JP2006335564A - Floating carrying device for plate-like material and flat bottom-like material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a noncontact floating transport device for reducing a loss in gas, by simplifying a structure of a carrying device. <P>SOLUTION: By arranging a position of an inflow hole 10 for making the gas flow in a cylinder chamber 19 in an upper position of a central position of a spherical valve element 18 when closing the valve, inclined jetting of the gas in the carrying axis direction increases atmospheric pressure of clearance formed of an upper surface of a carrying base 1 and a flat bottom surface of flat panels 9, and acts so as to carry in the carrying axis direction by floating the flat panels 9 by generating an air current film. While, an air current turning in the cylinder chamber 19 direction by branching off in an edge part of a gas jetting hole 11 detains the spherical valve element 18 in a floating state in an intermediate part in the cylinder chamber 19 by applying wind pressure to the spherical valve element 18. Since a compressed gas flow flowing in the cylinder chamber 19 from an auxiliary hole 16 operates so as to relieve a turbulence state generated in a bottom part of the cylinder chamber 19, the spherical valve element 18 detained in the intermediate part of the cylinder chamber 19 is restrained from the violent vertical movement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

Field of use

The present invention relates to a conveying device, and in particular, a flat plate or flat bottom object to be conveyed (hereinafter collectively referred to as flat panels) on a conveying table surface, compressed gas from below, This is related to a transport device that inclines in a direction and lifts flat panels on the surface of the transport table and transports them to a specified position by using the levitation force provided by the vertical component of the air flow and the transport force provided by the horizontal component. .
[Background technology]

      A plurality of gas ejection holes are directly drilled in the transportation platform of the transportation apparatus, or a structure having gas ejection holes is drilled and compressed gas is ejected from these gas ejection holes, and the transportation platform surface and flat panels The so-called gas levitation type conveyor device that raises the air pressure of the gap formed by the surface to float the flat panels above the transport table surface and provides a propulsive force so that it can be transported in the target direction has various forms in the past. Things have been developed.

      From the viewpoint of the floating form of the flat panels, one can see that the flat panels are directly perforated on the carriage, as disclosed in JP 2002-308424, JP 10-139160, JP 62-244817, etc. Alternatively, it is a so-called normal non-contact levitation type that floats above the upper surface of the transport table by the action of compressed gas ejected from the ejection holes of the structure attached to the hole, and keeps the state of not touching the transport table surface or attachments. Yes, and the other is incomplete non-contact levitation in a form in which a part of the floated flat panels are in contact with a feed roller or the like for giving a conveying force as seen in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-062951 As seen in the mold and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-112240, the flat bottom surface of the flat panels is kept in contact with the transport table surface. Are mentioned in the mounted form on top of the valve body is a valve mechanism structure that is projected, so-called contact floating type. The former normal non-contact levitation type and the latter incomplete non-contact levitation type are mainly used as levitation transfer devices such as wafers and surface treatment plates, but the latter contact levitation type is a flat panel type. Therefore, it is used as a transfer table or the like that transfers light by applying a light force to flat panels by human power or the like.

      Next, there are two types of compressed gas ejection from the gas ejection hole: an open type in which gas ejection is continuously performed from the ejection hole, and a valve type in which an on-off valve is provided in the vicinity of the gas ejection hole or along the gas passage. -Many valve-type devices are seen from the viewpoint of efficiency and noise countermeasures. However, in this valve type device, there is a thing that the valve function becomes complicated in order to synchronize so that gas ejection is performed when flat panels are present on the surface of the conveyance table, and gas ejection is stopped when there is no flat panel. However, in order to solve this difficulty, a gas ejection device having a valve function as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 43-001076, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 44-026261, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 50-080194 and others has been devised. This is well known.

      The structure of the gas ejection device having the above-described valve function is that the valve body is housed in a cylinder (also called an outer shell, a holder, etc.), and the taper shape related to the cylinder opening portion and the opening portion is used. Alternatively, when a compressed gas flows into the cylinder from a hole communicating with a compressed gas supply chamber (also referred to as a hollow chamber), the valve body is With the portion protruding from the upper end surface of the gas ejection hole, the seat is seated on the valve seat and closes the gas ejection hole. At this time, when the flat panels, which are the objects to be transported, are placed on the transport table surface or moved, and contact is applied to the protruding valve body and a load is applied, the valve body is pushed down and opened in a gap. Compressed gas is ejected from the perforated gas ejection holes and works to float flat panels. However, the valve body stays at a position where the compressed air pressure acting from below and the downward pressure due to the load of the flat panels are balanced, and keeps contact with the flat bottom surface of the flat panel.

      Furthermore, the method of generating the propulsive force for transport includes the use of an airflow film that floats and transports flat panels on the airflow film generated by the jet gas, and the bottom surface of the flat panels on a rotating roller. There is a support conveyance type in which a part of the contact is made to contact or is supported and moved. For example, JP-A-62-244817 discloses many other examples of the former airflow film-utilizing type, but these are compressed gas from a plurality of gas ejection holes that are perforated or mounted on the carrier table. Is inclined and jetted in the direction of the axis of travel of the flat bottom of the flat panel, and the flat panel is lifted at the same time as it is propelled.

Reference [Patent Document 1] JP-A-2002-308424
[Same 2] JP-A-10-139160
[Id. 3] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-244817
[Same 4] JP-A-2000-062951
[Same 5] JP-A-05-112240
[Same as 6] Shoko 43-001076
[Id. 7] Jikoko 44-026261
[Id. 8] Akira Zenzen 50-080194
[Problems to be solved by the present invention]

      The structure of the device for transporting the flat panels, which are the objects to be transported, on the surface of the transport table while maintaining a non-contact state is directly perforated or attached to the transport table in the conventionally developed technology. It can be seen from the verification of conventional techniques that are disclosed in many cases that it is effective to inject the compressed gas from the ejection hole of the gas ejection device while inclining in the direction of the transport axis of the flat bottom surface of the flat panel.

      These inclined jets of compressed gas are provided with a valve mechanism in order to reduce gas jet loss, and when flat panels are present on the gas jet holes, they are opened and gas jets are performed. In other words, when there is no flat panel on the gas ejection hole, it is desirable to perform so-called section-by-section gas ejection that is closed and the gas ejection is stopped. In the conventionally developed technology, an open type inclined jetting method not provided with a valve mechanism or a structure is complicated. However, as disclosed in JP-A-62-224417, There is also a type in which a gas is ejected by section from a gas ejection device that is interlocked when an installed position detection sensor detects an object to be conveyed.

      In the above-described gas jetting device having a valve function found in Japanese Patent Publication No. 43-001076, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 44-026261, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-112240, the compressed gas is not inclined and jetted. It does not have a normal non-contact function and propulsion function for flat panels. That is, in order to realize normal non-contact of flat panels, a valve body partly projecting from the gas ejection hole is formed when the flat panels are present on the valve body. As shown in FIG. 7 of the present invention, it is necessary to keep the settling state in the cylinder chamber 19 without contact with the bottom surface of the class, and in order to give a propulsive force to the flat panels, the gas However, it is not configured in this way, so it has two functions of normal non-contact and propulsive force application. Does not have.

The present invention is intended to develop a transport device for transporting a flat panel, which is a transported object, to a predetermined target position without damaging it so that a contact mark is not attached. One of the issues is to develop a conveyor structure that has an effective system for this purpose, and one of the other issues is the non-contact levitation type using gas devised in the past In the configuration of the transport device, the three functions of the non-contact function, the valve function, and the propulsion function are each actuated by individual structures, or any two of the three functions are a single structure. It is combined in the body, but the remaining one function is simplified by a complicated structure that depends on a separate structure system, and the above three functions are demonstrated only by the action of the compressed gas flow, and these three functions have a single structure. Body By developing gas discharge device of a simple structure which is built, while reducing the manufacturing cost of the transfer device, in which aim to reduce the installation cost and maintenance cost.
[Means for solving problems]

      In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention devised the gas ejection unit shown in FIG. 2, and a plurality of gas ejection units 2 were mounted on the carrier 1 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, the compressed gas sent from the compressed air generating source 5 such as a blower to the chamber 3 through the tube 4 and the filter 7 passes through the passage 20 of the gas ejection unit shown in FIG. 10 and the auxiliary hole 16 flows into the cylinder chamber 19, but as will be described in detail later, the position and the diameter of the inflow hole 10 and the auxiliary hole 16 are appropriately devised. 2 is effectively tilted and ejected in the direction of the object traveling axis on the carrier 1, and the ball valve body 18 shown in FIG. It becomes.

      The structure of the gas ejection unit shown in FIG. 2 is such that a cylinder body 15 containing a ball valve body 18 in a hollow portion surrounded by an upper lid portion 13 having a gas ejection hole 11 in the center and a cover 14 is provided from below. It is pushed in the direction of the gas ejection hole 11 and supported and fixed by a cylinder body fixing knot 23 shown in FIG. The cover 14 is designed so that the outer surface of the wall is in close contact with the transport table and does not fall off when the gas ejection unit is mounted on the transport table 2 as shown in FIG.

      3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. In FIG. 3, the cylinder chamber 19 is formed by being surrounded by a valve body seat 12 and a cylinder wall 21 which are formed in the same shape as the upper lid portion 13 and opened downward in a taper shape, and gas is blown into the inside thereof. A spherical valve element 18 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the hole 11 is accommodated. The cylinder wall 21 has an inflow hole 10 and an auxiliary hole 16 through which compressed gas flows into the cylinder chamber 19, and the valve seat receiving taper portion 12 immediately above the inflow hole 10 includes A groove 22 extending from the inflow hole 10 side to the gas ejection hole 11 side is provided.

      In FIG. 3, the position of the inflow hole 10 is drilled in the cylinder wall 21 in the vicinity where the cylinder wall 21 is in contact with the lower end of the taper seat 12. The positional relationship between the inflow hole 10 and the ball valve body 18 seated on the valve body seat 12 is such that when the plane of the upper lid portion 13 is placed horizontally as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. A part of the surface is provided so as to be higher than a horizontal line BB passing through the center O of the ball valve body 18 when seated on the valve body seat 12. Further, the shape and opening area of the inflow hole 10 are sufficient for the amount of passing gas per unit time to float the flat panels by the inclined ejection, and the valve opening and closing of the ball valve body 18 and the cylinder chamber 19 It is considered to make the floating in the middle part efficient.

      As shown in FIG. 3, the gas ejection unit described above has a valve body receiver that is integrated with the upper lid portion 13 when the ball valve body 18 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the gas ejection hole 11 is disposed in the cylinder chamber 19. The seat 12 side and the cylinder body 15 side are created separately, and after the ball valve body 18 is housed in the cylinder chamber 19, they are combined by press-fitting or high-frequency welding. As shown in FIG. 4 without taking this method, the valve body seating taper portion 12, the gas ejection hole 11 and the passage 20 are bored on the side facing the chamber-3 of the carrier 1, and this countersunk portion is The cylinder body 15 having the above-described structure in which the ball valve body 18 is accommodated may be pressed in close contact. In addition, plastics are generally used for the members that make up these gas ejection units because of their ease of processing and convenience in handling, but metals and antistatics are used depending on the characteristics of the flat panels that are being transported. The material to which is given is also considered.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of gas ejection units 2 having the above-described structure are perforated and mounted on a conveyance table 1 so that gas inclined ejection is performed in the conveyance axis direction indicated by an arrow to constitute a single conveyance device. A plurality of the single units are connected to form a transfer device line. However, the compressed gas generating source 5 such as a blower does not need to be attached to each of the connected conveying devices, and a plurality of connected conveying devices are separated from the single gas generating source 5 by the tube 4. The compressed gas may be supplied to the chamber-3. As described above, the present conveying apparatus line has a cylinder body in which the gas ejection unit 2 having the above-described features is mounted in the conveying table 1 or contains a ball valve element 18 as shown in FIG. 15 is pushed directly into the chamber-3 side of the carrier 1 to perform the same function as the gas ejection unit described above.
[Embodiment of the Invention]

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a normal non-contact levitation conveyance embodiment of flat panels (standard 0.3 g / cm ² or less) mainly having a relatively small weight.
1 and FIG. 2, this single carrier device is a carrier table 1 having a plurality of gas ejection units 2 perforated, and each of these gas ejection units is the upper surface side of the carrier table 1, that is, flat panels. The gas ejection hole 11 is located on the mounting side of the cylinder 9, and the cylinder body 15 protrudes into the chamber 3 on the lower surface side of the conveyance table 1 so as to penetrate the hole formed in the conveyance table 1 and to be airtight. In addition, the mounting direction is positioned so that the airflow inclinedly ejected from the inflow hole 10 in FIG. A chamber-3 shown in FIG. 1 communicates with a compressed gas generation source 5 via a tube body 4, and the atmospheric pressure in the chamber-3 is measured by a barometer 6 and a pressure regulator (regulator). ) The pressure control set value of 8 is sufficient for the flat panel 9 to be levitated and conveyed on the conveying table 1, and facilitates the rising and sinking of the ball valve 18 as shown in FIGS. Set to a value.
When used as a contact type levitation transport device for relatively heavy flat panels (standard 0.3 g / cm ² or more), the pressure setting value of the air pressure regulator (regulator) 8 is flat panels. The corresponding weight increases.

      In FIG. 1, when the flat panel 9 does not exist on the carrier 1, the compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas generation source 5 to the chamber 3 through the tube 4 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It flows into the cylinder chamber 19 from the inflow hole 10 and the auxiliary hole 16 via the flow path 20. A part of the compressed gas that has flowed in is inclinedly ejected from the instantaneous gas ejection hole 11 into the upper space. During this time, the compressed gas that has flowed so as to fill the cylinder chamber 19 raises the pressure in the cylinder chamber 19 and disturbs it. Due to this, a ball leaving action and a lifting force in the direction of the gas ejection hole 11 act on the ball valve element 18 that is landed on the cylinder floor 17 for this reason. Then, due to the pressure difference between the open space between the cylinder chamber 19 and the upper surface of the gas ejection hole 11, the ball valve body 18 is pushed to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 3 and is seated on the taper-shaped valve body seat 12. The gas ejection hole 11 is closed. At this time, the ball valve body 18 keeps the pressure of the cylinder chamber 19 from below while keeping a part of the cylinder valve 18 projecting upward from the gas ejection hole 11, that is, from the upper surface side of the carrier 1. The eruption has been stopped.

      Next, when the forward end of the flat panel 9 to be transported arrives above the closed gas ejection hole 11 in the transport line in which a plurality of transport devices are connected to each other. Is shown in FIG. When the advancing tip of the flat panels 9 transported in the transport axis direction comes into contact with the top of the ball valve body 18 projecting partly from the upper plane of the transport base 1 or the front spherical surface of the top of the head, the flat panels 9 With this load, the ball valve body 18 is pushed and a gap is formed in the closed portion between the ball valve body 18 and the gas ejection hole 11. At this time, the airflow from the inflow hole 10 starts to be ejected as indicated by solid line arrows. From this point, the ball valve body 18 leaves the load area of the flat panel 9 and instead sinks by receiving the airflow pressure inclined from the inflow hole 10 on its temporal surface, and the intermediate part of the cylinder chamber 19 It becomes a floating state. The change in the traveling direction of the air flow within this short time is indicated by broken lines a and b, and the movement of the ball valve corresponding to the change in the traveling direction of the air flow is indicated by a'b '. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, while the flat panel 9 is present above the gas ejection hole 11, the ball valve element 18 receives the downward pressure of the air flow indicated by the arrow d in the middle portion of the cylinder chamber 19. Although floating up and down violently, it floats under the action of the airflow flowing in from the auxiliary hole 16 shown in FIG. There is no contact with the flat panels 9.

      Further, in FIG. 7, since the air pressure in the gap formed between the upper surface of the carrier 1 and the flat panel 9 is lower than the air pressure in the cylinder chamber 19, most of the airflow flowing into the cylinder chamber 19 from the inflow hole 10 is It passes over the head of the valve body 18 and is ejected inclinedly toward the outside of the gas ejection hole and heads in the direction of the arrow u. At this time, a part of the gas filling the cylinder chamber 19 is mixed with the inclined jet flow, but most of the filling gas stays in the cylinder chamber 19 and is considered to be gradually metabolized. . Further, as shown in FIG. 8, since the levitation force is given to the flat panels by the vertical component force Pv of the air flow P inclinedly ejected from the gas ejection holes and the conveying force is given to the flat panels by the horizontal component force Pw, the flat panels Is carried on the air flow film in the direction of the arrow u shown in FIG. 7, and is conveyed in the conveyance axis direction while maintaining a normal non-contact state.

      Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the groove 22 provided in the taper portion forming the valve seat 12 in the direction of the gas ejection hole 11 from the inflow hole 10 side has an air flow in the directions of the u arrow and the d arrow. It is devised to give direction to the compressed gas flow flowing into the cylinder chamber 19 from the inflow hole 10 so as to be effectively branched, so that the floating conveyance of the flat panels and the intermediate of the cylinder chamber 19 are provided. This makes it easier to maintain the floating of the ball valve at the part.

      In FIG. 6, the advancing tip portion of the flat panel 9 having a relatively small weight makes a slight contact with the ball valve body 18, so that the ball valve body 18 is immediately pushed down, and the gas ejection that has been blocked as described above. In order to form a gap in a part of the hole 11, it is necessary that the atmospheric pressure in the chamber-3 shown in FIG. That is, if the pressure in the chamber 3 is excessive, the pressure in the cylinder chamber 19 in FIG. 6 is excessive, and the force that presses the ball valve 18 against the valve seat 12 causes the load on the flat panel 9 to be applied to the ball valve 18. Since the lower pressing force is superior, the ball valve element 18 is less likely to be separated from the valve element seat 12 and cannot be easily opened. On the other hand, if the pressure in the chamber-3 is too small, the ball valve element 18 remains in the vicinity of the cylinder floor 17 and is not lifted in the direction of the valve element seat 12 and does not function as a valve. For this purpose, the internal pressure of the chamber-3 is measured by the atmospheric pressure measuring device 6 shown in FIG. 1, and an internal pressure regulator (regulator) 8 is provided so that the internal pressure of the chamber-3 can be set within an appropriate range. It is.

After the flat panels 9 pass over the gas ejection unit 2, the upper surface of the gas ejection port 11 is opened to lower the pressure, and the pressure inside the cylinder chamber 19 relatively rises. The ball valve body 18 in the state is drawn toward the gas outlet 11 and seated on the valve body seat 12 to close the valve, whereby the gas ejection is automatically stopped.
[The invention's effect]

      As described above, the gas ejection unit according to the first, second, and third aspects of the invention is perforated and mounted on the conveyance table of the flat panel conveyance device. It can be conveyed in a normal non-contact state, and does not damage the flat panels or leave contact marks. Further, the gas ejection unit has a valve function, and the gas ejection section control is automatically performed in synchronization with the transport position of the flat panels, so that there is little gas loss.

      The gas ejection unit devised to have both the valve function, the non-contact levitation function and the transport function according to the inventions of claims 1, 2, and 3 has a simple structure, and the power source of the transport device is only a compressed gas generator. As a result, production costs are reduced and introduction and maintenance costs are reduced.

The transport apparatus equipped with the gas ejection unit according to the first and third aspects of the invention can be used as a contact type floating conveyor for flat panels having a relatively large weight by adjusting the inflow gas pressure.
[Explanation of drawings and symbols]

  Side view of the transport device alone   Perspective view of gas ejection device (gas ejection unit)   AA sectional view of FIG.   The figure which attached only the cylinder body part in Figure 2 to the conveyance stand   Enlarged view of the gas outlet   Operation diagram of gas blower 1   Same as above 2   Explanation related to ascent and transport mechanism

1-Carrying table 12-Valve seat 2-Gas ejection device (gas ejection unit) 13-Upper lid 3-Chamber 14-Cover
4-pipe body 15-cylinder body 5-compressed gas generator 16-auxiliary hole 6-pressure gauge 17-cylinder floor 7-filter 18-ball valve body 8-atmospheric pressure regulator (regulator) 19-cylinder chamber 9-Flat objects, flat bottom objects (flat panels) 20-Passage 10-Inflow hole 21-Cylinder wall 11-Gas ejection hole 22-Groove
23-cylinder fixed knot

Claims (3)

  Compressed gas is ejected upward from a plurality of gas ejection devices attached to the transportation platform, and the object to be transported, such as a flat object or flat bottom object, is levitated by the action of the generated atmospheric pressure and the generated airflow film. In the structure of the above-described plurality of gas ejecting devices that are pierced and mounted, as shown in FIG. 5 by enlarging a part of FIG. 3 and FIG. A part or all of the half-moon-shaped or arbitrary-shaped inflow hole 10 bored in the cylinder wall 21 so as to allow the compressed gas to flow in the direction of the cylinder chamber 19 when placed on the valve body seat 12. A gas ejection device, characterized in that the gas ejection device is provided on a higher level side than a horizontal line BB passing through the center O of the ball valve body 18 at the time.   In the structure of the gas ejection device according to claim 1, as shown in FIG. 3, the auxiliary hole 16 is formed on the wall of the cylinder body 15 in order to stably float the ball valve body 18 in the middle portion of the cylinder chamber 19. A gas ejection device characterized in that the compressed gas is allowed to flow into the cylinder chamber 19 by perforating at an appropriate position. In the structure of the gas ejection device according to claim 1, as shown by encircled by broken lines in the drawings after FIG. 3, in order to effectively incline and eject the airflow traveling from the inflow hole 10, A gas jetting device characterized in that a groove 22 extending in the direction of the gas jetting hole 11 from right above the inflow hole 10 is provided in the taper portion forming the seat 12.
[Selection figure]
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