W as a high-speed air current. The workpiece W floats by this high-speed air flow, and the distance from the workpiece W increases. At the same time, part of the air flows into the chamber 8 through the central hole 5 in a negative pressure state, so that the workpiece W remains floating. Further, part of the air passes through the space between the working surface F and the workpiece W and flows outside the apparatus.

  When the workpiece W is sucked by the flow toward the center hole 5 and the distance between the working surface F and the workpiece W becomes small, the pressure inside the pressure chamber 6 rapidly increases and moves the workpiece W away from the working surface F. The workpiece W can be suspended and held in a non-contact state floating in the air at a distance where this equilibrium is maintained.

  The non-contact conveying apparatus according to the present invention normally holds a small work in a suspended manner by one apparatus. However, when the work shape is large, the work may be held by two or more apparatuses. Further, since this non-contact conveying apparatus does not have means for preventing the movement of the workpiece in the horizontal direction during the conveyance, a mechanism such as a guide member for suppressing the movement of the workpiece is used when accurate positioning or the like is required. It is desirable to arrange one guide member in each direction.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a relatively small work can be suspended and held without using a means for directly holding the work such as a suction means. Thereby, it is possible to prevent foreign matters from adhering to the workpiece during conveyance or handling, and to avoid mistakes that damage the workpiece during the attachment / detachment operation.

  Furthermore, since the conveying device can be configured by a simple combination of the nozzle 1 and the case 2 and no means for controlling the airflow is incorporated, the conveying device can be configured extremely small.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the non-contact conveying apparatus by this invention. It is a schematic display explaining operation | movement of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 shows the nozzle shown in FIG. 1, (a) is a front view of the nozzle, and (b) is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3 (a). It is a block diagram which shows an example of the conventional non-contact conveying apparatus. It is a layout view showing an example of a transport device including a plurality of conventional non-contact transport devices.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Nozzle 2 ... Case 3 ... Air chamber 4 ... Through-hole 5 ... Center hole 7 ... Auxiliary case 8 ... Chamber

Claims (1)

A nozzle having a large number of through-holes and a central hole, a case provided so as to surround the entire nozzle and form an air chamber around the nozzle, and an auxiliary case provided on an upper surface of the case and having a chamber A non-contact transfer device in which the through hole of the nozzle communicates with the space between the air chamber and the workpiece upper surface, and the central hole of the nozzle communicates with the space of the workpiece upper surface and the chamber.

Images